Joining the PC Master Race... recommendations?

[mrhateful]

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!

My suggestion to you is DONT please dont, I fell into the same trap as you when i went to uni and I spent the first year carrying a very heavy gaming laptop from class to class. Instead get a good PC and buy a very light almost no graphics laptop you will be 10 times happier with that.

Gaming laptops all share these problems

They run hot(if not they are loud from their coolers)
They cant be upgraded
They are extremely expensive
They are still worse than a PC
They are heavy(making them annoying to carry around)

 

[ResonanceSD]

Which one would you rather play, the one with PhysX on or with PhysX off?

Champ, you can run basic physx off the cpu. You don't need an NVidia card, that's not the issue. The point is that because it's become proprietary tech, most devs don't bother with it. Tearable cloth? Whoop de fucking do.

 

[Pinkamena]

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.

Alienware has a nasty (and justified) reputation of being all show, and no quality. Their products are notorious for breaking quickly.

 

[FalloutJack]

I have some personal advice, actually. Just don't become a jerk over it. This PC/Console war bullshit is pointless and everyone knows it because they both have points over each other.

 

[porous_shield]

Before you decide on what kind of laptop to get, decide on what you'll be doing with it. If you're going to be bringing it to each class and lugging it around with you everywhere than you'd be better off with something a little thinner and lighter than a desktop replacement, if you don't plan on bringing it absolutely everywhere with you than a desktop replacement is fine.

I had a desktop replacement in college and I was happy with it because it didn't go very far from my room but I could still easily bring it to wherever I needed to go without trouble. It would have been a hassle to bring it to each of my classes though.

For those of telling him to get a desktop, do you realize how small dorm desks are? With a keyboard, monitor, mouse on the desk a student stills needs to somewhere to get their work done. Sure you can move it but who wants to move all that crap when a laptop is so much more mobile and hassle free?

A friend of mine is in the market for a gaming laptop and they've been looking at the Lenovo Ideapad Y500 because he said it had dual GPUs (one in the SLI) but I don't see a model with that option listed, and even without it listed, it's an expensive computer.

 

[The-Traveling-Bard]

Get the ASUS VG248E pc monitor.

The 144hz is useless. (Since you won't notice a difference past 99hz.) but it as a 1ms response time which is just hands down game breaking, meaning it gives you such a huge advantage over competitive games and it just over all looks better and more fluent.

The average ms is around 3-4 these days.

The good monitors have 2ms

The VG248 has 1ms.

Besides the screen is only 300 dollars on amazon which for the amount of power you get for 300 dollars is amazing since the monitor is pretty much future proof.

EDIT!

If you can't afford that monitor try getting a ASUS VE248H.

It's a 120hz with a 2ms. It's also only a 189 dollars on amazon.


These are the two best monitors you can possibly get on the market that I am aware of right now.

 

[PanYue]

I'm just gonna go a bit off topic here, sorry. But I gotta say something. Wouldn't the master race be a hybrid of the console and PC Gamers? Like someone who does both and knows all about both sides and owns all of both? Cause then they'd be on two different sides and know both. Wouldn't that make them the master?

 

[Strelok]

Spoiler

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.

Spoiler

Before you decide on what kind of laptop to get, decide on what you'll be doing with it. If you're going to be bringing it to each class and lugging it around with you everywhere than you'd be better off with something a little thinner and lighter than a desktop replacement, if you don't plan on bringing it absolutely everywhere with you than a desktop replacement is fine.

I had a desktop replacement in college and I was happy with it because it didn't go very far from my room but I could still easily bring it to wherever I needed to go without trouble. It would have been a hassle to bring it to each of my classes though.

For those of telling him to get a desktop, do you realize how small dorm desks are? With a keyboard, monitor, mouse on the desk a student stills needs to somewhere to get their work done. Sure you can move it but who wants to move all that crap when a laptop is so much more mobile and hassle free?

A friend of mine is in the market for a gaming laptop and they've been looking at the Y500 because he said it had dual GPUs (one in the SLI) but I don't see a model with that option listed, and even without it listed, it's an expensive computer.

