Gaming laptop recommendations...

[DigitalCancer]

Hey Guys,

So I'm looking for a 'gaming' laptop but I'm new to the arena. I've always been a desktop kinda guy but looking for a laptop due to space constraints.

Anyway...I do game a bit (albeit not a ton) so I'm looking for something that will handle some of the upcoming games.

My desktop was an X4 940 - 8GB DDr2 - 9800GTX+ - 120GB SSD

So I'm looking to stick around that range or more at the very least.

I plan on playing Deus Ex, BF3 maybe?, mainly FPS games. I will be using an external 20" monitor for game play most likely as well.

I've looked at a couple of models and I DO have a budget of no more than $600 if at all possible (looking for used, not new).

I've looked at an Asus G60, G72GX ($519) w/ gtx260, MSI GX740 ($705) w/ a 5870, ideal I think, and an Asus G73-JH (UGLY cases).

Any other ideas?

I was offered a Lenovo with an i5 and an HD5730...seems like this card is slower than the gtx260 though? for $500 shipped.


Thanks guys!


Edit: Moved to SFF per OP request.

Idontcare
Super Mod

 

[96Firebird]

You'd be hard pressed to build a desktop to game on for that amount of money, and laptops are going to cost quite a bit more. If you don't need the laptop for portability, stick to a desktop for gaming.

 

[DigitalCancer]

You'd be hard pressed to build a desktop to game on for that amount of money, and laptops are going to cost quite a bit more. If you don't need the laptop for portability, stick to a desktop for gaming.

No...I need a desktop replacement.

As I said, I'm going for cheap as possible...would like to say UNDER $700...I found this one with an HD5850 (which I think would suit me) for $675

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-GX640-Gaming-Notebook-/150654266652?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item2313b1ad1c

I'm just unfamiliar with the laptop video cards so I wasn't sure what's best.

Need more options for other 'gaming' laptops that other manufacturers make.

As I said, the Lenovo Y560 w/ the HD5730 seemed nice for $500...and I watched some YouTube video of it running Crysis 2 pretty well, I just can't seem to find any hardcore reviews of it and I don't like to just plunge. ^_^

 

[mnewsham]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html

That is a good resource for laptop GPU comparisons, the CPU wont matter as much as long as it is fairly recent and at least dual core.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Would this be a pretty decent deal for $300?

Seems like the card can handle some moderate gaming. It's a 14" screen, but, it'll be on an external 20" monitor anyway when I'm not out and about.

Lenovo Y450
Processor: Intel Core i5-450M (2.2GHz 3MB cache, 4.8GT/s DMI
Memory: 6GB DDR3-1066 RAM
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 1GB DDR3 switchable graphics to Intel GMA HD
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA HDD Optical Drive: DVD Dual Layer Multiburner Display: 14.1? WXGA LED Audio: 2 x 2W JBL Stereo Speakers (Dolby Home Theater 2 Certified) Networking: Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100 A/G/N and 10/1000 Gigabit LAN Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Camera: Integrated 1.3MP Camera Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion Battery Slots: HDMI, 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x E-sata/ USB combo, 1 x 34mm Express Card slot, 2 x mini-PCIe slot (WLAN), RJ45, VGA, Mic-In, Headphone, 6-in-1 Multi-card Reader (SD,SD Pro/XD/MMC/MS,MS Pro)

 

[Valis]

I don't know about Radeon 5650, but the best gaming combo on the cheap is the AMD a4, a6, a8 series. There is a 14 inch HP G4 with A4-3300M at bestbuy for $380. It has the radeon 66xx-series gfx.

 

[DigitalCancer]

I don't know about Radeon 5650, but the best gaming combo on the cheap is the AMD a4, a6, a8 series. There is a 14 inch HP G4 with A4-3300M at bestbuy for $380. It has the radeon 66xx-series gfx.

Are you sure about that? I believe the 6480G is worse than the 5650...I could be wrong of course.

I can't really find much on it...it does play COD BO/GTA4, but both look choppier to me on the 6480 (youTube). Also the 6480 has shared memory and 400Mhz core where-as the 5650 has a dedicated 1GB and 800Mhz core.

Also noticed that the 5650 has 400 pipes and the 6480 only has 240...

 

[Valis]

Are you sure about that? I believe the 6480G is worse than the 5650...I could be wrong of course.

I can't really find much on it...it does play COD BO/GTA4, but both look choppier to me on the 6480 (youTube). Also the 6480 has shared memory and 400Mhz core where-as the 5650 has a dedicated 1GB and 800Mhz core.

Also noticed that the 5650 has 400 pipes and the 6480 only has 240...

Yeah, the 5650 with its own mem is better, but it's not that common that you can buy a laptop with 5xxx, 6xxx series separate gfx chip for $300 - 400 new.

 

[DigitalCancer]

Well this one is used @ $300 which looks to be an excellent deal ($500+ on ebay) and this one is in perfect condition. I'm supposed to pick it up today regardless. If I don't like it I know I can re-sell for at least $300. It just needs a new charger (dog wanted to play with it apparently) and that's only another $20 so, $320 for a Lenovo Y450...

 

[Valis]

The only bad thing about the Y450 is listed under the cons:

Pros
Great gaming performance

Cons
System gets too hot while gaming

 

[DigitalCancer]

Yea, I expect there to be some heat coming from it so I'll invest in a fan of some sort...I'll figure it out. It just has to last me for a little bit until I can manage to come up with room for a desktop. ^_^

 

[Agentbolt]

There's a couple of laptops hovering around the 700 dollar mark that have the Nvidia GT 540M GPU, which is pretty darn capable. The one I'm currently using is the MSI FX620DX which I believe is currently hovering at 690 bucks on Newegg.

 

[johnxfire]

Since your price range isn't exactly within "gaming laptop" pricing, Sager, AlienWare, and etc. are out of the question.

However, there are still some great laptops with awesome performance at your price range.

The HPDV6 is pretty good. i7-2630QM, HD 6770M.

At full spec, it costs a bit over budget though.

Try configuring at DV6z quad, it's an AMD APU solution, but has dual graphics (if I recall properly)

 

[novice]

I just ordered a new Dell Inspiron 17R which seemed like a pretty decent deal to me:
1 225-1886 Inspiron 17R English FastTrack $526.99
1 317-6289 2nd generation Intel Core i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
1 317-6296 4GB, DDR3, 1 Dimm
1 320-2071 17.3in HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Display with TrueLife
1 421-3642 Basic Stage
1 320-2057 NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M - N12P-GE 1GB
1 342-2280 500GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 318-0471 Exchangeable Lid (WLAN) - Diamond Black (BLK)
1 318-0392 Windows Live Wave 4
1 331-0806 Windows 7 OS Label,CNB
1 331-1534 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,N7110
1 421-5780 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, No Media
The total after $20 off coupon and free shipping was about $628 including sales tax. I thought a pretty good deal for a 17" screen, Core i5 cpu, Nvidia GeForce GT 525 M video card, etc. I also like the fact that it ships with a single 4 GB DIMM of ram, so I can pick up another 4 GB from Newegg for under $20 shipped to bump the ram to 8 GB. I know my son picked up an XPS 15 last Christmas and spent over $900 for similar components.

 

[Onceler]

it will not let you put in a SSD, it has to be it's original HD unless you feel like paying extra for an OS disc.

 

[mnewsham]

it will not let you put in a SSD, it has to be it's original HD unless you feel like paying extra for an OS disc.

Technet :hmm: