notebookcheck.com says about 10% faster, but I don't know if that is based on the DDR3 or GDDR5 version of the 650m.
As you say, the 650m is most commonly found in DDR3 forms.
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Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread
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notebookcheck.com says about 10% faster, but I don't know if that is based on the DDR3 or GDDR5 version of the 650m.
As you say, the 650m is most commonly found in DDR3 forms.
framerates look pretty good on the 660m. i think, i will go for the lenovo ideapad y580 in the end. seems like the best deal. 1000 is already my limit.
Hey guys.
I know this is the "gamer-approved" thread, but I'm thinking I need a new laptop for my graduate school work (in a scientific field). I figured this thread was the most active and people have subscribed to this thread so I figured I'd post this here. If there's another thread I should ask questions in instead I will.
This would be a laptop ONLY for work. I will never play games on it. I have access to a good gaming computer, but I can't use that for work.
I'm currently on a 5+ year old Dell Inspiron E1505. I got it as a gift when I graduated high school, and it worked fine for me through my undergrad, but it's not cutting it anymore. All I really know is that it's running Windows Vista (I never bothered to upgrade) and it has 1GB of ram. If I load up a few Word Documents and a few tabs in Chrome, it struggles like crazy. Not to mention if I am working in Excel or OriginPro for graphing or PDF articles when doing a literature review.
Let me just say I'm pretty dumb about computers. RAM would be the most important thing to look for right? I want my computer to be.....snappier.....when I switch between documents or from going to documents to Chrome or whatever. I also would like things to load faster too, it takes about 30 seconds for Word to load, for example.
There's so many ultrabooks on the market, I'm sure not where to begin. I don't know which brands are usually considered reliable or what processor I should be looking for. How many GB would I need in this case (able to have many files and many tabs open at once).
Don't worry about budget. I don't expect it to be too much money considering I shouldn't have to worry much about graphics and whatnot.
I know this is the "gamer-approved" thread, but I'm thinking I need a new laptop for my graduate school work (in a scientific field). I figured this thread was the most active and people have subscribed to this thread so I figured I'd post this here. If there's another thread I should ask questions in instead I will.
This would be a laptop ONLY for work. I will never play games on it. I have access to a good gaming computer, but I can't use that for work.
I'm currently on a 5+ year old Dell Inspiron E1505. I got it as a gift when I graduated high school, and it worked fine for me through my undergrad, but it's not cutting it anymore. All I really know is that it's running Windows Vista (I never bothered to upgrade) and it has 1GB of ram. If I load up a few Word Documents and a few tabs in Chrome, it struggles like crazy. Not to mention if I am working in Excel or OriginPro for graphing or PDF articles when doing a literature review.
Let me just say I'm pretty dumb about computers. RAM would be the most important thing to look for right? I want my computer to be.....snappier.....when I switch between documents or from going to documents to Chrome or whatever. I also would like things to load faster too, it takes about 30 seconds for Word to load, for example.
There's so many ultrabooks on the market, I'm sure not where to begin. I don't know which brands are usually considered reliable or what processor I should be looking for. How many GB would I need in this case (able to have many files and many tabs open at once).
Don't worry about budget. I don't expect it to be too much money considering I shouldn't have to worry much about graphics and whatnot.
Apocryphon
Member
According to Notebookcheck, Guild Wars 2 at 1080p, ultra with AA and AF on runs at just over 30fps using a 7970m. GTX 675m seems to run 5 - 10fps slower depending on the scene. I suppose it's like WoW where mostly the game runs fine, but when their are lots of characters on screen and spells going off things start to slow down.
It should be noted that even though the 660m is a Kepler card, the 675m is still Fermi.
cartoon_soldier
Member
What effect I would see for gaming for 5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM HDD?
This should do well. It even has an HDMI port.
GPU PRICES NEVER COME DOWN. I can't stress that enough. The ones which were $800 3 years ago are $800 today.
Buying the one you actually want later ends up costing 50% of the machine's price. It's always the cheapest sitting there in the configurator.
p.s. - GPU PRICES NEVER COME DOWN!
If they're both GDDR5, the only difference is the listed frequencies.
When functioning properly, the 7970M is at least 50% faster than the 675M, on average.
With what you've stated, you need a machine with an SSD. That is where you'll gain the snappy OS you seek.
As far as Ultrabooks go, check out some reviews on the ASUS Zenbook, Samsung Series 5 Ultra, and HP Envy 14 Spectre.
Maybe faster load times in some games.
Sometimes I feel my SSD loads things too fast. I almost never get to read the tips and info between loads.
My initial search led me to this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082PZ0VE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Comments? I know the resolution is a tad low, but I'm not using it for gaming.
EDIT: Turns out it's a Samsung Series 5 (non-ultra I guess). The main thing I think it doesn't have that I may want is an SSD. I don't know if I really need an SSD though for what I'm doing.
