Author Topic: help me choose my gaming laptop (Read 1206 times)

Nyking754 · « **on:** May 21, 2012, 03:26:53 AM »

i want it to be really high end
willing to pay up to 3000 usd for it but try to keep it at or below 2000 and dont just tell me to buy an alienware
i want it to be able to play guild wars 2 and final fantasy 14 on max settings and of course watch lots of anime
cpu- intel i7
gpu- described when i listed that i want to be able to play guild wars 2 and final fantasy 14 on max settings
harddrive- hdd+ssd boot drive with an overall space of 500GB or more and 64GB or more on the ssd
size- prefer durability, better cooling, and larger screen size over size and weight (also i want the case to be easy to clean)
screen- the larger the better and at 1080 res or higher also i like it when its bright
memory- at least 8GB
also really good cooling

i will also be buying a laptop cooling pad, speaker (preferably bose), gaming controller, external hard drive (2TB), and a gaming mouse (thinking about the razor death adder) so finding a bundle/combo deal that would help me save some money on those would help

overall- i want a laptop that would rival the specs of a gaming desktop at the cost of size, weight, and my money lol :) while maintaining some portability since it will sit at home most of the time except at a LAN party

kitamesume · « **Reply #1 on:** May 21, 2012, 04:59:33 AM »

gaming laptop... bah other than alienware your hope would be searching through other brands like asus.

tbh you dont really need to spend more than 1000$ to get a pretty sleak gaming laptop, depending on what resolution and settings you'd want to play on tho.

@ 1360x768 - high settings you only need an i5 + GT650m kit.

(click to show/hide)

Saras · « **Reply #2 on:** May 21, 2012, 08:25:22 AM »

American I take it?

If so, go with Sager. They seem to be getting a lot of praise.
http://www.sagernotebook.com/

You could get the 15.6 inch one, the NP9150 with 1080 glossy, Ati 7970m, i7-3720, 12gigs of ram, and an extra 80gig SSD for 2 grand USD.

Wish I got them here, the best gaming laptop in the ~1500 USD range I can get is the XPS 17

As for general gaming laptops go take a look at xoticpc.com you'll find something in your price range.

Nyking754 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 21, 2012, 01:21:32 PM »

Quote from: kitamesume on May 21, 2012, 04:59:33 AM

gaming laptop... bah other than alienware your hope would be searching through other brands like asus.

tbh you dont really need to spend more than 1000$ to get a pretty sleak gaming laptop, depending on what resolution and settings you'd want to play on tho.

@ 1360x768 - high settings you only need an i5 + GT650m kit.

(click to show/hide)
why a laptop tho... kinda a waste of money if you'd end up using it as a stationary rig.

btw, gaming @ insane settings + portability =! entirely possible, unless you'd want to shell out like 5000$ for tweaks tho.
problems are:
heat
battery capacity(aka duration of power-on while on batteries)
price
~~thiefs~~

i move around pretty often and i like the portability for things like playing games on my bed and going to the bathroom with it :)
btw im not really looking for gaming at insane setting, just really good specs for a laptop. i just want to play those two games (doesnt really have to be max settings) and maybe any new games that come out in a year or two

kitamesume · « **Reply #4 on:** May 21, 2012, 02:01:26 PM »

^ going by desktop standards, and since laptop screens hardly goes bigger than 16" then running the game at 1360x768 res which is pretty much the native of desktop 16" screens wont lose you much details.
checking desktop vid cards that works well @ 720p res would be GTX550ti and HD6670, their equals would be GTX660m and HD7770m.
as for the processors, the i3-2100 paired up with either of the previously mentioned vid cards can play games @ 720p high settings flawlessly, looking at it's equivalent would be the i5-2520m.

now onto products with the listed specs or near them:
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G55VW/#specifications
http://originpc.com/eon15-s-gaming-laptop-features.asp
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4177#sp

now all you need to do is find out how to buy them =P

Saras · « **Reply #5 on:** May 21, 2012, 02:22:16 PM »

Well, according to my google-fu

The 650 should play on medium-high and the 675m should max out both maybe a bit of stutter in towns with the 7970 giving headroom to spare.

Quote from: kitamesume on May 21, 2012, 02:01:26 PM

^ going by desktop standards, and since laptop screens hardly goes bigger than 16" then running the game at 1360x768 res which is pretty much the native of desktop 16" screens wont lose you much details.

wat

Can you even get 17.3 inch laptops with a lower res than 1600x900? And 1360x768 is a shit grade screen for laptops.

Goddamnit, the three laptops you gave yourself have native displays at 1080p.

kitamesume · « **Reply #6 on:** May 21, 2012, 02:43:36 PM »

did you just misread what i said? i said desktop monitor screens at 16" usually has 1360x768 as their native res, that would mean running a game @ that res on a laptop with less than 16" wont be as horrible as you think

.

Quote from: kitamesume on May 21, 2012, 02:01:26 PM

^ going by desktop standards, and since laptop screens hardly goes bigger than 16" then running the game at 1360x768 res which is pretty much the native of desktop 16" screens wont lose you much details.