Wow it stinks of 2005 in here, but amongst the drivel and outdated nonsense you can find two nuggets of truth, see above, I mean seriously Nvidia vs AMD over PhysX? Fanbois, serious business. Personally I went Nvidia, as I love PhysX, should see it on Metro: Last Light, beautiful. If you need mobility that is what you should look for, most colleges and universities allow you to take notebook/tablets in to class. For some courses it can be a requirement especially in technology field. Why not have something you can game on, Crysis on Ultra in a coffee shop? Why not?

I carried a Sager gaming laptop for my final year of Computer Systems Technology, any guesses who they came to when we needed to run several virtual machines at the same time? Sure they are heavy, so get a good notebook case, a comfortable shoulder strap is a must. Notebook performance has greatly increased over the past few years, unfortunately the prices have not dropped significantly yet as gaming notebooks are a niche market, at least for now. Things will change as the general public is moving away from desktops in favor of mobility.

You would likely be better off going to a place that would have better knowledge of the subject than The Escapist. Go here and post in the "which notebook should I buy?" section. They can help you find one that best suits your budget and needs, they are also some some very knowledgeable notebook gamers and enthusiasts.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/

Personally I would suggest Alienware, they are nice systems and they have great support, you can also get financing which would be good for those on a budget. As a former Dell employee I can tell you that they do not often require support, but they are still electronics and lemons happen, just know the rule, three times with the same issue most companies will replace a system. Sager/Clevo I would avoid, they are really nice systems, and a better price than Alienware, but the build quality is pretty poor. ASUS and MSi make some nice ones as well, Toshiba makes a mid range gaming notebook as well, under the Qosimo line, very nice systems and affordable.

Bought mine from Xotic PC, great bunch of people there, and more help than Sager support. I would recommend buying from them if this is what you choose to do.

http://www.xoticpc.com/

Good luck.

 

[jowell24]

Well if you are looking for a gaming laptop and want the option of upgrading I'd suggest getting a Clevo P170EM/Sager NP9170. Like you OP, I wanted a PC for gaming as well but needed mobility because of how frequently I move around places and hence getting a desktop rig would be far too cumbersome (I already have a mid-high range desktop anyways)

Here in the UK there's one particular online PC shop (PC Specialist) that make custom desktop and laptop rigs which is where I got my Clevo P170EM from. The benefit is that they have fairly priced hardware and also provide an upgrade service for any setup you purchase from them, I expect to upgrade my 7970M after a year or so but it comfortably can handle any game you throw at it with high settings at least.

I know people say build quality of Clevo/Sager products are poor and gaming laptops are cumbersome and don't have long lifespans but if you look after your laptop well by using a cooling stand and take care when handling it, then you'll see it last you for at least 4 years (long enough to balance out the high cost of a mobility rig. I would definitely advise that you buy a good laptop bag and cooling stand. As for weight, well my laptop is about 3-4kg and getting a laptop bag with a wide shoulder sling (or even just a backpack variant) helps when travelling with it.
The fans on my laptop aren't noisy as well, they've only ever reached their maximum speed while playing the Witcher 2 and is the only time my laptop has ever exceeded 90 degrees celsius. Also anyone sat in front of me in a lecture theatre has yet to notice the noise from my fans when doing normal tasks.

My only downside is the size of the power brick which is the size of an actual brick lol.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

I wouldn't go laptop for full gaming. Essentially I'm with this guy, but I'll clarify some things he has to say:

My suggestion to you is DONT please dont, I fell into the same trap as you when i went to uni and I spent the first year carrying a very heavy gaming laptop from class to class. Instead get a good PC and buy a very light almost no graphics laptop you will be 10 times happier with that.

Gaming laptops all share these problems

They run hot(if not they are loud from their coolers)

This actually true for quite a few laptops in general. Which reinforces his point because a gaming laptop will run hotter than most.

