What laptop to buy.

[Chairman Miaow]

Welcome to my thread.

Situation is as follows: Want serious gaming laptop, Battery not important, only performance important.

After looking around a bit, reading reviews and what have you, I have stumbled upon this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-700G7C-17-3-inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B009SJCZGQ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

This is basically the sort of thing I'm looking for. At least I think it is... I'm a bit useless when it comes to hardware.

I just wanted to get a few other options and opinions before I commit to such a big purchase. I'm looking for something which can handle pretty much all the current gen would ask of it. I'm not too worried about next gen. Price would be anything up to £1500, £1750 at a push.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated, those who go out of their way to help me will even be rewarded with internets/cookies, whatever the current web currency is.

 

[themechanic]

Its okay, honestly unless you really really really need a laptop i'd go with a desktop, so much more for the money. GPU is a bit slower than a gtx 560 ( low end gtx from last gen, via 3d mark) but thats expected cause mobile gpus blow. Screen is full hd which is good, processor is good rams good. You could probably handle most current gen games in 1080 just leave dx11 features off. If you got the money its not bad, that said for a 2000$ you could build an insane future proof desktop.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Its okay, honestly unless you really really really need a laptop i'd go with a desktop, so much more for the money. GPU is a bit slower than a gtx 560 ( low end gtx from last gen, via 3d mark) but thats expected cause mobile gpus blow. Screen is full hd which is good, processor is good rams good. You could probably handle most current gen games in 1080 just leave dx11 features off. If you got the money its not bad, that said for a 2000$ you could build an insane future proof desktop.

It has to be a laptop I'm afraid. I already have a desktop pretty much designed for customisation which I plan on upgrading over time.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Look at what you can get from Sager or Clevo (they're basically the same thing) where you live. I got a Sager laptop this summer, and it's roughly the same performance as that computer, but substantially cheaper.

A couple of other things. You really don't need a Blu-ray drive unless you plan on using this computer to watch movies. Games don't use them at all, and using blu-rays for storage is not very cost-effective.

You do not need 16 GB of RAM for gaming. You need 8 at the most. Really, you won't need more than 4 most of the time, but it's nearly impossible to find less than 8 in a decent laptop.

The graphics card should be fine. I'm using a 670M right now, which is a little lower end, and its been serving me fine. Just don't expect to run Metro 2033 on max settings.

You certainly will get more bang for your buck if you decide to get a desktop, and you should probably consider doing so. That said, a laptop still might be the better choice for you. You just need to figure out what you're going to do with it and where.

EDIT: I see you've already decided for sure on a laptop. Disregard the last paragraph.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Look at what you can get from Sager or Clevo (they're basically the same thing) where you live. I got a Sager laptop this summer, and it's roughly the same performance as that computer, but substantially cheaper.

A couple of other things. You really don't need a Blu-ray drive unless you plan on using this computer to watch movies. Games don't use them at all, and using blu-rays for storage is not very cost-effective.

You do not need 16 GB of RAM for gaming. You need 8 at the most. Really, you won't need more than 4 most of the time, but it's nearly impossible to find less than 8 in a decent laptop.

The graphics card should be fine. I'm using a 670M right now, which is a little lower end, and its been serving me fine. Just don't expect to run Metro 2033 on max settings.

You certainly will get more bang for your buck if you decide to get a desktop, and you should probably consider doing so. That said, a laptop still might be the better choice for you. You just need to figure out what you're going to do with it and where.

EDIT: I see you've already decided for sure on a laptop. Disregard the last paragraph.

Thanks, Sager seem like a great company, shame I'm in the UK so have to pay about $270 minimum shipping. I don't know if you are the right person to ask this question, but If you can help, it would be great. What is the relationship between processor/gaming/graphics card? is there a point where getting a better graphics card/processor is pointless because the other isn't good enough? Is one more important than the other?

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Thanks, Sager seem like a great company, shame I'm in the UK so have to pay about $270 minimum shipping. I don't know if you are the right person to ask this question, but If you can help, it would be great. What is the relationship between processor/gaming/graphics card? is there a point where getting a better graphics card/processor is pointless because the other isn't good enough? Is one more important than the other?

First off, try looking for Sager (or Clevo, like I said, they're pretty much the same computers) resellers in the UK. I'm pretty sure there are some, and this would mean that you wouldn't have to pay international shipping.

