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Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread

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The last few posts are why I tell people to go with a Clevo/Sager.
g23 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214051

What do you guys think of this TOSHIBA gaming laptop? I'm thinking of getting one pretty soon since its $300 off and at a pretty good price point. The only downside I can think of is that the size is really really bulky and not at all suitable for portability...such as going to class and stuff. Anyways some feedback would be great. thanks.
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Like I told someone else. The Qosmio is well built and will perform well, but make sure you realize how monstrous an 18.4" truly is.
 
Is there a way I can stress test my GPU to testing temperately beside playing a resource hogging game myself for a long period of time?
 
I don't think I'm using all of my processor's cores. Is there a way I can tell if I'm using all of my cores and if it turns out I'm not how to I make it so that I am?
 
Jinfash said:
Is there a way I can stress test my GPU to testing temperately beside playing a resource hogging game myself for a long period of time?
Click to expand...
Furmark.

kai3345 said:
I don't think I'm using all of my processor's cores. Is there a way I can tell if I'm using all of my cores and if it turns out I'm not how to I make it so that I am?
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Task Manager.

Your CPU only uses as many cores as the program is engineered to use.
 
The sound is absolutely the best laptop setup i have ever heard, better than my previous desktop setup. Yes the sound is excellent. :D
 
Ugh. fuck my life. Where I usually get 30-40 fps questing, and 60 in instances in WoW, I am now getting 15-20

If I system restore back to the day I got the machine, will it delete all of the games I've installed since then?
 
I'm looking to buy a laptop at around £800, mainly for gaming. A desktop is out of the equation as there is no easy way to allow me to transfer it to and from university.

At the moment I think the MSI GT640 may be the best option http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-026-MS&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=

However, I'm not sure if I'd get a notable performance increase with the GX660R http://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-...-ati-r5870-1gb-supermult-wifi-n-bt-wcam-9c-w7 (I think the 5870 is much better than the 250m?), and if that increase is worth the extra £100? Also, I can't find this GX660R in stock anywhere on UK sites, I'm not too sure where else to look.

Thanks.
 
kai3345 said:
Ugh. fuck my life. Where I usually get 30-40 fps questing, and 60 in instances in WoW, I am now getting 15-20

If I system restore back to the day I got the machine, will it delete all of the games I've installed since then?
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You have an M11X, right?

Are you sure Optimus isn't activated?

Quixzlizx said:
Shouldn't people who are buying right now just wait a few weeks for Sandy Bridge models?
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Absolutely. Sandy Bridge notebooks will be out and available by the weekend.

3Ghz on all four cores. Amazing stuff.
 
I bought a sony vaio in september that came with a 720p screen, I know they offer a 1080p screen but they were out of stock on it when i tried to purchase it, how difficult would it be to upgrade it to a 1080p screen?

also i have a i5 processor, but it doesnt seem that fast, sometimes it struggles when i have to many tabs open in chrome, can that processor be upgraded in the future?

my specs are

Intel Core i5 i5-430M 2.26 GHz
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM
640 GB HDD
Mobility Radeon HD 5650 Dedicated

it plays games just fine, plays mass effect 2 with no problems so im thinking its just the processor?
 
CptSupermarket said:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...laptops-and-netbooks/msi-gx660r-717284/review

Just bought one of these, loving it so far!

:D :lol :D :lol
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I bought a gx660 recently too, but I can't say I'm too pleased with it. To be fair I haven't tried alot of demanding games with it yet, but my main game TF2(which is the only game I really give a shit about atm), runs inconsistent as hell with framedrops and freeze-frames all over the place. This is despite me having "turbo" activated and all settings set to low. The newer maps such as hightower and thundermountain are the biggest offenders and makes playing precision-classes like the scout and sniper a real bitch. I've heard TF2 is a CPU-demanding game, so I guess the core i5 is the problem here?

EDIT: Should be noted I bought the cheaper, crappier GX660-model with 4gig ram and i5. Still, you would think it should be able to run a cartoony game from 2007 competently.
 
K.Jack said:
Furmark.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

I started a stability test - 1920x1080 - 2x MSAA and the temp peaked at 95. How acceptible is that? :\

Fwiw, when I tried playing Civ5 after I got my laptop back, the temp peaked at 76 under the same condition I used back when it reached 90-95C. However idle temp still hovers around 60-62 which is a bit concerning.

I really don't know for sure if they fixed anything or not, but at least I haven't run into any freezes or GSODs. Either way, I'm gonna personally take my laptop to their center next time I'm in the city and specifically ask for some thermal paste to be applied.
 
Jinfash said:
Thanks!

