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[Nerdy Fergy]

I have a stupid question about resolution. A laptop that does 1366 x 768 is basically a 720p resolution laptop, right? I feel like this is obvious, but I don't know why the odd pixel number.

I would prefer to get a 1080p, but Frys has a Y580 (lower spec - 6gb of ram, probably a 5400rpm drive, but it is an i7) for $799 plus the free Xbox 360, which I can sell for at least $150, which would make the y580 $650. That leaves me enough left over to buy a good SSD. The deal ends this week, if anyone else is interested.

 

[Sordid]

Is there anything similar to V-sync that can limit your FPS to 30 instead of 60? I was hoping adaptive v-sync (half refresh rate) in the Nvidia control panel would do it but it doesn't seem to do anything. I tried the FPS limiter too using Nvidia Inspector but it seemed to tear like crazy :/

The reason I'm asking is my XPS 17's fan is loud as hell when gaming and my partner complains at night I was hoping halving the FPS at night might help!

Edit: It's a GeForce 555m if that makes any difference.

 

[Dacvak]

There are still some good HP Envy configurations out there that are comparable/even better than the Macbooks. Like this one: http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/A6U26AV?HP-ENVY-15t-3200-Notebook-PC

I just want to mention that I've owned an HP Envy 17 (one of the earlier models) and I had more problems with it than I care to list. They were crippling problems that rendered the $2000 laptop completely useless in less than 6 months. This is all based on my personal experience with one of their products. My experience not only with the product but with the company/technicians was so horrendous, I don't just not recommend the laptop/company to friends, I actively warn and suggest others against it.

YMMV, but I wouldn't take a chance on the HP Envy. There are a lot of other great choices for a sleek, PC laptop.

 

[Dacvak]

Thinking of pulling the trigger on this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215257

Anything I should know? Not looking to run anything too demanding, mainly indie games with the occasional big release like Portal 2 or Deus Ex: Human Revolution on low or medium settings.

You'll definitely have no problem playing Portal 2 on that. (I don't know about Deux Ex - never tried it.)

That's an awesome price, too. I'd give it a thumbs up.

 

[Fodder76]

The 630M is horridly anemic for $900. Why not go for one of the mid-tier Sager machines? They skirt the $1k line, with 1080p, an i5, and GT 650M GDDR5 cards.

Which is the more important component? The i7 vs the i5, or a GT 630 vs a GT 650?

Also, how critical is it to have 2MB of Video Ram vs. 1MB?

I had been avoiding the only 15" Sager 1080p thats less than a grand because it only had a 1024mb video card. Not something I should concern myself with?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Thinking of pulling the trigger on this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215257

Anything I should know? Not looking to run anything too demanding, mainly indie games with the occasional big release like Portal 2 or Deus Ex: Human Revolution on low or medium settings.

It will definitely meet the criteria of running Portal 2 or any other Source engine title, that engine is more than a decade old at this point. It will run DXHR at low settings but DXHR looks very bad at low settings, even at highest settings with a ton of AA slathered on it, the game looks like a console port (which it is).

In general I don't recommend anybody buy an AMD Llano or Trinity based laptop because the CPU performance get humiliated by Intel and the GPU is actually not much faster than Intel HD4000. Intel has really caught up in IGP performance, which makes bottom-tier discrete GPUs in laptops almost useless. In general if you only have $400 to spend on a laptop, my advice is to save up a bit more money and then buy something better. $400 laptops are generally bottom of the barrel junk and won't last very long before they kick the bucket.

Which is the more important component? The i7 vs the i5, or a GT 630 vs a GT 650?

Also, how critical is it to have 2MB of Video Ram vs. 1MB?

I had been avoiding the only 15" Sager 1080p thats less than a grand because it only had a 1024mb video card. Not something I should concern myself with?

