Argonath RPG - A World of its own
Argonath RPG Community => Hardware/Software support => Resolved issues => Topic started by: Pandalink on July 19, 2012, 05:36:12 am
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Hey guys, I'm looking to purchase a fairly high-end laptop, primarily for gaming. Although I realise a desktop is better for this, for reasons I won't go into here it needs to be a laptop.
In short, what are the most important things I should look for in such a device? I know nothing about processors, for example.
Any help would be most appreciated. :)
Cheers.
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Here're the minimums you should look for it, if you wish to run ANY game.
Intel i5 quad core processor
4GB RAM
512 Graphics
64 bit compatibility so the RAM can be upgraded in the future.
Those are the minimums ^^
Now if you want a today's better than average one go for
i5 processor
1GB Graphics
8GB RAM.
Don't waste the money on i7 as it has been proven i5 is better for gaming, 1GB graphics is a must for games like GTA4 and newer games. Also I'd recommend you purchasing a laptop cooling pad for better ventilation, as I use a laptop for gaming too, and the only problem I ever had was dust in the fan, and no proper ventilation, which made games like GTA 4 too laggy and almost impossible to play for me.
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I'd suggest that you look for some HP Pavilion G7 model, they are beasts.. many come with i3, 4gb and quite powerful gpu's other come with i5.. and there are a few with pretty decent prices! But stay away from Acer, Lenovo or Toshiba!!...
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Build you own computer. Nothing challenging, allows you to pick the top notch things for a lower price. ;)
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Based on keeping the thing for as long as possible, I was mainly looking at the very high end graphics cards (including those with 2GB of memory).
I have no idea about the processor though, what does it all mean? :conf:
But stay away from Acer, Lenovo or Toshiba!!...
How come?
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Acer is very good. Rock is just hating cause it is American.
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8GB RAM.
Don't waste the money on i7 as it has been proven i5 is better for gaming, 1GB graphics is a must for games like GTA4 and newer games.
8gb of RAM are quite useless if you're not going to run heavy photo/video editing or running extremely heavy programs..
I suggest to "waste" money on an i7 if you can.. i5 are "better for gaming" just because they are cheaper and give quite better perfomances comparing to i7's price (performance/price)..
You would also appreciate i7's speed in almost everything :)
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When choosing a laptop consider more than the first specs.
If you are going to use it more than 1 or 2 hours a day, get a good "business" laptop rather than a "consumer" model. Reason is that laptops are not always built for being used 8 hours daily for a long period of time.
Currently the HP business line or Toshiba are good choices that are widely available.
Aces/ Asus are purely consumer and might only just outlast the warranty.
If you have unlimited budget, check for "Gamer laptop"....
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Acer is very good. Rock is just hating cause it is American.
I am fairly unexperienced with laptops, but I do know Acers are pretty crappy, especially when it's about cooling and chassis.
If I were you, I'd also look for some laptop with an i5, but don't make the mistake to get a cheap i5 model, I'd go with the best i5 model there is for laptops, because even then, they won't be as expensive as the i7 models. For graphics I really don't know what to recommend in laptops... Something with enough of VideoRAM, I guess... The most important thing in a laptop is cooling, so you should try focus on that, if there are specialized chassis focusing on cooling.
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Oh, I forgot to say something about graphics that Sal remembered me!
Don't just watch a graphics card memory.. there are models with 1gb that can be extremely different in performance..
e.g. if you're looking for a nvidia graphics card, check the Cuda cores as well.
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8gb of RAM are quite useless if you're not going to run heavy photo/video editing or running extremely heavy programs..
Well, I already have 8gb of RAM in the one I have now, to be able to run multiple development programs at the same time (specifically: photoshop, UDK, 3ds Max) which are all (especially UDK) fairly memory intensive.
The most important thing in a laptop is cooling, so you should try focus on that, if there are specialized chassis focusing on cooling.
This was one of my main areas of concern, actually.
I'm actually looking into my options concerning my current machine, since I'm fairly sure the GPU is the primary bottleneck. Will report back.