Anyway, I'm no expert, so take what I'm about to say with a big grain of salt, but for gaming, graphics cards are more important than processors. There is a point where you will be bottlenecked by the cpu, but for a vast majority of the time in laptops, the graphics card is going to be the bottleneck. Laptop manufacturers (actually, pre-built computer manufacturers in general) generally put in a cpu that is way more than you'd need for that level of a computer. That's not to say that processor isn't important, but your performance will almost always be more affected by your graphics card. So, if you're looking or a gaming laptop, the number one spec you should be looking at will be the graphics card (although things like cooling and reliability are more important in the long run, but you aren't going to be able to figure that out based on the laptop specs).

 

[Chairman Miaow]

snip

I've been looking for something a little closer to home that won't rack up massive import fees on top of a huge delivery price and come up with this:

1 x Guru STORM IV 17,3 inch
Screen: 17,3 Zoll FullHD LED TFT 1920x1080 Pix NonGlare Type

Memory: 12 GB DDR3 1600 MHz Kingston (3x4)

Processor: Intel Core i7-3520M 2,9-3,6 GHz 4 MB Level3 Cache

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX680M with 4096 MB GDDR5 RAM

Chassis: Brand new NonBranded

Optical Drive: 8x Multi DVD Burner

Hard Drive: 180 GB SSD Intel 330 Serie Maple Crest SATA 600

2. Hard Drive: 750 GB Seagate Momentus 7200 rpm

Wireless LAN: Ultimate-N 6300 Intel

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit (english)

How does it hold up? Like I said, I'm a complete noob at this. Your help really is appreciated.

 

[Rack]

For what you're planning that seems to be overkill. I got this one. £400 and it runs damn near everything available at the moment. Obviously there are limits, it can't quite handle Witcher 2 at smooth framerates and on more demanding games it needs everything dropped to minimum. Still, with less demanding games such as Dishonored, Diablo III and Xcom it runs everything very smoothly on max settings. At £1000 less than the one you pointed out I'm really impressed with it. Of course you have the budget to push this into running more games at higher settings but I found I ran into significant diminishing returns.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5755G_1201802.html

Of course you have the budget and if you aren't happy to compromise then you can certainly spend extra. For myself playing high spec games on the desktop and having access to a great, if slightly more limited range of games on the laptop made more sense.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

For what you're planning that seems to be overkill. I got this one. £400 and it runs damn near everything available at the moment. Obviously there are limits, it can't quite handle Witcher 2 at smooth framerates and on more demanding games it needs everything dropped to minimum. Still, with less demanding games such as Dishonored, Diablo III and Xcom it runs everything very smoothly on max settings. At £1000 less than the one you pointed out I'm really impressed with it. Of course you have the budget to push this into running more games at higher settings but I found I ran into significant diminishing returns.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5755G_1201802.html

Of course you have the budget and if you aren't happy to compromise then you can certainly spend extra. For myself playing high spec games on the desktop and having access to a great, if slightly more limited range of games on the laptop made more sense.

Thanks, I really appreciate any advice and suggestions, and I know, diminishing returns on things like this is crazy, you can pay like an extra £600 for a processor only the tiniest bit better. Unfortunately, I can't compromise on quality here. Seriously though, thanks anyway.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I don't really have anything to add in terms of suggestions that hasn't already been mentioned... but in case you (or anyone else jumping into this topic interested in gaming laptops) were looking at Alienware at all... I can't really recommend them.

I got an Alienware M9750 gaming laptop as an unexpected present from my parents a few years back. I won't lie, I absolutely loved the thing. It ran pretty much everything that was out at the time, including new releases, at max settings with no trouble. But it always had massive problems with heat distribution. It got ridiculously hot (my roommates and I used to joke that we should have cooked Pop Tarts on it for a mid-raid snack during our WoW days). Even with a cooling pad and constant cleaning, it still had heat problems. I used it as my primary gaming platform for about two years before it burned itself out. The motherboard was fried and the graphics card got pretty damaged too. The cost to repair it was pretty much equivalent to a moderately powerful gaming desktop PC, so I didn't bother getting the laptop fixed. I suspect that if I had been less attentive to its heat problems, I wouldn't have even gotten the two years that I did before its death.

One of my college roommates also had an Alienware gaming laptop. I forget the model, but it was the one that came along after the M9750. His also had the same heat distribution problems, and also ended up burning out after a few years.

I don't know if this is just an Alienware thing, or a gaming laptop thing just in general... but the lifespan for Alienware laptops seems pretty bad from my experience. I certainly won't be buying another from them.

 

[thesilentman]

What is the relationship between processor/gaming/graphics card? is there a point where getting a better graphics card/processor is pointless because the other isn't good enough? Is one more important than the other?

