Which is more important?

[PureSnipe]

I'd still recommend to get a desktop over a laptop if you want all-out performance. I'm running dual hardware overclocked nVidia 7950 GTs cards, with an AMD 6800+ X2 processor, solid state harddrive, and 4 gigs corsair dominator ram, DDR2, OC'd to the specs of DDR3. I'm able to run basically anything on maxed graphics without the slightest hiccup. All-in-all, go with buying a high-end CPU, for you can designate some of the graphical rendering to be handled by the CPU, yet you can't tell the game's processing to be done by the GPU.

[nosisab]

The most advanced video cards does have power requirements that may be beyond the laptop capacity or be a severely crippled version.

 

The correct answer was already given. it goes like this: The chain is just as strong as it's weakest ring.

 

And the reason some games will play better on certain build or another is directly related to it's graphics demands AND/OR it's CPU demands. Even with Oblivion this can be noted when in areas crowded by NPCs running alot of scripts. Simulators are examples of CPU power consuming applications, and if it have high graphical requirement as well... well...

 

Modern video cards are implementing heavy parallel calculus capacities. Nvidia with the CUDA (based on the Ageia PhysX) and AMD (ATI) with the IBM's Havok engine. And the near future, albeit uncertain, points to SLI/Crossfire configurations, not only because the graphics, but because the calculation too.

 

PS: In simpler words games like Sim city or civilization will thanks CPU better. Those ones that values the visual above gaming will do better with a bigger VC. Those that do both will need both.

 

Crysis is a good example of a game that benefits from both, because of it's complex physics and scripting and stunning graphics. Would Crysis have so crowded areas as Oblivion and it would be almost unplayable on all but the most high-end rigs.

[AlmostWhatIWant]

Smaller resolutions rely more heavily on CPU than GPU. The larger the resolution and the more AA or other enhancements the more GPU intensive the application will become.

[Thor.]

Now that i have my phenom all worked out, i would have to say both processor and video card are important. There is a possibility of bogging your video card down with a lower clocked cpu, like my old 2.8ghz cpu had horrable lagg times when loading distant texture in fall out 3 and those explosions where a killer to, even though i had 2 9800gtx's, my cpu would have to catch up so to speak. This is with all the sliders at max and with a few texture mods, now everything runs very smoothly with out a single problem, no lagg or frame drops ever.

 

Even in Crysis im now getting around 40fps, and thats amazing.