best laptop based on performance, €1000-€1300? (next week vacation in New York)

[Blondie21]

I live in the Netherlands/Holland but I live close to Germany and Belgium. Next week I'm going to New York on vacation for about a week. So, I have the option to buy a laptop in 4 countries. My father destroyed my previous laptop, accidently, by letting it fall + my birthday is coming up + I just graduated. Therefore, my parents want to give me a laptop with a price tag of at least €1000 and not a lot more I believe, I didn't ask the exact amount because I don't want to be impolite but I'm willing to invest a bit too. Therefore, I want the best performing laptop for €1000-1300, which is $1100-1500 ($1138-1480).
I forgot that I need to add a tax/vat of 21% on Best Buy producs due to import.
Therefore, my limit for non-EU laptops is $941-$1223. Sorry for any inconvenience.
I want to become a trader/stock investor so I probably need a very high performance laptop. To make it more difficult, I also want that my next laptop is able to play above average with all games.

I know all the basics of hardware, (e.g. Intel i7>i5>i3, AMD cpu is too difficult for me too understand atm, ssd outperforms hdd, but it's relatively more expensive...more RAM is better, new laptops around my price tag tend to have at least 8 gb)

So far, my current winner is this toshiba: TOSHIBA Satellite P70-B-102: http/www.mediamarkt.nl/mcs/product/TOSHIBA-Satellite-P70-B-102,10259,482723,1615483.html?langId=-11

€1108, $1261, 21% tax included, Radeon R9 M265X with 4 gb, RAM of 16 gb, 2,5 GHz, i7 4710HQ, 2 TB 5400 rpm (some have 7200 rpm around my price tag but are worse at other aspects)

Shop Mediamarkt is like Best Buy.

I'm planning to use a ssd as the primair processor and a tb hdd as as the secondary processor but I probably don't need to buy a hybrid because some shops could turn a laptop with only 1 tb hdd into a laptop with 1 ssd and 1 hdd by removing the cd player) + I want to keep using windows, so I don't prefer a macbook + I prefer a 17.3 inch


My biggest knowledge problem is that some people (on youtube) say..for example..that a specific AMD with 8 cores tend to underperform an Intel quad core i5. I love to learn new stuff about hardware and I want to make the best decision for my new future laptop.

Kind regards,

Inge

 

[nkhaira]

The XNOTEBOOK costs €1323 ($1503) including a free compatible laptop backpack/sleeve + thermal paste Freeze for €25 ($28) and the ASUS costs €1297 ($1474)

I believe the GTX860 can definitely get 60FPS 1920x1080 on medium to even high settings and I think its definitely capable of that

And According to this:
http/forum.notebookreview.com/threads/geforce-gtx-860m-opinions.757543/
the GTX860M can get 80-100 FPS on Diablo 3 on Single player
But may dip down to 40fps (change settings alittle bit at this point) in Multiplayer

So all in all I'd say the GTX860M is capable but over the years you may have to lower down resolution and game settings a bit to achieve a playable FPS
I would definitely not go below a GTX860M unless you were going with something like (780M,770M, or 680MX)

 

[Baumy15]

Thank you for the advice!

750 gb 7200 RPM 16 mb cache as a second drive would cost an extra €115 or 750 GB hybrid, 16 mb cache, 16 gb ssd as the second drive would cost an extra €139.....I can easily survive at least 2 years with only the 250 GB ssd as the 1st and only drive
I expect that the prices of HDD would have dropped a lot in 2017 because of the increased SSD popularity.

Besides that, on a site like Amazon.com I just saw that I could buy an internal 1 TB HDD drive, 64 mb cache for about €65. Does it involve risk to just build in a random brand/company HDD as the second drive?
http/www.hardeschijfstore.nl/category/183881/interne-harde-schijven.html?881=13520&2677=16579&sort=price&dir=a&page=1&items=12

gtx970m, 6 gb GDDR5 would cost 400 euros more ....so that's too far out of my budget would it be possible to buy and use that gpu after 2 years for like 200 euros? Or is it extremely expensive/impossible to change a gpu after 1-2 years or so?
I haven't started to play high demanding gpu games yet, but I'm planning to play Diablo (the latest version) and try BF4. If the 860 works decent for those games and above average for older games, then I'm happy even though I still think about Walters upgraded ASUS because I'm afraid that this custom build laptop will get heat problems even though I would use high-end thermal paste and a cooling pad.