For gaming, the GPU matters more than the CPU. 2GB vs. 1GB of VRAM is irrelevant on a mobile GPU in the mainstream class, you won't be using AA much if at all anyways and you'll hit the performance barrier long before you use up your VRAM.

 

[Shambles]

Not exactly gaming related but I'm looking for a laptop centred more around portability. Looking for an ivy bridge laptop in the 13-14" size. It should have a decent IPS panel running at either 1600x900 or 1080P with a matte finish. I prefer not to have a ULC processor but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. It can either come with a 256GB HDD or a spinning HDD that i'd swap out with an SSD since the upgrade option with be unreasonably expensive.

This is for a friend looking to spend $800-1200 and would mainly be using it for work and hauling around somewhat for school. Weight and looks/build quality is important. However each laptop I look at in that price range seems to be great until it falls on it's face in one of these categories. It would be better to have no dedicated GPU in it as battery life and weight is more important than performance. Seems like it should be simple but I don't think it exists.

All i want is an full i5 IVB processor, HD4000 graphics, a higher resolution IPS screen and good build quality and design. No wonder manufacturers of windows laptops are struggling so badly against the macbooks. It's a wasteland of garbage with a few gems that don't quite cut it.

I'm hoping someone in a similar situation might be able to point me to a specific model.

 

[a secret-boss]

I switched to PC gaming after giving away my 360 and PS3, and bought a g75vw. Also, I bought a 360 PC controller

I was blown away when I played a modded Skyrim.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Not exactly gaming related but I'm looking for a laptop centred more around portability. Looking for an ivy bridge laptop in the 13-14" size. It should have a decent IPS panel running at either 1600x900 or 1080P with a matte finish. I prefer not to have a ULC processor but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. It can either come with a 256GB HDD or a spinning HDD that i'd swap out with an SSD since the upgrade option with be unreasonably expensive.

This is for a friend looking to spend $800-1200 and would mainly be using it for work and hauling around somewhat for school. Weight and looks/build quality is important. However each laptop I look at in that price range seems to be great until it falls on it's face in one of these categories. It would be better to have no dedicated GPU in it as battery life and weight is more important than performance. Seems like it should be simple but I don't think it exists.

All i want is an full i5 IVB processor, HD4000 graphics, a higher resolution IPS screen and good build quality and design. No wonder manufacturers of windows laptops are struggling so badly against the macbooks. It's a wasteland of garbage with a few gems that don't quite cut it.

I'm hoping someone in a similar situation might be able to point me to a specific model.

The best you can do in the 13"-14" category is Asus Zenbook Prime with the 1080p IPS screen. The touchpad will make you want to murder kittens though. An alternative is Vizio's new 14" Thin and Light laptop, Vizio gets a lot of things right but the keyboard and touchpad both have issues.

It continues to amaze me how helpless the PC laptop OEMs are when it comes to putting a decent keyboard and touchpad in them. It's not as if keyboards and touchpads are amazing new technology protected by Apple's patent lawyer army, so their constant failure in this obviously important category is quite stunning.

 

[OmegaZero]

Laptop-GAF, I have a younger brother who's looking for a gaming laptop that can play most modern games on the highest graphical settings. Price would hopefully be around $1000 or less, and he's concerned with how hot some gaming laptops get, so preferably the laptop should have good thermal management (for lack of a better term). Size and looks aren't really an issue.

Any suggestions?

 

[K.Jack]

I want a laptop with really good speakers (so I can blast Giantbomb videos) and can play FFXIV (quality hardware because game is super unoptimized)

Affordable Asus laptops usually have their Altec Lansing speakers, and HP's DV6/7 line offers Beats Audio; some Toshiba machines have Harman Kardon speakers installed.

Which is the more important component? The i7 vs the i5, or a GT 630 vs a GT 650?

Also, how critical is it to have 2MB of Video Ram vs. 1MB?

I had been avoiding the only 15" Sager 1080p thats less than a grand because it only had a 1024mb video card. Not something I should concern myself with?

