Gaming/Spec'd Laptop: Recommendations?

[MrTwilliger]

So it's time for another one of these threads, eh? As the topic suggest it's that time again where I decide to upgrade my computer equipment. My desktop is bordering on 5-6 years old now and par a few little upgrades (RAM, GPU) I have let it fall far behind standards. So I decided I'll just plain out replace it for my 21st birthday (in just under 2 months). I decided I'd replace it with a laptop as opposed to building my own system as the mobility is sort of required and I plan on hooking up my monitor and keyboard/mouse up to the laptop when at home.

So basically, I have no idea on what specs are seen as "good" now days. I really gave up on staying in touch with what new components are being made and realised and it's basically come back to bite me in the ass. I don't really know what most current games need to run well (or very well for that matter) and I don't really have a great idea of comparison between devices. As such I need a bit of advice as to what to aim for, the kind of specs I'd be looking to run new games on max etc. I'm also looking to future proof myself a bit as well, as you can't really upgrade a laptop and I probably wouldn't even if I could.

I don't really have a formal budget either. I don't really know how much I should be spending, but I don't want to spend anything under $1000 on it. I want to make sure it will last me a fair while as I've managed to come into a bit of money and may not have it in the future. With that said I wouldn't want to spend over $3000 or so on it, as it would seem a bit crazy to do so. But as a rough aim I guess I'm looking to spend anywhere between $1000 and $3000.

Oh and a final requirement: it must have either windows 7 professional or Ultimate. It can't have Home edition. I'd also like it to look nice as well, although that's the last of my priorities atm.

So if anyone would love to give me a bit of an idea of what to aim for or even a few model/examples that they think would be sufficient I'd really appreciate it. I've still got 2 months before I'm going to buy it, but if there's a good special/offer on a model I may even think about getting it now. Thanks to anyone who has some insight to offer

I know there are a lot of computer threads that have been made recently and I had a check out of most of them before creating this topic, but sadly the ones I have seen are all threads on gaming desktop computers as opposed to laptops. Hence yet the need for another thread, apologies -.-

[Gaigemasta]

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalio ... ing_Laptop



/thread

price range is in the middle of what you want AND it gives some room for downgrading and upgrading, good luck

its home premium by default, but you can change that, but I dont see why you need to upgrade bro, they do the same thing really, play your games

[Love]

buy both things, gg.

[Stress]

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_X8100-U3_Gaming_Laptop

FFS. Can anything get more useless than that? Jeez.

The whole concept of 'gaming laptop' makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Let me explain why I think this is so.

First of all, screen size. Who would want to game on a 17" screen? It's uncomfortable and dumb. Also, ergonomically, gaming on a laptop just can't be right. Would you not rather game on a 24" screen?

Secondly, the specs. You can't really get high specs on a laptop. The best quad-core i7 processors available for laptops are nowhere near as good as the high-end desktop processors. Very few laptops allow for more than 8 GB of RAM (the ThinkPad W series support 16GB, as do some HP EliteBooks). The video cards aren't as strong as desktop video cards as well.

Another thing I would like to say is that, in my opinion, gaming on a laptop defies the purpose of the laptop itself. A laptop is made for mobility, lightweight on-the-go working, good portability, etc. Because of this, I find laptops with 17" or larger screens utterly useless. 14" is a great size for a laptop screen, and you can't game on 14" of screen. Also, ideally, laptops should weigh as little as possible.

Now then, what's the point of having a bulky, 8 pound heavy, 17" gaming laptop?!
You can't do anything with it properly. You can't game nearly as well as you can on a PC, and you can't carry it around as easily as you would, if you had a truly useful, small, slim, laptop.

My advice is: Don't get a gaming laptop. Buy a decent gaming PC and, if you really want, a small, lightweight laptop too. I can recommend a gaming PC build, if you want, as well as some good laptops.

If you still insist on getting a gaming laptop, I can't help you out with that, really. I don't really know much about gaming laptops, because I find them a waste of money.

[MrTwilliger]

As mentioned previously Stress, I will be using the laptop like a normal "desktop" computer when at home. It will be connected to my current monitor and keyboard/mouse, so when I wish to have a heavy gaming session it will function in the exact same way that a normal desktop computer will.

