130 replies to this topic

[GetinmyBellah]

Hey, to each his own. Yet, I have to disagree that when building a gaming desktop that the GPU is the most important facet of hardware, let alone a laptop. Why? Well, for one there are four components that can cause a bottleneck and your GPU won't perform to it's full potential. I personally feel that you should start with the CPU-Mainboard then QV approved RAM-PSU, now decide upon your GPU. Again, this is simply my personal opinion on the subject. I've been building my own gaming rigs since 1996. I've also been there and done that. If you purchase a top tier GPU with a mediocre compliment of hardware then your GPU won't perform as it should. Now you've wasted money and are creating headaches for yourself, period.

Anyhow, back to a mass manufactured gaming laptop -- I prefer to recommend an ASUS ROG based laptop when not building your own rig. One of the main reasons I chose a ROG laptop is because ASUS truly stands behind their products and any ROG user is automatically bumped up to VIP customer care. This makes a huge difference if you happen to encounter faulty hardware, or just want to speak to living person in tech support and not continually get the pre-recorded runaround. I also make this recommendation because I'm an avid ASUS user and have been for 10+ years.

I've seen a few other names recommended and I agree with several people, please just stay away from Alienware, Falcon, Origin and the likes.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834231089

... at the end of the day it's your money and it comes down to what you feel best fits your style and, or needs. Best of luck, regardless!

[Gremlich Johns]

Two of my sons have used Sager's and loved them. One was a video game designer and the other a physicist/mathematician doing some compiling

[Sandpit]

I've noticed a couple of price drops on new egg and best buy recently. I wonder if they're getting ready for new tech to drop or models?

[Sandpit]

http://www.lpc-digit...ger-np8290.html

Ok guys so opinions, it's a little higher than my original price point but I think this would be a good deal and keep me gaming for a few years before it's obsolete.
I'm thinking abotu dropping in the
HD 8970M for the gpu
1 TB HGST Travelstar™ 7K1000 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 802.11ac 2x2 Plus Bluetooth 4.0**
as upgrades.
So opinions for price and features?

that would put the price at 1487 for the cash price and if he gives me a discount I might come out even cheaper than that

[Catamount]

Dude, the 8970M is like half again as powerful as the 770M. Unless you think you can find a 780M equipped machine for that price, which I highly doubt and which would still be only barely more powerful, I'd jump on that right away.

Also, side note. If you intend to use this machine with headphones, and I sincerely hope you do, I'd get a USB soundcard, probably an Asus Xonar U3. Integrated sound cards do a pretty good job these days on desktops, at least the nicer ones, but notebooks have abysmal sound, and the point here is to upgrade, right?

[Sandpit]

Catamount, on 28 January 2014 - 05:46 PM, said:

Dude, the 8970M is like half again as powerful as the 770M. Unless you think you can find a 780M equipped machine for that price, which I highly doubt and which would still be only barely more powerful, I'd jump on that right away.

Also, side note. If you intend to use this machine with headphones, and I sincerely hope you do, I'd get a USB soundcard, probably an Asus Xonar U3. Integrated sound cards do a pretty good job these days on desktops, at least the nicer ones, but notebooks have abysmal sound, and the point here is to upgrade, right?

I use my turtle beach px3

I just don't think I'm going to find a gpu and cpu combo at that price. The hard drive is upgraded to the 6gb/s 7200rpm. It looks like it would run everythign I could want and still come in under $1500. It's not a special price so it shouldn't go up. I'm just wondering if maybe I should wait. The new models of GPUs should be dropping in the next couple of weeks. Do you guys think this might cause a price drop in the older models?

[Catamount]

Of course, USB/wireless headsets are the exception

[cSand]

Sandpit, on 28 January 2014 - 05:05 PM, said:

http://www.lpc-digit...ger-np8290.html

Ok guys so opinions, it's a little higher than my original price point but I think this would be a good deal and keep me gaming for a few years before it's obsolete.
I'm thinking abotu dropping in the
HD 8970M for the gpu
1 TB HGST Travelstar™ 7K1000 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 802.11ac 2x2 Plus Bluetooth 4.0**
as upgrades.
So opinions for price and features?

that would put the price at 1487 for the cash price and if he gives me a discount I might come out even cheaper than that

That is very close to the same setup as I have (different chassis, 16GB of RAM). I can tell you that the 8970m is awesome, and gets better with each iteration of drivers released. I can also tell you you'll be running MWO on Ultra at 60-80 FPS, with AA on. (Less with vSync but IMO it's worth it for no image tearing).

The Intel AC is definitely worth it with the new standard coming. Very fast and solid connection, I am curious to see how it performs with an AC router however it maxes out my internet connection right now so I'm happy.

You won't find much (if anything) better for that price. I bought my 8265-S with the intention of it lasting 4 years at least, and the ability to upgrade (could throw a 5th gen. Intel in there if I want down the road), and having used it for the last 4 months I can say not a single cent do I regret spending on this machine.

If you're willing to spend that much I can't recommend it enough!!

JOIN MEEEEEEE

Edited by cSand, 29 January 2014 - 09:55 AM.

