Support NeoGAF

[W1SSY]

I have a friend that is looking to get a gaming laptop and was wondering if anyone could help recommend something that would meet their needs.

Country: US
Budget: $750
Max size: 17"
Planned usage: He said it needs to run Counter Strike Source but that is so easy I figured anything you select can do it. Probably it would be better to get the best bang for the back.

 

[Crimsonlink]

The big announcements for CPU/GPUs will probably come in June~July, so you might want to wait a bit or not, it really depends on your needs. It's worth noting that stuff like the CPU can't be upgraded, and Graphic Card upgrades for laptops tend to be very expensive, so they are not as beneficial as they are on desktops.

I'm looking at this this page, and looks like the base laptops use a AMD Radeon HD 7340, which is not really suited for the kind of games you need. The $999 model comes with a AMD Radeon HD 7670M, which might be more of wht you want, but be wary that in order to run fluent FPS you will need to run the games on low settings. Even so, unless you are going to play UE3 games, you might not hit FPS fluently even in low settings with upcoming games, so watch out for that.

Good to know, I can wait that long for Summer. Thanks for the work you did in getting the info to me.

BTW I was looking at the S series not the E series. Guess I should have pointed it out more. I was hopeing you could give me the best value for my bucks or recommend a better laptop for my price point.

If the new stuff is announced in the Summer then there might be a sale on the old laptops which would work out well for me.

 

[Blablurn]

I have a friend that is looking to get a gaming laptop and was wondering if anyone could help recommend something that would meet their needs.

Country: US
Budget: $750
Max size: 17"
Planned usage: He said it needs to run Counter Strike Source but that is so easy I figured anything you select can do it. Probably it would be better to get the best bang for the back.

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S855-S5380-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B009AF59GQ/ref=sr_1_3?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1360143079&sr=1-3 <- What about this one?

Intel Core i5 3210M 3.10 GHz
6 GB DDR3
750 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, AMD Radeon HD 7670M Graphics 2GB DDR3
Windows 8

Price: $753.77 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping

Plays CS and many other games easily!

 

[Swig_]

How long has the Y580 been released? Would it be better to wait for a new version or will it be out for some time?

Also, are they always on "sale" (website has shown $300 off or so every time I've went there) or just at specific times?

 

[Blablurn]

Too bad my Y580 didnt work back then. the GT650m is not bad at all but sometimes I could need 10 extra fps.

 

[Hokhoku]

Guys, a Dell Inspiron 15r Special Edition is good for gaming?

 

[Blablurn]

Guys, a Dell Inspiron 15r Special Edition is good for gaming?

It's not bad if you dont mind playing in 720p with medium settings.

 

[mrklaw]

I have two questions though, if anyone can help:

1) Is is possible to charge this (or any notebook) though one of the USB ports? I was looking at car charging solutions and keep seeing these little lighter > female USB options.

1. No sir, no way, not all all.

.

Not via USB, but surely you could use an inverter and use your normal AC adapter to power it? Not compact but it'd work.

If you'll be using it in the car a lot would it make sense to upgrade the HDD to SSD so no issues with it being jolted around?

 

[Hokhoku]

It's not bad if you dont mind playing in 720p with medium settings.

I will buy it with the 1080p screen at res of 1920x1080

What do you think?

And when I say games I mean Lol, Tf2 and L4d

 

[Blablurn]

I will buy it with the 1080p screen at res of 1920x1080

What do you think?

And when I say games I mean Lol, Tf2 and L4d

the higher the res, the better. if 1080p is too much for some games, you can always lower the resolution. thats not problem!

Lol, TF2 and L4D will all run on that device. Hell, they even ran on my 2010 Laptop which was utter bullshit lol.

 

[KyleN]

Edit: Just realized posted in the wrong thread xD

 

[KyleN]

Deleted.

 

[Hokhoku]

the higher the res, the better. if 1080p is too much for some games, you can always lower the resolution. thats not problem!

Lol, TF2 and L4D will all run on that device. Hell, they even ran on my 2010 Laptop which was utter bullshit lol.

Hehe ok my friend thnx

 

[Zeroth]

Good to know, I can wait that long for Summer. Thanks for the work you did in getting the info to me.