I started a stability test - 1920x1080 - 2x MSAA and the temp peaked at 95. How acceptible is that? :\

Fwiw, when I tried playing Civ5 after I got my laptop back, the temp peaked at 76 under the same condition I used back when it reached 90-95C. However idle temp still hovers around 60-62 which is a bit concerning.
Click to expand...

My previous laptop used to get unstable at temps over 83C - kinda depends on your card. But I would say 95 is pretty close to unacceptable temperature - well I would say anything over 85C is prone to crash or get errors at some point, and over 90C you're definitely risking permanent damage.

My current laptop (asus g73jh) peaks at 74C and runs idle at 51C, which is fantastic. I think it actually has the best cooling solution I've ever seen in a laptop.
 
desverger said:
My current laptop (asus g73jh) peaks at 74C and runs idle at 51C, which is fantastic. I think it actually has the best cooling solution I've ever seen in a laptop.
Click to expand...
I AM USING A G73JH T-T
 
Jinfash said:
I AM USING A G73JH T-T
Click to expand...

That's weird - yours must be a newer model or something since my display only has a 1600x900 resolution. Mine certainly hasn't gone over 74C so far, and I've been gaming pretty heavily on it.

What drivers are you using, or did you detail your problem somewhere earlier this thread?

Edit: ah, found your earlier post. Well, I'm not too sure what to say, the reason I picked up this laptop was that it was supposed to be really cool and quiet, and after the disaster I had with an Acer laptop it's been working dandy so far. There's a review I read that backed this laptop up quite heavily.

You definitely have a newer model with a bigger screen, i7 and a HD5870 - mine only has i5 and a HD5850.

If you're using stock drivers and definitely haven't overclocked your laptop, there's no reason why it should run that hot.
 
desverger said:
That's weird - yours must be a newer model or something since my display only has a 1600x900 resolution. Mine certainly hasn't gone over 74C so far, and I've been gaming pretty heavily on it.

What drivers are you using, or did you detail your problem somewhere earlier this thread?

Edit: ah, found your earlier post. Well, I'm not too sure what to say, the reason I picked up this laptop was that it was supposed to be really cool and quiet, and after the disaster I had with an Acer laptop it's been working dandy so far. There's a review I read that backed this laptop up quite heavily.

You definitely have a newer model with a bigger screen, i7 and a HD5870 - mine only has i5 and a HD5850.

If you're using stock drivers and definitely haven't overclocked your laptop, there's no reason why it should run that hot.
Click to expand...

After getting it back from Asus I ran Civ5 under the same settings that caused the temp to rise to 90-95, and the temp peaked at 76. The recent 90-95 I'm referring to was caused by running Furmark.

I started a stability test - 1920x1080 - 2x MSAA and the temp peaked at 95.
Click to expand...

If you have the time you download it (2MB) and report your findings. This poor guy would stop shitting this thread up with his problem afterwards.
 
Jinfash said:
If you have the time you download it (2MB) and report your findings. This poor guy would stop shitting this thread up with his problem afterwards.
Click to expand...

Ran furmark for about 10 minutes on this laptop, 1600x900 and 2x MSAA.. It does tax this system more, that's for sure, but the peak temp was only 79C.
 
desverger said:
Ran furmark for about 10 minutes on this laptop, 1600x900 and 2x MSAA.. It does tax this system more, that's for sure, but the peak temp was only 79C.
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Thanks.

/wrist
 
To be fair, Furmark at 1080p + 2xAA is way overkill, for even functioning some machines. Run it at the standard 1280x1024, no AA, and report back.

p.s.- hey, the specs for AMD's 6970M released today. Hmm...

960 Stream Processing Units
48 Texture Units
128 Z/Stencil ROP Units
32 Color ROP Units
Engine clock speed: 580-680 MHz
Memory clock speed: 900 MHz
Memory bandwidth: 115.2 GB/sec

Oh look, the desktop 6850 is coming to gaming notebooks.

Time for me to upgrade!
 
K.Jack said:
To be fair, Furmark at 1080p + 2xAA is way overkill, for even functioning some machines. Run it at the standard 1280x1024, no AA, and report back.
Click to expand...
95C

Yeah, this baby is going back to Asus. This is unacceptable. But thanks for Furmark, this is definitely what I needed to instantly present the overheating problem.
 
desverger said:
That's weird - yours must be a newer model or something since my display only has a 1600x900 resolution. Mine certainly hasn't gone over 74C so far, and I've been gaming pretty heavily on it.

What drivers are you using, or did you detail your problem somewhere earlier this thread?

Edit: ah, found your earlier post. Well, I'm not too sure what to say, the reason I picked up this laptop was that it was supposed to be really cool and quiet, and after the disaster I had with an Acer laptop it's been working dandy so far. There's a review I read that backed this laptop up quite heavily.

