Comparing Gaming Laptop vs. Ps4/Xbox 1

[Bowwow42]

Hey all, I am considering buying a laptop for college since I can't lug my desktop to campus. The top contender right now is the Sager NP7330, with an i7-4700mq cpu, a 765M GPU (2 ggb ddr5 memory) and 8 gb of RAM. Would this system be inferior to/equal to/superior to the next generation of consoles? If it's inferior, should I just buy a cheap ~$350 laptop instead and buy a ps4/xbone to play games on?

Thanks!

EDIT: spelling, and forgot to mention the laptop has a resolution of 920x1080p.

 

[Prostar Computer]

It would be superior as far as hardware goes. You can't quite do an apples to apples comparison when it comes to either though, because it's generally easier for game developers to optimize their games for a console; there's no OS overhead, no driver discrepancies, etc.

This is a small system though, so a console might be less prone to overheating (though I can't say for sure yet since the next gen consoles haven't been released).

 

[Bowwow42]

@ Prostar: Thanks for the info

Yeah, the consoles will probably have better optimization since the developers know exactly what their games will be running on.

The hardware issue still puzzles me. Hopefully I'm not making stuff up here XD - I remember reading that the consoles would be on some sort of integrated CPU/GPU system that pc's don't have; at the very least they're not using any currently available GPUs that I could find to compare the 765M with. In terms of RAM, I thought the Xbone would use around 3 gigs RAM for the system OS, while the PS4 would use around 1 gig for the OS (so actually neither console would have the full 8 gigs availbile for gaming).

As for the laptop heating, I've read around; apparently the system's temps are acceptable (i.e. ~85-90 C for most games)

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Basically as I understand it, PC players using the Keyboard / Mouse combo overly dominate console controller players if the systems were 'equally matched' as your asking. As a preference for a College thing, yeah most just get laptop cheap for school work and a 'cheap' console, as a serious 'rig' is more expensive then buying that combo usually (though is seen dell give away a Xbox with a Dell Desktop before!).

That said, you need to remember if you go console your totally beholden to the Online Service working (remember how long PS was down for due to the hack?), and any requirements they are demanding from you (some serious bitching about the new always on, no resell, etc. problems coming down with the nexgen). So keep that in mind as well when making the decision.

 

[jaguarskx]

Some more things to considered....

- The GPU in the PS4 is speculated to be equal to (if not slightly faster than) a Radeon HD 7850.

- The GTX 765m is ranked below the Radeon HD 5850 in the following link which means it is a bit slower than the Radeon HD 7850.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-765M.92907.0.html

- The XBox One's GPU will be slower than the PS4's so the GTX 765m may be on equal footing against that.

- Once a console is released, the main components will not change over the life of the console. Given how long the PS3 and Xbox 360 has been in existence. A minimum 6 year lifespan is more or less guaranteed.

- Since the hardware does not change, games released for the PS4 / XBox1 in 2019 will run on the console purchased in 2013 / 2014.

- Laptop technology moves with desktop technology. But naturally laptop components will not be as powerful or inexpensive as desktop components because:
a) They must be designed to fit in a confined space.
b) They cannot draw too much power because of battery life.
c) They cannot produce too much heat because limited space / size prevents effective cooling.

- Unlike consoles, components for PCs more or less comes out about every 9 - 12 months taking into consideration both new CPUs and GPUs. Because of this developers is also going to push the performance curve.

- Most games are designed desktops rather than laptops. Why? A high performance desktop PC is much less expensive than a high performance laptop; assuming to expect the exact same performance from both machine.

- While games that are released in 2019 for the PS4 / XBox 1 will be playable on a console bought in 2013 / 2014, the same cannot be said about PC games because of the ever advancing tech performance curve (i.e. new hardware). Playing a game released in 2019 on 2013 laptop will likely require you to play on low / medium graphic settings. Some games may not be playable at all.


======================================================


If I had to make a choice between an expensive gaming laptop (no desktop option) or the PS4 / XBox 1, I would choose the expensive laptop because I prefer to play with a keyboard / mouse. I would go with the laptop even though I probably know that I would replace it after 3 years so that I could get new hardware to keep up with the increasing demand of PC games.

 

[Prostar Computer]

@ Prostar: Thanks for the info

Yeah, the consoles will probably have better optimization since the developers know exactly what their games will be running on.

The hardware issue still puzzles me. Hopefully I'm not making stuff up here XD - I remember reading that the consoles would be on some sort of integrated CPU/GPU system that pc's don't have; at the very least they're not using any currently available GPUs that I could find to compare the 765M with. In terms of RAM, I thought the Xbone would use around 3 gigs RAM for the system OS, while the PS4 would use around 1 gig for the OS (so actually neither console would have the full 8 gigs availbile for gaming).

As for the laptop heating, I've read around; apparently the system's temps are acceptable (i.e. ~85-90 C for most games)

Hey, you're welcome.

Consoles use a very different platform than PCs. Here is a comparison chart on some stuff between the consoles, at least: http/www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_vs._Xbox_One_vs._Wii_U_Comparison_Chart

Info on the GPU is a little nebulous, but is expected to be roughly on par with "next gen graphics core", which I gather they mean the 8xxx series. Also, the systems have a good amount of RAM, it's just that the CPU and GPU share it.