Not that your post isn't informative, Prometeus, but it doesn't really answer the guy's question.
He's already having a desktop built, he wants to know how he can improve the performance of the laptop which he is currently resigned to play on until the desktop is done. He's basically giving us the desktop specs to blow our minds at how uber it will be when its done...my guess is he's 12, bought an account and a couple hundred plat, and has two hundred dollars left over from his X-mas cash influx to upgrade his laptop in the meantime while his dad has a top of the line rig built for him, probably a custom job from Alienware (BTW, I hate it when people respond to posts without reading them).
Anyhow, to each his own, Gegs, I'd guess your problem has to do with overheating of your processor. From what I gather laptop processors have some means of self regulation when they overheat (i.e. if they get too hot they don't operate at 100% efficiency) and overheating is the main enemy of laptop gaming. Might try buying a cooling pad of some sort - Antec is a good company.
I'm considering getting a new laptop myself, Sager (
www.sagernotebooks.com) makes some pretty nice gaming oriented notebooks at fairly reasonable prices - dad can buy you one for your birthday. I crack myself up, anyhow, I don't know much about notebooks, but yes, for under $200, more RAM and a cooling device of some sort are your best options.
*Bad link
Edited, Wed Jan 4 21:00:32 2006 by Blacktharne