Yet despite this I will be using it for the mobility aspects quite regularly. I travel around a lot. With my new job coming up I will be on trains for 3-4 hours every single day. Now normally I spend my train trips reading/listening to my ipod, but I've always dreamed of the concept of having a decent laptop to take with me. More than likely it will be infeasible for me to game on a train, sure, but I still wish to have a decently spec'd laptop to do whatever else I wish to accomplish while I travel. Not to mention that it's a lot easier to carry around a laptop to mates houses and set up for LAN's than carrying around my whole computer.

As far as the spec issues are concerned, sure you may not get the *best* results. but compared to what I'm running it would be godlike. I have an old AMD x64 2.0 GHz processor, 2 gig DDR RAM [yes, DDR] and a NVidea 9500. Hell, even a 'lesser' i7 would give me unrivalled performance compared to what I'm running atm.

The whole idea isn't to have the most ideal machine in the world, but rather to have a device that is capable of both mobility yet still able to perform the tasks I wish it to accomplish. Everyone has their own requirements, right? Every person has different needs and lifestyles, hence why the product market is so defined. My needs equate for a machine with a high level of functionality and mobility, hence the need for a 'gaming laptop' (though spec'd laptop makes much more sense as it will be used for much more than just gaming). The thread isn't meant to be a justification of my needs, rather a request for advice on an aspect of current technology that I lack information on.

[Gaigemasta]

I dont see why your QQing stress, gaming laptops add portability that no desktop can, a 18.4" screen isn't bad. The i7 is probably better than most processors people have on SRF with sli 5870s, they aren't the real deal but they can still easy pull 60 fps on any game today, so yah, its useful, price may not be the best, but thats what u pay for portability

[Stress]

I'm sorry, I don't mean to flame anyone. It just ended up sounding like that, I'm sorry.

Spec'd laptop is a completely different thing, though.

IMO, you can get a great desktop and a decently spec'd laptop for the price you pay for a powerful gaming laptop.

I, for one, would buy some i5, GTX460 (or even GTX480), 8 GB RAM desktop system and either a ThinkPad X series, a T900 Lifebook or a 12" HP EliteBook, if my budget would go up to a possible $3000.

I've searched a little bit. Spec'd laptops rarely come with a graphics card that is adequate for gaming. The Alienware and the laptop Gaige posted are two exceptions, I guess. Alienwares are built exclusively for gaming, that's all there is to it.

Most, if not all, high-end laptops have nVidia Quadro graphics, not gaming GPU's. Look at the Dell Studio line, HP Elitebooks, ThinkPad W series. Doesn't this fact raise a couple of questions?

If 'gaming laptops' were that feasible and useful, why is almost nobody making them, in the high-end field? Alienwares are the only real exception, I've never used an Alienware, so I can't tell you how good or bad it is.

If you analyze the situation thoroughly, you will find that buying two rock-solid machines that adequatly fulfill their purposes is much better than buying a single, bulky, possibly unreliable laptop.

Oh well, if you need to frequently join LAN parties, you're probably better off with a single high-spec'd laptop, because, indeed, desktops are harder to carry around.

However, good luck finding a high-quality name-brand, reliable gaming laptop, which you could use for many years to come.

The Alienware might be what you're looking for. The M15x look all right, I guess.

[Mage Pker]

Alienware used to be a great company until they were bought out by Dell.
Now it takes anywhere from 3-4+ weeks to build and ship your computer when it used to be 1-2 weeks unless you buy one of the "Quick to ship" Rigs.

Still, the specs on the laptops and desktops offered by Alienware are unbeatable imo unless you can build your own laptop from scratch. Even though they're fairly expensive i can guarantee you that you won't need a laptop or desktop for a few years if you spent money on a good Alienware rig... Especially when they win awards for best desktop and best laptop awards yearly.

The M15X boasts the following specs: Upto an Intel® CoreTM i7 940XM quad core, Upto 8GB of ram, Upto a 1.5GB nVidia GeForce GPU, a 500GB HD.. Not to mention they're sexy as hell.

Only problem is i have no clue how they keep these laptops cool >_<

[Stress]

Alienware systems are only good as far as gaming systems are concerned. For anything else, there are many other better things to be had.