You definitely have a newer model with a bigger screen, i7 and a HD5870 - mine only has i5 and a HD5850.

If you're using stock drivers and definitely haven't overclocked your laptop, there's no reason why it should run that hot.
Click to expand...

your model is the bestbuy model, it is a cheaper model. the i7 ones (G73JH-B1) are actually the standard models.
 
desverger said:
You definitely have a newer model with a bigger screen, i7 and a HD5870 - mine only has i5 and a HD5850.
Click to expand...
There's no such thing as a G73 w/ 5850, fyi. You have the Mobility 5870.
 
K.Jack said:
That's the best move. No decent notebook hits 90C while gaming.
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Yeah. My old Acer laptop used to run at 93C gpu temperature while gaming. Needless to say the gpu burned out after a few months - luckily I was able to get it fixed through warranty.

K.Jack said:
There's no such thing as a G73 w/ 5850, fyi. You have the Mobility 5870.
Click to expand...

True. They only upgraded the cpu and the display in the newer model.
 
So I'm currently editing a movie in Sony Vegas 9, and I put the program on my white list to use my Nvidia GPU, but its not using it.

Is there some way on the m11xR2 that I can force the computer to use the Nvidia GPU no matter what?
 
OK, a GAFfer in the Witcher 2 thread just plainly advised me to upgrade my Dual Core E5200 and GT 9800GT in order to play the game.


Now, what gaming machine (laptop in this very case) would do wonders, and still be in a resaonable price range ?



Minima for The Witcher 2 :

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or similar AMD
Memory: 1 GB for Win XP / 2 GB for Win Vista
Graphics: Nvidia GF 8800 512 VR or similar ATI
Hard Drive: 8GB for game and 8GB bonus content



Façade said:
I'm looking to buy a laptop at around £800, mainly for gaming. A desktop is out of the equation as there is no easy way to allow me to transfer it to and from university.

At the moment I think the MSI GT640 may be the best option http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-026-MS&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=
Click to expand...


Would this be good enough ?

Also :

D23 said:
help me decide between these two laptop please

1. TOSHIBA Satellite L655-S5111 NoteBook Intel Core i3 370M(2.40GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...043&cm_re=toshiba_l655-_-34-214-043-_-Product

or

Acer Aspire AS5745G-7671 NoteBook Intel Core i3 370M(2.40GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115860

do i want the NVIDIA geforce gt 420m or the 5650??

thanks
Click to expand...

These would also be in my price range. But... I don't know if they can run the game :'(
 
Kenka said:
snip
No to everything you asked about.

Today's situation:

You'd need a Mobility 5850 or 5870, GTX 460M at the least.

That leaves you looking at the Asus G73, MSI GX740, MSI GX640, Clevo W860CU, Clevo W870CU, Alienware M15x, or M17X.

Nothing currently available, without GDDR5 video RAM will be enough.

Now, the good news:

The Witcher 2 isn't out until May. Around March, notebooks will be releasing which hold AMD's 6970M. The 6970M is an underclocked 6850, easily overclocked to reach stock 6850 clocks.. Notebooks will be as low as $1k.

So buying now isn't looking too good, unless one of the aforementioned machines is in your price range. In March, we'll see the 6970M almost double the 5870M's performance, at the same price.
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Click to expand...
 
K.Jack said:
No to everything you asked about.

Today's situation:

You'd need a Mobility 5850 or 5870, GTX 460M at the least.

That leaves you looking at the Asus G73, MSI GX740, MSI GX640, Clevo W860CU, Clevo W870CU, Alienware M15x, or M17X.

Nothing currently available, without GDDR5 video RAM will be enough.

Now, the good news:

The Witcher 2 isn't out until May. Around March, notebooks will be releasing which hold AMD's 6970M. The 6970M is an underclocked 6850, easily overclocked to reach stock 6850 clocks.. Notebooks will be as low as $1k.

So buying now isn't looking too good, unless one of the aforementioned machines is in your price range. In March, we'll see the 6970M almost double the 5870M's performance, at the same price.
Click to expand...

So that would be money well spent. Alright then, I'll hold on and shoot my bullets around my birthday. Thank you much for the advice.
 
I've had the MSI GX740 for a good few months now, had zero problems with it one of the best purchases I ever made.

Thanks K.jack for your help and all others who gave me advise
 
So im running Sony Vegas and my video is playing slow as shit, but CPU-Z is saying only one core is activated. Shouldn't it be activating both?
 
Got the Asus G73 and damn this thing is amazing!! Awesome gaming laptop for the $$$ (paid $1100). Crushes everything I toss at it, it's almost better than my desktop :D
 
kai3345 said:
So im running Sony Vegas and my video is playing slow as shit, but CPU-Z is saying only one core is activated. Shouldn't it be activating both?
Click to expand...
Options -> Preferences -> Video

How many threads is it set to use?
 
