17 replies to this topic

[ProfPyro]

So my GPU fan burned out a while ago. I tried to be judicious with its use until I could get it fixed, but alas, it was not enough. Would anyone be willing to share some good gaming laptops or offer an opinion on some that I'm looking at?

This is the current frontrunner:

http://www.bestbuy.c...3&skuId=4637103

[Catamount]

There are many questions you could answer to help us. Can I assume that maybe $1250-$1350, ish, is around your budget? Can you go higher? Would you prefer lower (ie is that Asus an extreme stretch?) Can I also take it that you're not particularly concerned with size or battery life, just performance/$?

If that's the case, then I suggest skipping Best Buy's Asus offerings and looking around, say, LPC Digital, Xotic, maybe Sager's home site (there's a strong case for Aorus if you're thinking small, but clearly you aren't ). Are you married to the 17.3 size, or are you interested in 15-16 as well? ...do you want bigger than 17.3?

You have your old laptop with license sticker so that you can transfer your Windows license, yes?

Here's a Sager NP8677 that would do better than the Asus by a fair margin

https://lpc-digital....-clevo-p670re3/

It's $1234 with the 16GB memory upgrade and no OS, $1314 if you wanted to get the Gsync IPS (note that you could save yourself about $30 by sticking with the 1x8GB memory option and just buying another module yourself on Newegg to get 16). There are various SSD options, but they're all cheaper to get yourself (eg the 250gb 850 EVO is $115 on LPC, $80 on Newegg).

If you just wanted the easiest setup possible and no DIY, LPC or Sager's own site will run $1314 for just the 16GB of RAM and Windows preinstalled (so reusing your OS would basically get you a free Gsync display).

I'm sure others have some suggestions but that's the direction I'd look in.

[Cerender]

The Kurita Apology?!? What is this hate speech? I thought this was going to be about a great laptop!

[ProfPyro]

Yeah, I definitely want to stick with the 17; the main reason I was thinking the Asus was that the recently departed was one. I want to keep it under 1300, but i cannot go a penny over 15. Performance is king; battery life and size? Fuggedaboutit. It's going to be a portable desktop.

[UglyPony]

I would recommend the MSI GE62 2QF Apache Pro. It has:

GTX970M
16gb ram
Core i7 5700HQ @2.70ghz

Mine is a beast and handles this game at ultra high settings no problem. The built in fans, with a dedicated dashboard button to control them, are insanely powerful (though they can be louder some might like) and will keep the system nice and cool even during heavy gaming on games like Battlefield 4, with maxed settings. The only real downside to this laptop: it has a non-removable battery. To be honest, I really wish I had looked around for a laptop with similar performance AND a removable battery. I bought it assuming it had one, and it would have been a deal breaker had I known at the time. Being able to replace the battery can be a huge cost saver in the future should the battery go out (if you can't afford the insurance and maintenance plan at purchase, you have to pay for it down the line), you can't simply swap it out for a battery picked up off amazon. That is ******** given the price point of this hardware, and I really dislike MSI's crap decision on this design point. But otherwise, this laptop is insanely performance-tuned and won't disappoint in that arena.

Edited by UglyPony, 18 March 2016 - 02:35 PM.

[Catamount]

Now, now, let's not get into the all-too-common "I have this, so you should to" style of recommendation

One thing to note: If you do spot a good deal on a machine with a Haswell-based i7 instead of a Skylake (eg i7-5700HQ vs 6700HQ), then don't feel bad about going that direction. Despite how well it does in synthetics, Skylake is no faster than Haswell at gaming, and may possibly be slower. This is sadly a very underdiscussed topic.

There's nothing wrong with Asus; their machines are good. My N61JQ died of obsolescence, not actual death. It's still running despite constant heavy gaming from early 2010 to like early 2014. Clevo machines (Sager's ODM) are also really good, however, so just get one and don't look back because the prices are better.
I don't think $1500 gets you into GTX 980M territory. That starts at around $1700. So, unless someone has a better suggestion, here's what I'd do:

Get the Sager NP8677 I linked from LPC Digital (Sager doesn't let you buy that model without an OS). Configure it with the Gsync IPS option and 16GB, or save the $30, doesn't matter. I'll assume you just buy it with 16.

That's $1314.00 and you'll get free UPS shipping

Having a computer without an SSD makes the Baby Jesus cry, so then go to Newegg and get an 850 Evo

http://www.newegg.co...7-398-_-Product

Drop it into the computer, install your old Windows install on it (make sure to get a Windows disc downloaded/burned from whatever working computer you have), and you're out about $1400 with a rather sick machine.