[MrTwilliger]

I had a look at the Mx15 laptop at Alienware and did a little bit of customising. So below I've come up with a few questions/issues that I don't really know too much about. The main issues arise with the GPU choice and the processor choice.

Tech Specs

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor (1.73GHz, 4Core/8Threads, turbo boost up to 2.93Ghz, 6M cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64bit (English)
MEMORY: 8GB (4GBx2) 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE: Slot Load 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability
VIDEO CARD: 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M
BATTERIES: 6-cell Primary Battery

For the video card I simply picked the most expensive option. I wasn't too sure of what price/performance that they offer, so here's where I need a bit of help. There's 3 choices for the GPU as follows;

1GB DDR3 ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5730 [Included in Price]
1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5850 [add $49.50]
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M [add $149.60]

If anyone knows anything about it, what card would be the best option to pick? Truth be told I just have no idea what I'm meant to be looking at and don't really have any benchmarks to compare to.

The processor had the same issues as well. I simply left the processor as is, thinking that it wouldn't really be the source of any bottlenecking in the system, but I still thought I should ask none the less. The choices are as follows;

Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor (1.73GHz, 4Core/8Threads, turbo boost up to 2.93Ghz, 6M cache) [Included in Price]
Intel® Core™ i7-840QM Processor (1.86GHz, 4Core/8Threads, turbo boost up to 3.2Ghz, 8M cache) [add $425.70]
Intel® Core™ i7-940XM Processor (2.13GHz, 4Core/8Threads, turbo boost up to 3.33Ghz, 8M cache) [add $1,225.40]

The last option will be ruled out as it really does blow my budget out, but the second option would still remain inside of it. But to be honest I really have no idea about the performance of the two chips and what real difference it would make, especially considering the $400 price difference. Again any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kontroversy]

ATI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834220808

Nvidia: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834220845

/thread

[dom]

Two things I don't like about "portable gaming":

The bigger the screen, the less comfortable it will be to game. (FPS with a 17 inch on the train? Use your chest like a mousepad.) Yet the smaller the screen, the less it's worth gaming.

The other problem is power. Anything with a decent integrated card, dedicated card, or big screen, will suck your battery dry like a Thai hooker. Not only that but it will melt whatever it is placed on.

Sure, you can argue "oh but I'll plug it in" or "I'm going to use a monitor" - but then what's the point?

I would get a tablet (iPad, android, or otherwise) with 3G so you can stream Netflix, check emails, and play angry birds-like games.

If this doesn't suit you, I don't really think it's portability that you're after.

[Stress]

I wouldn't pay the extra $400 for the CPU upgrade. I'd rather invest $140 in the strongest available graphics card. Because, after all, the games are not THAT CPU intensive, and you can live with two less megabytes of cache, and a slightly smaller clock frequency. 8 GB of RAM is allright, and you don't need anything more than Windows 7 Professional.

If the option for a 9 cell battery exists, I'd get that too. I have a 9 cell on my ThinkPad T510, and even though it's pretty bulky and it sticks outside the laptop's main body, it gives me 6 hours of battery life, which is wonderful. Gaming laptops will certainly require a lot of power, so get a 9 cell, if possible.

[Mage Pker]

Unfortunately if i remember correctly the battery on the alienware laptop is an 8 cell lithium battery which is better then most laptops although with all the things you want from this laptop, would still suck your battery dry within an hour.

[Azilius]

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=bplbQOy6w8myYSq5

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=8je5Ot4HBnKOdT81

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=WzU7IKA6SWdBvaRd

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=wGROClu9UevFOGKS



avoid overpriced alienware.

[Amarisa]

Two things I don't like about "portable gaming":

The bigger the screen, the less comfortable it will be to game. (FPS with a 17 inch on the train? Use your chest like a mousepad.) Yet the smaller the screen, the less it's worth gaming.

The other problem is power. Anything with a decent integrated card, dedicated card, or big screen, will suck your battery dry like a Thai hooker. Not only that but it will melt whatever it is placed on.

Sure, you can argue "oh but I'll plug it in" or "I'm going to use a monitor" - but then what's the point?

I would get a tablet (iPad, android, or otherwise) with 3G so you can stream Netflix, check emails, and play angry birds-like games.

If this doesn't suit you, I don't really think it's portability that you're after.

or a netbook. then you could have it sit in your lap other then holding it.