BTW I was looking at the S series not the E series. Guess I should have pointed it out more. I was hopeing you could give me the best value for my bucks or recommend a better laptop for my price point.

If the new stuff is announced in the Summer then there might be a sale on the old laptops which would work out well for me.

Ah, sorry, I misread your post, let me check the S series.

Well, the model at $1000 has a GT 640M LE, which is not really all that good for portable gaming nor is future proof. If you are willing to go a bit over your budget, you could get a NP9130, which has a GTX 670MX, which is far more powerful than the other models available at your current budget and will let you game efficiently for some years.

An alternative if you don't want to go that far there is the MSI 16F3, which has a GTX 675M. This GPU is very similar to the 670MX in terms of performance, but uses an older chipset. Particularly, I would go to the 670MX because it's a newer card and has more potential to increase its performance over time, but it's really up to you.

As a note, if you are not in a rush, you could wait the newer Sager laptops get released and see if the current models will get a price drop. Ideally, you should go to Nvidia cards at or above the 660M, and AMD cards above the 8790M. Also, take a note that these laptops do not have a OS included, so you would need to add $80 to their price.

 

[K.Jack]

I have a friend that is looking to get a gaming laptop and was wondering if anyone could help recommend something that would meet their needs.

Country: US
Budget: $750
Max size: 17"
Planned usage: He said it needs to run Counter Strike Source but that is so easy I figured anything you select can do it. Probably it would be better to get the best bang for the back.

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S855-S5380-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B009AF59GQ/ref=sr_1_3?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1360143079&sr=1-3 <- What about this one?

Intel Core i5 3210M 3.10 GHz
6 GB DDR3
750 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, AMD Radeon HD 7670M Graphics 2GB DDR3
Windows 8

Price: $753.77 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping

Plays CS and many other games easily!

The $699.99 laptops in the second post of the OP, with GT 640M and GT 645M, are way stronger than that.

Seriously, the OP. Let's use it. *insert smiley face*

 

[Kamaki]

So I got a laptop off of pcspecialist.co.uk a few months ago and it's easily the best computer I've had. The only niggle I haven't been able to work out is how the hell do I update my 7970M drivers, trying the auto-detect on ATI's website outright doesn't see the card and all these crazy methods I see posted around the internet leave my computer in an unusable state until I system restore.

And so I turn to Gaming Laptop GAF for advice, running Windows 8 by the way.

Seriously next time I think I'll just go team green.

 

[Binabik15]

So finally I´m going to pull the trigger for this one
Schenker P702 (Clevo P170EM)

[/IMG]

 

[Beckx]

So I need to get a very light laptop for one of my children.

Needs: as light as possible, as cheap as possible, but still capable of playing minecraft without choking. Does not need it to have significant hard drive storage, so SSD is fine, even a small SSD. Buying in US.

(My sense is that of these three - light, cheap, plays minecraft with decent FPS - I'm forced to pick any two. But would like opinions on the best options.)

 

[K.Jack]

So I got a laptop off of pcspecialist.co.uk a few months ago and it's easily the best computer I've had. The only niggle I haven't been able to work out is how the hell do I update my 7970M drivers, trying the auto-detect on ATI's website outright doesn't see the card and all these crazy methods I see posted around the internet leave my computer in an unusable state until I system restore.

And so I turn to Gaming Laptop GAF for advice, running Windows 8 by the way.

Seriously next time I think I'll just go team green.

The auto detect on AMD's website hasn't worked in years, with any mobile card. Here is the AMD Catalyst Mobility 13.1 WHQL <-- direct download link

The 7970M is proving to be a lot of hassle. This driver has solved most of it, but getting it to install is another thing. I recommend installing it directly over top of your stock drivers. You may also want to install the latest Intel graphics driver.

So finally I´m going to pull the trigger for this one
Schenker P702 (Clevo P170EM)
http://i.imgur.com/W83Iy86.png[IMG][/QUOTE]

You may want to consider the 675MX, if you want a more carefree experience.

[quote="Beckx, post: 47392229"]So I need to get a very light laptop for one of my children.

Needs: as light as possible, as cheap as possible, but still capable of playing minecraft without choking. Does not need it to have significant hard drive storage, so SSD is fine, even a small SSD. Buying in US.

