Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread

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K.Jack said:
First off, you're not bothering at all. This thread is for helping people make proper decisions, which is something I enjoy, so ask as much as you need.

In what country are you, exactly? It's always hard to say what machines are worth in USD, because people outside of the US always pay way more than I would for far less.

For $1100 USD here, I can have an i7-2670QM + GTX 560M, but looks like that would cost double where you are.



Well, with the 6990M at just +$145, it's pretty much impossible to suggest a better alternative. The new high-end chips are looking like March/April releases, from what I've been able to gather so far, which means the 6990M is indeed your best move today.

The main thing to understand is that CES is more about announcements and release dates, and less about things going retail as soon as the expo ends. The reason I suggested that people wait, is so they could better decide on whether buying now or waiting is for them.

Further toward your situation, it's already been semi-confirmed (by a Clevo engineer at a tech meeting in Taiwan) that the current machines will be plug and play with the next-gen AMD/Nvidia cards, and I'm hoping he knows what he's talking about, as I'd love to upgrade my 6970M to a 7970M in a few quarters.
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I'm from Sweden. You're right that it's more expensive here, so it's not always easy to compare prices in different countries. $1100 here should compare to 675-850 in other countries. I did however find the ASUS laptop I linked for a better price (~$75 cheaper). I've been looking at other options, but I keep coming back to the same computer every time.

This was the one I linked to earlier:
i7-2670QM
GeForce GT 540M

Here are two others I looked at today:
Going over budget on this one.
i7-2670QM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX

HP Pavilion
i7-2670QM
AMD Radeon HD 6490M

I'll translate stuff from the links if it is needed. Monday will be the big day. No more delaying, I've done that way too long.
 
Labadal said:
$1100 here should compare to 675-850 in other countries.
Click to expand...

Then it's a pretty good deal, because that exact (as far as I can tell) notebook currently goes for $899 here in the US. Since you have even found it for $75 less than originally, I think the Asus the right notebook.

The GT 520M and 6490M are half as powerful as the 540M, so I'd skip those machines.
 
K.Jack, any news on which notebooks are getting the new ATI cards soon-ish? I may be buying in the spring, so they should be available then, no?
 
I'm not looking for a gaming laptop, but hopefully I can ask this here anyway. Can someone recommend me the best netbooks with 10" screens or under? It's for my girlfriend who only browses and does the occasional word processing/powerpoint for school. Thanks!
 
My new company bought me what seems to be a beefy laptop. I mean, it runs the software (CAD, Crestron, etc) I need for work fast enough, but I'd like to know if it will run games well, too.

Here are the specs:
- Lenovo W520 ThinkPad
- i7-2720QM @ 2.20 GHz
- NVidia Quadro 2000M
- 16GB RAM DDR3
- 500GB HDD @ 720rpm
- 1920 x 1080p display


It's a work laptop (with a docking station), so I won't run that many games on it. I'm just curious if this thing could run games well if I wanted to.
 
twinturbo2 said:
K.Jack, any news on which notebooks are getting the new ATI cards soon-ish? I may be buying in the spring, so they should be available then, no?
Click to expand...

AMD has confirmed that the new high-end cards are coming in April.

Ashhong said:
I'm not looking for a gaming laptop, but hopefully I can ask this here anyway. Can someone recommend me the best netbooks with 10" screens or under? It's for my girlfriend who only browses and does the occasional word processing/powerpoint for school. Thanks!
Click to expand...

The Asus Eee PC seems like the easy choice.

LosDaddie said:
My new company bought me what seems to be a beefy laptop. I mean, it runs the software (CAD, Crestron, etc) I need for work fast enough, but I'd like to know if it will run games well, too.

Here are the specs:
- Lenovo W520 ThinkPad
- i7-2720QM @ 2.20 GHz
- NVidia Quadro 2000M
- 16GB RAM DDR3
- 500GB HDD @ 720rpm
- 1920 x 1080p display


It's a work laptop (with a docking station), so I won't run that many games on it. I'm just curious if this thing could run games well if I wanted to.
Click to expand...

