Is the MSI GE72 good for recording gameplay at 1080p 60 fps?

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cornered_fox

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Hello,
I am looking into buying a new laptop to use for recording while playing bullet hell shooters (shmups) like Touhou, Mushihimesama, Dodonpachi etc. I wish to record at 1080p 60 fps, and was wondering if the MSI GE72 is good enough? I was also planning to record to an external USB 3.0 HDD since I've read its better to not record to the same drive as the one playing the game. I have never recorded my gameplay before, so I'm new to all this.

These are the specs of the MSI I'm thinking of getting:

CPU: 6th Generation "Skylake" Intel® CoreTM i7-6700HQ Quad Core Processor, 2.6-3.5 GHz
RAM: 16GB 2133MHz DDR4,
Hard Drive: 128GB SSD + 1TB 7200RPM HDD

GPU is a choice from the 2 below:
GPU: nVIDIA® GeForceTM GTX 960M 128bit w/ 2GB GDDR5
GPU: nVIDIA® GeForceTM GTX 970M 192bit w/ 3GB GDDR5

Would I really need the GTX 970 instead of the GTX 960? Will that extra 1GB of VRam make a difference? Will the 128bit as opposed to the 192bit cause poorer performance? Do I really need such a powerful GPU for a shmup?

Also wondering if it would be worth getting a 256GB SSD instead of the 128GB SSD? I only plan on using the SSD as my boot, all other stuff like the games themselves, music and videos will go into the 1TB HDD. They're shmups, so they load quite fast anyway, that's why I figured I'd leave them in the HDD. Please correct me if I'm wrong or if there will be some advantage to having them on the SSD instead.

One more thing. I was reading about something called rendering the video, I have no idea what this is. Can someone explain? Will this happen while I'm recording, or as soon as I'm done? How long does it take?

Sorry for all the questions but my head's all over the place. I've never done his before and don't want to dish out around 1400 euros and not have satisfactory results. 1080p 60 fps, with no lag of course is what I'm aiming for.

Thank you for any help in advance! :D Looking forward to hearing some answers from the experts ;)
 
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It is possible to record games while playing with the GTX 960m / 970m. Nvidia GPUs have a feature called ShadowPlay which is a recording software that does not make much of a dent in performance from reviews that I have read / watched. The GPU does the encoding, not the CPU. It is not "perfect" though if you are really into doing a lot of video editing from what I understand. But if you simply want to record and upload without much editing, then it should be fine. I think one limitation of it is that all the audio is recorded as a single file rather that separate files where you can select which audio to combine into your finished video. However, I recommend you record gameplay onto an external drive so that it does not interfere with...

Purpletalon55

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No they will not work for recording here is why, only one laptop drive is 7200rpm and its a internal their are no external usb 7200rpm drives and any footage you record will be laggy and look bad. Also, you will not get playable fps on a laptop while recording as its too intensive for even high end machines and will lag out and crash most games.
 

Purpletalon55

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Tsrb99

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I would build a pc myself if I were you. It's cheaper and fun to do :)
The price difference between a 128GB and a 256GB SSD isn't that big of a gap, I recommend getting a 256GB SSD just so you can store some small games.
If you get a gtx 970 you will be able to play every game at Ultra/High settings and you'll be getting 60+ fps
 
It is possible to record games while playing with the GTX 960m / 970m. Nvidia GPUs have a feature called ShadowPlay which is a recording software that does not make much of a dent in performance from reviews that I have read / watched. The GPU does the encoding, not the CPU. It is not "perfect" though if you are really into doing a lot of video editing from what I understand. But if you simply want to record and upload without much editing, then it should be fine. I think one limitation of it is that all the audio is recorded as a single file rather that separate files where you can select which audio to combine into your finished video. However, I recommend you record gameplay onto an external drive so that it does not interfere with the game when it needs to load files from the same drive you are recording. For low resolution recording (1366x768), a standard 5400RPM external hard drive should be sufficient. If you want to record gameplay at 1080p, then a SSD is recommended.

For example, you want to record a PvP match in some MMO, but you want to keep it "kid friendly". If one person continuously curses throughout the game and you record using ShadowPlay, the entire video is useless. On the other hand, if you use software to record gameplay that records each sound source as a separate file (I think OBS does that), then you can exclude the audio from the guy that is constantly cursing from your final product. That way your entire recording session is not wasted.

I do not record gameplay myself. What I know is only based on what I have read and watched of reviews for gameplay recording solutions. I recommend you do a bit of research on your own.
 
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Purpletalon55

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It is recommended that you use a 7200rpm drive and never a ssd for recordings as ssds can have issues with recording video to them. They are great os drives but poor for heavy workloads.
 

Nikita79

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For recording gameplay at 1080P, you need a strong graphic card and perfect HDD. As I know GT72, it is quite enough for you to do it. It has 7200RPM HDD, which is pretty enough for recording gameplay, and also GTX960M perfectly can support it. (Of cause, if you wanna change to 970M, that would be much better)
Besides, from the official website shows that GT72 already has a year free software--Xsplit Gamecaster, which can also record gameplay with high quality.

So.... GT72 is really good enough for your demond!
 
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