1. In these mid-range laptops GPU matters so much more than CPU it's hard to understate.
2. The 650M is 3x the speed of the 630M at 1080p.
3. It takes like 2560x1600 and 4xAA to push over 1GB of VRAM. You won't be doing that with the 650M, so the amount doesn't matter past the 1GB minimum.

But you should take the Y580 deal. See the link in the quote below.

Laptop-GAF, I have a younger brother who's looking for a gaming laptop that can play most modern games on the highest graphical settings. Price would hopefully be around $1000 or less, and he's concerned with how hot some gaming laptops get, so preferably the laptop should have good thermal management (for lack of a better term). Size and looks aren't really an issue.

Any suggestions?

Take this $999.00 Lenovo Y580 SKU, before the 40% off coupon code expires. And turn of your pop-up blocker, because you'll get one for subscribing to their emails which gives 10% off of your next order.

 

[OmegaZero]

Take this $999.00 Lenovo Y580 SKU, before the 40% off coupon code expires. And turn of your pop-up blocker, because you'll get one for subscribing to their emails which gives 10% off of your next order.

This looks awesome.

Many thanks!

 

[Shiryu]

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in here having recently bought a laptop purely for gaming:

Asus N76VZ, released around May this year has an i7-3610QM with 650M DDR3 with 2GB of VRAM. For the price (999&#8364 I got the model with a Blu Ray reader in it. For me, it seems like a pretty good deal.
Playing all games on highest works fine, although BF3/Crysis2 (DX11 Mode) are around 20-25FPS on ultra with 1080p. For me, it's perfect since I mostly play some MMORPGs, Blizzard Games, DOTA2 and Tribes: Ascend, all work on highest. I'm sure the laptop will hold me out at least 2 years for games, hoping it'll hold 3.

Coming from a Mid-2009 Macbook Pro (with Nvidia 9400M), it's a huge change. The MBP will last me perfect as a workstation for uni/video/photo work, while using the Asus for gaming.
I can only recommend this model for someone looking at a laptop that doesn't compromise looks for gaming too much.
I don't really like Alienware rigs, too "neon fair" for me, especially at the price.

 

[Shambles]

The best you can do in the 13"-14" category is Asus Zenbook Prime with the 1080p IPS screen. The touchpad will make you want to murder kittens though. An alternative is Vizio's new 14" Thin and Light laptop, Vizio gets a lot of things right but the keyboard and touchpad both have issues.

It continues to amaze me how helpless the PC laptop OEMs are when it comes to putting a decent keyboard and touchpad in them. It's not as if keyboards and touchpads are amazing new technology protected by Apple's patent lawyer army, so their constant failure in this obviously important category is quite stunning.

Good to know what I've been thinking lately. After a lot of looking around the UX31A seems to be the best option. While there seems to be a few more options in the 1400-1600 range like the Samsung 9 series it's just beyond the point of sanity to spend that much on a laptop with a gimped processor and no dGPU. I've heard from several places the touchpad can be an issue. After almost being happy with it I've also learned that it has it's own bullshit proprietary SATA connection. So not only can you not upgrade the SSD yourself but you won't be able to move the SSD into another machine when you upgrade down the road. You'd think manufacturers would be going nuts right now trying to get the student crowd but it's no wonder there's no enthusiasm.

 

[Munin]

So GAF...is there a high-performance gaming laptop that doesn't have a shitty juvenile design like the Alienware stuff? Why is there nobody offering gaming specs without making the whole thing look like a 14 year old Counterstrike player's casemod? Anything similar to Macbook designs?

 

[DrBo42]

Can anyone recommend a really good laptop cooling pad that'll fit a 17.3"?

 

[Razorwind]

Can anyone recommend a really good laptop cooling pad that'll fit a 17.3"?

The CM NotePal U3 is a viable choice...
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6671

But this is CM, which means it got a serious premium on a metal plate that has three usb fans.

