51 replies to this topic

[N a p e s]

Hey everyone

I'm looking for some advice concerning a gaming laptop to take with me when I'm on the road for work since it seems like this will be happening more and more. What I'm looking for is a relatively cheap laptop that is definitely a secondary part time use machine since I will probably never touch it when I'm at home (except to transfer media and load patches before hitting the road).

If it can play MWO on medium or even on low with a decent framerate I'll be happy.

Sooooo! What kind of specs should I be aiming for? And does anyone have any recommendations in terms of an actual laptop?

Please note that I'm in Canada.

So far I've seen these:

http://www.canadacom...&item_id=077888
http://www.canadacom...&item_id=069023
http://www.canadacom...&item_id=073227

Any help is appreciated!

[xWiredx]

That last one is a minimum. The other two... wouldn't even bother with them. Minimum is an i5 (preferably not a u-series CPU) and GT 840M probably. You'll be running low-spec for sure. The consensus for typical laptop for MWO is an i7 and GTX 860M or better.

[N a p e s]

Ok wow, that's higher than I expected.

Going to the i7 increases the price by a couple 100$.

What's different about the u-series CPUs? Just slower overall?

[Oderint dum Metuant]

MWO is not low end hardware friendly. This is magnified for laptops.

If you can't grab a decent specced laptop I'd say don't bother... It'll just infuriate you.

[Lord Letto]

What's Your Budget? The most Expensive one you Listed is the Middle/2nd one with a sale price of $760 Regular Price of $810 so I'll Assume That's your Budget, and with that determined, I'd Recomend increasing your Budget by AT LEAST $200, $1000 in the Minimum Cost for a MWO Laptop that would Perform Decently on Low(er) Settings, $1500-2000 would be Better Though.
For your $760-810 Budget, This is the Best I could Find, Keep in Mind it's American: http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gp60-leopard010-p-6964.html

MSI GP60 Leopard-010
15.6" 1080P
i5-4200M (2.5GHz Base, 3.1GHz Turbo Dual Core With HT)
Nvidia GT840M 2GB GDDR3
Maximum of 16GB RAM (Comes with 1x8GB Stock)
750GB HDD
3+ Hours Battery Life, 5.29 LBs
3D Score of 9423 [Vantage]
Starting @ $749 (USD Most likely, Using Google to Convert shows $934.56 Canadian Plus Shipping)
Newegg Canada Got it Listed for $1100: http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16834152570

And Even Then, That's Bottom of the Barrel Performance Wise, Build Quality should be Good Though.

Edited by Lord Letto, 03 April 2015 - 11:06 AM.

[N a p e s]

Lord Letto, on 03 April 2015 - 10:47 AM, said:

What's Your Budget? The most Expensive one you Listed is the Middle/2nd one with a sale price of $760 Regular Price of $810 so I'll Assume That's your Budget, and with that determined, I'd Recomend increasing your Budget by AT LEAST $200, $1000 in the Minimum Cost for a MWO Laptop that would Perform Decently on Low(er) Settings, $1500-2000 would be Better Though.

1000$ should acceptable but I am trying to keep it on the low side because I'm having difficulty justifying a big purchase for something that I'll be using almost exclusively when travelling. I'm also wondering how the MWO experience will be playing from a hotel room, they don't always have the best internet connections and that could really kill it regardless of how much money I spent on a laptop.

http://www.canadacom...&item_id=069682

Anybody have an MSI?

[Lord Letto]

PowerOfNapes, on 03 April 2015 - 10:58 AM, said:

1000$ should acceptable but I am trying to keep it on the low side because I'm having difficulty justifying a big purchase for something that I'll be using almost exclusively when travelling. I'm also wondering how the MWO experience will be playing from a hotel room, they don't always have the best internet connections and that could really kill it regardless of how much money I spent on a laptop.

http://www.canadacom...&item_id=069682

Anybody have an MSI?