The 2000M is around the speed of the desktop 9800 GT, so you should be able to game well @ medium/high settings, 720p.
 
Looking at this deal on a MSi GT683R right now.. $1212.95 after MIR.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...42US_GT683R_242US_15_6_Notebook_Computer.html

I'm thinking about biting. Honestly I lean towards buying one of these big tanky systems with vents and fans everywhere because I've had so many heat issues with laptops in the past. But really I'm not as knowledgeable about what's out there currently as some of you guys probably are. What do you guys think about this one?
 
HappyBivouac said:
Looking at this deal on a MSi GT683R right now.. $1212.95 after MIR.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...42US_GT683R_242US_15_6_Notebook_Computer.html

I'm thinking about biting. Honestly I lean towards buying one of these big tanky systems with vents and fans everywhere because I've had so many heat issues with laptops in the past. But really I'm not as knowledgeable about what's out there currently as some of you guys probably are. What do you guys think about this one?
Click to expand...

I would take this version instead. Just upgrade the CPU to the i7-2670QM and add Windows 7 (unless you have a copy), or upgrade whatever else as you see fit.

This is the newer version, which comes with the GTX 570M, which is 30% faster than the 560M. It just doesn't come with the racing stripes and flashing lights of the other commercial version.

With the upgrades I mentioned, it's $1223.00 shipped.
 
K.Jack said:
I would take this version instead. Just upgrade the CPU to the i7-2670QM and add Windows 7 (unless you have a copy), or upgrade whatever else as you see fit.

This is the newer version, which comes with the GTX 570M, which is 30% faster than the 560M. It just doesn't come with the racing stripes and flashing lights of the other commercial version.

With the upgrades I mentioned, it's $1223.00 shipped.
Click to expand...

Whoa, thanks! That's incredibly helpful. The bolded is actually preferred, as I was planning on turning all those silly LEDs off first thing.

EDIT: if I'm trying to lower my cost, what do you think about sticking with the default i5? The original computer I was looking at had that exact CPU in it, and honestly I don't do a lot of super intensive gaming. Lower power is a plus too.
 
I would like a G74 but it's a bit bulky. Any recommendations for a alternative, bit smaller version? I need a gaming laptop that a can take to all my classes in college. $1000-1500 range.
 
HappyBivouac said:
Whoa, thanks! That's incredibly helpful. The bolded is actually preferred, as I was planning on turning all those silly LEDs off first thing.

EDIT: if I'm trying to lower my cost, what do you think about sticking with the default i5? The original computer I was looking at had that exact CPU in it, and honestly I don't do a lot of super intensive gaming. Lower power is a plus too.
Click to expand...

The dual core can work out to be okay for you now, but I see it being a huge issue in the future, specifically when the next-gen Xbox and Playstation are released.
_Ph03n1x_ said:
I'm looking for a <$800 machine. I want to use it for gaming/school. I was looking at this one. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
That looks like a good buy to me.

Ashhong said:
She currently has a EEE already on XP and its slow as shit and the battery lasts less than an hour. Sure its a few years old, but I was hoping for something a bit nicer. I guess I'm thinking Macbook Air style but under 10 inches.
Click to expand...
This one is the highest rated Netbook from 2011 on Amazon, and reviews say it get 7-8 hours of battery life.
drifter444 said:
I would like a G74 but it's a bit bulky. Any recommendations for a alternative, bit smaller version? I need a gaming laptop that a can take to all my classes in college. $1000-1500 range.
Click to expand...
What are your requirements, as far as balancing gaming power and battery life/mobility.
 
I will be using it a lot for school work since I'm an computer information technology major. I will be taking it all over campus so it will have to fit alright in a laptop bag/backpack.

The games that I'll will be playing on it are mostly racing games: rFactor 2, Shift 2 Unleased and maybe Battlefield 3. It would be cool to get them to run at high settings at 60 fps.