They cant be upgraded

They CAN be upgraded, but finding parts for them is much more difficult. Not all of them have the CPU's sodered into the motherboard (like Macbooks)

They are extremely expensive

They are still worse than a desktop PC.

It's not that they are worse. But it's like this: if you can find a laptop with good speca, the odds are you can find or build a desktop that is just as good (or better) for the same price or $100-$200 more.

They are heavy(making them annoying to carry around)

Engineering has gotten pretty good though. But again reinforcing his point, lighter = that it's like going to be more expensive.

I'm just gonna go a bit off topic here, sorry. But I gotta say something. Wouldn't the master race be a hybrid of the console and PC Gamers? Like someone who does both and knows all about both sides and owns all of both? Cause then they'd be on two different sides and know both. Wouldn't that make them the master?

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

No sane person actually uses the "PC Master Race" term seriously. It's just a joke on how PCs are always going to have better hardware than consoles and usually more options. At leas that's how I take it.

It's like the false dichotomy of asking a person "Are you a PC gamer or a Console gamer?" when there's nothing that prevents you from being both.

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.

The final decision is up to him. But assuredly everyone here wants him to make a decision that gives him the best degree of cost/benefit, and a laptop will almost always be on the lower end of that scale if he wants to keep up to date.

If he wants to separate work and pleasure, getting a gaming desktop and a regular laptop would be the best choice. It would be more expensive, but cheaper in the long run if he wants to upgrade.

If he doesn't care about upgrading and doesn't mind playing only current games, then yes, a gaming laptop would be the best choice.

You do bring up a good point. What games are you looking to play OP?

 

[Worgen]

I've got a pretty kick ass Lenovo and it looks like you can still get quite good deals on their laptops.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=5B0116E237099FA0FCA012D9B20ED2FB&action=init

The only problem is that your stuck with windows 8 unless you install 7 on your own.

 

[Riddle78]

I'd say get a desktop for your gaming needs. Gaming is an "At home" passtime,anyways,so you don't need to worry about taking your games places. If you have to go mobile for a LAN party somewhere,install to an external hard drive. I'd also recommend getting a laptop for your college work. That's what laptops are,really. Portable workstations. I went to college with this setup,and it worked marvels. Yes,it takes up quite a bit of space,but c'est la vie.

The primary reason why I recommend against a laptop is,in my experience,you can't pop them open to change components,and heat management is a much more acute concern. For your gaming rig,I say you prioritize disc space;at least a terabyte if you forsee getting lots of games,RAM,as more RAM makes for smoother gameplay experiences,as the game has more space to store things like the locations of dropped items,and your video card. For a video card,do some research to find what works for you that's in your price range. Sometimes,a pair of lower end video cars (Like the nVidia GTS 250) give the same result as a single better video card,for less. Also,make sure the motherboard sockets are compatible with the components. A little homeweork on your behalf will save a lot of frustration,travel time,and wasted money.

Again,I realize you want a gaming laptop,but,from personal experience,they don't seem to work as well as the desktop.

No matter your choice,happy gaming! And let us know when you get into moddng. That's loads of fun once you figure out how to do it without killing your game!

 

[Kinitawowi]

1) Set a budget.

2) Think about exactly where you sit on the portability vs power spectrum. At any fixed power level, more portable equals more expensive.

3) Dedicated graphics in laptops are a must if you want to game. Yeah, sure the integrated graphics on the i-series Intels and even some of the A8 AMDs are nice, but you'll compromise power and boil your machine as soon as you do anything worthwhile on it.

3a) Remember your cooling. Elevated bases are a must, and don't make the rookie mistake of laying in bed with your laptop on your lap; your duvet is one of the best insulators you can get - and your laptop will make its own groove in it - and no matter how careful you are you will fall asleep and knock it on the floor at some point.

4) Accept that you're not going to get maxed out detail settings at maxed out resolution unless you spend about £1500. You're just not.