K.Jack said:
Absolutely. Sandy Bridge notebooks will be out and available by the weekend.

3Ghz on all four cores. Amazing stuff.
Click to expand...
Have any links that can educate me about what Sandy Bridge is? I just returned my laptop because it made a high pitch squeel all the time, and am in the market for a new one.
 
whitehawk said:
Have any links that can educate me about what Sandy Bridge is? I just returned my laptop because it made a high pitch squeel all the time, and am in the market for a new one.
Click to expand...
It's Intel's new line of CPUs.

I think reading the Anandtech article is a good idea.
kai3345 said:
it says 16
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Vegas uses all available cores/thread, so I dunno.

Try setting it to 4.
 
whitehawk said:
Yeah I found this and tried to read through it as much as possible, but a lot of the stuff went right past me :lol

Let me just ask this question. When Intel launches these new chips in laptops, will I be able to buy a $500-600 laptop with one of these chips that will run games very well?
Click to expand...

You'll be able to run most games in 1024x768 and low settings. The SB integrated graphics are about as good as a geforce 320M or radeon 54xx (basically, the lowest rung of discrete mobile graphics).
 
I am so fucking excited to get my Asus G73 next week.

I have so many games i stupidly bought on steam that i can barely run on low settings that i will now be able to enjoy on max.

It will also now allow me to enjoy these Euro RPGs that always get shitty xbox ports like Risen and Two Worlds 2! Yay!
 
Okay... So maybe Sandy Bridge is not the best option? Or perhaps just not the best if I'm in the $500 range. What would you suggest is the best choice right now for around $500 then.

I had bought this laptop 2 weeks ago: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=3f0f9dc4dd651e0c23ca0a07dad8ac15en02

It was good, ran stuff like Burnout revenge perfectly at medium settings I believe, ran Super Smash Bros. Brawl with Dolphin at 50-60 fps. However it had a loud whining noise that was annoying and a lackluster screen (with a deadpixel too).
 
whitehawk said:
Okay... So maybe Sandy Bridge is not the best option? Or perhaps just not the best if I'm in the $500 range. What would you suggest is the best choice right now for around $500 then.

I had bought this laptop 2 weeks ago: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=3f0f9dc4dd651e0c23ca0a07dad8ac15en02

It was good, ran stuff like Burnout revenge perfectly at medium settings I believe, ran Super Smash Bros. Brawl with Dolphin at 50-60 fps. However it had a loud whining noise that was annoying and a lackluster screen (with a deadpixel too).
Click to expand...

Well, I can tell you that the Radeon 5650 in that model is better than what SB by itself can provide you. I don't know how much a laptop with that card and a SB CPU will run you until they are released, but the CPU will run faster than the equivalent previous-gen i3 in your laptop.
 
So what Sandy Bridge laptops have been announced, exactly? It is absolutely impossible to parse through the glut of CES press releases. My seven-year old laptop is on its last legs. I'm looking for a 13-14" (maybe 15" if it comes to that, but I mostly just want a full-sized keyboard) laptop around $600-700.
 
^I'll compile a full list for you on Monday or Tuesday.

Every manufacturer is moving over right now.

Gamer @ Heart said:
I am so fucking excited to get my Asus G73 next week.

I have so many games i stupidly bought on steam that i can barely run on low settings that i will now be able to enjoy on max.

It will also now allow me to enjoy these Euro RPGs that always get shitty xbox ports like Risen and Two Worlds 2! Yay!
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Did you already order it?

Asus is upgrading its machines to Sandy Bridge across the board, at the same pricepoint.
 
Ok I think I get it, so best to get a laptop with a SB CPU, as well as a dedicated graphics card, rather than integrated graphics. Gotcha, I think.

Sorry I'm a total noob when it comes to PCs/laptops, I've been a console gamer my whole life. I'm not even getting a laptop for gaming primarily, but I would like a laptop that can run the fastest regardless.
 
i set it to 4. Then I realized my RAM max was at 300 so i set it to its max. that helped but its still stuttery as fuck.

:(

when im done rendering the video plays perfect at 720p, but in vegas my preview vid is set to 320x200 or some shit, with literally the lowest quality and its playing at like 8 fps
 
Asked a while ago, but is this still a good option for the price? Would it run stuff like Metro 2033, and The Witcher on medium to high without lagging, or framerate problems? Planning to get it sometime this month. Must admit I'm also confused about the new Sandy Bridge stuff.:lol
K.Jack said:
Asus is upgrading its machines to Sandy Bridge across the board, at the same pricepoint.
Click to expand...
Oh, so even the model I want will have these new chips soon?
 
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