Edited by Catamount, 18 March 2016 - 04:11 PM.

[xWiredx]

OP - go to the xoticpc website and configure the best thing you can fit in your budget. Your best deal will be found there.

[ProfPyro]

I haven't been introduced to Sager or MSI before, but since they are coming so highly recommended I shall have to look into them. I also was unaware of the skylake vs. haswell distinction. I'll definitely look for the 5700 from now on. Also, does the np8677 not have any options for an internal dvd/Blu Ray drive?

Edited by ProfPyro, 19 March 2016 - 05:00 AM.

[Catamount]

xWiredx, on 18 March 2016 - 05:32 PM, said:

OP - go to the xoticpc website and configure the best thing you can fit in your budget. Your best deal will be found there.

I already have the best machine he can afford up LPC undercuts Xotic on it.

http://www.xoticpc.c...customization=1

With the panel and RAM upgrade, Xotic charges $1344 instead of $1314.

ProfPyro, on 18 March 2016 - 07:17 PM, said:

I haven't been introduced to Sager or MSI before, but since they are coming so highly recommended I shall have to look into them.

Sagers are just rebranded Clevo machines, which are very high end. MSI is good to. So is Alienware. So is Gigabyte and its subsidiary, Aorus. So is Asus.

All of these companies make high end gaming laptops that perform well, cool adequately and have good features. Even Compal is putting out some decent stuff these days (they're HP's ODM, unless something has changed in the last few years), though it's usually more budget-oriented. Some companies just charge stupidly more than others for said good stuff (I'm looking at you, Alienware).

The reason you get blasted with thousands of people all yelling "SAGER SAGER SAGER" whenever this comes up is simply that they undercut their opponents really, really well while delivering machines that compromise absolutely zero vs their competitors, even on customer service (and really, if you didn't hate Asus on customer service somehow, then you'll love Sager ).


Basically, when we give gaming laptop recommendations, it's with the knowledge that we're offering very expensive underperforming machines, and we want to mitigate that as much as possible, and that basically means finding the beefiest GPU around since i7s are a given and common. When you gave a budget, I shopped purely by GPU, and only Sager offered a machine with a 970M as far as I saw- which is literally two 960Ms (about 1.7x after clock differences, etc). It's very rare that Sager doesn't end up being the company that lets someone here step up a GPU.

Quote

I also was unaware of the skylake vs. haswell distinction. I'll definitely look for the 5700 from now on.

Don't get the idea that Skylake is bad - it isn't. It just offers no advantage over Haswell/Broadwell. The 5700 and 6700 run at basically the same clockspeed, so any minor IPC difference isn't going to matter. It would matter if, say, Skylake commanded a real 10% advantage there or something, but it doesn't seem to.

(Note that these complaints are something I'm seeing desktop-side; does anyone know if mobile comes out differently? It doesn't seem it would given the clock/TDP similarities)

"Also, does the np8677 not have any options for an internal dvd/Blu Ray drive?"

No. You'll have to buy an external ($20-$30)

Edited by Catamount, 19 March 2016 - 04:56 PM.

[Catamount]

There is another 970M-equipped machine you can get on Xotic that does come with an optical drive

http://www.xoticpc.c...customization=1

However, given the choice, I'd take the Gsync IPS panel over the internal optical drive any day.

[Lord Letto]

>=$1300:
Base CPU Speed: MSI GE72 APACHE PRO-242: http://www.xoticpc.c...242-p-8574.html
17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Anti-Glare Ultra Bright Screen (1920x1080)
Intel® Broadwell i7-5700HQ (2.7GHz Base, 3.5GHz Turbo)
NVIDIA® GTX 970M (3GB)
2x8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM (16GB Max)
1TB 7200RPM SATA III 6GB/s Hard Drive
Optical Drive (8x Super Multi DVDRW/CDRW Combo Drive (Dual Layer w/ Software))
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
$1299

Turbo CPU Speed: ASUS G751JT-WH71(WX): http://www.xoticpc.c...1wx-p-8776.html
17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Anti-Glare Ultra Bright IPS Screen (1920x1080) with G-Sync™ Technology
Intel® Haswell i7-4720HQ (2.6GHz Base, 3.6GHz Turbo)
NVIDIA® GTX 970M (3GB)
2x8GB DDR3 1600MHz Ram (32GB Max)
1TB 7200RPM SATA III 6GB/s Hard Drive
Optical Drive (8x Super Multi DVDRW/CDRW Combo Drive (Dual Layer w/ Software))
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
$1299

