Gaming Laptop under $800

[bravehead]

I am in need of a new laptop and I am on a somewhat tight budget. I need something that can play all (or at least most) of the games I own. With this in mind I found these Computers:

lenovo IdeaPad Y560p (43972AU) NoteBook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6570M

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246094

ASUS A53 Series A53SV-XN1 Notebook Intel Core i5 2410M(2.30GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 750GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230089

Acer Aspire AS5750G-9639 Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215004

And Here is the template filled out for the laptop buying

1. What is your budget? Under 800, But I can go a little bit higher is necessary.

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

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1366 x 768 and above

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Either, But Portable would be better.

5. How much battery life do you need? It doesn't really matter.

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)?

Yes I will play games. Games like Shogun 2 Total War, Dragon Age Origins, Maybe MW3 (And others but those are the most GPU taxing). Medium to High, But if I have to, Low is okay.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Web Browsing, Writing Papers, Video Chatting.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? Anything above 300 gb

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Newegg (As said before)

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 3-4 Years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? 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 don't have that much of a preference but I have heard that ASUS is good and that Dell is overpriced. I don't like Lenevo due to the fact that they use slow hard drives.

13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I can't buy or get anything repaired locally. There are no Computers stores near me.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[AntiZig]

Ok if you need a gaming machine I think you should look for better GPU, in which case out of the ones you linked Lenovo would be the best one, since 6570 is slightly better than 540.

Honestly, you will not see a difference in HDD 5400 vs 7200 if you had them side by side.

 

[bravehead]

Ok, I understand that I should look for a better GPU, But is that Dual Core i5 that most laptops at this price range enough for gaming in the next few years? Also the 7200 RPM does make for faster loading times in games.

Thanks again!

 

[Abyssalx]

I was pulling for the Acer for a while but I decided on an HP dv6tqe. It's a 2.00ghz i7, a Radeon 6770m (Better than a GT555m), 6gb ram, 640gb 7200rpm HDD, and up to 9 hour battery life. On the HP website, it ends up, with coupons, at about $820. Depending on what state you live in(if in the US) you might add like $40 for tax.

And the OpenGL graphics switching issue has been solved with a Bios update that lets you make the 6770m the default graphics processor.

You could get the 6cell battery instead which will save you ~$20, but I don't recommend it. It's less than half the battery life on average for only saving $20.

 

[Abyssalx]

I find 17" Screens to be massive on laptops - I shy away from that. The dv6 I mentioned comes with a free bluray drive also. The graphics card on that dv7 is definitely not better than the dv6. The 6770m beats the 6490m by a longshot. The dv7 also comes with the worse battery - which is not a good choice imo.

 

[bravehead]

I can't find the model you are talking about on there website. Also, Both of those laptops are far out of my price range. $ 800 is my absolute max (I can go a little higher, but not $90 higher). Any comments on the models I originally posted? I want a quad core laptop with a 540m equivalent GPU (or better). Those were the closest I could find, even though they are dual core.

Thanks once more!

 

[bravehead]

*Sorry, Double Post*

 

[bravehead]

Bump, Sorry but I still need help deciding on what laptop to get.

 

[Abyssalx]

Do you live in a state without sales tax? (like New Hampshire) because if you do the HP will be $825. If not, it will be $860ish. I'll get a screenshot in a second.

 

[AntiZig]

well, you got two options, get i7 laptops and be stuck with 5400 rpm HDDs or get an i5 and be stuck with 7200 rpm HDD. In both cases HDD will be the bottleneck in performance.

I personally would go with a slower HDD and better CPU. Reason: once SSDs drop in price you can swap out the HDD for SSD yourself. (swapping the CPU is a much more complicated process)

 

[Abyssalx]

Okay, I was a bit off on my first estimate, sorry about that.

Also, if you or someone you know is attending college, you can save a bit more, which is more like the price i mentioned.

 

[Abyssalx]

Also, Antizig, there's no price difference on the HP website between at 5400 and a 7200rpm HDD, you can get a 750gb 5400 or a 640gb 7200 for the same price.

Edit - Nevermind Anti, I realize you weren't talking about the HP now. Sorry.

Edit again - If you don't choose an HP, I agree with AntiZig. HDD's are easy to replace, and Mobile CPU's are kind of a process. Not to mention there are so many common mobile cpu's that you can't buy standalone, you have to spend top dollar for a super high end one.

 

[bravehead]

I am in more in favor of the Acer and Asus that I listed just because they are $30+ under my budget. I really don't want to replace anything in the computers and I do see the difference between 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM. Will I really be sacrificing that much in terms of gaming if I went with Dual core over quad?

Basically, It all comes down to More RAM, a fast hard drive, but a dual core processor. Or a quad core processor, but less RAM and a slower hard drive.

Currently I am leaning towards the ASUS over the Acer, The lenevo, and the HP.

 

[Abyssalx]

I would go for the Acer honestly then. The 2630qm i7 has double the passmark performance of the i5 on the Asus. With only a GT540m, you won't notice the difference between 4gb and 6gb of ram. And you can upgrade the HDD to a 7200rpm for cheap, or get a SSD. The 540m I would choose over the Lenovo's 6570m because the Acer I'm fairly sure has optimus support, so better battery life.

 

[bravehead]

What about this Lenevo with the Dual Core i5, but a gt 555m graphics card?

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246153

Would it be worth spending a more for this laptop over the Acer? If I get the Acer I would probably upgrade to 8gb very quickly and get a SSD within a year or so for it. My biggest concern with the Acer is that I will have to upgrade the hardrive which will cost 60-ish dollars. (For a 7200 rpm drive) Otherwise it looks fine. I also can't find the speed of the memory on that model either.

Thanks for putting up with my million questions!

EDIT: Oddly enough that particular model does not feature optimus.
EDIT 2: Yes it does, and I found that the memory is at 1066 DDR3

 

[Abyssalx]

Don't buy that lenovo on newegg. I almost bought the same thing like 2 weeks ago on the Lenovo website for $679. There might be a coupon for it now, I'll look. Also, the GT555m on the Lenovo is the GDDR5 version, which sounds better, but is actually 128bit instead of 192bit. It ends up being a slower GPU overall, acting kinda like an overclocked GT540m. Still, higher performance and if there's a coupon around for that price it's a steal.

 

[bravehead]

I couldn't find that exact model on their website, But is it really worth going with the slower processor?

 

[Abyssalx]

For games, yes. I couldn't find a coupon yet but the new ones just came out today so it might be a few hours. I'll let you know.

 

[bravehead]

I'll probably go with the Acer and upgrade the Hard drive and RAM during the Holidays. The Acer is back lit and has USB 3 which is pretty good at this price. Do you think that Acer would run GTA 4?

Anyways, I will definitely go with the Lenevo if it much cheaper.

 

[Abyssalx]

Yeah, definitely, GTA4 will probably average about 30-40fps on high with the Acer. Maybe higher. But it'll have no problem with that.