18 replies to this topic

[Shahenshah]

Hi, looking for a gaming laptop, 17", budget points:
1. $600
2. $850

Any recoendations or personal reviews?

No Acer or HP. I've had horrible experience with these brands.

[DeathMerchant]

Not aware of many good gaming laptops for under $800. If you want something to game on you are much better off investing in a desptop. An $800 laptop will be worthless in a year to year and a half, while an $800 desktop will be able to play new games for years. You can even get more bang for your buck if you build it yourself. Unfortunately you can't build laptops so you are stuck paying higher prices.

 

I always tell people this because I've known numerous people who wasted ridiculous amounts of money on so called 'gaming laptops'. These litterally turned into expensive paperweights 6-8 months after buying them. I remember one of my buddies bought a laptop with average specs in 2009 for somewhere around $600-$700, and it could barely run Dawn of War 40K, an RTS game that was released 5 years prior... You would get maybe 25-30 units on screen and the game would drop to around 15-20 FPS.

 

If you are however dead set on buying a laptop, then do tons of research. It also depends on what kind of games will you be playing. Stuff like Diablo 3, LoL, WoW, other lower resolution RPGs will run perfect on almost anything. But if you intend to play the newest FPS and RTS games then expect to deal with mid-low graphics.

[Samus]

Just build a PC, honestly, it'll save you much more money and will be a better investment for future

[Robert2424]

after I get a car, I'll probally be saving up for a true gaming PC and building it myself. So this discussion should continue. 

[Lanyaie]

If anyone wants any desktop build advice, just shout for me.

As for gaming laptops, I've never really had a good experience with so called "gaming laptops" the power needed for gaming simply cannot be fit into a laptop and still be at a reasonable price. 

 

Edited by Lanyaie, 19 May 2015 - 11:12 PM.

[DeathMerchant]

One of these days we should create a PC builder thread. Keep it up to date with a budget build, mid level build, and a higher end set up.

 

We could even delve into top notch (and largely free) software that exists to make your computer experience top notch.

[Robert2424]

One of these days we should create a PC builder thread. Keep it up to date with a budget build, mid level build, and a higher end set up.

 

We could even delve into top notch (and largely free) software that exists to make your computer experience top notch.

Lets do it now. 

[DeathMerchant]

This week I'm rather booked up, but I have some free time next week where I can sit down and write up a guide.

[Shahenshah]

DM actually I was considering buying one myself and did some research, and locked on:
ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS71

I've used Asus tab and phones and have been very satisfied with them. I'd never recommend an HP (horrible durability). I've also had v. Good experience with Dells Vostro series back when they'd pet you put gaming card, I bought one in 2007, and it still works, tho nowadays its used by dad for reading emails, news and listening to some black and white old songs that puts me to sleep within few minutes.

Edit-
Oh wait, lol ffs, this is my own post, I thought it was yours. Fucking Cybernationing during work.

Edit 2: anyway, reason why I'm looking for laptops has now changed since op and today. I don't feel I'd really have the time to play games, my focus is now more on DJing and I'm trending towards VJing (helps your tunes get out more if they have vids with affects and scantly dressed ladies dancing to the genre) and EDM production, helps you get ultimate control on your tunes as you can break them apart and remake them.

Now Laptop allows me to move around and plug in my DJ controller, I can't carry my PC and a good card helps.with video editing.

Edited by Shahenshah, 24 May 2015 - 11:46 AM.

[Blade 619]

Just build a PC, honestly, it'll save you much more money and will be a better investment for future

 
 

One of these days we should create a PC builder thread. Keep it up to date with a budget build, mid level build, and a higher end set up.
 
We could even delve into top notch (and largely free) software that exists to make your computer experience top notch.

 
 

One of these days we should create a PC builder thread. Keep it up to date with a budget build, mid level build, and a higher end set up.
 
We could even delve into top notch (and largely free) software that exists to make your computer experience top notch.

Lets do it now.

All of this

[Shahenshah]

Check out this guys:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/alienware-alpha-review

 

I'm considering this seriously.

 

The custom GPU really kicks above it's weight-class. 

 

You can increase HD/Ram/Processor.

Edited by Shahenshah, 28 June 2015 - 06:11 PM.

[DeathMerchant]

Check out this guys:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/alienware-alpha-review

 

I'm considering this seriously.

 

The custom GPU really kicks above it's weight-class. 

 

You can increase HD/Ram/Processor.

