Gaming laptop

[pepperjinks]

Just looking to see if this is even feasible...

1. What is your budget?
$600-$900

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15in.+

3. What screen resolution do you want?
--

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?
-

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. Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age II, The Sims 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Portal 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Witcher 2
Medium-high settings

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Possibly some light video editing

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
-

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
-

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2-3+ yrs.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Blu-ray would be nice, but DVD ROM works too

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.
Like ASUS and Toshiba for their strong reputations for reliability and quality

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I think I may have to go a little higher than $800, but I would definitely like to keep it around there as I am on a bit of a budget. Please tell me if this is unrealistic or not. Thanks in advance.

 

[kroobs]

This is what I'm getting for around $500.
http/www.acer.it/ac/en/US/content/model/LX.RNT02.056
It runs decently for games, here is a youtube demonstrating its power. http/www.youtube.com/user/ArcaneCossack
I was surprised for what I can get with the price.

This is just to give you an idea of an option.
But with your budget, you can probably get something better.
You could probably spring for something better like an Sandy Bridge i5 + decent nvidia card.

Looking at the websites, I think this would be good.
http/www.maxforcepc.com/systems.php?c=7&p=20
It should fit your needs. The only thing I'd advice changing is the 250Gb Hard drive, unless you are okay with that kind of space.

Are those the only websites you can order from?
If not, you should check out xoticpc as they have some good customization options.
I would go with this http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5160-clevo-w150hn-p-2999.html, but it's up to you on how much you want to spend.

Here's a gpu comparison if you're still not sure. http/www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

Sorry for all the links. Maybe someone can help narrow it down more.

 

[WR2]

Dell XPS 15 15.6-inch "Sandy Bridge" Core i5 Laptop $645
Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD and 1GB GeForce GT 525M.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M review should get a good shot at running your games on Medium settings.

 

[WR2]

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 15" Notebook $680
Core i5 2410M(2.30GHz) 4GB RAM, 750GB 5400rpm HDD & NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M Y570 has the low end 96 cores 753MHz (GF108) 128bit version. So it will 'game' a bit more like a slightly overclocked GT 550M.

 

[pepperjinks]

The sites I listed are not the only ones I am looking at, or have even decided on; I'm completely open to others.

Thanks for the response, everyone! I think I'm willing to settle around the $700-900 range now. I'm hardly decided at this point, so any more suggestions are more than welcome. I've edited my post to reflect some small changes.

 

[kroobs]

WR2 suggested some really good laptop deals.
Especially the one with the GT 555m.

I couldn't really find much with bluray, but I guess if you were to max it out at $900,
you could go with:

ASUS G Series G53SW-XN1 15.6"
Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 6GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

Witcher 2 gameplay on gtx460m

 

[jaguarskx]

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 is not a bad suggestion. As pointed out already, the nVidia GT 555M is actually an overclocked GT 550M. I think it's roughly 10% faster than the GT 550M. I have the 14" Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 which has the GT 550M.

The only game I played that is remotely related to pepperjinks's list of games is Fallout 3. I can run that game mostly using high settings, but I reduced the number of shadows (interior & exterior) to just 2 and to medium quality. While I have
completed Fallout: New Vegas earlier this year, I have no desire to play it again. I suppose I simply like Fallout 3 more.

I have tested Crysis on my Y470 and I can play it on medium settings without any issues most of the time; 34FPS - 45FPS on average most of the time. At high settings Crysis is playable, but frame rates were reduced to averaging between 18FPS and 24FPS. The nVidia GT 555M in the Lenovo Y570 will probably get you 20FPS - 27FPS on average at high settings.

The good news is none of the games listed is as demanding as Crysis.

 

[pepperjinks]

Best answer selected by pepperjinks.