Looking for a gaming laptop between $500-700ish

[wheresperry]

1. What is your budget?

Around $500 to $700 (I could possibly go up to $800 if it was a superb deal)

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

Around 15-17"

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Best possible, I suppose.

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

This is for college, and I'll still have my desktop at home (iMac). I live in a multiple computer household, and use an "okay" PC for gaming at home, but this laptop will probably become my main gaming computer.

5. How much battery life do you need?

This isn't that big of a deal. Good battery life would obviously be preferred, but a laptop with not-so-good battery life wouldn't be the end of the world by any means.

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)?

Yup. I primarily play Team Fortress 2, and I would like to play that on the highest settings with a consistent 60-70+ fps. I'll also be playing a bit of Battlefield 3, and all I ask for is a consistent 60-70+ fps on low to medium settings.

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

Primarily just web browsing, school stuff (papers, powerpoints), and maybe a bit of video editing.

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

Not a whole lot, I suppose. This really isn't that big of an issue.

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

Newegg is really the only one I've been browsing around.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

3 to 4 years.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD ROM/Writer, and a Bluray ROM would be preferable.

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 have an open mind, and will look at all suggestions. Lenovo is my favorite though (build quality, keyboard, etc.)

13. What country do you live in?

USA.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I want to avoid buying a laptop that looks like a gaming laptop (neon green keyboards, exaggerated designs, etc.) Put another way, I want something low profile.

I'm currently looking at the following:

lenovo IdeaPad Z575 (12992PU) Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3420M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6650M (http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246328)

However, regarding that laptop, user WR2 posted:

That combination of HD 6650M dedicated graphics card plus the integrated HD 6520G is known as
AMD Radeon HD 6720G2.
The link should give you a rough idea of the gaming performance you can expect.

The link was: http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6720G2.57274.0.html and I got kind of scared off when I read
the introductory few paragraphs...

The AMD Radeon HD 6720G2 is the combination of a integrated AMD Radeon HD 6520G APU processor graphics card and a dedicated entry level AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card in CrossFire combination. It is called AMD Dual Graphics or asymmetric CrossFire and uses AFR (Alternate Frame Rendering) to render different frames on the two graphic cores. Therefore the combination also suffers from micro stuttering (different spaces between two images lead to stuttering altough the framerate is high enough for fluent gaming with only one GPU).

The performance of the Radeon HD 6720G2 depends greatly on the driver support for the used games. In some games the performance may even degrade by 10-15% compared to using only the APU graphics card. Currently (June 2011) only DirectX 10 and 11 graphics modes are supported and therefore lower settings and older games are not accelerated. Due to the micro stuttering and performance problems, Dual Graphics may impose more problems than bring performance gains.

The features like PureVideo HD (UVD3) or OpenCL support are similar to the two graphics cards.

As both graphics cards are rendering frames, the power consumption is clearly higher than using only one GPU.

I would like to make a decision and purchase in the next week or so, and I would very much appreciate your guys' help!

 

[wheresperry]

(Also, I know there is a current thread very similar to mine, but it's already been solved and I don't want to hijack it. Plus, everybody has their own questions, budget, and needs!)

 

[wheresperry]

So I'll hijack part of my answer from there. That the top for 700$:

1. Lenovo Y570, I7-2670QM, GT 555M GPU, 8GB DDR3, 500GB - 1TB HDD (don't remember) for 700$:
http/www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/ [...] 12-coupon/
Very high build quality, JBL speakers, typical 720p screen buy slightly above the average quality.

2. HP dv4t-5100, I5-3210M, 6GB DDR3, GT 650M GDDR5, 500GB HDD for 714$:
http/www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/ [...] 52-coupon/
a 14.0" screen, probably lesser build quality + more heat and noise problems (although cool when idle/not a 3D/CPU intensive).


These are the fastest options. The dv4t-5100 comes with the GT 650M GDDR5 which is considerably faster than the GT 555M (easily 20-30% more). The Lenovo has advantage of being with a bigger screen and higher build quality, the HP is more compact.

The BF3 will sip your laptop power anyway so there is no point in trying to save money if you want the highest performance and you can't go above 700$.

Thanks. Could you elaborate on that last part, it's worded a bit weird to me.

Other suggestions and insights are more than welcome!

 

[wheresperry]

Hmm, so I was looking at info about the GT 555M, and found this:

http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-555M.41933.0.html

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M is a fast middle class graphics card for laptops. Depending on the version, it is based on the GF108, GF116 or GF106 architecture with different shader counts, clock speeds and memory configurations. It stems from the Fermi generation and supports DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.0.

