Best Gaming Laptop under $850

[electric6978]

I am looking for the best gaming laptop for under $850. I want to keep this laptop for two to three years. Screen size between 14" and 16". Must have a DVD drive *I don't care about Blu-Ray* I do not want a SSD hard drive as this will be my sole computer and I will need it to be reliable. I play games like Black Ops, Portal 2, Skyrim, etc. I don't care about anything performance wise other than gaming. I will up the battery size after I purchase the laptop. I will also up the RAM if needed so having a laptop with a lot of RAM isn't a big deal. *It's cheap and easy to replace*. Please post any ideas. I am considering the following:

http/www.shopping.hp.com/product/notebooks/dv6tqe_series/rts/4/computer_store/QE023UA%2523ABA

http/configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dncwv107h&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=inspiron-15r-n5110

http/www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cart.to

Are these on the right track, or do I need to look elsewhere?

 

[legendkiller]

I will highly recommend you pre-order this one and wait for it because it's nearly 50% off for pre order... regular price is $1,300...

$800
IdeaPad Y470p 14"
http/shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y470p

Came with 7690m GPU...

 

[vrumor]

Not sure what you mean by saying you dont want an SSD as this will be your only PC and want it reliable? Been running 3 64 gb Kingston SSD Now+s in a raid for 2 years without a hiccup. Not sure why you think they are unreliable.

 

[sravencross]

This is the laptop im going for when i get the funds best one ive been able to find.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230132

 

[electric6978]

LegendKiller,

I have looked at this laptop. It looks to be close to the same specs as the others with the exception of the graphics. How can I compare the graphics in these laptops to see which has the best?

 

[sravencross]

http/www.notebookcheck.net is great for comparing cards.

 

[electric6978]

sravencross, thanks for the tip that helped immensely. I am now down to two laptops:

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?mtm-item=%3A000000F3%3A00004D2A%3A

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=243&Code=08552HU&current-category-id=DDF9ECA3EE7295319F81388519B2B09A&tab=1

I will upgrade the RAM in the machine with an i5 so I have to choose between 2.4GHz i5 with a 555m or 2.2 GHz i7 with a 550m. Which would have better gaming performance?

 

[jaguarskx]

I will highly recommend you pre-order this one and wait for it because it's nearly 50% off for pre order... regular price is $1,300...

$800
IdeaPad Y470p 14"
http/shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y470p

Came with 7690m GPU...

I do not recommend the Y470. I own it. It's a good laptop, but the chassis is not designed very well for heat dissipation. I have a Core i5-2410m in it. The nVidia GT 550m runs fine at around 61c - 65c depending on the game. However, the CPU runs hot. The following are highest temps measured with Core Temp when playing games:

Fallout 3 = 91c
Crysis = 92c
GTA 4 = 98c (the CPU actually throttled down from time to time because it causes the gameplay to become choppy)

The 3 professional reviews I've read (which were published after I bought it) indicates those temps are correct, excluding GTA 4 since that wasn't used in testing during the review. Strangely enough, they did not seem concerned about the 91c/92c since the laptop was running stable for hours.


I actually recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 since reviews indicates that max temps measured on the CPU was somewhere from 70c - 75c.

 

[legendkiller]

I do not recommend the Y470. I own it. It's a good laptop, but the chassis is not designed very well for heat dissipation. I have a Core i5-2410m in it. The nVidia GT 550m runs fine at around 61c - 65c depending on the game. However, the CPU runs hot. The following are highest temps measured with Core Temp when playing games:

Fallout 3 = 91c
Crysis = 92c
GTA 4 = 98c (the CPU actually throttled down from time to time because it causes the gameplay to become choppy)

The 3 professional reviews I've read (which were published after I bought it) indicates those temps are correct, excluding GTA 4 since that wasn't used in testing during the review. Strangely enough, they did not seem concerned about the 91c/92c since the laptop was running stable for hours.