That one should be good if you can get your Hands on one, Shows there's only 1 Left and it's at the London Location, Unless you get it at someplace besides Canada Computers.

[N a p e s]

Lord Letto, on 03 April 2015 - 11:16 AM, said:

That one should be good if you can get your Hands on one, Shows there's only 1 Left and it's at the London Location, Unless you get it at someplace besides Canada Computers.

Damn, was originally searching by location so I thought I'd gotten lucky. Oh well.

[Bkmzna]

PowerOfNapes, on 03 April 2015 - 09:31 AM, said:

What's different about the u-series CPUs? Just slower overall?

They are dual-core processors with low frequency and low power consumption. And they have higher cost per 1 MHz. You can see specification of the Core i7 processors here
http://en.wikipedia....e.2C_22_nm.29_2
and Core i5 here
http://en.wikipedia....generation.29_2
I'm currently playing MWO on desktop with quad-core 3 GHz Phenom II and GTX 750Ti, 1920x1080, and have about 15-35 FPS with all VERY HIGH video options except POST PROCESSING, and about 25-50 FPS with all options set to LOW. If I set screen resolution to 1280x720, it gives me roughly 5 FPS more. MWO uses all four cores of my processor, so I think quad-core i7 should be better, than dual-core i5. But maybe it is worth it to find laptop based on 37 W TDP processor, like i7-4702HQ, i7-4712HQ or i7-4722HQ, still with GTX 860M, which is slightly slower, than my GTX 750Ti. And definitely modern laptop must have screen resolution 1920x1080 like that one from MSI:)

Edited by Bkmzna, 03 April 2015 - 01:36 PM.

[MavRCK]

i dunno wtf i post **** for people - lol

http://shop.lenovo.c...o/y-series/y50/

is the best deal hands-down

and i'll even help you set it up in montreal with throttlestop 7 etc

http://www.canadacom...&item_id=069682

this msi is a solid - similar choice - prob will better overall cooling - the screen will most likely be a little better but it's fugly

i preferred the design and form factor of the y50 - it was cheaper at the time

Edited by MavRCK, 05 April 2015 - 05:12 PM.

[N a p e s]

MavRCK, on 05 April 2015 - 05:02 PM, said:

i dunno wtf i post **** for people - lol

http://shop.lenovo.c...o/y-series/y50/

is the best deal hands-down

and i'll even help you set it up in montreal with throttlestop 7 etc

http://www.canadacom...;item_id=069682

this msi is a solid - similar choice - prob will better overall cooling - the screen will most likely be a little better but it's fugly

i preferred the design and form factor of the y50 - it was cheaper at the time

Thanks for the recommendation. I'd been looking at the Y50 for the past couple days. They actually have that model at Cananda Computers in Montreal though its a bit more expensive 1099$.

Seems like there might be some issues with the HDD? I didn't look into it much yet.

[MavRCK]

PowerOfNapes, on 05 April 2015 - 05:32 PM, said:

Thanks for the recommendation. I'd been looking at the Y50 for the past couple days. They actually have that model at Cananda Computers in Montreal though its a bit more expensive 1099$.

Seems like there might be some issues with the HDD? I didn't look into it much yet.

it's cheapest directly from lenovo with free shipping

there are no issues with the hybrid hard drive.. it's a seagate momentus xt sshd

[N a p e s]

Well I went ahead and ordered the Y50. Looking forward to receiving it and taking it out on the road. Hell of a deal they were offering and by signing for the checkout procedure I got an ecoupon code for an extra 20$ off. Not too shabby

[Sir Wolfenx]

I swear by this one. It is good all round, can run MWO on High at 60-85fps, ULTRA 45 FPS.
Asus 750-JZ 880M Nvidia. Supports sheild, shadowplay no. But you can still take videos for twitch with other stuff. Large HD. Lots of Ram on GPU and CPU.
http://www.canadacom...&item_id=069530

Can run up to 3 screens, though never tried it. 1080P all the way. Weighs a ton, though, get official bag for carry. Gets hot, do not use high settings in warm room. Operate in 20C room temperature. At 28, turn down settings. Complaints about screen not retna display, but usually you want a mac for that.