(My sense is that of these three - light, cheap, plays minecraft with decent FPS - I'm forced to pick any two. But would like opinions on the best options.)[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215622"]This I guess.[/URL]

The truth is, light laptops are expensive.

 

[W1SSY]

The $699.99 laptops in the second post of the OP, with GT 640M and GT 645M, are way stronger than that.

Seriously, the OP. Let's use it. *insert smiley face*

I kind of figured those would work but I wanted to ask and make sure. Thanks for all the help, I will let him know.

 

[Crimsonlink]

Ah, sorry, I misread your post, let me check the S series.

Well, the model at $1000 has a GT 640M LE, which is not really all that good for portable gaming nor is future proof. If you are willing to go a bit over your budget, you could get a NP9130, which has a GTX 670MX, which is far more powerful than the other models available at your current budget and will let you game efficiently for some years.

An alternative if you don't want to go that far there is the MSI 16F3, which has a GTX 675M. This GPU is very similar to the 670MX in terms of performance, but uses an older chipset. Particularly, I would go to the 670MX because it's a newer card and has more potential to increase its performance over time, but it's really up to you.

As a note, if you are not in a rush, you could wait the newer Sager laptops get released and see if the current models will get a price drop. Ideally, you should go to Nvidia cards at or above the 660M, and AMD cards above the 8790M. Also, take a note that these laptops do not have a OS included, so you would need to add $80 to their price.

Thank you so much for all this info. I've decided to go for a desktop instead since I play SC2 so much and just keep using my current E series as my laptop.

But I'll keep the Sager models in mind because that is some attractive specs for a laptop to replace my Vaio.

 

[Kamaki]

The auto detect on AMD's website hasn't worked in years, with any mobile card. Here is the AMD Catalyst Mobility 13.1 WHQL <-- direct download link

The 7970M is proving to be a lot of hassle. This driver has solved most of it, but getting it to install is another thing. I recommend installing it directly over top of your stock drivers. You may also want to install the latest Intel graphics driver.
The truth is, light laptops are expensive.

Thanks man, first AMD driver that installed without any problems on this computer!

 

[Alex Connolly]

Here's a bit of a quick enquiry...

I'm looking at a few gaming laptops - ones that'll last me for a while - and I'm quite intrigued by the ASUS N56 (R501VZ-S4387H) machine. Specs as follows...

Processor: 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor 2.4Ghz (Turbo 3.4G)/6M
Memory: 16GB DDR3 RAM
Storage: 1TB 5400rpm
Operating System: Genuine Windows® 8 64Bit
Video Chip: 4GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GT650M Support nVidia 3D Vision

Any thoughts or alternatives?

 

[Zeroth]

Here's a bit of a quick enquiry...

I'm looking at a few gaming laptops - ones that'll last me for a while - and I'm quite intrigued by the ASUS N56 (R501VZ-S4387H) machine. Specs as follows...



Any thoughts or alternatives?

Any information you could share with us that would help with this, like your budget and country? Have you checked the laptop suggestions in the OP?

 

[Blablurn]

Here's a bit of a quick enquiry...

I'm looking at a few gaming laptops - ones that'll last me for a while - and I'm quite intrigued by the ASUS N56 (R501VZ-S4387H) machine. Specs as follows...



Any thoughts or alternatives?

I have the ASUS N76VZ which is pretty similar to this one! You will be able to play a lot of games with that one. But it will choke when u go up to ULTRA settings with new titles like Far Cry 3 or the Witcher 2. But still, I played a shitton of games already with that one and most of them even run in 1080p with high details. its a great machine but i'm just not sure how future-proof'd it is.

if u have more questions feel free to ask me!

 

[K.Jack]

Here's a bit of a quick enquiry...

I'm looking at a few gaming laptops - ones that'll last me for a while - and I'm quite intrigued by the ASUS N56 (R501VZ-S4387H) machine. Specs as follows...



Any thoughts or alternatives?

For the price of that, you could have this Clevo P151EM1 with GTX 670MX. That's over 2x the GPU power.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Cheers for the info, guys. Should have listed the preferred location of vendor - Australia.

