A Few General Laptop Questions

Raindrawp

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Dec 1, 2013
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Context: I'm looking to purchase a portable laptop that can be used for gaming to the extent of playing Dota 2 and League of Legends on medium-high graphics.

Are integrated graphics ever better than dedicated graphics? Considering Intel HD 4400/4600 vs GeForce 720M/750M

Can a Nvidia GeForce GT 750M play games at native-resolution 1900x1080? Could a GT 720M?

Personal preferences, which looks nicer: 1366x786 on a 15.6 inch or 1900x1080 on a 14 inch.

What is the main difference between i5 processor and i7 processor?

Thanks for any responses.
 
Solution
Dedicated graphics is better than integrated graphics, there are a few exceptions. The Intel HD 4600 is more powerful than the GT 710m, but not the GT 720m.

The GT 750 m is not really powerful enough for 1920x1080 especially using high graphic settings. Medium graphic settings should be doable, but the performance will not be great. For 1080p and high settings I recommend at least the GT 765m. Roughly speaking the GT 750m is less powerful than the Radoen HD 7750 desktop graphics card. The GT 765m would be a little better than the Radoen HD 7750. Click the below link for Radeon HD 7750 benchmarks, the test rig uses an Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8 GHz which would affect performance as well. Avoid the GT 720m...
Dedicated graphics is better than integrated graphics, there are a few exceptions. The Intel HD 4600 is more powerful than the GT 710m, but not the GT 720m.

The GT 750 m is not really powerful enough for 1920x1080 especially using high graphic settings. Medium graphic settings should be doable, but the performance will not be great. For 1080p and high settings I recommend at least the GT 765m. Roughly speaking the GT 750m is less powerful than the Radoen HD 7750 desktop graphics card. The GT 765m would be a little better than the Radoen HD 7750. Click the below link for Radeon HD 7750 benchmarks, the test rig uses an Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8 GHz which would affect performance as well. Avoid the GT 720m

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7750/

Personally, I prefer 1920x1080 because I use my laptop for more than just games. I currently have a 14" Lenovo Y470 with a 1366x768 resolution screen. Generally speaking, I think it is fine for playing games, however since I multitask a lot (many windows / programs open), the low resolution does not offer enough desktop space so that I can effectively multitask. I need to minimize some windows / switch between windows... very annoying. My next (non gaming) laptop will have a 1920x1080 resolution screen. Playing at 1366x768 resolution will mean better performance.

You can get a laptop with a 1080p screen and drop the resolution to improve performance in games. There will be a bit of loss in sharpness when doing this though. Then again, most people do not want to spend the money to get a laptop with both a GT 765m and 1080p screen.

All mobile core i5 CPUs are dual core. Mobile Core i7 CPUs are either dual core or quad core (MQ / HQ / MX models), they also have higher clockspeed and more cache.
 
Solution

Raindrawp

Honorable
Dec 1, 2013
7
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10,510

Thank you for a detailed and concise answer.