As for battery life I'll be around a power outlet constantly so battery life is not a high priority.
 
would it be wise to get a Dell XPS for gaming? Not heavy gaming, mind you.
XPS 17 starts at around $1,100 at dell.ca, and has a 555M and i7-2670QM.
Dell systems are needlessly expensive though, right?
For such a price, could I get something much better?

Here are the specs for the $1,100 build:

2nd generation Intel® Core&#8482; i7-2670QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 GHz)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics with Optimus
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64-Bit, English
8GB3 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
750GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
17.3" HD+ (900p) LED Display
Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo

The reason I'm looking at a Dell though, is for the financing options. Sure the financing sucks if you don't pay it off within the 12 months, but I can always do a balance transfer of what's left to a credit card at month 11.
 
drifter444 said:
I will be using it a lot for school work since I'm an computer information technology major. I will be taking it all over campus so it will have to fit alright in a laptop bag/backpack.

The games that I'll will be playing on it are mostly racing games: rFactor 2, Shift 2 Unleased and maybe Battlefield 3. It would be cool to get them to run at high settings at 60 fps.

As for battery life I'll be around a power outlet constantly so battery life is not a high priority.
Click to expand...

You may want to consider a P150HM with 6990M, which is a downclocked desktop 6870. It's $100 off at $1500, so it's in your budget as is.

Then there's also the machine I recommended in post #3313. Just know that the 6990M is ~30% faster than the 570M.
JohnLacke said:
would it be wise to get a Dell XPS for gaming? Not heavy gaming, mind you.
XPS 17 starts at around $1,100 at dell.ca, and has a 555M and i7-2670QM.
Dell systems are needlessly expensive though, right?
For such a price, could I get something much better?

Here are the specs for the $1,100 build:

2nd generation Intel® Core&#8482; i7-2670QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 GHz)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics with Optimus
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64-Bit, English
8GB3 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
750GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
17.3" HD+ (900p) LED Display
Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo

The reason I'm looking at a Dell though, is for the financing options. Sure the financing sucks if you don't pay it off within the 12 months, but I can always do a balance transfer of what's left to a credit card at month 11.
Click to expand...

You could get something with a GTX 570M for $100 more, it just depends on if you want to do so.
 
my beloved asus g73s stopped working all of the sudden :(, the screen doesn't turn on, but apparently it starts, I think I heard the sound, I'm going to check it out more carefully again, but the same exact thing happened to a friend of mine, with the exact same laptop, is this a common issue?
 
K.Jack said:
You could get something with a GTX 570M for $100 more, it just depends on if you want to do so.
Click to expand...

$100 seems like a small price to pay for such an upgrade. I was considering an XPS during the boxing week sale and my configuration was about $1,250. Seems the highest card they offer is a 555M with the XPS. (Unless you can call and request a better one, but who knows how much they'd charge). So yeah, roughly $1,200 is perfectly reasonable.
 
It'll be interesting to see what happens when nVidia's 28nm Kepler-based notebook GPU's (and AMD's equivalent) go into production later this year.

There could be some beastly laptops on the market this year.
 
JohnLacke said:
$100 seems like a small price to pay for such an upgrade. I was considering an XPS during the boxing week sale and my configuration was about $1,250. Seems the highest card they offer is a 555M with the XPS. (Unless you can call and request a better one, but who knows how much they'd charge). So yeah, roughly $1,200 is perfectly reasonable.
Click to expand...

I was referring to the MSI I recommended in this post.

LowEndTorque said:
It'll be interesting to see what happens when nVidia's 28nm Kepler-based notebook GPU's (and AMD's equivalent) go into production later this year.

There could be some beastly laptops on the market this year.
Click to expand...

Both sides have notebooks dropping with their high-end mobile cards in April.

