A Laptop that can game, but not a gaming laptop.

nickoli22

Honorable
Aug 4, 2012
2
0
10,510
Hello Everyone! I am looking for a laptop that like I said can game with ease, not much lag, but it doesn't have to be able to handle like the best graphics. I just bought a $2200 gaming PC, so I don't feel like spending all that much on a laptop, plus I need something portable for school that I can carry around easily. I also really want it to LOOK GOOD!! Sleek, thin please!
Well I have seen this in other threads, so here we go!

1. What is your budget?
About $800 at most.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I am thinking 13-15" maybe 17" if it is a good deal, because sometimes I do like larger laptops. I would really like it to be thinner, I don't want it to be a tank.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
As good as possible with my budget. HD is preferred, but not needed.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable is preferred, nothing massive! I would like it to be thin!

5. How much battery life do you need?
About 3-4 hours would be great, more even better!

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
I want to be able to play Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Runescape (on High of course not very taxing), Borderlands (High), Minecraft (Normal distance) and other games to come probably. When it comes to Starcraft and WoW I would like high graphics of course but it isn't needed.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Mostly playing music, watching movies and other videos, web browsing, video/photo editing.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
As much as possible with the budget. Preferably 500GB or more.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Anywhere that is reputable! I would like to order online.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
I plan to keep it for my years throughout Highschool.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,BluRay ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Anything is fine. I would like it to be able to write/burn DVD's though. Obviously, I want the best I can get!

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
No preference really, just a good quality laptop, that LOOKS GOOD!! I have had Apple and Asus both of which I really liked.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

I hope that covers it all. Let me know! Thanks!
 
The Intel HD 4000 is not a very powerful integrated graphics core. The desktop version is about equal to a Radeon HD 5550. AMD's A10-4600M APU has the most powerful integrated graphics core to date. The integrated Radeon HD 7660g is roughly equal to a Radeon HD 5570. That would be less powerful than the Radeon HD 6570.

All things considering, the Intel HD 4000 is not bad for an integrated graphics core. I is definitely an improvement over the Intel HD 3000 though. The desktop version the of the Intel HD 3000 is basically equal to a Radeon HD 5450. The Intel HD 4000 has roughly 35% - 40% more performance over the HD 3000. That is quite a feat for Intel. However... we are talking about laptops here, not desktops...

All Intel 3rd gen mobile Ivy Bridge core i3/i5/i7 CPUs have the Intel HD 4000 graphic core. But depending on which mobile Ivy Bridge you buy you will get one of the 5 or 6 variations (different core speeds). All are likely to be a little less powerful than the desktop version because of restricted power consumption requirements. Ultrabooks will have the slowest versions of the Intel HD 4000 they use either ULV or EULV CPUs. ULV means ultra low voltage; E is Extreme. These CPUs use the least amount of power so the CPU is clocked slower as well graphics core. The high end quad core i7 "QM and XM" CPU models have the highest clocked version of the Intel HD 4000 in mobile CPUs. The dual core i3/i5/i7 CPUs fill out the middle ground.

If you want a laptop with the Intel HD 4000 to play games, then don't get an ultrabook... unless you are willing to give up a bit of performance for a sleek looking laptop. In terms of general performance:

Intel HD 3000 < Intel HD 4000 (ultrabook version) < nVidia GT 610M < Intel HD 4000 ("standard version") < Radeon HD 7640g (AMD A8-4500m APU) < Radeon HD 7660g (AMD A10-4600m APU) < all other modern discrete graphic cards.

Yes, the nVidia GT 610m is a discrete graphics card. And yes, overall it is actually slower than the Intel HD 4000 (non EULV or ULV versions).