If I would become a die-hard Diablo or BF4 player, I would like to be able to switch the gpu for a better 1 like you 2 suggested.

What would you buy if you were in my situation and if you would to choose between the Xnotebook and Walters recommended upgraded ASUS?
As you know by now, the Xnotebook has a better cpu and gpu and the ASUS has an extra 1 TB HDD as the 2nd drive and is a more reliable company based on things like heat and chance of bankruptcy

as long as you but a trusted HDD brand it will be fine and if its $65 that's great but are there any other gpus you can get and what are you using the 256GB drive for?

update: been reading other posts the MSI GT70 dominator is well worth it 7200RPM is heaps faster than a 5400RPM as for other hardware a 128GB boot drive should be more than enough 8 GB ram is a gaming standard as for the cpu stick to the i7 4800 series never go with a U series as they are useless for everything (got one in current laptop) and try and find a laptop that supports upgrades don't get one customish built.

other: read above you saying about the AMD 8 core chips being outperformed that's because they use an old architecture (32NM) and use modules so its 4 cores with 4 integer units where intels quad cores are 4 actual cores but any task that is very multi-threaded AMD usually turn out better but for gaming intel usually win (by a lot)

need confirmation: can someone tell me if amd a10 mobile chips are good as ive found a few that might suit Blondie21's requirements its the A10 5750

 

[nkhaira]

Thank you for the advice!

750 gb 7200 RPM 16 mb cache as a second drive would cost an extra €115 or 750 GB hybrid, 16 mb cache, 16 gb ssd as the second drive would cost an extra €139.....I can easily survive at least 2 years with only the 250 GB ssd as the 1st and only drive
I expect that the prices of HDD would have dropped a lot in 2017 because of the increased SSD popularity.

Besides that, on a site like Amazon.com I just saw that I could buy an internal 1 TB HDD drive, 64 mb cache for about €65. Does it involve risk to just build in a random brand/company HDD as the second drive?
http/www.hardeschijfstore.nl/category/183881/interne-harde-schijven.html?881=13520&2677=16579&sort=price&dir=a&page=1&items=12

gtx970m, 6 gb GDDR5 would cost 400 euros more ....so that's too far out of my budget would it be possible to buy and use that gpu after 2 years for like 200 euros? Or is it extremely expensive/impossible to change a gpu after 1-2 years or so?
I haven't started to play high demanding gpu games yet, but I'm planning to play Diablo (the latest version) and try BF4. If the 860 works decent for those games and above average for older games, then I'm happy even though I still think about Walters upgraded ASUS because I'm afraid that this custom build laptop will get heat problems even though I would use high-end thermal paste and a cooling pad.

If I would become a die-hard Diablo or BF4 player, I would like to be able to switch the gpu for a better 1 like you 2 suggested.

What would you buy if you were in my situation and if you would to choose between the Xnotebook and Walters recommended upgraded ASUS?
As you know by now, the Xnotebook has a better cpu and gpu and the ASUS has an extra 1 TB HDD as the 2nd drive and is a more reliable company based on things like heat and chance of bankruptcy

as long as you but a trusted HDD brand it will be fine and if its $65 that's great but are there any other gpus you can get and what are you using the 256GB drive for?

update: been reading other posts the MSI GT70 dominator is well worth it 7200RPM is heaps faster than a 5400RPM as for other hardware a 128GB boot drive should be more than enough 8 GB ram is a gaming standard as for the cpu stick to the i7 4800 series never go with a U series as they are useless for everything (got one in current laptop) and try and find a laptop that supports upgrades don't get one customish built.

other: read above you saying about the AMD 8 core chips being outperformed that's because they use an old architecture (32NM) and use modules so its 4 cores with 4 integer units where intels quad cores are 4 actual cores but any task that is very multi-threaded AMD usually turn out better but for gaming intel usually win (by a lot)

need confirmation: can someone tell me if amd a10 mobile chips are good as ive found a few that might suit Blondie21's requirements its the A10 5750

I wouldnt rely on AMD Mobile Chips for gaming they tend to be better for low-end productivity.
Intel is more prominently known in the mobile gaming community and trusted alot more at this point, I would stick with Intel

 

[Baumy15]

Thank you for the advice!