EDIT: Ordered the Clevo! Cheers, K.Jack'

 

[Madn]

I'm looking for a gaming laptop. I live in Italy
Max budget: 700 €
Max size: 17 inches

Possibly something that can run Starcraft 2 and TERA online.

Thanks a lot

 

[DRZ]

I'm looking for a gaming laptop. I live in Italy
Max budget: 700 €
Max size: 17 inches

Possibly something that can run Starcraft 2 and TERA online.

Thanks a lot

Just last week I bought (in Italy) a used Alienware m17 R3 for 900€, it is a bit more than your budget but it is also a pc really really powerful. If you are not strinctly looking for someting brand you you could consider a similar solution.

Otherwise there was an hp g6-2209sl in offer for 450/500 € at Saturn I think, that PC should be able to run smoothly those games. There is also a similar HP that used i5 instead of i3, don't remember the model, but with that one that is priced around 600 you should be absolutely ok.

 

[robotzombie]

So I have an asus g73 I got a couple years ago and the fan under the power button (right side closest to the screen) has gotten very loud. It only really started a few weeks ago. The computer doesn't overheat and there seems to he no functional problems, but the sound is just extremely irritating. I believe it is the gpu fan. I've tried getting the dust out but that doesn't do the trick and I have no idea how to get to the fan because opening a laptop seems like a nightmare.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions or have experienced a similar problem with a g73

 

[Madn]

Just last week I bought (in Italy) a used Alienware m17 R3 for 900€, it is a bit more than your budget but it is also a pc really really powerful. If you are not strinctly looking for someting brand you you could consider a similar solution.

Otherwise there was an hp g6-2209sl in offer for 450/500 € at Saturn I think, that PC should be able to run smoothly those games. There is also a similar HP that used i5 instead of i3, don't remember the model, but with that one that is priced around 600 you should be absolutely ok.

Is it this one the similar one you were talking about?

http://compraonline.mediaworld.it/w...productId=18296674&langId=-1&category_rn=1504

 

[Tizoc]

Alright managed to find the those ASUS laptops!
...but they're priced at TWICE the amount I'm willing to pay for them XD.
Guess I'll go with ASUS Note Book G55VW, but the retailer has it somwhere between $1500-2000 XP
Specs seem to be the same, so I'll see about making my purchase during March (my b-day), and ask if I can have Windows 7 installed in it instead of 8.

...unless there are those of you here who are using Windows 8 and are not having problems running your games?

 

[Beckx]

Alright managed to find the those ASUS laptops!
...but they're priced at TWICE the amount I'm willing to pay for them XD.
Guess I'll go with ASUS Note Book G55VW, but the retailer has it somwhere between $1500-2000 XP
Specs seem to be the same, so I'll see about making my purchase during March (my b-day), and ask if I can have Windows 7 installed in it instead of 8.

...unless there are those of you here who are using Windows 8 and are not having problems running your games?

It doesn't like Diablo II. Like, really doesn't like it. Freezes up.

But other than than, it's been fine on everything from Dolphin to Steam games to Crimzon Clover.

 

[Wok]

For the price of that, you could have this Clevo P151EM1 with GTX 670MX. That's over 2x the GPU power.

Does this Australian website ship to Europe too? The price is impressive.

 

[GiJoccin]

my laptop has reached the end of it's usefulness, as I want a rig that will play dota 2... i have a 4 year old laptop with integrated graphics, so it barely runs SC 2 and diablo 3, so i'm guessing i only need something marginally better to run dota. i wouldn't mind running it well, size doesn't matter, don't want to go too expensive. maybe looking anywhere from $500-750..

I'm in the US

*edit* im guessing, looking at the computers in the OP, that literally ANY computer would work well?

 

[ShadowFox08]

Country: US
Budget: Up to $650
Screen size: 14 to 15.6 inches

Not a huge gamer, but looking for a laptop that can play starcraft 2 in medium to high settings.

I'm actually looking at 2 HP dv6 laptops that have similar specs(both are 15.6 inches, and have quad core A10 4600m processors and HD Radeon 7660G disrete graphics s), but undecided on getting which one.

