Gaming laptop help

Disturbed22

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Jan 12, 2013
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I recently got a macbook pro retina for a gift about a week or so ago and their are a lot of nice things about it but it just dosent have that WOW!!!! feature and I dont particularly like the OS. It has a very nice track pad and 2880x1800 resolution and everything but I think I will sell this to buy a gaming computer.


I need a laptop because I take it to school and I like sitting on the couch with my laptop so a desktop wont work. I really like the look of alienware m18x r2 but I know its overpriced and I hear about a lot of them failing but im not sure. I hear good things about sager laptops but I have watched reviews and the mic is placed in a weird spot and I think I noticed a few other things. It just dosent look badass by like the alienware laptops.


I would really appreciate anybodys input on this. Does anyone know of better place to sell my macbook pro instead of craigslist? I would like selling it online but paypal sucks so I cant use that.

Also no matter what laptop I get should I get like the cheapest HDD, cheapest RAM, Cheap GPU. Then just upgrade all those myself? or is it not even worth it?


Thanks guys
 

mclovits

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Apr 7, 2012
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Laptop upgrades are almost always incompatible and are quite difficult, and the individual components are super expensive. I think eBay is your best bet, if you're patient and you sell your Macbook for a bit less than when you got it because it's technically used, you will get a decent amount of money. Avoid alienware, MSI, for example, makes better laptops for the price, and you can configure better ones on a website like XoticPC.com ( http://www.xoticpc.com/ )

Question is, what Macbook did you get, that determines your budget, if you have one of those "top teir" ones you could be looking at a 1900-2500 budget which would give you even the possibility for an SLI or Corssfire setup.

Last Question is, do you want to wait for the next generation of components (next series of Nvidia/AMD graphics cards and possibly Intel's mobile Haswell series?) Well, that's up to you. Repond back and I'd be glad to help you configure something, I've done months of research on this stuff for when I wanted a gaming laptop myself. You'll probably want to configure one at XoticPC so you can get a somewhat "mobile" chassis like a Clevo P150EM.
 

Disturbed22

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Jan 12, 2013
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wow thanks for your help. The macbook I have retails for $2800, its the 15" retina with 2.6 ghz processor 8gb of RAM and such.


Are you talking about ebay for selling the laptop? if so I would love to use ebay I got screwed over pretty bad and cant do anything with ebay or paypal. I know about exoticpc but I have heard mixed reviews from them. I will hopefully get something like $2500 for my laptop but I would still be willing to get a slightly more expensive gaming PC, I can pay as much as possible up front and then pay payments for the rest of it.


Also when are the next series of GPU's coming out? is it worth the wait?
 

mclovits

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Apr 7, 2012
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I see, well take a chance on craigslist and make sure to play it safe and get what you feel is an appropriate price. XoticPC seems to be pretty reliable, if not try this website (went to a possible laptop): http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_P370EM_Gaming_Laptop

There are many other configuration websites as well, and Newegg and Amazon have prebuilt models too

MSI's website has this: http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=385

That would be a good option^ My friend has a 15.6in MSI laptop (GT60 I believe) and it is pretty portable, plus it looks good.

Traditionally it seems that every year recently there has been a new series of GPU's. It's rumored that in a few months the next generation will be coming out, whether they are new GPUs or just refined models in uncertain, but odds are, especially with Battlefield 4 and Crysis 3 coming out, something will be released from either company before next summer. That's just a guess, but I have a haunch Tegra 4 wasn't the only big thing Nvidia has been working on. With Performance usually doubling with each generation (at least close to it) ya I'd hold out for a few months and buy when the tech is brand new, as it's usually straddling the same pricepoint.
 

Disturbed22

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Jan 12, 2013
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I dont have the receipt. Also I am just thinking I will probably just keep this. I will run windows 7 ultimate on bootcamp and just get a cooling pad
 

Disturbed22

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Jan 12, 2013
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I keep going back and forth "maybe ill just keep the mac, it is a nice computer I will probably keep it"

"But I do like the look and power of gaming laptops, maybe Ill get one of those"
 

Disturbed22

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Jan 12, 2013
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I would like to play games sure, but currently I am working on my A+ cert. and I dont want to get caught up in games when I am trying to get certs.


But yes, I will play games when I get time. I just put a custom build sager NP9370 on xoticpc. Do you think its worth it to add the extra copper heatsink?


my build all together is about $2500 and Im trying to get a discount because I had a bad experience with a rep so I might get the price down a little more.
 

mclovits

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Apr 7, 2012
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Very cool, that makes sense. Ya the heatpipes or the thermal paste would be a good choice just for the sake of keeping the GPU (Or GPU's?) cool, especially if you choose to overclock it/them, but it's not neccessary, as it will function properly without.