13 replies to this topic

[Waladil]

So there's a whole lot of "Help me upgrade my computer for MW:O" threads out there, so I'll just add another to the pile. Except that I'm not worrying about MW:O in particular very much, but I'm seeing a lot of community support, so... just gonna slip this one in and hope nobody notices.

I've already got a laptop that'll run MW:O fine: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834114797 (Except that I kicked the RAM up to 6GB immediately after purchase).

It's pretty powerful, but there's a few problems with it that are getting pretty major:
1.) It's f***ing heavy. 10 lbs on a laptop is a lot, especially considering that I'm now lugging it for half an hour to work each day. On foot. Uphill both ways. In the summer snow. (Okay, I started to exaggerate a little there... but I do walk a half hour to work and it's getting annoying.)
2.) It runs hot. I can't leave it lying on my bed with a game running or it will overheat and shut down. (Remind you of anything?)
3.) The casing's starting to crack, related to off-center force and #1. I'm worried that the internals will be next to crack and the laptop's gonna die.

So with those problems in mind, here's my list of priorities for a replacement, in rough order of importance.
1.) Staying laptop, because I do use it at work, and because my college lifestyle means I have to move every few months.
2.) LIGHTER WEIGHT. I'm setting an upper limit on 7 lbs, with a preferred of about 5 lbs.
3.) Same or slightly greater gaming power. This laptop is a great gaming machine, although it's just starting to age. Really, I just don't want to noticeably downgrade my power.
4.) When it comes to the CPU, having a high Ghz is more important to me than a lot of cores. This machine has a quad-core (with some magic software that makes it eight cores), but that doesn't mean a lot if you play a game that doesn't support multithreading, and the game runs slow at 13% of my processing capacity. (Dwarf Fortress, anyone?)
5.) A drop in dimensions, especially to satisfy requirement #2, is both accepted and welcomed. Unfortunately, bigger isn't necessarily better (and sometimes I suspect people think I'm overcompensating for something).
6.) Anything else I forgot. I'll edit this to put them in if/when I remember.

My budget for all this is capped at $1500, and a preferred amount of around $1000.

Anyone think they can beat this shopping challenge? It might now be impossible, so I'm willing to be patient and wait to see what else hits the market. (There was a very fine laptop on Newegg that had everything, but it was like $1600, and that's just too much.)

[Vulpesveritas]

Best cheap option:
$900
http://shopping.hp.c...ent-Notebook-PC
Upsides: Better battery life (then all others I will list), cooler operation, mid weight, still a fairly large screen, better customer service. (I have overclocked my HP laptop, fried it, HP replaced it. Dropped it. HP replaced.)
http://www.xoticpc.c...?wconfigure=yes
Upsides: Better gaming performance, smaller, longer warranty

Best option for gaming:
$1500
http://www.xoticpc.c...?wconfigure=yes + Radeon HD 7970m
Upsides: Top of the line Gaming performance, maxed out graphics at up to 1080p, same size as above, same warranty.

[Waladil]

Thanks, Vulpes!

I'm comparing the two Sagers, and the $900 one is looking very nice. It's CPU+1 is the same as the other one's CPU, and when I checked their GPU benchmarks (http://www.notebookc...List.844.0.html) it only dropped from rank 34 to rank 48... compared to my current laptops (rank 94) either is a pretty big jump.

Actually, comparing the two, I'm not sure where about $240 is coming from... putting the nicer CPU on the 6165 makes them (apparently) almost exactly the same, with just a slightly worse GPU. Same processor, same RAM, same HD...

Anyway, I might get the 6165 when my giant paycheck comes in, but that still gives me over a month to shop. So feel free to keep finding stuff!

EDIT: Do you know how much those two weigh? I couldn't find a weight, but I'll double-check.

Edited by Waladil, 16 June 2012 - 07:32 AM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Waladil, on 16 June 2012 - 07:29 AM, said:

Thanks, Vulpes!

I'm comparing the two Sagers, and the $900 one is looking very nice. It's CPU+1 is the same as the other one's CPU, and when I checked their GPU benchmarks (http://www.notebookc...List.844.0.html) it only dropped from rank 34 to rank 48... compared to my current laptops (rank 94) either is a pretty big jump.

Actually, comparing the two, I'm not sure where about $240 is coming from... putting the nicer CPU on the 6165 makes them (apparently) almost exactly the same, with just a slightly worse GPU. Same processor, same RAM, same HD...

Anyway, I might get the 6165 when my giant paycheck comes in, but that still gives me over a month to shop. So feel free to keep finding stuff!

EDIT: Do you know how much those two weigh? I couldn't find a weight, but I'll double-check.

Well, given the 7970m is just a downclocked Desktop 7870 to desktop 7850 speeds, it is a great, great chip.
Outside of that... no clue lol

[CynicalCyanide]

Ugh. Recommending an AMD quad core (With OP's single thread perf. request), built by HP? Really Vulpes? Really?

HP is one of the worst offenders of overheating issues, and generally have poor build quality - Two things that have already plagued OP.