I basically want to be able to have multiple: Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, Origin Spreadsheets, PDF files, and Browser tabs open at the same time without much struggle from my computer, and to be able to switch between these without headaches. My 5+ year old Dell with 1 GB ram doesn't cut it anymore.
Macbook air, 11" or 13" depending on which you prefer. I loved my 13", ultra portable, perfectly enough power for day to day tasks and not that expensive especially with student discounts if you can get them
I bought
Samsung Series 5 NP550P5C-T01US 15" Laptop (2.3 GHz Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor, 8 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) Silver
Graphics card and resolution are a tad low (I think), but I'm not using it for games at all.
Samsung Series 5 NP550P5C-T01US 15" Laptop (2.3 GHz Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor, 8 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) Silver
Code:
Brand Name Samsung
Series Series 5
Item model number NP550P5C-T01US
Hardware Platform PC
Screen Size 15.6 inches
Max Screen Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels
Processor 2.3 GHz Core i7-3610QM
RAM 8 GB DDR3
Hard Drive 750.0 GB
Card Description NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M Graphics
Wireless Type 802.11bgn
Number of USB 2.0 Ports 2
Number of USB 3.0 Ports 2
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Item Weight: 5.5 pounds
Item Dimensions L x W x H 14.40 x 9.50 x 1.17 inches
Color Silver
Processor Brand Intel
Processor Count 4
Computer Memory Type SODIMM
Hard Drive Interface Serial ATA
Hard Drive Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Batteries 1 Lithium ion batteries required.Graphics card and resolution are a tad low (I think), but I'm not using it for games at all.
Apocryphon
Member
Resolution is dire. Minimum I would want on a 15" machine is 1600*900.
How much did you spend?
Apocryphon
Member
Is he ok with playing on medium settings at 720p?
Amazon was selling it for $850.
My current work computer is 15 something inches and is 1280 by 800. I didn't even know that before looking it up right now and I've been using it for almost 6 years. I'm totally fine with it and I figure this new computers resolution is about the same. I have a gaming computer with a higher resolution (don't recall what it is at this point).
Also, this computer will primarily be displaying text and graphs.
lots and lots of text and graphs :/
Whoa, hold up. If you just want a basic beater laptop, you can match the above for about $500.
$800+ for that is absurd, and the quad core is totally wasted on you. That's over $150 of wasted money in itself.
I'd much rather overshoot that under shoot. I recently got about $800 from my fellowship and I figured I'd spend it all on a laptop. I figured any laptop for that amount of money would do what I want it to easily, I decided to go for quad core and 8 GB ram. The resolution doesn't bother me.
I can always return it too. I think I'll be happy with it.
Yes, all he really cares about is the framerate being steady
You didn't even overshoot. You just took something.
I've said this multiple time recently, but every 1366x768 screen on the market is an absolute piece of crap. Spending what you are, just to receive one of those LCDs, is what bothers me the most.
For your needs, I'd take this Sony VAIO S 9 out of 10 times, over the Samsung. Plus it starts at just $749 and you can configure it to your liking.
This is pretty much it.
Okay you convinced me. I canceled my Samsung order. I just need a new laptop sooner than later.
I currently have a Dell Inspiron with 1GB of ram and I'm not even sure what processor it has. It no longer holds a charge, the backlight to the screen goes out sometimes, the DVD drive is busted along with a usb port and just struggles doing simple things.
Here's what I want to be able to do:
-NO GAMING. I have a gaming capable machine already.
-Able to have dozens of tabs open in Chrome of FF open, a handful of Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PDFs, OriginPro Plots (and a couple other applications) all open at the same time. My current laptop just can't do this without struggling.
-I figured resolution wouldn't be an issue at all for me because I am not going to be gaming at all. Should I still play attention to resolution?
-I'd rather overshoot than undershoot. I'd rather the computer be more "future-proof" than less. Is an i5 processor fine? Will I regret not getting an i7 in a years time? Is 4GB of ram enough? Will I regret not getting more ram in a years time?
Apocryphon
Member
Greater resolution allows for more workspace as well as just being far more pleasant to use. Trust me, even though you have been quite happy with your current display, you'll definitely appreciate the jump to 1080p.
The difference between the two processors is negligible. The i5 is fast enough to last you a few years.
Also, unless you're running multiple virtual machines or doing a lot of HD video encoding/Photoshop work, you won't use more than 4GB.
That Vaio is really good value for money.
Too bad it doesn't come with the Vita promotion it seems (need the enhanced or performance versions of that SVS151190X model).
Although I'm not using it for games, is the Intel HD Graphic 4000 card fine? I know it's considered shit for games, but otherwise?
