Laptop Choice Dilema

[DJShafman]

Hello there people,
I am new to the world of pc gaming and laptops in general, but I have decided to get into it. At the moment, I have a 15" mid-2012 macbook pro (full specs: 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3, 2.6GHz Core i7, Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB and a 750GB SATA). I have decided to get a new laptop, but one which is specified mostly for gaming. I would like the same amount of storage, 8-16 GB of ram, about 4GHz. Preferably a HDD with an SSD for the OS is preferred, however if it doesn't fit that's not required. I would like it to be roughly 15", and not much thicker than my mac if that's possible. Basically, I am looking for a $2000-3000 laptop, which could run pretty much all current games well, and be future-proof for about 3 years.
Thanks for the help!

 

[C12Friedman]

Two options I found that may fit the bill here
http/www.originpc.com/gaming/laptops/eon15-s/
http/www.xoticpc.com/msi-gs60-ghost-pro044-p-7588.html

 

[DJShafman]

Two options I found that may fit the bill here
http/www.originpc.com/gaming/laptops/eon15-s/
http/www.xoticpc.com/msi-gs60-ghost-pro044-p-7588.html

Thanks, one of those two looks quite a good website to chose. However, both of them present me with so many different options! I have no idea whether to get a samsung/ crucial/ patriot pyro/ OCX Vertex or and intel ssd, or whether to get kingston/ crucial or corsair ram, and so on. If it's not too much trouble, could you please specify the difference between all those options, and evaluate them? That would be very helpful!

 

[C12Friedman]

There are quite a few options for the drives and for ram, too many for me to directly compare here. I'm assuming you're looking at the XoticPC MSI GS60 here so rather than go into all the options I'll simply cover what options I would choose and why - I think I would personally accept it in "stock" configuration. It features an mSATA 128 GB SSD (a good size IMO for OS/boot) plus a 1TB SATA III HDD and 12 GB of ram (8GB is currently considered "ideal" for gaming). [strike]Some of[/strike] the option[strike]s[/strike] I might consider would be:
For RAM/Memory, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-824V] (Corsair Vengeance CL9 Dual Channel Memory (2x8GB SODIMMS)) ( + 172 )
Okay, after going over the options a few times, that's about the only thing I really would consider to change (except the color option for the logo - I think that's cool)

if I missed the mark and you're looking at OriginPC, (or a different model from XoticPC) let me know

 

[DJShafman]

There are quite a few options for the drives and for ram, too many for me to directly compare here. I'm assuming you're looking at the XoticPC MSI GS60 here so rather than go into all the options I'll simply cover what options I would choose and why - I think I would personally accept it in "stock" configuration. It features an mSATA 128 GB SSD (a good size IMO for OS/boot) plus a 1TB SATA III HDD and 12 GB of ram (8GB is currently considered "ideal" for gaming). [strike]Some of[/strike] the option[strike]s[/strike] I might consider would be:
For RAM/Memory, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-824V] (Corsair Vengeance CL9 Dual Channel Memory (2x8GB SODIMMS)) ( + 172 )
Okay, after going over the options a few times, that's about the only thing I really would consider to change (except the color option for the logo - I think that's cool)

if I missed the mark and you're looking at OriginPC, (or a different model from XoticPC) let me know

Thanks that's very helpful. I was indeed looking at the Xotic since the computer model not only is slimmer, but offers quite a bit of customizability. However, although it looks extremely good, a laptop less than an inch thick can't be that good with performance, can it? Also, is there much of a difference between a 980M and a 970M, and would a 970M with the current 16GBram, processor etc. laptop be able to run games well enough for the next 4-5 years or so? Finally, would the in-stock ssd and hdd be good enough? Is there much point in getting an upgrade in the read/write speed? And if so, which one is more important for gaming, I would assume it's read. Thanks for your time!


P.S. Also, how about the GT72 2QE DOMINATOR PRO laptop, is it worth it? And if the 970 or 980 won't last for 4-5years, do you think it is worth investing into a mobile workstation? I heard they do quite good although I am not sure if they are optimised for gaming or just modeling.

 

[C12Friedman]

A laptop less than an inch thick will be a little more difficult to keep cool, I highly recommend the use of a cooling pad when doing intensive work (or gaming) on a laptop (any laptop). For longevity, I'd go with the GTX 980M but according to Tom's here http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html they are within a tier of each other and I would expect either to provide acceptable performance for the foreseeable future. I personally subscribe to the "get the best you can afford" theory (provided value is there - I think it is in this case).

The GT72 Dominator series are 17" and twice as heavy as the 15" GS (8.4lbs vs 4.2lbs) and almost twice as thick which is why I hadn't considered it.

Gaming suffers quite a bit when going to the Firepro and Quadro cards, they really are designed for modeling with little (if any) consideration of gaming. Tom's has us covered there also with this article (not too old) http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/workstation-graphics-card-gaming,3425-14.html (linked to comparison page)

 

[DJShafman]

A laptop less than an inch thick will be a little more difficult to keep cool, I highly recommend the use of a cooling pad when doing intensive work (or gaming) on a laptop (any laptop). For longevity, I'd go with the GTX 980M but according to Tom's here http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html they are within a tier of each other and I would expect either to provide acceptable performance for the foreseeable future. I personally subscribe to the "get the best you can afford" theory (provided value is there - I think it is in this case).

The GT72 Dominator series are 17" and twice as heavy as the 15" GS (8.4lbs vs 4.2lbs) and almost twice as thick which is why I hadn't considered it.

Gaming suffers quite a bit when going to the Firepro and Quadro cards, they really are designed for modeling with little (if any) consideration of gaming. Tom's has us covered there also with this article (not too old) http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/workstation-graphics-card-gaming,3425-14.html (linked to comparison page)

If the 970 is good enough to go through 4-5 years of gaming on AAA titles at the time, that's good enough for me! I'm happy with the thin laptop if that's the case, as it's twice as heavy. However, I do have to get used to the weird placing of the ethernet and power input for that pc. Thanks!