Best gaming laptop for around $1,500

[CORKNUTZ69]

I've been looking at Alienware, and the known good gaming laptop makers but just seems there are alot of options. Like I'm a dell fan, my last vostro 1700 worked great for wow etc. The price is flexible but I want something that can play all current games on max settings etc.

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

Saw these questions in another thread, figured i'd fill em out.

1. What is your budget?
$1500-2000, including warranty
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
17+
3. What screen resolution do you want?
1920x1080.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portability not an issue, will be used near an outlet at all times
5. How much battery life do you need?
minimum required for graphics card etc.
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)?
All current games on max settings
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop?
school work
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Just enough to install games/operating system
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Have had \dell in past, was fine, Looking for best equipment for the $$
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3-4 years
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD Writer, is fine I have a BD burner at home
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.
Open to suggestions
13. What country do you live in?
USA
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Thanks for the help

 

[WR2]

Hello CORKNUTZ69;

Laptops are not the best choice to run all games at Ultra settings with high resolutions.
But some can get pretty close.

At the low end of your budget range:
MSI GT780DXR 17" Notebook $1500 after/rebate
Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) CPU 12GB RAM 1TB HDD 7200rpm 17.3" 1920x1080 LCD w/ GeForce GTX 570M graphics card.

MSI GT780DXR review
MSI GT780R/GT780DXR Owner's hangout

 

[AntiZig]

Hello,

if you're inclined to go with dell, Alienware M17x should be plenty (or they had 18x which was an 18" model, not sure if its still in business)
usually comes with a GTX560M stock I believe.

Other options that might give you same hardware for cheaper are
Asus G73/74 series
Sager NP8170
MSI GX780

typical minimum hardware on gaming laptops as follows:
i7-2670qm, 8Gb DDR3 ram, GTX 560M or ATI equivalent, 500Gb+ HDD (7200rpm)
you can obviously get a better gpu for models that allow customization and also consider an SSD instead of HDD.

If you need an idea of what the performance of GPU is in-game refer >here<
if you'd like to get approximate pricing on certain models refer to following websites:
www.xoticpc.com
www.newegg.com

Best of luck, hope this helps you pick what you want.
Ask if you have more questions

 

[WR2]

To kick it up a notch and my recommendation for something a bit closer to the top end of your budget:
Sager NP8170 17" custom configured gaming laptop ~$1900
Upgraded GPU to Radeon HD 6990M
Core i7-2670QM CPU, 8GB RAM, 120GB Intel 510 SSD, Win7 Home Premium.
When HDD prices come back down to earth you can add a 500GB storage drive if you want.

 

[ram1009]

I've been looking at Alienware, and the known good gaming laptop makers but just seems there are alot of options. Like I'm a dell fan, my last vostro 1700 worked great for wow etc. The price is flexible but I want something that can play all current games on max settings etc.

Dream on.

 

[WR2]

I think what ram1009 is saying is something along the lines of;

That laptop GeForce GTX 570M graphics card is roughly equivalent to a desktop
Radeon HD 5770 or GeForce GTX 550 Ti desktop graphics card, which are $100-$110 graphics cards.

And the desktop crowds are going with Radeon HD 6950 or GTX 570s which run about $250-$300 and are about double the GPU power.

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

Dream on.

So are you saying that there are no laptops out there that will play all current games maxed? Or are you saying my budget will not allow it? lol If the later of the two, what budget would I need for all games maxed?

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

Also seen alot of Sager mentions, its been awhile since I've bought a laptop. I've never heard of them are their support/warranty good?

 

[ram1009]

A friend has a Alienware "laptop" that cost him $9K and I doubt it would max out everything and certainly not for very far into the future. I put "laptop" in quotes because it's impossible to keep it on your lap. In fact, the fact that it requires it's own cooler makes it (IMHO) a desktop. To me the term "gaming laptop" is an oxymoron.

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

Also, I've always had NVIDIA graphics cards so this may be a dumb questions but:
Is Radeon HD 6990M better than GFORCE 560?

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

A friend has a Alienware "laptop" that cost him $9K and I doubt it would max out everything and certainly not for very far into the future. I put "laptop" in quotes because it's impossible to keep it on your lap. In fact, the fact that it requires it's own cooler makes it (IMHO) a desktop. To me the term "gaming laptop" is an oxymoron.

K, thanks ram

 

[WR2]

It's quite a bit better the GTX 560M, maybe midway between the GTX 570 and GTX 580M in a lot of games.

 

[WR2]

Sager/Clevo is a top brand in the custom gaming laptop market.
You'll find them featured at lot of the top boutique builders at the top end of the gaming laptop market. Alienware was a boutique builder before being bought out by Dell.

 

[WR2]

So are you saying that there are no laptops out there that will play all current games maxed? Or are you saying my budget will not allow it? lol If the later of the two, what budget would I need for all games maxed?

You'd be looking for a SLI or CFX laptop.
They come closest to being a mobile desktop replacement option.

For the amount of money they cost you'd have to look hard at a portable LAN box gaming PC. They're not much bigger or heavier than the biggest of the SLI/CFX laptops. Yes, you'd have to lug around a LCD screen two but you'd get more gaming power for less money. And you'd be able to upgrade the graphics card(s) in 18-24months to keep up with the newer games coming out in the future.

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

Few more questions while narrowing down my search/options
Raid--do i need? If so what raid 0,1,5
Red line boost overclocking: Worth the $75?

Sount options:Would I even notice that big of difference?

Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
or
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro THX 24-bit External USB Sound Card ( + 99 )
or
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Wireless Sound Card System (Broadcast Xtreme Fidelity Audio from PC to other audio devices wirelessly) ( + 129 )

WIreless card choices: (WIll you even notice a difference in speed given most wireless networks wont utilize faster than the lower grade adaptor?

D-Link DIR-655 802.11B/G/N Gigabit Wireless Router w/ USB Port ( + 99 )

NETGEAR WNDR3700-100NAS 802.11A/B/G/N Rangemax 2.4/5GHz Simultaneous Dual Band Wireless Gigabit Router w/ USB port

Thermal compound: Worth it for the IC diamond? says like 6 degrees cooler etc.???
-Stock OEM Thermal Compound

- IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU

 

[WR2]

You'd have to have a super premium speaker system or headphones for the audio options to make a difference.

Wireless? What do you have now?
D-Link Router is 30% less from other vendors. NetGear WNDR3700 is $113 @ NewEgg.

IC Diamond premium thermal compound is a nice luxury.
So the RAID0 and Redline boost.

How are you doing on your overall budget?

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

I meant which wireless card, not router.
Both the MSI and Sager look appealing. I'm going nto watch for the black friday deals and pick at that point. Not sure where the best black friday deals will be posted for these two manufacturers so I'll be busy Blackfriday lol. Thanks for all the help.

So raid 0, the Redline boost is a good thing, disregard the speaker upgrade/software thingie, compound is an upgrade worth it. Thanks again!

You'd have to have a super premium speaker system or headphones for the audio options to make a difference.

Wireless? What do you have now?
D-Link Router is 30% less from other vendors. NetGear WNDR3700 is $113 @ NewEgg.

IC Diamond premium thermal compound is a nice luxury.
So the RAID0 and Redline boost.

How are you doing on your overall budget?

 

[CORKNUTZ69]

Best answer selected by CORKNUTZ69.

 

[AntiZig]

do not buy any external stuff from PC vendors like routers/bags/switches/speakers/etc.

they all come at a huge premium often times you can get better stuff for cheaper