On the other hand, going with an i7 Sager is a fairly good choice - Although if i remember DF correctly, hyperthreading makes it run even worse (ie: running at half a core lol). So i'd do a quick google on whether whichever laptop you're thinking of buying allows you to disable Hyperthreading. (My Acer with an i5 does, saves me quite a bit of battery and about the same performance).

As for GPU - That Sager has a 650m: Freekin'. Bad. ***.

[Meldarth Sunphot]

Iron Wolf; honestly every laptop suffers from that - not just HP - it depends on the brand you get; low end brands......suffer from that - higher brands don't.....

This is the same for Dell, Acer, Lenanova; etc.

Dv7 is a upper build - A10 trinity is one of the better laptop cpus - battery life = sandybridge which is better than Ivybridge - graphics is better than 620m........ and is lot lighter than he has.......rounded up exactly what the OP asked for. Trinity with turbo is a very solid laptop cpu; also the ablity to run dual graphics too...

Until you've played with these; do not knock them - can it keep pace with Ivy - lightly thread.....not a chance; heavily thread its a lot closer.

Second laptop agree; meh; 650m isn't that bad but......its not exactly great either

Third - will be a great gaming machine - but not great battery life..... but there isn't anything out there that can beat 7970m right now for mobile graphics......

Honestly - first with dual graphics - if you can't get dual graphics; get the third.....as that will be the best possible machine.....

[Pawn Couch]

OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
System RAM: 7988 MB
CPU Name: Intel® Core™ i5 CPU M 480 @ 2.67GHz
CPU Speeds: 2667
Physical CPUs: 1
Virtual CPUs: 4
Video Card Description: Citrix Systems Inc. Display Driver
VRAM: 3770 MB
Primary Display Resolution: 1600x900
Multi-Monitor Desktop Resolution: 1600x900
Microphone: True
Language: English (United States)
Free Hard Drive Space: 209101 MB
Total Hard Drive Space: 476836 MB
Windows Experience Index Rating: 4.3

i Recently got that on ebay for $500 bucks and i am happy so check ebay

Edited by KING PINEAPYULA, 18 June 2012 - 05:15 AM.

[CynicalCyanide]

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

Iron Wolf; honestly every laptop suffers from that - not just HP - it depends on the brand you get; low end brands......suffer from that - higher brands don't.....

Yeah. But HP suffer from it disproportionately so, and the DV7 from what i remember is absolutely pathetic when it comes to heat management. They're bad even for a 'low' brand. At least with other lower brands you can say you get price / performance ...

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

battery life = sandybridge which is better than Ivybridge

Flat out wrong. So incredibly wrong, sorry. http://newsroom.inte...w-3-d-structure

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

Until you've played with these; do not knock them

.... Or i could knock them on the basis of benchmarks made by people who have professionally played around with them? Like every other laptop is judged?

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

Second laptop agree; meh; 650m isn't that bad but......its not exactly great either

The 650m (GDDR5) is one of the best mobile graphics cards out there, built on a brand new fab process. The fact that he can get one with that CPU for <$1000 is not only very powerful period, but great value. And unlike last gen cards running off a 40nm fab, it'll be much more power efficient (And if you don't care about that, that's practically the same as saying heat efficient.)

[Vulpesveritas]

iron wolf, on 18 June 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

Yeah. But HP suffer from it disproportionately so, and the DV7 from what i remember is absolutely pathetic when it comes to heat management. They're bad even for a 'low' brand. At least with other lower brands you can say you get price / performance ...

Actually you're thinking of the DV6, the DV7 has decent cooling on board. Also, in the last year HP has gotten quite a bit better in it's cooling performance, at least according to every single review of Llano on an HP where they would idle in the 30's and hit load in the 40-55ish.

iron wolf, on 18 June 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

Flat out wrong. So incredibly wrong, sorry. http://newsroom.inte...w-3-d-structure

Sorry, you apparently haven't looked at any benches.

iron wolf, on 18 June 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

.... Or i could knock them on the basis of benchmarks made by people who have professionally played around with them? Like every other laptop is judged?

see bench above for battery life. Also, Trinity goes head to head with a 630m... but moving on.

iron wolf, on 18 June 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

The 650m (GDDR5) is one of the best mobile graphics cards out there, built on a brand new fab process. The fact that he can get one with that CPU for <$1000 is not only very powerful period, but great value. And unlike last gen cards running off a 40nm fab, it'll be much more power efficient (And if you don't care about that, that's practically the same as saying heat efficient.)

It is quite a good chip, and outperforms the 560m quite nicely if I remember correctly. And under $1000, it is a great deal.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 18 June 2012 - 08:23 PM.

[CynicalCyanide]

Vulpesveritas, on 18 June 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

Actually you're thinking of the DV6, the DV7 has decent cooling on board. Also, in the last year HP has gotten quite a bit better in it's cooling performance, at least according to every single review of Llano on an HP where they would idle in the 30's and hit load in the 40-55ish.

Hmm. That may be true. But i would still bet cash on other manu's models beating that temp.

Vulpesveritas, on 18 June 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

Sorry, you apparently haven't looked at any benches.