In all seriousness, my experience is that these cooling pad don't really help much.
Just make sure you elevate your laptop up, I prop mine up with the battery when in "serious gaming mode" at home.

An optional step if you already use an external keyboard is to remove the laptop's keyboard. I do this on my Asus G1s and it helps a bit.

There are also some third-party clip on usb fans. You clip these to the exhaust vent of your laptop and they extract the hot air out with the fan.
I used this: http://www.katsbits.com/archive/200...s&id=1235779656&archive=&start_from=&ucat=36&...

Laptop coolers help to prevent your laptop from overheating, but it does'nt enable you to overclock at all, so take note of that.

 

[alstein]

So GAF...is there a high-performance gaming laptop that doesn't have a shitty juvenile design like the Alienware stuff? Why is there nobody offering gaming specs without making the whole thing look like a 14 year old Counterstrike player's casemod? Anything similar to Macbook designs?

I know Xotic with Sagers gives you the option to not have any branding- that might work.

 

[njean777]

So GAF...is there a high-performance gaming laptop that doesn't have a shitty juvenile design like the Alienware stuff? Why is there nobody offering gaming specs without making the whole thing look like a 14 year old Counterstrike player's casemod? Anything similar to Macbook designs?

Razer Blade looks alright, although it is very expensive.

 

[K.Jack]

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in here having recently bought a laptop purely for gaming:

Asus N76VZ, released around May this year has an i7-3610QM with 650M DDR3 with 2GB of VRAM. For the price (999€) I got the model with a Blu Ray reader in it. For me, it seems like a pretty good deal.
Playing all games on highest works fine, although BF3/Crysis2 (DX11 Mode) are around 20-25FPS on ultra with 1080p. For me, it's perfect since I mostly play some MMORPGs, Blizzard Games, DOTA2 and Tribes: Ascend, all work on highest. I'm sure the laptop will hold me out at least 2 years for games, hoping it'll hold 3.

Coming from a Mid-2009 Macbook Pro (with Nvidia 9400M), it's a huge change. The MBP will last me perfect as a workstation for uni/video/photo work, while using the Asus for gaming.
I can only recommend this model for someone looking at a laptop that doesn't compromise looks for gaming too much.
I don't really like Alienware rigs, too "neon fair" for me, especially at the price.

Thanks for sharing. Should help people who are looking at machines with GT 650M DDR3 kits know what to expect. It really can play any game out right now.

So GAF...is there a high-performance gaming laptop that doesn't have a shitty juvenile design like the Alienware stuff? Why is there nobody offering gaming specs without making the whole thing look like a 14 year old Counterstrike player's casemod? Anything similar to Macbook designs?

Let me introduce you to Sager.

 

[Munin]

Seems like Sager isn't available in my country (Germany) :/

 

[K.Jack]

Seems like Sager isn't available in my country (Germany) :/

Well, Sager is the main reseller of Clevo in North America. For Germany, you'll want to go through MySN.de, which is the most reliable seller in your country.

 

[OmegaZero]

Gah, my family always looks up to me as the "tech guy", but I really don't know much about this stuff. :/

Anyway, this time I'm looking for a laptop for around $600-$700 that can play most games at the highest settings. Looks won't be an issue as it's for my fashion-impaired step-father. Any suggestions?

 

[X05]

So I finally bit on a new laptop, ordered a Dell Precision 6700, not exactly "gaming", but will cover all my needs.
The FirePro M6000 should be similar to the 7870M will post some benchies when I get it later this month. Shame that the Quadro K3000 or K4000 weren't available though (and the upgrade to the K5000 was pretty pricey)

 

[K.Jack]

Gah, my family always looks up to me as the "tech guy", but I really don't know much about this stuff. :/

Anyway, this time I'm looking for a laptop for around $600-$700 that can play most games at the highest settings. Looks won't be an issue as it's for my fashion-impaired step-father. Any suggestions?

