Gaming laptop opinions

[Travis Nevius]

I'm looking for a great gaming laptop. Quad core ~3ghz proc. 8+gb ram and 2gb Gpu for around 1200. I want it to last at least 3.5 years before upgrades are essential any suggestions?

 

[Leland]

Since you didn't put any price I would suggest my all time favorite since I own one

Asus G55VW http/www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/891165-REG/ASUS_g55vw_dh71_i7_3630QM_8GB_DDR3_500GB_HD_Windows_8.html/c/product/#inpage:IN+STOCK


or its bigger counter part, though more expensive

Asus G75VW https/www.asus.com/ROG/G75VW/

 

[olin9]

Y500 on the Lenovo site is on sale.

 

[Rragar]

http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9170-gaming-laptop-clevo-p170em-eta-329-p-4342.html

i7 3630QM, GTX 670MX (more powerful than 670M), 8 GB RAM DDR3 1600 Mhz, 1080p 17" screen, 750 GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

Uses non-proprietary standards, so it can be upgraded (do not expect desktop-like upgrade flexibility, however). Will take current top of the line graphics cards.


There's also this one, which is very similar to one of Leland's recommendations: http/www.xoticpc.com/asus-g55vwdh71-p-4971.html

Not as upgrade-friendly as the Sager, but it's quite good, as well. Two of my friends have been using ROG Asus laptops for the past 3 years or so, and they've been very satisfied with them, no issues.

Over the years, I've had personal experiences with Toshiba (2), Alienware (1) and Sager (2).

After Sager, I don't really feel like I have a reason to switch to any other brand. Best hardware design I've ever seen in a laptop, and great price-performance ratio, especially for top-range laptops.

I can tell you, though, that if Sager were out of my reach, I would go to Asus. While I haven't been a user of Asus laptops, I've used Asus parts in the past and evidence speaks for itself.

That is just my personal opinion, though.

There's other brands that currently appear to be selling very good products, but I haven't had any personal experience with those. In this regard, I'm particularly interested in MSI and Lenovo, as both appear to be combining a number of features that have caught my eye. MSI has achieved a number of improvements over the last few years in order to keep up with the demands of the gaming laptop market and so far it has delivered. Lenovo, at least according to my perception, is combining both accesible prices, and innovative features.

There's something I feel I must ask you about. You mentioned a 2 GB graphics card. Is this memory requirement specific to the games you're interested in? If this is not the case, then I would recommend you choose graphics cards due to their performance range and not their total memory, since there's even integrated graphics solutions that include a lot of video memory, and they will not even get close to the kind of performance you would expect from any dedicated graphics card.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Seconding what Rragar said: The Sager/Clevo units offer very good bang for the buck, and if you go with a Sager, they're upgrade friendly (meaning you don't kill your warranty if you open up the case to clean it or swap components).

However, you mentioned you want a 3GHz ± CPU. Most of the CPUs in the high-end gaming rigs are going to be 2.4GHz - 2.7GHz base clock (Turbo is capable of a little over 3GHz). The only model I know of that has a higher base clock frequency is the NP9570/P570WM. It supports the non-mobile version of the i7. That thing is a force to be reckoned with!

MSI also makes some very good gaming notebooks with some panache to their aesthetics.