The CPU (main processor) drives the GPU (the graphics card) with it's power. For a while, you can get away with gaming on a shitty CPU with an excellent GPU, but that's around the time you should replace the CPU.

If there's anymore questions, feel free to ask.

Hope I helped clearing something up.

[sub]This thread really belongs in the Advice Forum...[/sub]

 

[Chairman Miaow]

What is the relationship between processor/gaming/graphics card? is there a point where getting a better graphics card/processor is pointless because the other isn't good enough? Is one more important than the other?

The CPU (main processor) drives the GPU (the graphics card) with it's power. For a while, you can get away with gaming on a shitty CPU with an excellent GPU, but that's around the time you should replace the CPU.

If there's anymore questions, feel free to ask.

Hope I helped clearing something up.

[sub]This thread really belongs in the Advice Forum...[/sub]

I looked at the guidelines for the advice forums and it seemed to say it should go here.... Ah well, somebody will move it if it is innapropriate.

 

[Rack]

Spoiler

For what you're planning that seems to be overkill. I got this one. £400 and it runs damn near everything available at the moment. Obviously there are limits, it can't quite handle Witcher 2 at smooth framerates and on more demanding games it needs everything dropped to minimum. Still, with less demanding games such as Dishonored, Diablo III and Xcom it runs everything very smoothly on max settings. At £1000 less than the one you pointed out I'm really impressed with it. Of course you have the budget to push this into running more games at higher settings but I found I ran into significant diminishing returns.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5755G_1201802.html

Of course you have the budget and if you aren't happy to compromise then you can certainly spend extra. For myself playing high spec games on the desktop and having access to a great, if slightly more limited range of games on the laptop made more sense.

Thanks, I really appreciate any advice and suggestions, and I know, diminishing returns on things like this is crazy, you can pay like an extra £600 for a processor only the tiniest bit better. Unfortunately, I can't compromise on quality here. Seriously though, thanks anyway.

The good news is with Laptops you are getting more bang for your buck at all ends of the spectrum these days, but the high end and low end are where have seen the most gains. That 680m is a huge whallop of power over the 630m, not exactly top end but comparable with a mid-range desktop card and more than enough to run any current game at 1080p if you don't go wild on things like ultrasampling. However I'd be a little concerned about the processor, that one is only a touch more powerful than mine and roughly equivalent to the old intel 6600 quad cores. That said on current games you might not notice the difference but it feels like a bad idea to go for something quite so unbalanced.

To be honest though I'm a bit out of my element at this stage, I did a fair bit of digging into gaming laptops last weekend but I veered towards the midrange and found I'd need to go up to close to £1000 to get anything better than I had. Since you're prepared to do that you should get a fair improvement. Lastly I would add.

Notebookcheck.net is a fantastic resource for checking up on the equivalent power of notebook specs. Too many sites don't show notebook benchmarks alongside desktop benchmarks but this one is really useful in that regard.

Even more than in desktop PCs higher numbers != better. This stuff is totally random. I nearly bought something with a more powerful graphics card and seemingly better processor for £100 more till I noticed the processor was actually substantially slower.

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

It's pretty nice. How is Windows 8 for gaming? I have yet to figure that out.

 

[Gitty101]

First gaming PC I ever went for was my gaming Laptop. However, in terms of money and value, they really aren't the way to go. I'd recommend getting a desktop - same(ish) components would both be cheaper and work better in a rig. Plus they're easier to clean and maintain (upgrading a laptop is like brain surgery almost).

However, if you MUST have one, I'd say go for an Alienware. Their laptops are pretty averagely priced, plus they look nice. Customer support sucks though and don't get me started on the warranty.

 

[IndieForever]

I'm going to add my support for a Clevo-based system. Essentially they are barebone laptops sold to resellers to spec as they need. Ideally you'd want to get your hands on the components and put it together yourself but Clevo don't sell to the public - you may find a surplus one for sale somewhere, but it's rare.

Bear in mind that these things are not really what you would call a 'laptop'. Consider it a mobile desktop as it will have an abysmal battery life (mine is about 45 minutes) and they weigh a ton. The power supply is about the size of a housebrick and weighs just as much. Build quality is very, very good.

When you're spending this amount of money on a system, support and warranty are vital. Although they are good value, I'd avoid anything Dell-based, and that includes Alienware. Nothing wrong with the product, as long as it doesn't go bang, but if it does prepare to have fun with the overseas 'help' desks. By help I mean it's more fun gargling with broken glass than dealing with them.

