Best 15 inch Laptop for Gaming

[Bloodshot007]

I'm looking for the best possible laptop for gaming with an SSD M.2.

 

[Chayan4400]

That would be the MSI GS60 Ghost 4K: http/www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/MSI-GS60-Ghost-Pro-4K-053-Signature-Edition-Gaming-Laptop/productID.328072900

But I have a feeling you don't want to spend $1800 on a laptop. How much are you willing to spend?

 

[Bloodshot007]

Around 2000 I can manage

 

[superninja12]

do u really need a laptop since a 650 dollar pc can beat an 2k laptop gaming wise

 

[Chayan4400]

do u really need a laptop since a 650 dollar pc can beat an 2k laptop gaming wise

That's a stretch; $1000 desktop, yes, $650, no. Generally you may twice as much for the same performance out of a laptop as a desktop. I'd recommend a $1200 desktop (including monitor and mechanical keyboard) and a $800 laptop if you are ok with that setup:

Desktop:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($58.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor ($109.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1185.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-05 04:44 EDT-0400

Laptop: http/www.amazon.com/Dell-9350-1340SLV-Laptop-Microsoft-Signature/dp/B016FKG020/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1462437197&sr=1-6&keywords=xps+13

If you are set on a laptop, then the OriginPC EON15-X is the best, with the following specs (It's a customizable laptop):

EON15-X

Laptop Platform: EON15-X
Display Type: EON15-X 1920 x 1080 15.6" Backlit Matte Display
Graphic Cards: Single 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
Processors: Intel Core i5 6600K Quad-Core 3.5GHz (3.9GHz TurboBoost)
Memory: 8GB ORIGIN PC Approved DDR4 2400MHz (2 X 4GB)
Operating System: MS Windows 10 Home
Hard Drive: FREE 250GB Samsung 750 EVO Series

https/www.originpc.com/gaming/laptops/eon15-x/

It's weaker than the desktop build, as you can see (The 980m is roughly equivalent to the 970). The desktop and laptop option would be the best, if you are ok with it.

 

[Bloodshot007]

do u really need a laptop since a 650 dollar pc can beat an 2k laptop gaming wise

That's a stretch; $1000 desktop, yes, $650, no. Generally you may twice as much for the same performance out of a laptop as a desktop. I'd recommend a $1200 desktop (including monitor and mechanical keyboard) and a $800 laptop if you are ok with that setup:

Desktop:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4S ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($58.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor ($109.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1185.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-05 04:44 EDT-0400

Laptop: http/www.amazon.com/Dell-9350-1340SLV-Laptop-Microsoft-Signature/dp/B016FKG020/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1462437197&sr=1-6&keywords=xps+13

If you are set on a laptop, then the OriginPC EON15-X is the best, with the following specs (It's a customizable laptop):

EON15-X

Laptop Platform: EON15-X
Display Type: EON15-X 1920 x 1080 15.6" Backlit Matte Display
Graphic Cards: Single 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
Processors: Intel Core i5 6600K Quad-Core 3.5GHz (3.9GHz TurboBoost)
Memory: 8GB ORIGIN PC Approved DDR4 2400MHz (2 X 4GB)
Operating System: MS Windows 10 Home
Hard Drive: FREE 250GB Samsung 750 EVO Series

https/www.originpc.com/gaming/laptops/eon15-x/

It's weaker than the desktop build, as you can see (The 980m is roughly equivalent to the 970). The desktop and laptop option would be the best, if you are ok with it.

I do like the idea of doing a desktop build and having a laptop on the side. But right now, for my current situation, a laptop is simply more practical. I will have the ability to do a system build in the future but for the next 6 months or so I may have to stick with a laptop. This is why I'm willing to throw some coin at a decent gaming laptop.

 

[Chayan4400]

Then the EON-X15 seems to be the best laptop for your needs. Configure one with the specs given above and it should come to about $2000. The 980M should be able to max out most games at 1080p, as its roughly equivalent to a GTX 970.

 

[Bloodshot007]

Then the EON-X15 seems to be the best laptop for your needs. Configure one with the specs given above and it should come to about $2000. The 980M should be able to max out most games at 1080p, as its roughly equivalent to a GTX 970.

Would you suggest spending a little extra and upgrading to the 256GB Samsung 950 Pro PCIe m.2 - alongside the free 250GB Samsung 750 EVO.

Also, is there going to be a huge performance jump if I was to upgrade from the i5 6600K to the i7 6700K? I'm going for performance overall. I could probably go 16GB on the memory as well.

 

[Chayan4400]

Upgrading the SSD is relative. An analogy helps here; let's compare the 750 to a Ferrari, the 950 to a Bugatti and the HDD to a Mustang. Obviously, both the Ferrari and the Bugatti leave the Mustang in the dust. However, between the Ferrari and the Bugatti there's much less of a difference. Both give you great performance, but both will perform the same if on a highway with speed limits, which is where they'll be used the most. Only under special race conditions will the Bugatti outperform the Ferrari.

It's the same for SSDs. Between SSDs and HDDs there's a huge difference. It's like night and day. However, when it comes down to individual SSDs, there's much less of a difference. For normal tasks, it should be almost identical - a second or two slower if at all, tops. For heavy tasks like media encoding and video rendering, provided the rest of your HW is up to spec, you may see a larger difference, but this again is a relatively small compared to that between an HDD and SSD. It's up to you if that difference is worth paying for. While the 750 EVO is a budget oriented SSD, it's specs are almost identical to it's older brother, the 850 EVO. I'm typing this running on a 120GB 850 EVO, and I can tell you it's blazing fast. Booting Windows takes 15 - 20 seconds on average. and Photoshop opens in literal seconds.

Now on to the CPU. Keep in mind that these are actual Desktop CPUs that you're getting; not some throttled down version of an i5. An i7 would be beneficial in most cases if you're looking at future upgradability. Right now, even an i7 980 (Which is now a 5 year old CPU) can be used to game at relatively high settings at 1080p with the right modern GPU. However, with a 6600K and a 980M you'll be bottlenecked in the vast majority of games by the GPU. Right now, a 6700K will have almost no advantage over a 6600K in games. And seeing as you can't upgrade the graphics chip in a laptop (It's soldered on), there's really no point getting an i7. Of course if you were to use the laptop for CPU intensive, multi-threaded workloads like video rendering or running multiple VMs, then an i7 will make a case for itself. For gaming though, same some money and stick with the i5. It's overclockable in any case, so you should be able to get a slight speed boost with a mild overclock without overwhelming the laptop's cooling system.

The RAM is less of a debate. If you want get 16GB. It won't make much of a difference now, as any game will be more than happy with 8GB. However, remember that not so long ago we were on Windows XP systems with 4GB of RAM, which seemed like plenty. Now, it's barely enough. Applications are becoming more RAM intensive, and it's nice to have extra so you won't have any slowdowns later on. However, 8GB is more than enough for gaming, so if you don't want to break the bank stick with 8GB. RAM can be easily added later on if need be.