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The Asus ROG laptops are designed for heavy duty tasks and gaming and they have one of the best cooling I have seen on a laptop, you should definitely check them out
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Don't just watch a graphics card memory.. there are models with 1gb that can be extremely different in performance..
e.g. if you're looking for a nvidia graphics card, check the Cuda cores as well.
True, but I didn't say anything about that because I really don't have much to say about laptop GPU models; I don't even know one model. :D
Cuda cores aren't that important if you're not into modeling stuff, so don't worry -too- much about them.
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True, but I didn't say anything about that because I really don't have much to say about laptop GPU models; I don't even know one model. :D
Cuda cores aren't that important if you're not into modeling stuff, so don't worry -too- much about them.
Companies often mislead their customers with large memory numbers in bad cards. ;)
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I wouldn't call it misleading, but yes, there are a lot of cards both in the laptop and desktop industry, with loads of video RAM, and lack of actual performance. But once again, I don't know any laptop videocard models.
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I'd suggest that you look for some HP Pavilion G7 model, they are beasts.. many come with i3, 4gb and quite powerful gpu's other come with i5.. and there are a few with pretty decent prices! But stay away from Acer, Lenovo or Toshiba!!...
Everyone I know uses a Acer. I wonder why you say they're bad then, also my laptop is a year and a half old now (got additional warranty on it ;), and so far I'm happy with Acer quick service (fix within 24 hours) :roll:
Also that reminded me, to remember to buy extended warranty, laptops tend to die or screw up right after they run out of warranty!
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Everyone I know uses a Acer. I wonder why you say they're bad then, also my laptop is a year and a half old now (got additional warranty on it ;), and so far I'm happy with Acer quick service (fix within 24 hours) :roll:
Also that reminded me, to remember to buy extended warranty, laptops tend to die or screw up right after they run out of warranty!
Right, my dad's old Acer was sent to the actual company fixing department after some miss-behaving, and they returned it after 7 months... so no thanks!
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Right, my dad's old Acer was sent to the actual company fixing department after some miss-behaving, and they returned it after 7 months... so no thanks!
Did it work at least? :P
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Cuda cores aren't that important if you're not into modeling stuff, so don't worry -too- much about them.
What if I'm a 3D modeler then? ;)
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But stay away from Acer, Lenovo or Toshiba!!...
why
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What if I'm a 3D modeler then? ;)
Then you shouldn't disregard CUDA cores. They'll be useful in visualization when modeling.
I was told to recommend Lenovo
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Then you shouldn't disregard CUDA cores. They'll be useful in visualization when modeling.
I have a CUDA and its pretty good.
My aspects btw:
i5-430M Processor
Nvidia GT 320M CUDA
4GB
640 GB HDD
And it was a pretty cheap laptop, runs sweet all the games I droped on it.
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If the cooling of the current one is a problem, use a laptop cooler that runs on USB.
If its the GPU, check if it is possible to upgrade it.
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GPU is most likely hard soldered to the board, but, it can be upgraded if any of the model range was sold with a better one.
As for laptops, let me link you to one as reference:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-acer-aspire-v3-571g-nxrznek001-i7-3610q-8gb-500gb-hdd-2gb-nvidia-geforce-gt640m-win-7-hp (http://www.scan.co.uk/products/156-acer-aspire-v3-571g-nxrznek001-i7-3610q-8gb-500gb-hdd-2gb-nvidia-geforce-gt640m-win-7-hp)
This laptop should run quite nicely, but I'm better with Desktop PCs than laptops.
The Geforce GT610M is considerably worse, the GT635M would come up probably 20 percent worse, the Graphics chip in this laptop is a GT640M
Whats your budget?
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I have a CUDA and its pretty good.
Judging by the way you put that down there, you don't even know what CUDA cores are.
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Thanks for the advice guys, in the end I had problems working with my current one so decided to indeed purchase a new one. Almost everyone I know has recently upgraded to the Dell XPS, and a friend of mine recommended the dell outlet store so I went and bought a refurbished one from there:
XPS L702x
Intel Core i7-2670QM (2.20 GHz with 3.10 GHz turboboost)
6 GB RAM (will upgrade to 8 GB)
750 GB HD
17.3in 1080p 3D screen
3GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M Graphics Card (3D Capable)
Plus it comes with 3D Glasses and has a Bluetooth Card, which are nice extras.
