DiabloFans

In GPU-limited scenarios, an extra graphics card should add 70-90% more FPS. You might not get that much of an improvement, though... the Q6600 is relatively old, now, and may also be a limiting factor. You can tell if your GPU- or CPU-limited by lowering your resolution to 800x600 and observing your FPS. If it doesn't change much, you're CPU-limited; it it goes a lot faster, you're GPU-limited.

Be sure to install NVIDIA's latest drivers if you try this.

Quote from Eternalus

Whenever I try and find out what my laptop's GPU is I get:
AMD Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series
Is that even a card, or series of cards? What does it actually mean? (Also, can I run Diablo 3 on it?)

It's several related models. You should be able to see something more specific if you look at the the "Display Adapter" section in Device Manager, or if you use a tool like GPU-Z.

Diablo 3 should run well on this system, but maybe not at maximum detail depending on what screen resolution you use. Turning shadows off is the best way to get more performance without hurting the visuals too much.

Quote from ScruffyLOL

good thing I don't have stuff running in the background. think i'll skip the reinstallation then, thanks for the feedback guys. i'll just install some kind of cleaning software like tuneup utilities or avg pc tuneup, should do the job. again, thanks!

Ironically, free cleanup utilities often add their own junk. Use with caution

If you don't have a lot of junk running in the backround at all times, a computer will never slow down over time, so an OS reinstall would not be necessary.

Quote from superfula

If I was playing games from the early 2000s or earlier, you'd be right. The huge majority of games being released now are multi. Let's not forget that Windows will use multiple cores. Spending any kind of money on a processor that only excels at single-core benchmarks when everything is moving toward multi-core isn't smart.

It's true that virtually all modern games will spin off parts of their game engine to extra threads, but most of them don't do a very good job of it. It's very common to hear about a "cpu-bound" game that fails to use more than two cores. So, I guess I was inappropriately using "single-threaded" as a catch-all for "not-well-threaded" games

Quote from lima11

So i cancelled my order and my some tuning lets see if this one looks better for u guys.

PSU SEASONIC SS-520GB/520W/APF (S12II-520Bronze)
MB ASROCK P67 PRO /P67/LGA1155
CPU I5-2400 /3.1G/6M/BOX/LGA1155
RAM Corsair DDR3, 1600MHz 8GB 2x240 Dimm, Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24, Vengeance Heatspreader, Upcoming Intel, Core i7, Core i5 and Core 2/AMD Phenom II - Dual Channel, 1.5V

HDD 500GB HITACHI SATA 6GB/S /32MB
VC Sapphire ATI Radeon 6850 1GB DDR5 256bit
CDD 500GB HITACHI SATA 6GB/S /32MB
DVD LG GH22NS90
Monitor is the same!

Any opinion?

There are a couple odd things in your list, but I'll assume those are copy/paste errors

Looks good. You could drop to DDR3-1333 to save some money, maybe divert the savings to a faster GPU. Regardless, it'll run Diablo 3 perfectly

"Max" is the highest value that "Load" has reached. So... it's not an "or" question.

If your laptop has a well-designed cooling system, you shouldn't have any problems. It may get hot, but it won't suffer any damage. All laptops have fail-safe features that will cause them to under-clock or even shut down in response to a high-heat scenario; if you stay below 70°C you shouldn't trigger any of these.

Quote from Speaker

I'm actually planning on buying a new computer for D3, but I wanna wait for the GTX 660 TI to come out. So I was actually thinking of playing D3 on Intel HD 4000 graphics until the 660 comes out. I'd probably be playing on a 1280x1024 monitor until I get the new card, but what do you guys think? The lower resolution and graphics will suck, but I think the 660 is coming out in late May, or early June so I wouldn't have to wait too long. I'm more worried about my FPS though.

Diablo 3 is natively a 16:9 game, so at 1280x1024, you'll have to turn letterboxing on (blacking out the top and bottom of the screen) or you'll lose a lot of viewable area (putting you at a tactical disadvantage) because "full screen" mode at would cut off the sides of your view. Regardless of how you choose to play, at this low resolution I think even the humble Intel HD 3000 should do okay.

I recommend getting a new monitor (1920x1080 or 2560x1440) at the same time as your new video card for the best experience

Quote from forumbrah12345

that is saddening about the mSata ssds

i bought a 120gb corsair force 3 gt last week and now have a change of heart for putting it in my desktop

(has ocz vertex 3 in it)

Ultrabooks are too compact to fit a 2.5" drive. If you're willing to give up their sleek, beautiful form factor and go with a fat conventional laptop, you can use a 2.5" SSD.

mSATA is a very small form factor, much smaller than 2.5", and thus not compatible with it. It's too small for any hard drive, so your only replacement options will be bigger and/or faster mSATA SSDs.

Based on this: http://www.anandtech...ore-i7-3770k/14 and other pages in that article, the Intel HD 4000 should be able to handle Diablo 3 at lower resolutions (1680x1050 or less) and medium detail, probably with shadows off.

Unlike a MMORPG, you're not co-inhabiting a world where your level 6 newbie has to co-exist with the max-level-in-2-days freaks. Everyone gets their own world, and you are always the hero.

-Kardax

http://www.twitch.tv/arch00/b/318800980

I will never take this out of my build. Ever.

I had my doubt about how often this would save a monk but I am a sworn believer now.

Enjoy the video, sorry about the ad