College "Gaming" laptop $1400 budget

[kosanovskiy]

Hey everyone I am looking for help and advice in my search for an "ideal gaming" laptop. My budget is $1400. I been looking at many models so far and Sagger/Msi seem like cheapest picks, problem is that their CPU is good but GPU wont last for more than 2 years (gtx 765m/770m). Also I looked into cheaper AMD processors such as the MSI GX 60 (with a A10-5750m and the Radeon HD 7970m), but I'm not sure how I feel about the amd quad processor since it is weaker than most i5 intels. Anyways I'm also hoping on using sales/coupon codes/waiting till certain model becomes cheaper. With the hopes that if I buy this laptop it will be able to handle most of the new games I throw at it for the next 3-4 years. Also as a college student I get free OS so I'm excluding that from the cost.

1. What is your budget?
Approximately $1,400, but if it can be done with less that would be fine.

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

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1920 x 1080

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?
An average battery life will suffice, 3 to 4 hours, but if less it's fine.

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)?
Diablo 3, BF3, CS go, Skyrim+mods, Bioshock Infinite, and any other new games that are released on the market. I'd like to run most games on high or medium settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Compiling data, protein structure test runs, and a few other engineering applications.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500 GB+
Also I already bought myself a 128GB ssd that I'm currently using on my old laptop and will swap it into the new one.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
newegg
xoticpc
bestbuy
But honestly which ever has the cheapest product, it just seems like these 3 do. But please suggest others.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 3 to 4 years.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need?
Just a DVD ROM/Writer.

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 am open to any brands.

14. What processor would you prefer?
3rd gen i7 or better

13. What country do you live in?
United States

Thank you for all your efforts and sorry in advance for the insanely long post as well as making you use that scroll button.

 

[James Devenberg]

Its only 14 inches, but it seems like an Alienware 14 would tick all the other boxes.

 

[kosanovskiy]

Its only 14 inches, but it seems like an Alienware 14 would tick all the other boxes.

Sorry but that laptops GPU wont last more than 1 year even the $2.5k+. That goes same for all 14" laptops, the best GPU they may hold is a GTX760m due to room limitations and that video card is able to pull BF3 medium settings and that game is 1 year old already. Also in general 14' netbooks tend to fall behind very quickly. Any other advice?

 

[bthizle1]

Honestly, I´d only really recommend the sage np 7352 ($1,000) and the sager np8230 $1,200), which you may have already been looking at. The 8230 is around $200 more, but comes with a GTX 770M which is more or less (benchmark wise) %30 better all around than the GTX 765M that the np7352 comes with. The 7352 is around 1.5 pounds less as well.

 

[James Devenberg]

Its only 14 inches, but it seems like an Alienware 14 would tick all the other boxes.

Sorry but that laptops GPU wont last more than 1 year even the $2.5k+. That goes same for all 14" laptops, the best GPU they may hold is a GTX760m due to room limitations and that video card is able to pull BF3 medium settings and that game is 1 year old already. Also in general 14' netbooks tend to fall behind very quickly. Any other advice?

Sorry you didn't like the suggestion. You had said high OR medium settings in your OP, so I didn't realize medium would be an issue.

A Sager NP8250 would be the next thing I would suggest.

 

[kosanovskiy]

Its only 14 inches, but it seems like an Alienware 14 would tick all the other boxes.

Sorry but that laptops GPU wont last more than 1 year even the $2.5k+. That goes same for all 14" laptops, the best GPU they may hold is a GTX760m due to room limitations and that video card is able to pull BF3 medium settings and that game is 1 year old already. Also in general 14' netbooks tend to fall behind very quickly. Any other advice?

Sorry you didn't like the suggestion. You had said high OR medium settings in your OP, so I didn't realize medium would be an issue.

A Sager NP8250 would be the next thing I would suggest.

Alright thanks. Is that the only one that comes to mind for you? Because honestly it is a very very very good laptop, kinda big and bulky but it pays off in its power. You got any other suggestions similar to this one that i should take a look at?

 

[James Devenberg]

Its only 14 inches, but it seems like an Alienware 14 would tick all the other boxes.

Sorry but that laptops GPU wont last more than 1 year even the $2.5k+. That goes same for all 14" laptops, the best GPU they may hold is a GTX760m due to room limitations and that video card is able to pull BF3 medium settings and that game is 1 year old already. Also in general 14' netbooks tend to fall behind very quickly. Any other advice?

