Buying a new Gaming Laptop; Need Recommendations

[darthorlean]

1. What is your budget?
£1500-2000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15-17 inches screen

3. What screen resolution do you want?
At least 1920x1080

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portability not a concern. Are thicker laptops chassis always better at cooling? If so, thicker is preferred.

5. How much battery life do you need?
A couple of hours; I don't plan on being far from power sources long.


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)?
Yes. Mass Effect Andromeda, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls Online, Overwatch, Path of Exile, Diablo III and the newest RPGs/AAA titles.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Good multi-threaded processing for bioinformatics software (like DNA sequence alignments and phylogenetic reconstructions with thousands of repeats) is a plus.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
At least 500GB, one TB is a plus. Should I really care about an SSD? I'm not massively bothered by long boot times and loading screens, so long as it doesn't decrease actual in-game performance noticeably.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I haven't bought a laptop online before! But Amazon, Ebay or the official retailer's website would be preferred.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
4-5 years; it would ideally be current for most new games for 2-3 years (on high medium settings at least)

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
A DVD/Blu-ray reader/writer would be ideal since I like buying my favourite games in a physical medium, but not a massive consideration; I can make do with an external reader given that I won't be using it for everyday task.

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.
I have been considering the Alienware 15/17 and HP Omen 17 due to their impeccably beautiful designs. I wouldn't want a typical MSI or Gigabyte laptop due to their horrible appearance: I don't want Gigabyte's "just another laptop" looks, but nor do I want MSI's obnoxious and way over the top appearance.


13. What country do you live in?
The UK.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Should I go for a 15" screen? Will it perform better than a 17" screen no matter what due to the smaller load on the GPU? Is the difference between the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 enough to justify the cost?

 

[starscream27]

hello,
while it won't win any awards for the design aesthetics, how abt
https/www.amazon.co.uk/Predator-Acer-17-3-Inch-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B074JD18WH/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1506857684&sr=1-5&

cheers

 

[tanner775]

IMO, I would definitely go with the Alienware 17 R4 with i7 7700hq, GTX 1070, 16GB DDR4, 128 or 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, and the FHD 60hz IPS display.

http/www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/alienware-17-laptop?~ck=mn

I purchased this same setup at the beginning of the month and I was fricken blown away by its performance.

• 
  WoW was getting 80+ fps maxed out,
  PUBG i got ez 60fps max,
  GTA 5 was an ez 60fps on max.
  ESO was difficult because ESO is poorly optimized because it is CPU intensive and only runs off one core, so I was getting a mix of 40-50 fps on ultra in low pop zones and about 30+fps in cities in ESO, but if I dropped settings to high, it was an ez 60+fps.

FireStrike scores were in the 13600s and if I OC the GPU, i got the scores up to 14000s. 84% better than avg gaming laptop. CPU temps never went above 72 degrees celcius, and GPU temps never went above 65 degrees.

Now... I returned mine because I keep hearing all the ravings about the QHD 1440p G-sync display. I didn't return because I wasn't impressed, its simply because I wanted the better display (which most would argue is not necessary) but for me, I'm interested to see what is with all the raving with G-sync and 120fps on 1440p. Either way, you will be stunned by the alienware, I loved it.

Side note: make sure to turn off Optimus and turn on dedicated graphics for the GTX 1070 using fn+F7 to get the most out of your GPU

 

[darthorlean]

hello,
while it won't win any awards for the design aesthetics, how abt
https/www.amazon.co.uk/Predator-Acer-17-3-Inch-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B074JD18WH/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1506857684&sr=1-5&

cheers

The specs are good, but the looks are intolerable.

IMO, I would definitely go with the Alienware 17 R4 with i7 7700hq, GTX 1070, 16GB DDR4, 128 or 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, and the FHD 60hz IPS display.

http/www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/alienware-17-laptop?~ck=mn

I purchased this same setup at the beginning of the month and I was fricken blown away by its performance.

• 
  WoW was getting 80+ fps maxed out,
  PUBG i got ez 60fps max,
  GTA 5 was an ez 60fps on max.
  ESO was difficult because ESO is poorly optimized because it is CPU intensive and only runs off one core, so I was getting a mix of 40-50 fps on ultra in low pop zones and about 30+fps in cities in ESO, but if I dropped settings to high, it was an ez 60+fps.