I actually recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 since reviews indicates that max temps measured on the CPU was somewhere from 70c - 75c.

The one im talking about is the Y470p not Y470... There's a huge different between the models, if you just judge how it movie is close, than dont bother talking about it... If you dont understand, How the hell can you even get the laptop LOL... It's on pre-order which means it's not even out yet...

 

[jaguarskx]

I believe the Y470p and Y470 share the same chassis. Therefore, if the chassis has problems cooling a dual core i5-2410m, it will also have issues with the quad core i7-2670QM.

Feel free to disregard my recommendation since it is not my money that you are spending.

 

[sravencross]

for

http/dealnews.com/HP-dv6-tse-Core-i5-Dual-2.4-GHz-16-LED-Laptop-for-575-free-shipping/545300.html

can upgrade the video card to a 2g Radeon HD 7690M which on benchmark preforms much better than the gt 555

HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition customizable Notebook PC
A2Z58AV


dark umber
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2430M Processor (2.4 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) Turbo Boost to 3.0 GHz
2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
No additional security software
30% OFF High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
15.6" High Definition HP LED Brightview (1366x768)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
802.11b/g/n WLAN
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

[azathoth]

sravencross, thanks for the tip that helped immensely. I am now down to two laptops:

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?mtm-item=%3A000000F3%3A00004D2A%3A

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=243&Code=08552HU&current-category-id=DDF9ECA3EE7295319F81388519B2B09A&tab=1

I will upgrade the RAM in the machine with an i5 so I have to choose between 2.4GHz i5 with a 555m or 2.2 GHz i7 with a 550m. Which would have better gaming performance?

As an owner of the Y570, I can say it's a great laptop. I bought it when it was $1000 and I regret nothing. The build quality is great and feels sturdy, and I play battlefield at max settings (save for shadows and AA) at 40Fps. The Optimus is a Physical switch to toggle between the HD3000 and the GT555m which works fantastic for me.

The only downside to the Y570 is that it seems to downclock everything once unplugged. The Cpu performs a bit slower, GPU performs slower, and the wifi strength drops a smidge aswell.

Battery life is fairly good, with optimus off expect about 3 hours of battery life with mild gaming, and if you're just browsing the internet with the backlight toned down a bit the battery lasts upwards of 5 hours.
With the GT555m on, expect just under 2 Hours gaming.

Plugged in, I hook my Laptop to my HDTV and play Skyrim at times, with a mix of Max detail and medium for 30-40fps. Unplugged, the framerate hits about 12fps due to the forced downclocking.

 

[electric6978]

Best answer selected by electric6978.

 

[jaguarskx]

The only downside to the Y570 is that it seems to downclock everything once unplugged. The Cpu performs a bit slower, GPU performs slower, and the wifi strength drops a smidge aswell.

That happens with all current laptops.You can change how the laptop operates while using the battery by going into Power Options and then from there choose Advanced Options (or something like that) and it will give a list of settings you can change when the laptop is operating on battery or when plugged in.

 

[frost_fenix]

I believe the Y470p and Y470 share the same chassis. Therefore, if the chassis has problems cooling a dual core i5-2410m, it will also have issues with the quad core i7-2670QM.

Feel free to disregard my recommendation since it is not my money that you are spending.

I dont know specifically about the internals but it could be possible that Lenovo uses an aluminum heat sink for the i5 and a copper heat sink for the i7 since it will produce more heat. The different heat sink material can make quite a difference in total heat dissipation. Might be something to look into if the y470p is considered. My brother has a y470p with the AMD card in it and has had no issues thus far.

 

[jaguarskx]

Really? So his CPU temps seems to be fine in the 70's when play games?

 

[azathoth]

That happens with all current laptops.You can change how the laptop operates while using the battery by going into Power Options and then from there choose Advanced Options (or something like that) and it will give a list of settings you can change when the laptop is operating on battery or when plugged in.

That's the thing, it is done on the BIOS level and cannot be changed even with high performance set.