Joining the PC Master Race... recommendations?

[FinalHeart95]

So I'm going off to college and need a laptop. My parents and I made a deal a few years back that if I kept my grades to a certain standard then they'd get me something real nice, so money won't be too much of a problem here. The main thing is that it has to be a laptop, so, unfortunately, I can't really get a custom make.
Regardless, are there certain components I should look for in a gaming laptop? In particular I'm interested in graphics cards, since I'm the least informed with them.
Thanks for the help!

 

[synobal]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

 

[sanquin]

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

 

[Antari]

Synobal has the right idea, setup a decent gaming rig and use a tablet or something light for portable computing. Packing power into a tiny space produces more heat and kills components faster. If you get a gaming laptop, don't spend much, it won't be around too long.

 

[FinalHeart95]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

I can't get a desktop, unfortunately. I probably won't be able to fit one on the desk in my dorm. Believe me though, I'd much prefer one.

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TravelMate-TMP643-V-6812-14-Notebook/dp/B008XG28FI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368669169&sr=1-2&keywords=acer+travelmate+laptop
Something along those lines?

 

[synobal]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

I can't get a desktop, unfortunately. I probably won't be able to fit one on the desk in my dorm. Believe me though, I'd much prefer one.

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TravelMate-TMP643-V-6812-14-Notebook/dp/B008XG28FI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368669169&sr=1-2&keywords=acer+travelmate+laptop
Something along those lines?

Just how big do you think desktops are? also they can be set on the floor, I mean it really isn't that big a deal. You can get some relatively small gaming desktops.

 

[FinalHeart95]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

I can't get a desktop, unfortunately. I probably won't be able to fit one on the desk in my dorm. Believe me though, I'd much prefer one.

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TravelMate-TMP643-V-6812-14-Notebook/dp/B008XG28FI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368669169&sr=1-2&keywords=acer+travelmate+laptop
Something along those lines?

Just how big do you think desktops are? also they can be set on the floor, I mean it really isn't that big a deal. You can get some relatively small gaming desktops.

I guess I didn't really consider putting it on the floor, but yeah, the desks in the dorms are pretty small especially once books and stuff are put on it.
Idk, say I were to look into a desktop. What should I look for in that case?

 

[ResonanceSD]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

I can't get a desktop, unfortunately. I probably won't be able to fit one on the desk in my dorm. Believe me though, I'd much prefer one.

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TravelMate-TMP643-V-6812-14-Notebook/dp/B008XG28FI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368669169&sr=1-2&keywords=acer+travelmate+laptop
Something along those lines?

Just how big do you think desktops are? also they can be set on the floor, I mean it really isn't that big a deal. You can get some relatively small gaming desktops.

I guess I didn't really consider putting it on the floor, but yeah, the desks in the dorms are pretty small especially once books and stuff are put on it.
Idk, say I were to look into a desktop. What should I look for in that case?

A mini-ITX gaming setup, given that you'll have almost no room for it.

 

[synobal]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

I can't get a desktop, unfortunately. I probably won't be able to fit one on the desk in my dorm. Believe me though, I'd much prefer one.

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TravelMate-TMP643-V-6812-14-Notebook/dp/B008XG28FI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368669169&sr=1-2&keywords=acer+travelmate+laptop
Something along those lines?

Just how big do you think desktops are? also they can be set on the floor, I mean it really isn't that big a deal. You can get some relatively small gaming desktops.

I guess I didn't really consider putting it on the floor, but yeah, the desks in the dorms are pretty small especially once books and stuff are put on it.
Idk, say I were to look into a desktop. What should I look for in that case?

A mini-ITX gaming setup, given that you'll have almost no room for it.

no don't go mini-ITX, Micro-ATX is all you need.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Laptops are not ideal for gaming, and gaming laptops are exceptionally heavy and make for poor mobile devices. I loathed carrying around my laptop. Get a proper gaming desktop and then get something light and you don't mind carrying around for a mobile device. Seriously laptops are bad news.

I can't get a desktop, unfortunately. I probably won't be able to fit one on the desk in my dorm. Believe me though, I'd much prefer one.

I've loved my Acer Travelmate so far. It's maybe not the 'best' choice, but I personally like it a lot. Good battery lifespan when not gaming, good performance when gaming. And not that expensive for what you get. Plus, having a non-reflective screen helps a lot in classrooms and such. You can get one that runs...probably all games that are out atm for around 1000 dollars. You might not be able to play them on high/ultra settings, but still.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TravelMate-TMP643-V-6812-14-Notebook/dp/B008XG28FI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368669169&sr=1-2&keywords=acer+travelmate+laptop
Something along those lines?