I think we have a misunderstanding mate

I was criticizing THIS PART: "sandybridge which is better than Ivybridge"

ie: Implying that Sandybridge has the same power consumption as ivy bridge. I wasn't commenting on a Trinity comparison, since that's another whole kettle of fish. However, between a straight comparison of Sandy to Ivy, the latter of which has a die shrink and more efficient transistors, there's no argument that the Ivy is more efficient.

Considering your chart compares SANDY bridge CPUs, not Ivy, i take it you've assumed i was saying that Sandy was more efficient than Trinity. (As an aside though, comparing laptops at IDLE is a poor reflection of the efficiency of the CPU though, considering that the CPU is only a fraction of the total power draw. And the inevitable differences between LCD screens, background processes etc warps the results much more significantly than if they were all at least some load.)

[Vulpesveritas]

iron wolf, on 18 June 2012 - 09:08 PM, said:

Hmm. That may be true. But i would still bet cash on other manu's models beating that temp.



I think we have a misunderstanding mate

I was criticizing THIS PART: "sandybridge which is better than Ivybridge"

ie: Implying that Sandybridge has the same power consumption as ivy bridge. I wasn't commenting on a Trinity comparison, since that's another whole kettle of fish. However, between a straight comparison of Sandy to Ivy, the latter of which has a die shrink and more efficient transistors, there's no argument that the Ivy is more efficient.

Considering your chart compares SANDY bridge CPUs, not Ivy, i take it you've assumed i was saying that Sandy was more efficient than Trinity. (As an aside though, comparing laptops at IDLE is a poor reflection of the efficiency of the CPU though, considering that the CPU is only a fraction of the total power draw. And the inevitable differences between LCD screens, background processes etc warps the results much more significantly than if they were all at least some load.)

quite true. also, there is an ivy processor on that list, if you look down at that asus N56VM... anyhow yes we have a misunderstanding it would seem.
outside of that, temp wise that is actually quite good when it comes to tempratures. At least it is better than my now nearly 3 year old Phenom II X4 DV6 laptop. I idle around 60 and if it weren't for my cooling pad, at moderate load I reach upper 90's / shut down. (Fallout 3 causes a heat based shut down. Google chrome + MW 4 does so as well.)

So yeah lol. They're quite a bit better.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 18 June 2012 - 09:14 PM.

[CynicalCyanide]

Vulpesveritas, on 18 June 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

quite true. also, there is an ivy processor on that list, if you look down at that asus N56VM...

Aye, I only saw that after i posted lol. This is what that review said: "It’s also worth noting that as a whole, the N56VM places near the top of the normalized results for quad-core CPUs. Of course there are plenty of other laptops that deliver better battery life—ultrabooks and netbooks in particular, along with many of the dual-core Sandy Bridge offerings—but they’re not anywhere near the same performance class as standard voltage Sandy/Ivy Bridge." (Since a few of those Sandy's were dual core)

- And also this: "our first Ivy Bridge laptop and we really have no idea how it will compare with future Ivy Bridge implementations. What’s more, we’re dealing with pre-release hardware, so ASUS likely hasn’t had quite as much opportunity to optimize for battery life as what we’ll see on the retail units. Optimizing for battery life is a complex task, and we’ve seen some manufacturers succeed while others fall well short. For example, the difference between the best and worst normalized battery life for quad-core Sandy Bridge laptops (not counting the non-retail notebook) is around 50% across all three of our tests"

So i would suggest that model is probably a more important factor than CPU model anyway

Vulpesveritas, on 18 June 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

I idle around 60 and if it weren't for my cooling pad, at moderate load I reach upper 90's / shut down. (Fallout 3 causes a heat based shut down. Google chrome + MW 4 does so as well.)

Holy McFuck!

- Yeah, well you can hardly blame the stigma that came as a result of those terrible figures to die down quickly can ya? .... Oh man lol.

[wtfWOLGYftw]

I love my ASUS G74 it's pretty heavy but it can play just about anything at higher settings without any noticeable drops in framerate. It stays suprisingly cool, even during 6-hour long gaming binges. it rarely breaks 60 degrees Celcius on the GPU. I'm kind of a fanboy for ASUS but I've had 3 of their machines in the past 6 years and none of them has ever done me wrong.


OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
System RAM: 8169 MB
CPU Name: Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
CPU Speeds: 2201
Physical CPUs: 1
Virtual CPUs: 8
Video Card Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
VRAM: 2047 MB
Primary Display Resolution: 1600x900
Multi-Monitor Desktop Resolution: 1600x900
Microphone: True
Language: English (United States)
Free Hard Drive Space: 250906 MB
Total Hard Drive Space: 451338 MB
Windows Experience Index Rating: 5.2

[Waladil]

Gah. All of a sudden I come back and there's more responses! Thought this thread had died

Anyway, I'm probably going to get the second one Vulpes suggested, the
http://www.xoticpc.c...?wconfigure=yes

Put a slightly better CPU on it, still under 1,000. Unless something dramatic happens in the next month or so, of course.