At what resolution? Unless we're talking sub-720p, what you seek does not exist. To "play most games at the highest settings", on the industry 1366x768 entry level notebook LCD, you need to spend about $850. In your given price range, we're looking at mostly medium settings with some high mixed in between. That's at $599.

So I finally bit on a new laptop, ordered a Dell Precision 6700, not exactly "gaming", but will cover all my needs.
The FirePro M6000 should be similar to the 7870M will post some benchies when I get it later this month. Shame that the Quadro K3000 or K4000 weren't available though (and the upgrade to the K5000 was pretty pricey)

Yeah the M6000 should be a really fast GPU. I look forward to seeing those tests.

The K3000/4000 do have some nice specs, on paper, but then Nvidia jacks up the Quadro prices to ridiculous levels.

 

[X05]

Yeah the M6000 should be a really fast GPU. I look forward to seeing those tests.

The K3000/4000 do have some nice specs, on paper, but then Nvidia jacks up the Quadro prices to ridiculous levels.

Yeah, the K5000 is a $1640 upgrade as is. Also, if the previous Precision is any indication, the K3000 would be a $300 premium, and the K4000 about $700, which would be an upgrade but probably not worth that much

 

[OmegaZero]

At what resolution? Unless we're talking sub-720p, what you seek does not exist. To "play most games at the highest settings", on the industry 1366x768 entry level notebook LCD, you need to spend about $850. In your given price range, we're looking at mostly medium settings with some high mixed in between. That's at $599.

Yeah, figured as much, but like I said, I really don't know much about this. ._.
Anyway, that laptop looks reasonable. Thanks.

 

[PAULINK]

Guys, recently got an HP Pavillion Dv7tqe-7000 and I highly reccomend it (got it with a 30% off coupon and went all out maxing the specs). I haven't tested anything other than Super Street Fighter 4 AE and Minecraft but the fact that it can run everything maxed out on ssf4ae makes me giddy.

Here are some of the specs:

 

[mr_toa]

I've played D3 on a Core i3 with an HD 3000 on low settings at and average of 50 FPS at 1366x768. I imagine an Ivy i5 or i7 with an HD 4000 could do the same but at medium settings at that resolution.

Should be no problem, D3 is totally playable on a HD 2000, though a a slightly lesser resolution.

 

[twinturbo2]

Two questions. One, what's the biggest 2.5 inch hard drive available for less than $150? I don't care much about the speed, I want space.

Two, where can I find a reliable auto/air AC/DC adapter that can power my new baby? The power output has to be at least 90 watts. I want a spare so I can become a road warrior.

 

[mkenyon]

You are getting GTX 680M, a video card that is literally a slightly down-clocked desktop GTX 670.

Just wanted to ask a bit more about this. Don't you think it's a little odd to call it a slightly down-clocked 670 (even though that is indeed what it is) when it only gets about 65-68% of the performance?

What's more, is that the stock performance of the 670 isn't much to write home about. It's the overhead that has people excited. When pushed, its more like 50-55% of the performance.

It's more in line with a 560Ti. Although still a great card, especially with the low power draw on mobile, the comparison seems a little off.

 

[X05]

Just found this:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4076730

Seems like someone was able to push a 7850M way past a 6990M!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Just wanted to ask a bit more about this. Don't you think it's a little odd to call it a slightly down-clocked 670 (even though that is indeed what it is) when it only gets about 65-68% of the performance?

What's more, is that the stock performance of the 670 isn't much to write home about. It's the overhead that has people excited. When pushed, its more like 50-55% of the performance.

It's more in line with a 560Ti. Although still a great card, especially with the low power draw on mobile, the comparison seems a little off.

This whole argument is strange when you realize that I'm talking about mobile GPUs. Nothing is faster than a GTX 680M right now in mobile GPUs. Where it stands on the desktop GPU hierarchy is irrelevant, as it's not a desktop GPU.