Only downside is the small HD, entry level processor (only has 2 cores), with the average ram. If it truly is upgradable, then I would aim to replace the HD (Bring it up to 1 Terrabyte) and Ram (8 Gigs) in the near future. That processor should hold its weight for 2 years.

 

Don't know much about the Steam Boxes but this one seems like a decent offer.

[iSocialism]

What about this deal, it seems good, but I don't know too much about building PC or what I need for gaming. I just don't what to be too limited and what to be able to upgrade.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2291588

[DeathMerchant]

It is a relatively decent build. What is the total price of everything? It wont let me view the full price.

[Shahenshah]

Serato doesnt work on AMD :|

[iSocialism]

i think it's around $700 US  650. but it claims to have a $30 rebate.

[DeathMerchant]

i think it's around $700 US  650. but it claims to have a $30 rebate.

Thats a decent price. I would go for it!

[Zacch]

Shah,

 

If you want my advice, I purchased a laptop in February for gaming and even with the warranty voiding upgrades I've made recently, the overall cost is still under $1000. If you want to stay cheap on initial purchase price but ensure your getting a quality product, I would suggest going with MSI.

 

http://gaming.msi.com/products/notebook

 

I purchased a low cost GE series laptop, which if i remember correctly only cost me 600-700 after taxes and shipping from amazon with associated prime discounts. (http://gaming.msi.com/products/notebook/ge-series) The Laptop came with I7 4710HQ, 8 GB RAM, 1TB HDD and a nvidia geforce GTX850M graphics card. In addition there were a bunch of other cool features like steelseries keyboard which comes with multicolor LED backlighting if you want spend alittle extra money, however I choose to reduce costs as much as possible and got the model that has the steelseries but no backlighting, Killer e2200 NIC card, Sound Blaster sound card, touch/mouse pad disable button on the keyboard (Which is really useful for gaming), a cooling system override button which allows you to toggle the main exhaust fan speed between min, auto and max from the keyboard, a screen disable/enable button which allows you to toggle the laptop screen off/on when connected to a HDTV, which is useful when your viewing movies and videos and many other small but usefull features that really demonstarate the quality your getting. Take a loom at some of the videos on youtube of MSI laptops being dis-assembled. The heat sink is high quality and the fan is relatively quite during normal operation, when gaming with a headset on, the max fan speed setting is unotticable for a noise perspective. However I would note if you don't use a headset the fan can be a bit load at max speed.

 

Right out of the box, the laptop was capable of running almost anything on near max settings at 30-60 FPS. The only limitations being the speed of the HDD and limited 8GB RAM. 

 

I recently added a samsung 850evo 256GB mSATA SSD, transferred the OS to the SSD and bought 2 sticks of 8GB RIPJAWS RAM (16GB Total). The install while it has voided warranty was super easy and you can find videos on youtube detailing best practices for modifying/upgrading hardware in MSI laptops. The upgrade has super charged this laptop. I have yet to find a game I cannot run in max settings, 1920x1080 at less than 60 FPS. Startup time, ie from pushing the power button to all startup programs loaded and gaming ready is less than 10 seconds. Having the OS on the SSD was a huge upgrade in performance as well as having all my games on the SSD. I would say the hardest part of the upgrade process was getting the OS on the SSD. I tried to do a migration that went all wrong and ended up corrupting my system files. Migration is a nightmare, the best way to go is to format both the existing HDD that currently has the OS and the new SSD that should be blank but you will need to create filling system. Once everything is formatted, use a USB memory stick to install windows 8.1 from Microsoft provided install file (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media) on the SSD and your good to go. The windows keys are hard-coded into the BIOS so you won't have any issues with re-licensing, it automatically picks up the CD key on install and never even asks you for it. In addition the bios is easy to set for booting from USD memory stick.

 

ASUS ROG is another option but it is a bit more expensive and I feel MSI provides better features and quality for the price.

[iSocialism]

So, what about these parts I thinking about buying to build me on gaming PC.

 

AMD FX 8350 Black edition Vishera 8 core 4.0 ghz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284

 

MSI 970 Gaming AM3+ AMD 970 6 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130790

 

MSI GeForce GTX 960 GTX 960 GAMING 4G 4GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ATX Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127860

 

G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560

 

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

 

Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

 

All together this cost around $720 U.S

and I thinking about getting power supply

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194098

 

My other question would be about;

Keeping the pc cool and avoiding overheating. Would this be a good setup or would further investment be needed.

Also internet connection would wifi be doing my gaming PC a dis-service?