Apocryphon
Member
It's fine, though if you were bothered about it you can upgrade to the GT 640M for $80, and that still puts you in under what you were going to pay for the Samsung.
-Should I +$50 to upgrade to i5-3320M from i5-3210M ? (I have no idea if there's any difference at all really)
-I'm thinking I will buy additional RAM, even if I don't need it today, having more never hurts. Any reason to really not get more ram if I can afford it? I would figure this would be more important than the graphics card option in my case.
-Are Warranties ever worth it?
I'm really sorry if I'm being a pest. I'm just really stupid when it comes to these things.
And I'm not dead set on this computer either. If there's others that work just fine I'll hear it. Will that $500 laptop K.Jack posted be fine for me? I could save a few hundred of this fellowship for something else.
Apocryphon
Member
The difference is like 4% under full load so you would be unlikely to ever notice.
As long as you're not bothered about paying $50 for an additional 2gb then obviously there's no reason not to.
Sometimes. Though most of my stuff is covered by my home insurance and an insurance policy attached to my credit card so I never buy additional warranties.
I thought the HD 4000 was supposed to perform pretty well in games at 1366x768 and lower resolutions at medium-low depending on the game?
Apocryphon
Member
If all you're doing is web/Office stuff... yes, you don't need to spend $800-900. Still a horrible panel, but y'know... it's $500.
I'm actually thinking about doing that. I've been with this "horrible" 1280 X 800 panel for six years (I assume they are similar) and I honestly am happy with it. (Like I said before, I didn't even know what it's resolution was until I looked it up today.) It's purely for work.
Apocryphon
Member
It does. Probably 30% better than HD 3000. But we are literally talking low-medium settings @ 720p, no AA in most cases. It's just far from ideal.
Apocryphon
Member
Well you'd effectively be getting the same resolution, just moving from 16:10 to 16:9. It might feel like losing a little bit of vertical real-estate but in terms of image sharpness it'll be the same. If you're only using it for Word documents and such, it's not a massive issue.
I suppose if you spend $500 instead of $900 now, you might not feel too bad about buying a new machine in 2-3 years. Just bear in mind that a laptop with a 1080p panel will be much more resell-able than this one.
I wouldn't really plan on selling it. In fact, I'm keeping the old Dell (I'm typing on it right now) as it can browse the internet at least (a few tabs anyway)
Just want to note that, when I talk down about the majority of 768p panels, it's not because of the resolution, but because of the poor technical specs: contrast ratios are in the 200:1 to 300:1 range, viewing angles are very narrow, colors washed out, etc.
But those may not be huge factors to everyone. It's not like they're unusable. I preach the gospel while daily linking numerous people to budget laptops which contain the very screens I condemn.
I'm a person who spent $200 on a premium screen upgrade, for my current notebook, because I want the LCD I stare at all day to be pretty and I've had enough experience with screens which you have to adjust every time you move you head to know it's aggravating.
Also, on the ~$800-$900 vs $500 laptop decision, and I should always mention this. There is something to be said for luxury. A machine from the VAIO or Samsung crowd should certainly feel better than the average $500 Acer/Toshiba/HP. But that's why it's best to read some user and professional reviews, instead of buying based solely on spec sheets. Factors like what kind of feedback the keyboard gives when typed on and how sturdy a machine is in the hand can be worth hundreds, to some. But
But those may not be huge factors to everyone. It's not like they're unusable. I preach the gospel while daily linking numerous people to budget laptops which contain the very screens I condemn.
I'm a person who spent $200 on a premium screen upgrade, for my current notebook, because I want the LCD I stare at all day to be pretty and I've had enough experience with screens which you have to adjust every time you move you head to know it's aggravating.
Also, on the ~$800-$900 vs $500 laptop decision, and I should always mention this. There is something to be said for luxury. A machine from the VAIO or Samsung crowd should certainly feel better than the average $500 Acer/Toshiba/HP. But that's why it's best to read some user and professional reviews, instead of buying based solely on spec sheets. Factors like what kind of feedback the keyboard gives when typed on and how sturdy a machine is in the hand can be worth hundreds, to some. But
DivineRage002
Member
Hey guys, looking to replace my current Asus G51J, and I was looking at getting a Sager NP9370. My only use for this laptop will be gaming.
1: I'm a bit nervous about heat, since as you know G51's run notoriously hot (I've seen over 100C on my GPU). Will a Sager NP9370 have any such trouble with a high end CPU/GPU?
2: AMD's 7970M, I've heard they had problems with the drivers, but the GTX680M is 200$+ more expensive. Is the 7970M a good purchase? Or should I dish out the extra cash for the 680M's stability? I couldn't care less about 3D.
3: Is an i7-3720QM a good purchase over a i7-3610QM? I'm hoping to keep this laptop at least 3 years like I did with my G51J.
Thanks in advance.