Differences between the two:

1. dv6 7245us
-2.3GHz CPU processor but with turbo boost, offers up to 3.2GHz
-offers up to 3053 total graphics memory
-6GB RAM
-640GB HD storage
-Possible to get for 650.00.


Vs

2. dv6 7229wm
-2.3GHz CPU processor. No Turbo boost.
-Offers up to 4077GB total graphics ram
-8GB RAM
-750 GB HD Storage
-Can get for $550 to 600
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-15-6-Pavilion-dv6-7229wm-/181077356655?pt=US_Tablets&hash=item2a290d306f

Seems like the former has a faster CPU, but latter has more storage space, ram, and more video ram for gaming. Truth be told, I don't care much for storage space or 2GB more general ram(a plus, but I don't think anything I will use will take advantage of all the 8GB ram. But I wonder if the more video ram and cheaper($50-100) is worth the cost to offset the lack of turbo boost speeds for my needs?

 

[Blablurn]

It's crazy that a game like RAGE runs in 1080p with full details on my PC while something like "The Secret World" only works with low details. #PCGaming

 

[nicoga3000]

Is the Lenovo Y580 still one of the best sub-$1000 gaming laptops available? Tax return means I can finally dip on a gaming laptop.

 

[Tizoc]

It doesn't like Diablo II. Like, really doesn't like it. Freezes up.

But other than than, it's been fine on everything from Dolphin to Steam games to Crimzon Clover.

Read about Diablo II and Windows 8, and so far all I found was a fix for getting the game to run on it.

 

[Danj]

Is any of the CES stuff actually out yet, or are we looking at March or later for that?

 

[Ran rp]

Hey guys, my laptop's hard drive is failing and I was wondering what the recommended hard drives under $100 were. I'm currently backing up my SAMSUNG HM640JJ 640GB, which began to fail after just 25 months of use. Are the any good upgrade options under $100?

 

[mrklaw]

Is the Lenovo Y580 still one of the best sub-$1000 gaming laptops available? Tax return means I can finally dip on a gaming laptop.

Yes. The 1080p screen version is fantastic. I've been going through my backlog and playing crysis 2. My y580 runs it at 1080p, dx11 very high (particles turned up to extreme for nice smoke), high res texture pack, at and out 45fps. I keep it on very high because if I switch up to extreme it's close to 30fps, occasionally dipping below

 

[nicoga3000]

Yes. The 1080p screen version is fantastic. I've been going through my backlog and playing crysis 2. My y580 runs it at 1080p, dx11 very high (particles turned up to extreme for nice smoke), high res texture pack, at and out 45fps. I keep it on very high because if I switch up to extreme it's close to 30fps, occasionally dipping below

Interesting. I want to be able to play HL2, Skyrim, and probably new Sim City when it comes out. Medium - High is where I'd like to be.

Does SSD and more RAM make a huge difference gaming wise?

Also, can you post the model you got? My wife is in board! I sold it as a "I can veg on the couch with you rather than in the computer room." A+

And, sorry to bother, but where does one BUY these machines?

 

[mrklaw]

I bought mine from saveonlaptops.co.uk. But places like john lewis and PC world have them now, or direct from lenovo.

Specs can be odd, as lenovo seem to vary them from region to region. In e UK there were only two options - i5 with 1366x768 screen, and i7 with 1080p screen, bluray and 1Tb drive. I went for the second one, as it is a proper quad core and so will be a little more future proofed.

If you have an external monitor to hook it up to, the 1366x768 screen isn't an issue and you could save yourself some money, as well as get a little more performance as you are driving fewer pixels. But for the kinds of games you describe I'd definitely go for the 1080p screen. It is very good quality and gives you more working space.

Mine also came with a 64Gb mSSD to speed up disc access and it seems nice and fast so far. Later on I'll probably replace that with a 128-256GB mSSD and keep the 1TB HDD for storage. The SSD acts like a cache, so it has lots of windows files on it for fast access but if you play one game a lot, that should end up cached there too if you have space (I think some European markets come with smaller SSDs though)


Trackpad is fantastic - a real competitor to the apple Magic Trackpad and certainly the best I've ever used on a PC laptop.


Edit: can't find it on lenovo.com, just a y500 - wonder if they are refreshing their lines?