 

[EndcatOmega]

Sorry to ask again, but my budget's increased to ~£1000- not sure whether it would be better to upgrade the CPU of the laptop I mentioned in the previous post, or changing up to a Clevo (or something else) with a better video card, like the 660 in the Vortex LE or the GTX 670 in the 'normal' Vortex III?

If it matters, games I was planning to try out in the immediate future are FFXIV, the Witcher 2, heavily modded Bethseda games, and maybe PS2/GC/Wii emulation.

 

[Sordid]

Do I have to replace my XPS 17 (L702X) screen with a Dell screen or would any screen do? I've somehow gotten 2 fucking corn lice/thrips inside my LCD screen and it's driving me crazy ((

 

[aasoncott]

I'm having a hard time picking out a CPU for my laptop. These are the options:

Intel Core i3-2370M Processor (3M Cache, 2.40GHz)

[add $30.00] Intel Core i5-3210M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)

[add $85.00] Intel Core i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)

[add $85.00] Intel Core i5-2520M Processor (3M Cache, 2.50GHz)

[add $135.00] Intel Core i5-3360M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)

[add $275.00] Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

[add $310.00] Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

[add $510.00] Intel Core i7-3820QM Processor (8M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz)

I need something beefy, but I've heard that the mobile i7 isn't really much different performance-wise from the i5. In that case, what should I be getting? Is there really a noticeable difference between 3210 and the 3360? Why is the 2520 more expensive than the 3210? Any advice would be lovely.

 

[mrklaw]

Sorry to ask again, but my budget's increased to ~£1000- not sure whether it would be better to upgrade the CPU of the laptop I mentioned in the previous post, or changing up to a Clevo (or something else) with a better video card, like the 660 in the Vortex LE or the GTX 670 in the 'normal' Vortex III?

If it matters, games I was planning to try out in the immediate future are FFXIV, the Witcher 2, heavily modded Bethseda games, and maybe PS2/GC/Wii emulation.

You considered the Lenovo y580? That's one I'm leaning towards at the moment. Just can't decide which one

- i7-2610 with 1080p screen, gtx660m 2GB, 1TB HDD + 64GB SSD, bluray, for £1000
Or
- i5-3210 with 1366x768 screen, gtx660m 2GB, 750GB HDD + 64GB SSD, for £850 (benefit of this one is I can get it from John Lewis with a free 2 year warranty)

On the one hand, the nicer screen and faster CPU are attractive. But then the lower res screen would be less demanding for games so I could run at higher detail (except when connecting to my HDTV)


Edit: both 15"

 

[fluffydelusions]

You considered the Lenovo y580? That's one I'm leaning towards at the moment. Just can't decide which one

- i7-2610 with 1080p screen, gtx660m 2GB, 1TB HDD + 64GB SSD, bluray, for £1000
Or
- i5-3210 with 1366x768 screen, gtx660m 2GB, 750GB HDD + 64GB SSD, for £850

On the one hand, the nicer screen and faster CPU are attractive. But then the lower res screen would be less demanding for games so I could run at higher detail (except when connecting to my HDTV)

Not sure screen sizes but 1366x768 on anything bigger than 15" looks terrible IMO. Something to consider.

 

[EndcatOmega]

You considered the Lenovo y580? That's one I'm leaning towards at the moment. Just can't decide which one

- i7-2610 with 1080p screen, gtx660m 2GB, 1TB HDD + 64GB SSD, bluray, for £1000

That does look interesting, but I have hard drives I can install as-is, and the Vortex III LE on the pc specialist site has the rest of the stuff for a bit (well, £20) cheaper.

I was also looking at better video cards, but the 680M is way out of my budget and the ATI 7970M appears to have horrible issues according to this thread?

 

[AppleSmack]

I recently bought the Macbook Pro 15-inch 2.3GHz configuration with a GT650M 512MB. How well can that graphics card play Starcraft 2 and Guild Wars 2?