It went on sale when the Nvidia 900s went on sale. for about $1800. Comes with one year ACCIDENTAL insurance from ASUS.

Check out video:

Edited by Sir Wolfenx, 08 April 2015 - 05:51 AM.

[Catamount]

I would be way more inclined to an Asus notebook, any Asus, or something like a Sager, over a Lenovo for gaming. The Y50, especially, gives me exactly no good feelings about its cooling and reviews seem to agree (Notebookcheck even managed to hit thermal throttling). My Asus N61JQ stood up to a downright disgusting amount of high temperature gaming, and after being stressed CPU and GPU wise for 2-3 hours a day for almost four years straight (with lighter use in between), it simple died of obsolescence and got handed down to someone who's still using it for lighter work.

Still, it's hard to argue with the Y50 when stretching a tight budget.

[Lord Letto]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834232202
ASUS ROG G751JT-CH71 for $1499 US@Newegg.com
i7 4710HQ (2.5GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
16GB (2x8GB) RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HDD
GTX 970M 3GB
17.3" 1080P Screen
Windows 8.1
DVD/CD Burner
Get The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt For Free

Amazon for $100 More Than Newegg: http://www.amazon.com/G751JT-CH71-17-3-I...B00NVV2B98
ASUS Store for same price as Newegg: http://store.asus.co...30000005/A18486
XOTIC PC got it also Starting @ $1499, $1454.03 with 3% Off Cash Discount: http://www.xoticpc.c...h71-p-7791.html
Bestbuy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-...Id=9826187
Microcenter: http://www.microcenter.com/product/43991...er_-_Black

Cause Canada, the G751JT-CH71 is $4K on Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca...ROG+G751JT-CH71

So I'd say go for the G751JT-DH72-CA for $1819: http://www.amazon.ca...ROG+G751JT-CH71

Differences from what I can tell on Amazon:
2x1TB HDD (1 5400RPM, 1 7200RPM)
Blue Ray Drive

That i7 Should do good & the 970M is the 2nd Best Mobile GPU if i'm not mistaken, Only the 980M is Better.

Edited by Lord Letto, 08 April 2015 - 07:45 AM.

[N a p e s]

Catamount, on 08 April 2015 - 06:13 AM, said:

I would be way more inclined to an Asus notebook, any Asus, or something like a Sager, over a Lenovo for gaming. The Y50, especially, gives me exactly no good feelings about its cooling and reviews seem to agree (Notebookcheck even managed to hit thermal throttling). My Asus N61JQ stood up to a downright disgusting amount of high temperature gaming, and after being stressed CPU and GPU wise for 2-3 hours a day for almost four years straight (with lighter use in between), it simple died of obsolescence and got handed down to someone who's still using it for lighter work.

Still, it's hard to argue with the Y50 when stretching a tight budget.

1000 CAD for a laptop with those specs is a pretty good deal I'd say. I have seen some negative reviews as well and that is my main concern... hopefully it holds up alright.

My next best options were a good 250-300$ more expensive and I believe most of them downgraded the video card to a 840M or 845M. Those Asus ROG rigs at 1800$ look sweet but I don't have the cash or the need for something quite that powerful.

[MavRCK]

http://mwomercs.com/...710hq-gtx-860m/

[Lionsroar]

Would this laptop be able to play MWO decently (say 30-40 fps)? It is under $900

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834232132

ASUS X550JK-DH71 Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz) 8GB Memory 1TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 2GB GDDR3 15.6" Windows 8.1 64-Bit

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 2GB GDDR3
  
• Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz)
  
• 8GB Memory 1TB HDD
  
• 15.6" 1920 x 1080
  
• Windows 8.1 64-Bit

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[Goose]

I would advise against a video card "featuring" DDR3 memory …