I quickly specced you one from cyberpowersystem.co.uk which is where I bought mine. Some of the smaller, more boutique, retailers have gone under leaving people spectacularly out of pocket (I'm thinking of Kobalt as an example here) but this company has a solid rep. Their support is also superb and local. I'm sure there are other companies that will do this for a similar price, maybe cheaper, so shop around but do your research on the people you will be buying from.

Anyway:

i7-3630, 8Gb, GTX680m - 1920x1080, 120Gb SSD, 750Gb HD, backlit UK keyboard (most are USA!), and the usual high-end laptop goodies. £1600 all in including your choice of Win 7 or 8. That will handle anything you can buy now and for a considerable time to come.

PC gear in the States is considerably cheaper than here in the UK and cloroxbb's system is around £1300 so the 25% increase is about right.

Above all.. take yer time.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

I'm going to add my support for a Clevo-based system. Essentially they are barebone laptops sold to resellers to spec as they need. Ideally you'd want to get your hands on the components and put it together yourself but Clevo don't sell to the public - you may find a surplus one for sale somewhere, but it's rare.

Bear in mind that these things are not really what you would call a 'laptop'. Consider it a mobile desktop as it will have an abysmal battery life (mine is about 45 minutes) and they weigh a ton. The power supply is about the size of a housebrick and weighs just as much. Build quality is very, very good.

When you're spending this amount of money on a system, support and warranty are vital. Although they are good value, I'd avoid anything Dell-based, and that includes Alienware. Nothing wrong with the product, as long as it doesn't go bang, but if it does prepare to have fun with the overseas 'help' desks. By help I mean it's more fun gargling with broken glass than dealing with them.

I quickly specced you one from cyberpowersystem.co.uk which is where I bought mine. Some of the smaller, more boutique, retailers have gone under leaving people spectacularly out of pocket (I'm thinking of Kobalt as an example here) but this company has a solid rep. Their support is also superb and local. I'm sure there are other companies that will do this for a similar price, maybe cheaper, so shop around but do your research on the people you will be buying from.

Anyway:

i7-3630, 8Gb, GTX680m - 1920x1080, 120Gb SSD, 750Gb HD, backlit UK keyboard (most are USA!), and the usual high-end laptop goodies. £1600 all in including your choice of Win 7 or 8. That will handle anything you can buy now and for a considerable time to come.

PC gear in the States is considerably cheaper than here in the UK and cloroxbb's system is around £1300 so the 25% increase is about right.

Above all.. take yer time.

Really what I want here is a mobile desktop. I know that a desktop is better value and normally a better choice, but it really does have to be mobile. Battery isn't important as I will be able to plug it in, but mobility is. What was the base model for that build you are talking about, because it sounds like what I'm looking for, so I'll shove that in a bookmark for consideration. Thanks for the help.

 

[IndieForever]

The base model I used is this: http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Xplorer_X7-7550_Notebook/

I basically specced you what I bought as I think we're in the same situation. I have to carry my working PC around the world and it ends up being set up in a hotel room plugged in most of the time. I also want my entertainment with me, so I bought one of these which will be out of date in under a year. That's the price you pay, but I'm struggling to think what this thing will not run at near max that you might play... ermmm... the Heaven demo from Unigine... the DX11 pipeline is not what it is on a desktop 680. That's it.

I've bounced mine across the equator, from Indonesia to Finland and it hasn't batted an eyelid. The Clevo chassis are tank-like but as a previous contributor mentioned, a USB-powered cooling pad will help as it gets older and more dust gets sucked in to the ducts and heat sinks. As they are self-build systems they are fairly easy to take apart and clean.

When you come home, plug it into a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, a 24" monitor, close the lid and you have a pretty good desktop system.

Just bear in mind that if you have it plugged into the mains constantly, you will kill the battery. Not that it matters, but if you're going to keep it plugged in at a Hilton somewhere, take the battery out before you do.

Cyber aren't the only Clevo resellers in the UK - Novatech do them and I'm sure Google will turn up a fair few others. Phone them up and ask what kind of a deal they can do for you - no supplier sells a lot of these and you might be able to get a discount or some bonus items thrown in, especially if you wave them off during a phonecall.

These kinds of laptops do not sell in vast quantities but they are upgradeable to a certain extent. You know you're not getting value for money compared to a desktop so see what the various sellers can do for you. They have the stock in a crap economy - you have the money. Easy to see where the power lies!

Bookmark it by all means, but don't take my word for it. 2 grand buys you a nice car nowadays, so make sure you're getting what you want.

(Captcha - know the ropes. Oh, we do. All 5 of us who need something like this!)