 

[K.Jack]

Country: US
Budget: Up to $650
Screen size: 14 to 15.6 inches

Not a huge gamer, but looking for a laptop that can play starcraft 2 in medium to high settings.

I'm actually looking at 2 HP dv6 laptops that have similar specs(both are 15.6 inches, and have quad core A10 4600m processors and HD Radeon 7660G disrete graphics s), but undecided on getting which one.

Differences between the two:

1. dv6 7245us
-2.3GHz CPU processor but with turbo boost, offers up to 3.2GHz
-offers up to 3053 total graphics memory
-6GB RAM
-640GB HD storage
-Possible to get for 650.00.


Vs

2. dv6 7229wm
-2.3GHz CPU processor. No Turbo boost.
-Offers up to 4077GB total graphics ram
-8GB RAM
-750 GB HD Storage
-Can get for $550 to 600
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-15-6-Pavilion-dv6-7229wm-/181077356655?pt=US_Tablets&hash=item2a290d306f

Seems like the former has a faster CPU, but latter has more storage space, ram, and more video ram for gaming. Truth be told, I don't care much for storage space or 2GB more general ram(a plus, but I don't think anything I will use will take advantage of all the 8GB ram. But I wonder if the more video ram and cheaper($50-100) is worth the cost to offset the lack of turbo boost speeds for my needs?

Seriously, bump up the budget $50 and look at the OP's budget section for the GT 64xM machines. You get 3-4x the CPU and GPU power for that $50,

Is any of the CES stuff actually out yet, or are we looking at March or later for that?

The industry is held hostage by the release date for Intel's Haswell CPUs, which are still on schedule for a May/June release window.

Interesting. I want to be able to play HL2, Skyrim, and probably new Sim City when it comes out. Medium - High is where I'd like to be.

Does SSD and more RAM make a huge difference gaming wise?

Also, can you post the model you got? My wife is in board! I sold it as a "I can veg on the couch with you rather than in the computer room." A+

And, sorry to bother, but where does one BUY these machines?

Neither affects framerates at this time; SSDs greatly reduce in-game load times, and RAM won't come into play until the next-gen consoles come out. As long as you have 6GB, things should be fine.

 

[nicoga3000]

Edit: can't find it on lenovo.com, just a y500 - wonder if they are refreshing their lines?

Is this true? Worth waiting a bit longer?

 

[mrklaw]

Is this true? Worth waiting a bit longer?

Not sure if they are likely to come out with anything amazing - I kind of think the y580 was an accident, all the other mainstream laptop vendors considered the gt 650m a 'gamer' graphics chip, which is what's in the y500, so they might be dialling back.

There are always the MSI laptops but they are a bit in your face for my liking. Personally I'd dig out a y580 from somewhere. Currys.co.uk are still showing them as collectible from store, and at £850 which is £150 less than I paid.

 

[nicoga3000]

How does it compare to the y500 with SLI? This one

 

[Ran rp]

Hey guys, my laptop's hard drive is failing and I was wondering what the recommended hard drives under $100 were. I'm currently backing up my SAMSUNG HM640JJ 640GB, which began to fail after just 25 months of use. Are the any good upgrade options under $100?

Anyone?

 

[nicoga3000]

Not sure if they are likely to come out with anything amazing - I kind of think the y580 was an accident, all the other mainstream laptop vendors considered the gt 650m a 'gamer' graphics chip, which is what's in the y500, so they might be dialling back.

There are always the MSI laptops but they are a bit in your face for my liking. Personally I'd dig out a y580 from somewhere. Currys.co.uk are still showing them as collectible from store, and at £850 which is £150 less than I paid.

I'm building a Y580 at the moment to see.

Currently, I'm at:

• 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3630QM Processor( 2.40GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX660M 2GB
• 15.6" HD Glare with integrated camera 1366x768
• 1TB 5400 rpm
• Blu-ray /DVD Combo
• Accidental protection (1 year)

For $990.08. Sub-$1000 for a strong gaming machine? I did some research on the GPU. Most benchmarks are run with some form of AA on. I have NEVER played a PC game with AA, so I could probably turn that off and run a huge majority of the games I want to play on High settings (minus-AA) with no issue, no?