Can this laptop play games?

[Skeleton322345]

Hello again, I made a thread before about computer parts for my son, but he couldnt commit to building it so we're buying one! We went to Best Buy yesterday ( we are going again today) and he some some laptops he liked. When I asked which one he wanted to get, he only wanted one that could play his games fast. He refused to talk to any workers, so I'm asking you guys, again!

The lap top is http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-omen-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-960m-1tb-hdd-128gb-ssd-onyx-black/5319600.p?id=bb5319600&skuId=5319600&productCategoryId=pcmcat247400050000

My sons games he wants to play are
Team Fortress 2
Defense of The Ancients 2
Grand Theft Auto 5 (don't worry,hes mature and I give permission!)
XCOM 2

Any answers are appreciated, thanks!

 

[hshark93]

This, in my view should be fine. However, GTA V will probably run around 30 to 50 fps. Make sure he isn't playing it on his lap though otherwise the fan might get more dust in them and the computer could overheat

https/www.quora.com/Can-nvidia-gtx-960m-4gb-DDR5-play-gta-5-at-50-60-fps-at-ultra-settings
http/www.game-debate.com/hardware/index.php?pid=2379&cpu=Core%20i7-6700HQ%204-Core%202.6GHz

 

[Solandri]

The HP Omen has an nvidia 960m. Here are game benchmarks for that GPU. he should be ok, though he'll have to turn down settings on XCOM 2 to get it to run well at 1920x1080 (native resolution of the screen).

http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-960M.138006.0.html

Other laptops with the same GPU and similar price point you can consider:

Acer Nitro V15
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Aspire-V15-Nitro-BE-VN7-592G-79DV-Notebook-Review.161265.0.html

Asus GL552
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-GL552VW-Xotic-PC-Edition-Notebook-Review.161464.0.html

Asus UX501
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ZenBook-Pro-UX501VW-Notebook-Review.158762.0.html

Dell XPS 15 9550 (this is probably the nicest, but much more expensive. You might be able to get a refurb around $1k at Dell's Outlet site with coupon.)
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-9550-Core-i7-FHD-Notebook-Review.158875.0.html

HP Pavilion 15
http/www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Pavilion-15-UHD-T9Y85AV-Notebook-Review.170406.0.html

Clevo N150RD (mail order only)
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Nexoc-G515-II-Clevo-N150RD-Notebook-Review.153041.0.html

There are other choices with an nvidia 970m (widely regarded as the minimum for a "true" gaming laptop), but it's a significant step up in price, heat, and noise. Be aware that as gaming laptops, these all come with quad core i7s which run a lot hotter than the dual core CPUs found on most laptops nowadays. They will be significantly hotter, and have shorter battery life. Usually 3-5 hours instead of the 8-10 hours of other modern laptops. The exception is the Dell XPS 15, but that's because they put a humongous battery in it. It will be uncomfortable using these on your lap even in general use, and you'll burn yourself if you try to play games with it on your lap.

 

[Oliver_21]

The HP Omen has an nvidia 960m. Here are game benchmarks for that GPU. he should be ok, though he'll have to turn down settings on XCOM 2 to get it to run well at 1920x1080 (native resolution of the screen).

http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-960M.138006.0.html

Other laptops with the same GPU and similar price point you can consider:

Acer Nitro V15
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Aspire-V15-Nitro-BE-VN7-592G-79DV-Notebook-Review.161265.0.html

Asus GL552
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-GL552VW-Xotic-PC-Edition-Notebook-Review.161464.0.html

Asus UX501
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ZenBook-Pro-UX501VW-Notebook-Review.158762.0.html

Dell XPS 15 9550 (this is probably the nicest, but much more expensive. You might be able to get a refurb around $1k at Dell's Outlet site with coupon.)
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-9550-Core-i7-FHD-Notebook-Review.158875.0.html

HP Pavilion 15
http/www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Pavilion-15-UHD-T9Y85AV-Notebook-Review.170406.0.html

Clevo N150RD (mail order only)
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Nexoc-G515-II-Clevo-N150RD-Notebook-Review.153041.0.html

There are other choices with an nvidia 970m (widely regarded as the minimum for a "true" gaming laptop), but it's a significant step up in price, heat, and noise. Be aware that as gaming laptops, these all come with quad core i7s which run a lot hotter than the dual core CPUs found on most laptops nowadays. They will be significantly hotter, and have shorter battery life. Usually 3-5 hours instead of the 8-10 hours of other modern laptops. The exception is the Dell XPS 15, but that's because they put a humongous battery in it. It will be uncomfortable using these on your lap even in general use, and you'll burn yourself if you try to play games with it on your lap.

You do not know what you are talking about

Not all gaming laptops laptops are very hot and have poor battery life. That depends on the manufacturer

Now, for $1000 a GTX 960M is a really bad choice considering that cheaper pascal laptops are yet to come and will perform much better

 

[Oliver_21]

Yes, it can run games but there are many better options for that price

First of all, I have never liked HP Omen laptops for gaming. I have seen comments and people tend to say they get hot

My recommendations if wait for manufacturers to release cheapper laptops with pascal GPUs. a GL502VM with a GTX 1060 costs about $1350 and $1400 USD and note that a desktop GTX 1060 is far more powerful than a 980M which might cost $1500-$1600 U.S

Wait for Nvidia to release the 1050 or 1060 with 3GB and get a laptop with an i5 + 1050 it's all you need

 

[Solandri]

Not all gaming laptops laptops are very hot and have poor battery life. That depends on the manufacturer

It does not depend on the manufacturer. It depends on the CPU, and the one OP specified and all the ones I listed use a quad core i7, which only comes in a 45 Watt version (unless you get the embedded version, which only Apple seems to use). 45 Watts is massive for a laptop. Laptop dual core CPUs are mostly 15 Watts. And total power consumption for most laptops (when not gaming) is around 5-8 Watts idle, 20-30 Watts under load.

This is an unfortunate side-effect of selecting a quad core CPU. Not only does it have more cores which are always burning power, but the fact that there are 4 cores instead of 2 means it's harder to bin low-power (laptop) versions. For a dual-core laptop CPU, you only have to get "lucky" twice for both cores to be able to function properly at the reduced voltage desired in a laptop CPU. It's is much harder to get "lucky" on all four cores. So Intel raises the threshold in order to be able to produce enough laptop i7 quads, meaning on average they run at a higher voltage and consume more power than their dual core brethren, even after you account for the two extra cores.

The only thing the manufacturer can do is (for battery life) put in a bigger battery, or (for heat) use a more powerful/noisier fan. Either way, it's a trade-off (weight or noise) compared to modern dual-core laptops..

 

[velo3100]

The laptop you have said is a good laptop for the games you have mentioned. You could get better if you provide me a budget for how much you would like to spend on the laptop.

 

[Oliver_21]

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The only thing the manufacturer can do is (for battery life) put in a bigger battery, or (for heat) use a more powerful/noisier fan. Either way, it's a trade-off (weight or noise) compared to modern dual-core laptops..

Or enable OPTIMUS a/o other battery saving methods