1: I'm a bit nervous about heat, since as you know G51's run notoriously hot (I've seen over 100C on my GPU). Will a Sager NP9370 have any such trouble with a high end CPU/GPU?
2: AMD's 7970M, I've heard they had problems with the drivers, but the GTX680M is 200$+ more expensive. Is the 7970M a good purchase? Or should I dish out the extra cash for the 680M's stability? I couldn't care less about 3D.
3: Is an i7-3720QM a good purchase over a i7-3610QM? I'm hoping to keep this laptop at least 3 years like I did with my G51J.
Thanks in advance.
DivineRage002
Member
Doesn't work? I was just looking at one on Xoticpc and it was in the options list (for the NP9370 at least).
Apocryphon
Member
It works, but in some games the are issues with Enduro kicking in and the performance dropping. For some reason you can't disable it like you can on an Alienware and AMD are blaming Clevo and saying its not their problem.
Apocryphon
Member
NVIDIA drivers are certainly more stable in general, and the 7970 did have issues for the first month or so after release, but the current drivers are stable. I've had mine since July and it's fine.
In my opinion yes. I got the 3820 so I could overclock, but the 3720 has an unlocked multiplier too. For most people the 3610 will be sufficient, but for those that do a lot of video encoding, 3D rendering, or run virtual machines, the upgrade may be worth while.
DivineRage002
Member
I know in my G51J the 260M is slightly underclocked to prevent it from turning into a fireball, I hope the Sager will be able to take the 680M properly and not overheat like crazy?
Apocryphon
Member
55nm vs 28nm. Lower power consumption and smaller fabrication... I think you'll be fine. Though you could always repaste with Arctic MX-4. Stock clock temps seem to float around 89 degrees which is poor but usable. Repasted they drop to between 70 and 75 degrees. You could repaste and then overclock and still not go past 89 degees.
DivineRage002
Member
Awesome, thanks for the quick replies.
Gotcha
If you can, do consider adding a SSD to whatever you config.
I have a laptop almost as old as yours, which struggled with the things you mention. I placed an SSD in it and now I can have multiple instances of excel, word, visual studio, and shit ton of tabs open in chrome and firefox without issue. Almost instant booting is a nice bonus as well
UPDATE: Looks like Anandtech has been in detailed talks with AMD about the Enduro fix.
Enduro 5.5 update coming in October.
Enduro 5.5 update coming in October.
Also worth thinking how you'll use it. Even a crappy screen is fine for a spot of web browsing or text editing. If you want to photo edit etc maybe you can hook up to an external monitor for less than the cost of upgrading the screen on your laptop (and bigger) or connect to your HDTV for gaming
How are temps on laptops? Should I be comfortable with them getting very warm to the touch, and the exhaust air being hot? That's just how it gets? Presumably they all have the necessary protections in place. Running GPU-z the temp was around 68c on the GPU (just running minecraft lol)
Ok so guys, I am trying to find the right laptop, mainly for school and some gaming. I want it to be pretty portable with decent build quality(excuse my pickiness). I understand usually when you're looking for a gaming laptop, portability is a compromise you're gonna have to make. The thing is, I'm not really looking to run games at Ultra or Max all the time. I don't mind having something that can run things at mid-low or mid-high ranges.
Whatpeople Google usually recommends to me are both the
HP Envy 15(2012)
Dell XPS(2012)
Both I think have new models released this year, so I'll just put 2012 at the end of them.
Can anyone recommend any better laptops besides these two according to my preferences?
Of course, if there are a lot more affordable laptops that you guys suggest that outperform these two noticeably, I might just say fuck all with build quality and whatnot and go for it.
I must play Guild Wars 2.
What
HP Envy 15(2012)
Dell XPS(2012)
Both I think have new models released this year, so I'll just put 2012 at the end of them.
Can anyone recommend any better laptops besides these two according to my preferences?
Of course, if there are a lot more affordable laptops that you guys suggest that outperform these two noticeably, I might just say fuck all with build quality and whatnot and go for it.
I must play Guild Wars 2.
I think the XPS has the 640m in the top models? And I think that's roughly equivalent to the old 540m which is in my sons laptop. It's ok with source games etc, but can struggle with more modern things, even on lower detail settings. And combined with a 1080p screen it'd be even worse.
For gaming I'd try and get a 650m at minimum, but I don't see many compact laptops with that. There was an ASUS ultra book-style one coming soon with an i7 and 650 or 660m - link posted on the last page. Or a MBP etina or non-retina - 15" versions have a 650m.
For gaming I'd try and get a 650m at minimum, but I don't see many compact laptops with that. There was an ASUS ultra book-style one coming soon with an i7 and 650 or 660m - link posted on the last page. Or a MBP etina or non-retina - 15" versions have a 650m.
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