Asus = GTX 670M
MSI = GTX 675M
Alienware and Clevo haven't officially said yet, but pattern dictates they'll both offer the GTX 680M, 7970M, and something in-between like the 7850M or GTX 660M.
 
K.Jack said:
I was referring to the MSI I recommended in this post.

Both sides have notebooks dropping with their high-end mobile cards in April.

Asus = GTX 670M
MSI = GTX 675M
Alienware and Clevo haven't officially said yet, but pattern dictates they'll both offer the GTX 680M, 7970M, and something in-between like the 7850M or GTX 660M.
Click to expand...


First thanks for all the help here. I am thinking about getting the MSI but I know close to nothing about them. How are the quality and how easily (or hard) to upgrade those notebook (ie add more ram or install ssd later on.
 
Now I'm sure is the screen, the freaking laptop worked perfectly this morning, and now the screen is not responding again, but I did login and I know it started windows normally (my steam account couldnt log in in this computer because it said it was open someone else, and the only place can be my laptop). Any ideas please? for now Im trying to make it work in the big screen of the TV but I cant force it to change, the cable is connected but the screen is still black.

This sucks so much.
 
Windows + P button cycles your display outputs so it might work. Press it once, wait 5 seconds and if it still doesn't show on your TV press the combo again and wait another few seconds.
 
kagete said:
Windows + P button cycles your display outputs so it might work. Press it once, wait 5 seconds and if it still doesn't show on your TV press the combo again and wait another few seconds.
Click to expand...

This is what I've been looking through the whole internet! thank you so much! I'll will try it tonight.
 
I'm thinking of getting this:

Asus N55S

Intel i7 2630QM
8GB RAM
750GB Harddisk
GeForce 555M
15.6" Full-HD (1080p) Anti-Glare screen

For about $1350 (mind you prices here are higher than in the US because of taxes).

What kind of performance should I expect from this? Will it be able to handle modern games at 1080p?
 
Cromat said:
I'm thinking of getting this:

Asus N55S

Intel i7 2630QM
8GB RAM
750GB Harddisk
GeForce 555M
15.6" Full-HD (1080p) Anti-Glare screen

For about $1350 (mind you prices here are higher than in the US because of taxes).

What kind of performance should I expect from this? Will it be able to handle modern games at 1080p?
Click to expand...

1. Where are you?

2. The GT 555M is as fast as a 9800 GT, so 1080p isn't happening. It's good for 720p @medium/high settings though.
 
Quick question: is there any way to upgrade the graphic card drivers manually?

I have a HP laptop with a AMD 6770M, but the AMD software doesn't allow me to upgrade, it tells me that I must use the manufacturer site/tools/etc.
 
Sagitario said:
Quick question: is there any way to upgrade the graphic card drivers manually?

I have a HP laptop with a AMD 6770M, but the AMD software doesn't allow me to upgrade, it tells me that I must use the manufacturer site/tools/etc.
Click to expand...

You can update the drivers on http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
Do you have issues during the installation or just getting the drivers to begin with?


I just received my HP dv6 laptop and they already have new parts...for the same price you can get a laptop with Radeon HD 7690M and A8 2.5Ghz processor. Son of a bitch.
 
How do I fix this.

When I get my specs scanned for betas it keeps deisplaying the intel sandy brdige gpu instead of the dedicated.

I tried playing a game while it scanned since they apparently both are active depending up the graphic need.
 
K.Jack said:
I recommend you check out the NBR MSI forum, and specifically this user review and impression thread.

Skip to later in the thread for the updated model.
Click to expand...

Well I bought one from newegg close in price and spec to the one you recommended earlier in the thread and guess what, it was DOA. It failed to boot at first (can't find boot drive), then after several trials finally boot and run setup but bsod after about 15 mins. Newegg said they will send advance replacement...I hope I just got defect but I am already regret my choice.
 
DeathNote said:
How do I fix this.

When I get my specs scanned for betas it keeps deisplaying the intel sandy brdige gpu instead of the dedicated.