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I am also looking for a Laptop before my return to education in October ( SO MAYBE FOR SERIOUS USE )
How convenient of this thread to have opened for me =).
Anything that sticks to basically what Panda said and costs max 650 pounds (gonna spend 70 pounds on Microsoft Office) is what I'm looking for.
The likely sellers of the laptop I'm looking for must be one of the major chains like Curries / PC world etc so if something goes wrong I'll go back and be like AYO BITCH.
Anyone who can help me, much obliged!
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Anything that sticks to basically what Panda said and costs max 650 pounds
For reference, the specs that I posted just above cost 700. :)
(gonna spend 70 pounds on Microsoft Office)
Unless you legally need the license for a business, I (really really) wouldn't recommend doing that.
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For reference, the specs that I posted just above cost 700. :)
Unless you legally need the license for a business, I (really really) wouldn't recommend doing that.
It'd be used for a business management course, also for a real world Students' Union so at 70 quid a pop for 2 pcs that's not bad.
Also my original budget was 770 but yes...
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Judging by the way you put that down there, you don't even know what CUDA cores are.
Someone already said some things about it, but by that could you explain?
:ps: Beside that, I didn't had problems or things like that.
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Someone already said some things about it, but by that could you explain?
:ps: Beside that, I didn't had problems or things like that.
You seem to think that ''a CUDA'' is some kind of unit or graphics card itself. CUDA cores are merely cores within an nVidia videocard that allows the user more speed on earlier named stuff.
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You seem to think that ''a CUDA'' is some kind of unit or graphics card itself. CUDA cores are merely cores within an nVidia videocard that allows the user more speed on earlier named stuff.
Thank you, if you have more info. about that I will be apreciated. Since I like to know what I own :)
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IMO if anyone is looking for a gaming laptop, Dell(Alienware) is the way to go, if you have a decent budget.
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Dell is overpriced
go with Lenovo
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Alienware is good if you have the budge ofc, you can upgrade the laptop as desktop. If not, make a custom laptop with GTX 490 gpu, i5 cpu and 4 gb ram. You will run most of the games in medium settings with average price. GTX 560ti is cheaper in some countries so keep an eye on that.
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I've had my alienware for just under 3 years and technically most of it is still in working order. It's the main reason I went with another Dell, however this time without the extra lights and stuff that double the price of an equivalent XPS machine.
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Alienware is good if you have the budge ofc, you can upgrade the laptop as desktop. If not, make a custom laptop with GTX 490 gpu, i5 cpu and 4 gb ram. You will run most of the games in medium settings with average price. GTX 560ti is cheaper in some countries so keep an eye on that.
facepalm
Pretty sure there is not a 490
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It's up to you, man. I just wouldn't recommend it, they are extremely overpriced. At least in desktops they are.
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It's up to you, man. I just wouldn't recommend it, they are extremely overpriced. At least in desktops they are.
Well like I said, I got it in the outlet store so I saved ~30-40% on the price as new.
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Dell Machines are one of the worst for little kind technicians such as myself.
A lot of the parts/fitments are non-standard, thus cost a fortune to repair.
Sony parts are usually standard, but are a bugger to strip down to a large range of screw types.
Acer however, are absolutely beautiful, pretty much one type of scew throughout, items easily accessible, nice laptops :D
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Ye, it was GTX 485, my bad. As for Acer, they overheat a lot tho. I heard that Asus is good but i heard they don't have the latest GPU's.
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ok I am now official hitchhiker on this thread.
http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Longbow.html
Is that good for GTA:V which is not out yet? do you think it will be?
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ok I am now official hitchhiker on this thread.
http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Longbow.html
Is that good for GTA:V which is not out yet? do you think it will be?
It COULD work, but I would honestly switch to Nvidia GPU. And something like 660 Ti or so.