 

[mrklaw]

Not sure screen sizes but 1366x768 on anything bigger than 15" looks terrible IMO. Something to consider.

It's a 15"

On the one hand I'm thinking for games the lower res will be easier to drive, but I'll get less real estate for day to day use. But isn't a 1920x1080 screen too high for comfortable use? eg text very small? Can you set lower resolutions that don't look terrible, for gaming?

 

[Telosfortelos]

I'm thinking about ordering this ASUS R500N-RB81 today from BJ's:
http://www.bjs.com/webapp/wcs/store...Id=10201&storeId=10201&partNumber=P_148769368

It's an amazing value. Without a membership, it's $525 ($535 with shipping). Specs include:

• AMD A8-4500M (an APU with 7640G GPU)
• 8 GB RAM
• 15"
• 1 yr accidental warranty

That's the most important stuff. I'll replace the 750 GB hard drive with an ssd anyway.

Can anyone top that for the price range?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Probably not, but the GPU in that is only about 30% faster than Intel HD4000. The CPU of course gets utterly humiliated by the Intel equivalent. Just so you understand what you are getting there.

 

[Telosfortelos]

Probably not, but the GPU in that is only about 30% faster than Intel HD4000. The CPU of course gets utterly humiliated by the Intel equivalent. Just so you understand what you are getting there.

I'm well aware. It'll get humiliated by i3s for that matter. The CPU is more than sufficient for my needs, and shouldn't be a significant bottleneck for most of the things I'll be doing on it.

I pulled the trigger on it about an hour ago. I just hate purchasing anything above a couple hundred bucks without as much research and pricing as possible. GAF seemed like a necessary pre-purchase check point. <3

I still can't believe I found that value on BJ's Wholesale Club of all places. I've never even seen one of their stores.

 

[mrklaw]

I have a Y470 and absolutely hate the touchpad. Do the Y580/Y480 improve on the previous models?

And those poo pooing on the Macbook Pro, I'll admit the price is rather high ($3,000 for 512 GB SSD, GT650, I7, 16 GB RAM, etc). But I do like the aesthetics of the unit, the retina display and touchpad.

y580 has a new touchpad which is supposed to be really nice.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Been lurking this thread for a bit. How often do Lenovo do deals like the (-40%) one running now?

 

[mrklaw]

how big an SSD is a good balance? I'm thinking between a 120GB intel 330, and a 240GB version. With the 120GB it'd be for OS and my main apps, with data on a HDD. With the 240GB I'd be able to be less picky, and probably keep most of my steam games on the SSD, with the HDD just for photos and media and backing up the SSD regularly.

any thoughts? Its about £100 more so perhaps better to save the money?

edit: Jealous of lenovo US offers. y580 with quad core and FHD screen is £1000 over here. and thats good value :/

 

[mkenyon]

This whole argument is strange when you realize that I'm talking about mobile GPUs. Nothing is faster than a GTX 680M right now in mobile GPUs. Where it stands on the desktop GPU hierarchy is irrelevant, as it's not a desktop GPU.

That's precisely what I'm calling into question. Saying its a 'slightly downclocked 670' seems totally disingenuous.

 

[K.Jack]

Been ill for a few days, so I'm catching up with a ton of questions.

Two questions. One, what's the biggest 2.5 inch hard drive available for less than $150? I don't care much about the speed, I want space.

Two, where can I find a reliable auto/air AC/DC adapter that can power my new baby? The power output has to be at least 90 watts. I want a spare so I can become a road warrior.

One, this 1TB drive looks like it.

Two.... eBay? I dunno. Just Google some and see if they have the same connector as yours.

Do I have to replace my XPS 17 (L702X) screen with a Dell screen or would any screen do? I've somehow gotten 2 fucking corn lice/thrips inside my LCD screen and it's driving me crazy ((

Download HWiNFO32, then open it up and check the Monitor tab. Post what screen it says you have.