Saras · « **Reply #7 on:** May 21, 2012, 02:51:16 PM »

Guess I did, horribly horribly so and now I feel like an idiot.

Anyway, yes. I agree. If you just want something that looks good enough an i5 with 650m should suffice. However, your budget is easily large enough to get something to max them out. Without going with alienware.

kitamesume · « **Reply #8 on:** May 21, 2012, 02:58:54 PM »

oh yea, this makes me wonder why there aint any desktop monitors with more pixel density(higher res at lower physical screen size).

21.5" with 2560x1440 would be sweet.

ASecondChance · « **Reply #9 on:** May 23, 2012, 01:58:02 AM »

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G75VW/#overview

cant go wrong with any asus though

metro. · « **Reply #10 on:** May 23, 2012, 02:22:23 AM »

I haven't read any of the other posts, but a gaming laptop?
Lol. That's cute.

Nyking754 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 24, 2012, 01:18:40 AM »

i looked at sager and it seemed to be really good
was able to make a laptop with really nice specs and a 17" screen
only problem is if the case is cleanable and if the website is reliable

Saras · « **Reply #12 on:** May 24, 2012, 04:57:48 AM »

Don't have one myself, but I heard a lot of people praising them and Sager/Clevo reviews seem to always score well above the acceptable range. Though, as I understand it most get their's via xoticpc.

NeonFlame · « **Reply #13 on:** May 24, 2012, 07:09:02 PM »

I've heard good things about Sager too. I know someone who has one, it's been faithful and lasted really well.

I had an Asus for a few years (well I still have it but it's out of date so I don't use it anymore) It was a decent machine, the nice thing about Asus is that they give you a 2 year warranty where most other places only give you a 1 year warranty.

Are you basically looking for a portable desktop for said "gaming rig"? Or are you going to want to do other things with this thing.. like say be able to run for more than 45 minutes without being plugged in (when you aren't gaming of course). Because that's the biggest problem with a laptop with a 17 inch screen.. you aren't going to get much battery life even if you have all of the settings turned down really low.

Of course, if the ONLY thing you're doing with this is gaming, and you plan on always being plugged into a wall, battery life isn't really going to matter..

Saras · « **Reply #14 on:** May 24, 2012, 07:33:57 PM »

Quote from: NeonFlame on May 24, 2012, 07:09:02 PM

I've heard good things about Sager too. I know someone who has one, it's been faithful and lasted really well.

I had an Asus for a few years (well I still have it but it's out of date so I don't use it anymore) It was a decent machine, the nice thing about Asus is that they give you a 2 year warranty where most other places only give you a 1 year warranty.

Are you basically looking for a portable desktop for said "gaming rig"? Or are you going to want to do other things with this thing.. like say be able to run for more than 45 minutes without being plugged in (when you aren't gaming of course). Because that's the biggest problem with a laptop with a 17 inch screen.. you aren't going to get much battery life even if you have all of the settings turned down really low.

Of course, if the ONLY thing you're doing with this is gaming, and you plan on always being plugged into a wall, battery life isn't really going to matter..

That is no longer true. Due to integrated graphics, most modern 17 inch laptops can offer around or over 3 hours of functional work. If you intend to game it will go back down to 45 minutes.

NeonFlame · « **Reply #15 on:** May 24, 2012, 07:41:59 PM »

3 hours.. not bad. I'm still surprised, considering the size of the screen and the fact that you have to keep it lit up. But still, if battery life is something you're going to care about you're going to be able to get much better battery life with a smaller screen.

Like, i've got a 14 inch that gets like 8 hours when only using the integrated graphics and balanced settings otherwise. I just thought battery life might be something important to consider when buying a laptop. Heh.

metro. · « **Reply #16 on:** May 24, 2012, 09:10:55 PM »

If you're just going to plug it in why not get a desktop and invest in a netbook for those rare-moments you actually need a laptop?

Maybe I'm just stupid, who knows.

NeonFlame · « **Reply #17 on:** May 24, 2012, 09:49:10 PM »

... you probably could get both of those things for cheaper than you'd be spending on a gaming laptop interestingly enough. And the desktop would play games better than the top of the line laptop ever could. And be way cheaper.

metro. · « **Reply #18 on:** May 24, 2012, 10:08:25 PM »

Quote from: NeonFlame on May 24, 2012, 09:49:10 PM

... you probably could get both of those things for cheaper than you'd be spending on a gaming laptop interestingly enough. And the desktop would play games better than the top of the line laptop ever could. And be way cheaper.

My point.

Also, it's easier to add to a desktop, it's not cost effective to add to a laptop.

Freedom Kira · « **Reply #19 on:** May 25, 2012, 02:43:27 AM »

Quote from: Saras on May 24, 2012, 07:33:57 PM

That is no longer true. Due to integrated graphics, most modern 17 inch laptops can offer around or over 3 hours of functional work. If you intend to game it will go back down to 45 minutes.

How modern is modern? My old 17" Core 2 Duo P8400 with Radeon graphics (i.e. not integrated), which I got shortly after the Penryn line was released, can last a little over three hours. I haven't used the battery for years though - it's sitting in my fridge.