750 gb 7200 RPM 16 mb cache as a second drive would cost an extra €115 or 750 GB hybrid, 16 mb cache, 16 gb ssd as the second drive would cost an extra €139.....I can easily survive at least 2 years with only the 250 GB ssd as the 1st and only drive
I expect that the prices of HDD would have dropped a lot in 2017 because of the increased SSD popularity.

Besides that, on a site like Amazon.com I just saw that I could buy an internal 1 TB HDD drive, 64 mb cache for about €65. Does it involve risk to just build in a random brand/company HDD as the second drive?
http/www.hardeschijfstore.nl/category/183881/interne-harde-schijven.html?881=13520&2677=16579&sort=price&dir=a&page=1&items=12

gtx970m, 6 gb GDDR5 would cost 400 euros more ....so that's too far out of my budget would it be possible to buy and use that gpu after 2 years for like 200 euros? Or is it extremely expensive/impossible to change a gpu after 1-2 years or so?
I haven't started to play high demanding gpu games yet, but I'm planning to play Diablo (the latest version) and try BF4. If the 860 works decent for those games and above average for older games, then I'm happy even though I still think about Walters upgraded ASUS because I'm afraid that this custom build laptop will get heat problems even though I would use high-end thermal paste and a cooling pad.

If I would become a die-hard Diablo or BF4 player, I would like to be able to switch the gpu for a better 1 like you 2 suggested.

What would you buy if you were in my situation and if you would to choose between the Xnotebook and Walters recommended upgraded ASUS?
As you know by now, the Xnotebook has a better cpu and gpu and the ASUS has an extra 1 TB HDD as the 2nd drive and is a more reliable company based on things like heat and chance of bankruptcy

as long as you but a trusted HDD brand it will be fine and if its $65 that's great but are there any other gpus you can get and what are you using the 256GB drive for?

update: been reading other posts the MSI GT70 dominator is well worth it 7200RPM is heaps faster than a 5400RPM as for other hardware a 128GB boot drive should be more than enough 8 GB ram is a gaming standard as for the cpu stick to the i7 4800 series never go with a U series as they are useless for everything (got one in current laptop) and try and find a laptop that supports upgrades don't get one customish built.

other: read above you saying about the AMD 8 core chips being outperformed that's because they use an old architecture (32NM) and use modules so its 4 cores with 4 integer units where intels quad cores are 4 actual cores but any task that is very multi-threaded AMD usually turn out better but for gaming intel usually win (by a lot)

need confirmation: can someone tell me if amd a10 mobile chips are good as ive found a few that might suit Blondie21's requirements its the A10 5750

I wouldnt rely on AMD Mobile Chips for gaming they tend to be better for low-end productivity.
Intel is more prominently known in the mobile gaming community and trusted alot more at this point, I would stick with Intel

thank you I havnt had much to do with the mobile AMD side bought my mum a laptop with an A6 5200 and thought it was great for $600 (AUS) just didn't have any idea on the gaming side.

 

[Blondie21]

Thank you for the advice, especially about the U series, however, the 4810 is a MQ like the 4800
I want to be more future proof and therefore I still have the custom build laptop as the current winner, it's a lot cheaper than the MSI and the ASUS has a 4710 HQ with a worse gpu.

According to cpuboss the 4800 and 4810 are as good as equal and without any discounts the 4800 would have saved me €100, so thank you very much for that advice, however, there's a discount period/offer for the custom build laptop

Choosing 4800 MQ + 16 GB RAM would cost a total of €379
Choosing 4810 MQ + 16 GB RAM costs €369 (Some kind of combination offer)

I decided to choose 16 GB RAM instead of 8 because I might need it after a few years, depending on my future job in the financial sector.

About the 250 GB SSD instead of the 120 GB, it's very good advice as well and therefore I calculated if I should do that or not.

I would choose 120 GB SSD as the boot drive and as the second drive 750 GB 7200rpm WD Scorpio Black­ S-ATA 16Mb cache (5 year factoray guarantee) IF that cheapest 2nd drive option wouldn't cost €115 ....on the Internet I found a internal 1 TB HDD of Seagate for only €65 and an external for even less than 50..... however that custom laptop company highly likely wouldn't build in a 1 TB HDD I bought online as the 2nd drive....using another laptop company to build in a HDD as the 2nd drive would cost additional money of at least 30 euros and probably would destroy the warranty of the custom build laptop............ and getting a 240 GB SSD costs only €70 more

By the way, do you know if a Chimei Gamut 72% colour anti-glare screen would be any good? Some seem to argue that Chimei is bad