FireStrike scores were in the 13600s and if I OC the GPU, i got the scores up to 14000s. 84% better than avg gaming laptop. CPU temps never went above 72 degrees celcius, and GPU temps never went above 65 degrees.

Now... I returned mine because I keep hearing all the ravings about the QHD 1440p G-sync display. I didn't return because I wasn't impressed, its simply because I wanted the better display (which most would argue is not necessary) but for me, I'm interested to see what is with all the raving with G-sync and 120fps on 1440p. Either way, you will be stunned by the alienware, I loved it.

Side note: make sure to turn off Optimus and turn on dedicated graphics for the GTX 1070 using fn+F7 to get the most out of your GPU

The only way I can keep this to less than £2000 is by picking a 120 Hz TN screen. Is that good? Will this always perform better than a similarly specced Alienware 15 with a GTX 1070? Is the GTX 1070 a worthwhile improvement over the GTX 1060? I'm much more open to getting a 15" with better specs within my budget than needlessly stretching to a 17".

 

[tanner775]

im sorry i forgot there was a big difference between euros and dollars. you could afford a $1700 laptop in us dollars which means you would need to stick with a gtx 1060 or 1050ti. i would go with the 15inch i7 7700hq with a gtx 1050ti and forego an SSD. The 15inch doesnt offer a QHD 120hz TN screen so you will have to live with a 1080p IPS screen (which is still really good).

another option is go to Dell outlet and buy a certified refurb laptop if you arent financing. then you would be able to afford a 17inch with a gtx 1070 with a FHD 1080p IPS screen. Their refurbs are just as good and still get 1 yr warranty.

Dell has a lot of options and their alienware laptops have gotten a lot better this year so you cant go wrong.

 

[darthorlean]

im sorry i forgot there was a big difference between euros and dollars. you could afford a $1700 laptop in us dollars which means you would need to stick with a gtx 1060 or 1050ti. i would go with the 15inch i7 7700hq with a gtx 1050ti and forego an SSD.

another option is go to Dell outlet and buy a certified refurb laptop if you arent financing. then you would be able to afford a 17inch with a gtx 1070 with a FHD 1080p IPS screen.

Dell has a lot of options and their alienware laptops have gotten a lot better this year so you cant go wrong.

Pounds, not euros. £2000 is enough to cover the most expensive configurations of the Alienware 15 and some of the Alienware 17 configurations. Still, do you think the 17 inch screen is worth it over a better specced Alienware 15?

 

[tanner775]

do you want a desktop replacement or do you just want sonething you can travel with and game on the go? without question get the 17inch if this will be your primary source of gaming, you wont regret it. 15inch is tolerable if you know you a got a desktop to go home to but i would go crazy as a gamer if thats all i had. just my opinion but the 17inch gives you that extra bit of immersion that is a must for most gamers. The 17inch gives you the option to get the QHD display which i hear gives you that next level gaming exp. that once you try you will never go back.

 

[darthorlean]

do you want a desktop replacement or do you just want sonething you can travel with and game on the go? without question get the 17inch if this will be your primary source of gaming, you wont regret it. 15inch is tolerable if you know you a got a desktop to go home to but i would go crazy as a gamer if thats all i had. just my opinion but the 17inch gives you that extra bit of immersion that is a must for most gamers. The 17inch gives you the option to get the QHD display which i hear gives you that next level gaming exp. that once you try you will never go back.

I've always gamed on laptops exclusively since 2007 and I've never had anything larger than 15 inches, so it wouldn't really bother me.

 

[starscream27]

hello,
while it won't win any awards for the design aesthetics, how abt
https/www.amazon.co.uk/Predator-Acer-17-3-Inch-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B074JD18WH/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1506857684&sr=1-5&

cheers

The specs are good, but the looks are intolerable.

figured as much. Here's another
https/www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-ROG-GL702VS-RS71-HID1-i7-7700HQ-2-8-3-8GHz/dp/B06VTWY8X5/ref=pd_sbs_147_6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=75SM6CSD9JBPMPEGC2PQ