5) You know what you need. If it's got to be a laptop, it's got to be a laptop. Micro-ATX cases and whatever are all well and good, but add on the viewable distance and footprint for a 17" (minimum) monitor and keyboard and mouse plus the fact that it needs a fixed space means that you've got a particular requirement to deal with.

6) That said, if there's any way you can go desktop, do so.

7) i5 series is about the minimum processor worth paying any attention to for what you're after. Yes, there will be a chorus of hundreds in this thread saying that they got game X, Y and Z working at max spec on a 386 they dug out of the loft and still had enough overhead to contribute to Folding@Home in the background - and I have no doubt that with precise optimisation it might even be possible - but if you're just getting started in PC gaming (which it sounds like you are, correct me if I'm wrong) then you're not going to be bothered about that.

8) Check back in a couple of weeks - there's a new generation of Intel processors just around the corner.

 

[Zac Jovanovic]

I think it's a bit silly to not buy a desktop because of room, I live in a little shoehole I can afford as a college student and my PC desk is in a corner about 60*60cm (~2 feet) large.
There's no room issues, the case is under the desk and on it there's just the monitor, mouse and keyboard and a pair of speakers.

That being said, I'll say the same I tell anyone who considers buying a laptop. Buy a laptop if you're going to use it like a laptop.

If it's just going to sit there on the desk, wired to the internet and m/kb you'll be much better off with a dekstop, If you're going to actually carry it around by all means laptop away

 

[The White Hunter]

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.

Consider building an intel based itx system? You can shrink them down really well, I recommend hopping over to teksyndicate.com and asking on the forum there, lots of smart guys to give you a few pointers and a distinct lack of the fanboyism you see on other tech sites. I'd recommend AMD for the bang for buck but the small desktop form factor you get from itx only works if you keep functionality, and the AMD boards suck. So a small itx thing with a 3570K and a 650ti or HD 7870 XT if you have the budget for that (7870XT is a glorious glorious thing, almost beats the £250 card above it for £170)

OR, pick up an AMD A10 APU based laptop with a decent (76XX or so) GPU, it's a fair bit cheaper than you'd think and will do pretty well on the performance for a nice price, I've seen them around £400 and they'll happily outperform your console but you'll not be running everything maxed out. If you do go for an APU based laptop though, I'd recommend A8 or A10, try make sure you get a full quad core, and wait a month or two for the next gen APU's to come out, they're supposedly quite a bit beefier than their predecessors. The graphics are integrated btw, hence the price, but AMD's integrated graphics are usable for at least 1600x900 and medium-high settings mostly...

 

[Charli]

As many have said, get a basic laptop for college work, and get a mini gaming desktop, it'll probably equal the same cost!

 

[The White Hunter]

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.

Delicious ITX cases! I went digging and found the teksynbdicate thing for their itx gaming/editing rig:


Frigging nice machine and it's tiny.

 

[caseh]

I picked up an i7 Vaio lappy last year with a half decent GFX card, plays pretty much everything i've thrown at it so far up to a decent level of performance which i'm happy with as it wasn't bought for games.

As many have pointed out though, its pretty f*cking heavy. So heavy in fact that i'm fairly sure that if I dropped it from waist height it would possibly reach its maximum terminal velocity by the time it hit the floorand obliterate all life within 1 mile of the impact point.

 

[loc978]

lots of good information on performance and battery life in here... for my two cents: if you get a laptop with a 17" or larger screen, make sure it has a full-length robust hinge. I've seen too many 2-hinge systems break on heavy laptops (including the one I'm typing this on right now). If you plan on a 15" or smaller screen, any hinge system should be fine.

Spoiler: examples

good hinge for a heavy laptop:

Very, very bad hinges for a heavy laptop:

Also, buy a cooling pad. Gaming laptops very rarely have sufficient cooling to keep from frying their hardware (the design philosophy of "thinner and lighter" does no favors for high-performance hardware), so a base with extra fans that can pull more air away from those internal components is pretty essential for longevity of said hardware.

...the mini-ITX idea is also a good one, if you can manage it... it's what I would do (but I've been assembling custom PCs since 1994).