Just how big do you think desktops are? also they can be set on the floor, I mean it really isn't that big a deal. You can get some relatively small gaming desktops.

I guess I didn't really consider putting it on the floor, but yeah, the desks in the dorms are pretty small especially once books and stuff are put on it.
Idk, say I were to look into a desktop. What should I look for in that case?

A mini-ITX gaming setup, given that you'll have almost no room for it.

no don't go mini-ITX, Micro-ATX is all you need.

lol why? Mini ITX gets you the Bitfenix Prodigy

 

[ResonanceSD]

Lol I wondered when the kneejerk "AVOID ALIENWARE" would pop up.

OP, this just released

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/AMD-Radeon-8970M-MSI-GX70,22576.html#xtor=RSS-999

Defs worth looking at laptops with it.

 

[ThreeName]

lol why? Mini ITX gets you the Bitfenix Prodigy

I vouch for this. My first solo build was in one of these babies, and it's great.

snip

Otherwise, if you want proper small and premade, look at this baby;

http://www.falcon-nw.com//desktops/fragbox

You could also look at the Tiki if space is still an issue. I'd say get a 660Ti for price to performance, but the 670 is also pretty sexy.

 

[Iron_Man_977]

If money isn't an issue I'd suggest an alienware. Their desktops are overpriced and building one is just a better experience, but for a laptop their selection is quite nice. their lowest end model can run just cause 2 at max settings last time I checked.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Lol I wondered when the kneejerk "AVOID ALIENWARE" would pop up.

OP, this just released

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/AMD-Radeon-8970M-MSI-GX70,22576.html#xtor=RSS-999

Defs worth looking at laptops with it.

Those are some rather decent numbers... Is there a comparison available for games with PhysX enabled? More and more games are taking advantage of it so you should factor that in as well as sheer power (Unless you are Jeremy Clarkson!)

No one fucking needs PhysX, it's an absolute waste of time, given that like, 8 games use it (barely). All it does for Nvidia is allow them to say "LOOK, PHYSICS!"

 

[ResonanceSD]

Lol I wondered when the kneejerk "AVOID ALIENWARE" would pop up.

OP, this just released

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/AMD-Radeon-8970M-MSI-GX70,22576.html#xtor=RSS-999

Defs worth looking at laptops with it.

Those are some rather decent numbers... Is there a comparison available for games with PhysX enabled? More and more games are taking advantage of it so you should factor that in as well as sheer power (Unless you are Jeremy Clarkson!)

No one fucking needs PhysX, it's an absolute waste of time, given that like, 8 games use it (barely). All it does for Nvidia is allow them to say "LOOK, PHYSICS!"

Actually; there are a few more than 8 games that use it according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_hardware-accelerated_PhysX_support including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Borderlands 2, Hawken, Metro: Last Light, Mirror's Edge, Dark Void, Warframe, Mafia II and the upcoming ARMA III. As more games simulate physics they save development time by using an existing technology for it rather than coding their own physics engine, meaning that they have more time to make a better game

I know it's more than 8, the point is that most of those games use PhysX in no significant area. As such, it's not a defining factor on whether to purchase a card or not.

Also Havok, gg.

 

[Elijin]

Step 1: Dont call yourself the master race, it makes you obnoxious <3

Step 2: Disregard anyone who says dont get a laptop, just get a desktop. They dont know your life and priorities, and gaming laptops function just fine. I've been running on gaming laptops for like 7 years now because of how mobile I tend to be, and how inconvenient a desk would be in my living space. Different things work for different people, so those who say 'Nope, just get a desktop' are being dicks and limiting your choices.

Just keep in mind that there are valid issues. The do tend to be a bit on the weighty side for a laptop (though not as unreasonably as some people here seem to be implying. Are your arms made of twigs?) Just get a good backpack/bag. Because I can see how using a traditional laptop bag would make them unweildy as hell. But look around for backpack/laptop case combos, they're great and useful for so many things.

Heating can be an issue. But then it comes down to care. So long as you're aware of the heating issues, and keep it well ventilated and dont be silly (Using it on beds, pillows, etc where the material will block the airflow) You should get a decent life.

The biggest issue is replacing parts. Its a butt to do if needed, and you pretty much only do it if something fails, not to upgrade. So if you're going laptop, be prepared to buy an entirely new one every 3-4 years (depending on how much the need to stay cutting edge affects you, in which case if it does, why are you buying a laptop?)

As for the individual tech recommendations, I'll leave those for someone more versed, because I havent looked at the market recently, so my data is old and useless.