[Sandpit]

cSand, on 29 January 2014 - 09:48 AM, said:

That is very close to the same setup as I have (different chassis, 16GB of RAM). I can tell you that the 8970m is awesome, and gets better with each iteration of drivers released. I can also tell you you'll be running MWO on Ultra at 60-80 FPS, with AA on. (Less with vSync but IMO it's worth it for no image tearing).

The Intel AC is definitely worth it with the new standard coming. Very fast and solid connection, I am curious to see how it performs with an AC router however it maxes out my internet connection right now so I'm happy.

You won't find much (if anything) better for that price. I bought my 8265-S with the intention of it lasting 4 years at least, and the ability to upgrade (could throw a 5th gen. Intel in there if I want down the road), and having used it for the last 4 months I can say not a single cent do I regret spending on this machine.

If you're willing to spend that much I can't recommend it enough!!

JOIN MEEEEEEE

Well with such a glowing review I don't see how I can turn away from it! lol

is the gpu easily accessible for later upgrade?

[cSand]

Sandpit, on 29 January 2014 - 09:59 AM, said:

Well with such a glowing review I don't see how I can turn away from it! lol

is the gpu easily accessible for later upgrade?

Yep, at least on mine you just undo 4 screws and lift off the backplate, and everything is right there.

That being said you probably won't have to worry about an upgrade for quite awhile with the 8970

Edited by cSand, 29 January 2014 - 10:19 AM.

[Sandpit]

cSand, on 29 January 2014 - 10:17 AM, said:

Yep, at least on mine you just undo 4 screws and lift off the backplate, and everything is right there.

That being said you probably won't have to worry about an upgrade for quite awhile with the 8970

It's been several years since I've had a decent gaming rig. (Dam playstations and kids lol)

Do you think 8GB ram will be good? I'm also on the fence on whether I should move to windows8 or just install a copy of windows7 I have lying around. I have 8 on my surface and love it but I don't think it would be as nice without a touchscreen.

[cSand]

Sandpit, on 29 January 2014 - 10:42 AM, said:

It's been several years since I've had a decent gaming rig. (Dam playstations and kids lol)

Do you think 8GB ram will be good? I'm also on the fence on whether I should move to windows8 or just install a copy of windows7 I have lying around. I have 8 on my surface and love it but I don't think it would be as nice without a touchscreen.

I think 8GB will be just fine. Pretty much the standard these days. I run my laptop pretty light (not much else running in the background) and hardly use over 6GB at any given time. If you plan on having Chrome open with 50 tabs, and running other things while playing games then you'll start to eat it up but honestly 8GB is plenty for gaming at this point. The bright side is its easy to slap another 8GB in down the road (or another 24GB )

If you're going to go Windows 8, go 8.1.

You can boot right to the desktop and avoid the touchscreen half, which, in 8.1, isn't near as much a pain to use as it was in vanilla 8 (IMO of course ).

I have been using it since October and after some time getting used to it (also adding the quicklaunch back in by the start menu ) I love it. It's nice and snappy, and lighter weight than Windows 7. In fact, going back to 7 now feels clunky and unintuitive!

Have not found a single game/program I could run in 7 that won't run on 8.1 (yet).

Certainly don't miss the traditional start menu at all, in fact I'm realizing just how little I actually needed/used it anyways.

If you get W 8.1, I can put a list together for you of my preferences and "things of note" I have learned over many setups of 8.1 if you like (do a lot for work these days).

[Sandpit]

Thank you sir, I appreciate it. It'll be about 2 weeks before I can make the purchase but unless something amazing comes up in a sale this is the rig I'm going with

[cSand]

Sandpit, on 29 January 2014 - 08:49 PM, said:

Thank you sir, I appreciate it. It'll be about 2 weeks before I can make the purchase but unless something amazing comes up in a sale this is the rig I'm going with

I'm looking forward to the "So I just got a new gaming rig" post

[Sandpit]

cSand, on 29 January 2014 - 08:53 PM, said:

I'm looking forward to the "So I just got a new gaming rig" post

Not as much as I am! lol

I'll even post pics!!!

[Coleman Rendar]

I personally use a Lenovo Z510 for MWO. i5-4200M, GT740M, 12gb ram (personal upgrade from 4 gb), 1080p non-touchscreen

I stay mostly stable between 31 to 34 FPS.

I do believe its US999 for the version I have, you'll need to see for yourself

Edited by Coleman Rendar, 30 January 2014 - 06:29 AM.

[Catamount]

I'm looking forward to seeing some performance numbers, Sandpit. Just try to jump on it ASAP; you don't want the sale to dry up

[Sandpit]

Well looking at the specs on notebookreview it really looks like I should get 50+FPS on decent settings

[cSand]

Sandpit, on 30 January 2014 - 09:16 AM, said:

Well looking at the specs on notebookreview it really looks like I should get 50+FPS on decent settings

Oh, you will

Lowest I've dip down is into the high 30's with vsync on, when there is lots of smoke and stuff going on. Also in some levels there are just certain mundane objects, that if you look at them, it drops the FPS for some reason. (IE one of the big pipes in the HPG level... I'll be at a nice 60 fps, then I look at this pipe and it drops by like 20 frames, haha)

[Sandpit]

I'd just like to be playable in high settings