I tried playing a game while it scanned since they apparently both are active depending up the graphic need.
Click to expand...

You need to change the settings so you can manually choose the card.
On my laptop (HP+AMD), I had to do it in the BIOS (now I can switch within Windows what card I want to use).
So, check your card and laptop models and google how to change the settings from dynamic GPU switching to manual.
 
Got the MSI GE620 in :)

Loving it so far. Tons of power, 1080p display, tons of multimedia options, and my live streams have been going great so far ( http://www.twitch.tv/addmitt ).

Someday I'm going to try and game on it and report back. Should be able to run most anything though.
 
I took a look around in Currys earlier and took not of some the laptops that stood out to me and their GPUs.
-HP G6 1327sa £350
AMD 6380G
-Toshiba Satelite L750 IE5 £450
Intel HD 3000
-Toshiba TOS C670D-11K£430
AMD 6320
-Toshiba L750D-14R £430
AMD 6320
-HP Pavillion G6 1311ea £500
AMD 6620 & 7450M dual GPU
The latter 4 have HDMI output which would be a bonus.
-Samsung NP 300V £500
AMD 6520

So at a glance could anyone tell me which would be the best value for money and would they be able to play New Vegas, Skyrim, The Witcher 2 and Source games with good performance? Are there any better laptops in this price range? And are there any sites or anything that someone from the UK/Europe would recommend for a better deal?
 
$799.95
Aspire AS5750G-9463 15.6" Notebook Computer (Mesh Black)
2GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM Quad-Core
4GB (2x2GB) RAM
640GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
SuperMulti DVD Burner
nVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1GB GPU
-----

$809.95
Aspire AS5755G-9471 15.6" Notebook Computer (Glossy Black)
2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2670QM Quad-Core
4GB of DDR3 RAM
640GB Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1GB Graphics
15.6" HD CineCrystal LED-Backlit Display
Click to expand...

What does GAF think of these two notebooks? Is a quad core worth getting, since the GPU will be a bottleneck anyway?
 
What do you guys think of this build from PCsforeveryone?

Quad-Core Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM 2.20GHz 6MB Cache
Mobile Intel® HM65 Express Chipset
2x4GB PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3 SODIMM
750GB 5400RPM SATA Notebook Drive
Super-Multi DVD-RW Drive (DVD RAM)
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 (802.11ABGN)
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 Professional (64-bit) with Recovery Partition

For $1,125. Is this a good deal for a gaming laptop? My primary gaming pc will be a desktop which I will be building later.
 
Just asking for a friend, as he doesn't have a GAF account and I'm not super knowledgeable about laptops, but any comments on this? Good, bad, okay-ish?
 
Hey, all!

I'm trying to build a powerful laptop to use for HD video editing and gaming for years to come. If you'd like to simply suggest certain specs, have at it. I'm more so looking for advice on what specifications I should be focused on and educated about throughout this process, but I know that requires more of your time, so it's cool if you don't even touch on that.

Some specifics:
HD video editing must be smooth and minimally taxing on my PC (this means storing lots of huge media files)
I want to be able to play new games on high settings w/ a system that facilitates continuous upgrades.
Looking to spend about $1000-$1500.

Software recommendations would be welcomed, too!
 
IdeaPad Y570 Laptop - 08626LU - Dusk Black (with USB 3.0): Weekly Deal
Processor: 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM Processor ( 2.2GHz 1333MHz 6MB )
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 1GB
Total memory: 8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz
Display: 15.6" HD Glare with integrated camera 1366x768
Camera: Integrated 2.0MP Camera
Pointing device: Industry Standard Touchpad
Hard Drive: 500GB 5400
Optical Drive: DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)
Battery: 6 Cell Lithium-Ion
Network Card: Intel 1000 BGN Wireless
Bluetooth: Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR

---------------------------------------------

Im looking at this because its on sale for 799, and the only down side seems to be that hard drive speed.

Those are usually replaceable on laptops of this size correct?
 
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