I'm having a hard time picking out a CPU for my laptop. These are the options:

Intel Core i3-2370M Processor (3M Cache, 2.40GHz)

[add $30.00] Intel Core i5-3210M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)

[add $85.00] Intel Core i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)

[add $85.00] Intel Core i5-2520M Processor (3M Cache, 2.50GHz)

[add $135.00] Intel Core i5-3360M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)

[add $275.00] Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

[add $310.00] Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

[add $510.00] Intel Core i7-3820QM Processor (8M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz)

I need something beefy, but I've heard that the mobile i7 isn't really much different performance-wise from the i5. In that case, what should I be getting? Is there really a noticeable difference between 3210 and the 3360? Why is the 2520 more expensive than the 3210? Any advice would be lovely.

Well, don't take the i3, but don't chase the increasingly expensive i5s either. You can see that their clock speeds aren't much improving at each step up the ladder. Honestly, if you're not going quad core, take the i5-3210M. The faster i5s are just burning money.

You considered the Lenovo y580? That's one I'm leaning towards at the moment. Just can't decide which one

- i7-2610 with 1080p screen, gtx660m 2GB, 1TB HDD + 64GB SSD, bluray, for £1000
Or
- i5-3210 with 1366x768 screen, gtx660m 2GB, 750GB HDD + 64GB SSD, for £850 (benefit of this one is I can get it from John Lewis with a free 2 year warranty)

On the one hand, the nicer screen and faster CPU are attractive. But then the lower res screen would be less demanding for games so I could run at higher detail (except when connecting to my HDTV)

The way I see it, when you can get £500+ in upgrades for free you take it on principle.

I recently bought the Macbook Pro 15-inch 2.3GHz configuration with a GT650M 512MB. How well can that graphics card play Starcraft 2 and Guild Wars 2?

Starcraft 2 on High/Ultra @ 1080p, look up some GW2 GT 650M vids on Youtube.

I'm thinking about ordering this ASUS R500N-RB81 today from BJ's:
http://www.bjs.com/webapp/wcs/store...Id=10201&storeId=10201&partNumber=P_148769368

It's an amazing value. Without a membership, it's $525 ($535 with shipping). Specs include:

• AMD A8-4500M (an APU with 7640G GPU)
• 8 GB RAM
• 15"
• 1 yr accidental warranty

That's the most important stuff. I'll replace the 750 GB hard drive with an ssd anyway.

Can anyone top that for the price range?

Topped pretty significantly:

Core i5-2450M and GT 630M for $599
Core i3-2370M and GT 630M for $549

 

[K.Jack]

how big an SSD is a good balance? I'm thinking between a 120GB intel 330, and a 240GB version. With the 120GB it'd be for OS and my main apps, with data on a HDD. With the 240GB I'd be able to be less picky, and probably keep most of my steam games on the SSD, with the HDD just for photos and media and backing up the SSD regularly.

any thoughts? Its about £100 more so perhaps better to save the money?

edit: Jealous of lenovo US offers. y580 with quad core and FHD screen is £1000 over here. and thats good value :/

Go for as big of an SSD as you can afford.

That's precisely what I'm calling into question. Saying its a 'slightly downclocked 670' seems totally disingenuous.

I don't understand. In your first post:

Just wanted to ask a bit more about this. Don't you think it's a little odd to call it a slightly down-clocked 670 (even though that is indeed what it is) when it only gets about 65-68% of the performance?

You acknowledge that it's an accurate statement, contradicting your position.

If someone asks "what desktop card is the GTX 680M similar to...?" why would you say anything other than that it's literally a downclocked GTX 670? Take out the word slightly, if that bothers you, but it's a GTX 670 either way.

EDIT: if someone says they'll never overclock, so what does the 680M perform closest to at stock clocks, then is the time to mention other cards