VRAM: FORCE / MSI 1781 (22-429) 970M (MSI GT72 BAREBONES): http://www.xoticpc.c...-barebones.html
17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Anti-Glare Ultra Bright Screen (1920x1080)
Intel Haswell i7-4710HQ (2.5GHz Base, 3.5GHz Turbo)
NVIDIA® GTX 970M (6GB)
1x8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM (32GB Max)
1TB 5400RPM SATA II 3GB/s Hard Drive
Optical Drive (8x Super Multi DVDRW/CDRW Combo Drive (Dual Layer w/ Software))
No OS
$1199

Throwing Budget Out the Window:
If You TRULY Want a Desktop in a Laptop: SAGER NP9870-S (CLEVO P870DM-G): http://www.xoticpc.c...dmg-p-8798.html
17.3” FHD 16:9 IPS LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finish w/ G-SYNC Technology (1920x1080)
Intel® Skylake i7-6700K (4GHz Base, 4.2GHz Turbo, Overclockable)
NVIDIA® GTX 980 (8GB)
2x8GB 2133MHz DDR4 RAM
250GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 SSD
1TB 7200 RPM SATA II 3GB/s HDD
No OS
$2769, Can Downgrade to Non K Non OCable i7-6700 (3.4GHz Base, 4GHz Turbo) for $50 Off so $2719

Edited by Lord Letto, 19 March 2016 - 08:31 PM.

[Rosscoe]

ProfPyro, on 18 March 2016 - 08:54 AM, said:

So my GPU fan burned out a while ago. I tried to be judicious with its use until I could get it fixed, but alas, it was not enough. Would anyone be willing to share some good gaming laptops or offer an opinion on some that I'm looking at?

This is the current frontrunner:

http://www.bestbuy.c...3&skuId=4637103

Save yourself some money and build a desktop, you can make a good one for 500 bucks then figure out what video card is right for you.

If you need a laptop for school or work then I can't help you

[Catamount]

Dat Asus tho

OP, you did say you wanted an Asus machine and an optical drive, and the price is right. That CPU is even a slightly higher-end model than what we've been typically been batting around, if a smidge older, but again, Haswell does not really suffer vs Skylake.

Here's an even better deal on it

http://www.bhphotovi...s=REG&A=details

Use what you save to get an SSD (maybe upgrade your mouse or sound setup, too? This does leave you considerable peripheral budget if you have holes there)

Edited by Catamount, 21 March 2016 - 04:47 AM.

[LT. HARDCASE]

With a budget of ~$1,300, don't take anything less than a GTX 970M.

That Asus in the OP is a terrible value. Over $1,200, and all you get is a GTX 960M in return? Madness.

The 970M is literally almost 2x the speed of the 960M.

Edited by LT. HARDCASE, 22 March 2016 - 08:12 AM.

[Catamount]

It's interesting that Bestbuy actually stocks the better Asus that Lord Letto dug up, too, for like $30 more (no, really, like $30). I have no clue why the 960M machine actually exists.

[ProfPyro]

I was this close to pulling the trigger on the Sager, but darn it that deal on the Asus is tempting me something fierce. It looks like the Asus has ddr3 but Sager runs ddr4. I'm fairly hardware illiterate so please forgive my ignorance but is that a big jump in capability? The two systems as a whole have a lot in common otherwise.

[Catamount]

The Asus is cheaper, and runs DDR3, just because it's a bit older. No, DDR3 isn't any slower than DDR4 in terms of inferior real-world performance, for all intents and purposes. RAM speed is not really all that relevant past 1600. It can be, occasionally, but only a tiny few pieces of software show even small differences between RAM speeds, and games effectively never do.

In short, it's never going to make a large difference. I think that Asus is a pretty good deal, especially for 1199.

Edited by Catamount, 22 March 2016 - 08:21 PM.

[ProfPyro]

I'd like to thank everybody in this thread for the help and ideas you've given me. I went ahead and ran with the Asus recommended by Lord Letto. Best Buy price matched (and STILL gave me The Division for free!). Now the only thing I have to worry about is if my hard drive got cooked. Thanks again you guys for saving me from a costly mistake. I look forward to melting (virtual) metal again.