Gaming Laptop

[Etera]

I need to buy a new laptop and I am a hardcore gamer. I will also do some video & music editing, and all the normal browsing/spreadsheet/document creation/etc. I want a machine that will rock games and have the following requirements.

Budget: 3k (If I don't need to spend it all, good. It's not burning a hole in my pocket)

3D capability: YES. I want to play current/future games in 3D. My big concern with this is that it seems 3D laptops use the Nvidia 560M, and I am worried that this card might be to weak. Advice needed.

Battery: 99% of the time I plug in, so not a large concern.

Weight: My current XPS M1710 is approx 8.5 lbs. I will carry my new laptop everwhere, so I would like to stay around this weight or lower. I would just go with a desktop replacement, but I will carry this computer between work and home /every/ day.

Screen Size: 17 inch strongly desired.

Aesthetics: I would love the thing to look cool (lights, etc), but this is in no way a true requirement.

Games: I want to play the very best and the highest settings.

Here are the specs of a computer I have been looking at:

Screen 17.3" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED Display Matte Type 120Hz 3D Ready w/ Nvidia 3D Vision Glasses
CPU Intel Core i7-2670QM Processor, 2.2 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 3.1GHz), 6MB Smart Cache
Thermal Compound IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU $35.00
Memory 24GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 8GB + 2 x 4GB $255.00
Graphic Cards NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M w/3GB GDDR5
Hard Drive 750GB/7200rpm Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drive w/8GB SSD Memory SATA-600 (SATA III 6GB/s) $132.00
2nd Hard Drive 750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300 (SATA II 3GB/s)
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
Microsoft Office No Microsoft Office
Optical Drive 6x Max. Blu-Ray Writer/Reader / 8x Max. DVD±R/2.4X Max. +DL Super-Multi Drive
2nd Optical Drive N/A
Battery Li-ION Battery Pack
Integrated Wireless Lan Intel Advance-N 6230 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo $30.00
Integrated Bluetooth Please Check Option in Integrated Wireless Lan Section
Keyboard Backlit Asus Standard White Backlit Keyboard
LCD Protection Asus 30 Days Zero Bright Dot
Warrany Service: 3 Year ASUS North America Warranty & 3 Year North America Accidental Warranty (Registration Required) $249.00
Priority Service: Ready to ship in 1 business day $39.00
Standard Accessories Asus G Series Gaming Mouse include
Asus G Series Backpack made by Targus include
Built-In HD Web Camera
Built-In Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Built-In 8-IN-1 Flash Memory Card Reader(MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS DUO/MS Pro DUO/SD/Mini-SD)
3 USB 2.0 Ports
1 USB 3.0 Port
1 HDMI Output
1 VGA/Mini D-sub 15 pin outport
1 Kensington Lock Port
2 Audio Jacks for Headphone-Out (S/PDIF) and Microphone-In
1 100/240V Autoswitch AC Power Adapter
1 Year Asus Battery Pack Warranty
1 Year Asus North American Accidental Damage Protection (Must be registered with Asus within 60 days of purchase)

Sub Total: $2,639.00


Again, I would love to have 3D, but my worry with this machine is that the 560M is subpar to the 570 or 580.

Thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

 

[dalauder]

So the site with the Lenovo is down. Either way, I am taking your advice with the hp and upgrading a few of the components. Are you not recommending the upgrade to the 2ig video card? Also, looking at it now, it seems silly to spend $200 for a warranty on a machine that is only worth $900. Any reason to upgrade the battery? Wireless card?

Also, I did upgrade the screen to the higher resolution.

For me, personally, I don't find an upgrade from 1600x900 to 1920x1080 to be THAT important, considering it's $100 (after 33%). I suppose since all the upgrades are 33% off, I'd pay the $40 for a 9-cell battery with a 6-cell extra. Since we all know laptop batteries die in time, you may be pretty happy to have an extra sometime. It'll also be handy if you want to game during a plane flight or something like that.

Keep in mind that your graphics card will be 69% as fast at 1920x1080 as it will be at 1600x900 (144% pixel increase). I doubt upgrading the wireless card will ever be noticeable, if even measureable.

The 2GB graphics card will pretty much NEVER matter: http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6950-1gb-benchmark,3041-13.html
And, of course, your graphics would be on lower settings than these high-end desktop cards, so the performance difference between the 1GB and 2GB versions will be smaller.

As chudddds said, the 2nd HDD bay will be perfect for an SSD upgrade. I'd buy a Crucial M4 when it goes on sale.

 

[dalauder]

I am looking at the gpu comparison chart and I don't see muh difference in the benchmarks between the 7960m and the 525m. I don't really know how to read them, but most of the benchmarks on the right side of the chart look the same. With the exception that the 525m has numbers in the first category while the 7960m doesn't.

The simplest thing to look at is ranking. The second simplest is the 3DMark Vantage score. You'll see the 7690M (not 7960M) gets 5337.5 while the 525M gets 2927.4. Theoretically, this would translate to a 7690M getting 182% of the framerate of the GT 525M. And in practice, it'll vary between a little less than that and a little more than that. So these cards really aren't comparable. Whereas the 555M gets 4847.1, or about 10% less performance than the 7690M. This is a decisive advantage for the 7690M, so you can expect the 7690M to be significantly faster in a some games and about the same speed in others.

 

[dalauder]

Btw, I do think the upgrade from 1366x768 to 1600x900 is a big deal. But 1920x1080 beyond that doesn't matter too much to me. If it matters as much as $100 to you, then it's worth it. But it's not worth the gaming performance loss to me.

 

[dalauder]

I'm closing this tab in my browser. PM me if you come back.