Sorry you didn't like the suggestion. You had said high OR medium settings in your OP, so I didn't realize medium would be an issue.

A Sager NP8250 would be the next thing I would suggest.

Alright thanks. Is that the only one that comes to mind for you? Because honestly it is a very very very good laptop, kinda big and bulky but it pays off in its power. You got any other suggestions similar to this one that i should take a look at?

You could get an MSI GT60 for a similar price, but I think the Sager comes in slightly cheaper for the same equipment. Now, if your okay with an AMD processor (I am not because of some of the non-gaming things I do), an MSI GX60 comes in cheaper than either. I personally am leaning GT60 for my upcoming laptop purchase, but my budget is much higher and doing a lot of upgrades so the Sager's slightly lower price becomes less of an advantage. The NP8250 ($1279) is $100 less than a GT60 ($1379) at Xotic, and the NP comes with a bigger hard drive, same specs otherwise. A comprable GX60 ($1099) (obviously has AMD processor vs Intel and Radeon graphcis instead of Nvidia) comes in $180 lower than the NP8250. The NP8250 also is the lightest of the three. (7.28 lbs vs 7.70 for the GX and GT both).

TL/DR: If you are okay with AMD processors, get the GX60, if not the NP8250 is cheaper for better specs than the heavier but (IMO) better looking GT60.


Also, how do you get a free OS as a college student? I am also buying a laptop for college so if I can save myself the cost of the OS that would be fantastic.

 

[kosanovskiy]

Its only 14 inches, but it seems like an Alienware 14 would tick all the other boxes.

Sorry but that laptops GPU wont last more than 1 year even the $2.5k+. That goes same for all 14" laptops, the best GPU they may hold is a GTX760m due to room limitations and that video card is able to pull BF3 medium settings and that game is 1 year old already. Also in general 14' netbooks tend to fall behind very quickly. Any other advice?

Sorry you didn't like the suggestion. You had said high OR medium settings in your OP, so I didn't realize medium would be an issue.

A Sager NP8250 would be the next thing I would suggest.

Alright thanks. Is that the only one that comes to mind for you? Because honestly it is a very very very good laptop, kinda big and bulky but it pays off in its power. You got any other suggestions similar to this one that i should take a look at?

You could get an MSI GT60 for a similar price, but I think the Sager comes in slightly cheaper for the same equipment. Now, if your okay with an AMD processor (I am not because of some of the non-gaming things I do), an MSI GX60 comes in cheaper than either. I personally am leaning GT60 for my upcoming laptop purchase, but my budget is much higher and doing a lot of upgrades so the Sager's slightly lower price becomes less of an advantage. The NP8250 ($1279) is $100 less than a GT60 ($1379) at Xotic, and the NP comes with a bigger hard drive, same specs otherwise. A comprable GX60 ($1099) (obviously has AMD processor vs Intel and Radeon graphcis instead of Nvidia) comes in $180 lower than the NP8250. The NP8250 also is the lightest of the three. (7.28 lbs vs 7.70 for the GX and GT both).

TL/DR: If you are okay with AMD processors, get the GX60, if not the NP8250 is cheaper for better specs than the heavier but (IMO) better looking GT60.


Also, how do you get a free OS as a college student? I am also buying a laptop for college so if I can save myself the cost of the OS that would be fantastic.

Thanks for advice, I too have looked at those models already. But just like you AMD processor just wont cut it for me since it bottlenecks the sh*t out of a very good GPU. And weight is not an issue I'm used to carrying 10Lb books anyways. For free software: usually most Universities are sponsored by major OS give free software to students including OS/Photoshop/Microsoft Office. I suggest you check with your colleges technology center or could just try to find it on your college home page.

 

[Momo Iko]

In think sager np8230 is a pretty good choice judging from the OP.

 

[LeO M]

Razer Blade 14" pretty much owns the competition
High battery with CRAZY specs and THIN design

 

[lightsong]

That Razer is way above his budget unfortunately. My honest suggestion is don't play games during college . It adds a lot of weight and destroys battery life. I have an alienware 14'' that plays game just fine, Which I did for the first year of college. Now I couldn't dream of playing games, and am looking to get a <5lb laptop as quickly as possible. (40 hours+ of work a week is just no good for games)

however..... if you insist, xoticpc is probably a good site to keep an eye on. Maybe take a look at the Lenovo y510p with 750m SLI