Versions (From lowest to highest performance):

144 cores 709MHz (GF106), 128Bit GDDR5, e.g. MSI GX780
144 cores 590MHz (GF106), 192Bit DDR3, e.g. Dell XPS 17, Alienware M14x
144 cores 590MHz (GF106), 128Bit DDR3, e.g. Schenker XMG A501 / A701 (Clevo W150HRM / W170HN)
96 cores 753MHz (GF108), 128Bit GDDR5, e.g. Lenovo Y570p / Y560p
144 cores 525 MHz (GF116), 128 Bit DDR3, e.g. Medion Akoya P6812

...

The performance of the GT 555M is highly dependent on the version of the card (see above). The 3DMark 06 performance, for example, ranges from 8857 points (Lenovo Ideapad Y570) to 13000 points (MSI GX780R). For all intents and purposes, the GT 555M in the Lenovo is therefore essentially a fast GeForce 550M. The average GT 555M (with 144 shaders) is positioned in the lower high end class and enables users to play demanding games in high settings at 1366x768. Only Metro 2033 had to be played in lower settings during our benchmark tests (see below).

That is... not good, right?

 

[wheresperry]

So I think I've decided on this specific version of the Lenovo y570: http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=457&Code=08626JU&category-id=F41BC8E1656C5F85171FBDB172571912

There is a coupon/code that gets it down to $699

Final thoughts, anyone? Speak now, or forever hold your peace!

 

[chad2625]

Hey,
I just ordered a HP CTO HP Pavilion g7z-2100 it's specs are:
HP Pavilion g7z-2100 Notebook PC
• sparkling black
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M Accelerated Processor (3.2GHz/2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
• 1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7670M Discrete-Class Graphics
• FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (1Dimm)
• FREE Upgrade to 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• No additional security software
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
• 17.3-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1600 x 900)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Standard Keyboard

After Taxes, and 2 day shipping it was Like $670.

This should be a great little laptop it should do pretty good for gaming too. According to notebookcheck.net in crossfire mode the built in 7660G and the 7670M are a "class 2" video card. The 650M is a class 1 card that out performs the Cross fire card by about a 1% again according to notebookcheck.net. But I would image that you could/ would get better battery life out of the G7 as the 7660G is built in and when your not gaming you cold just run that.

Just my thoughts

 

[wheresperry]

actually yes.

The new HP coupon code for the fb6t-7000 select with GT 650M and fullHD for 780$ or 700$ without the FHD screen:
http/www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/super-deal-hp-pavilion-dv6t-7000-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-i5-3210qm-nvidia-gt-650m-2gb-gddr5-fullhd-display-6gb-ddr3-memory-640gb-hdd-780-coupon-code-nby8552/

It is a better offer in my opinion. Performance-wise, it's definitely better and it also have the FHD screen.

sorry, I was confused and forgot to notify you

Ugggh lol. Thanks for making my life complicated

I've been reading a lot of stuff about laptops recently and I seem to have come across a lot of negative stuff about HP. Is that just a coincidence or is there something to that?

Also, I reallllly love everything about the Lenovo y570's style and appearance, right down to the great keyboard. The HP -- not so much. It's a little too... idk. I don't know... I'm just not really feeling the HP even though it's probably a lot better. Could you or someone else talk me into (or out) of it? I know that we're focusing on performance here, but I just like the look/feel/etc. of the y570 exponentially more than the HP.

 

[wheresperry]

Hey,
I just ordered a HP CTO HP Pavilion g7z-2100 it's specs are:
HP Pavilion g7z-2100 Notebook PC
• sparkling black
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M Accelerated Processor (3.2GHz/2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
• 1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7670M Discrete-Class Graphics
• FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (1Dimm)
• FREE Upgrade to 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• No additional security software
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
• 17.3-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1600 x 900)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Standard Keyboard

After Taxes, and 2 day shipping it was Like $670.

This should be a great little laptop it should do pretty good for gaming too. According to notebookcheck.net in crossfire mode the built in 7660G and the 7670M are a "class 2" video card. The 650M is a class 1 card that out performs the Cross fire card by about a 1% again according to notebookcheck.net. But I would image that you could/ would get better battery life out of the G7 as the 7660G is built in and when your not gaming you cold just run that.

Just my thoughts

Thanks, I'll look into it. This is it, right? You just upgraded some stuff?

http/shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/B7M25AV

 

[chad2625]

Thats the one sorry I should have linked to it, I upgraded the processor to the A10 for $100 and the Video card I added the 7670 M for $50. Don't upgrade the ram though hp!!! It's way over priced, and normally junk. im running this corsair in my older G7 and will be running it in my new one, it may not run at full speed, but it runs at lower latency, and the intergated 7660G performs better with dual channel.

Thanks, I'll look into it. This is it, right? You just upgraded some stuff?

http/shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/B7M25AV

 

[wheresperry]

And I don't know a whole lot when it comes to all the technical stuff, but would the fact that the y570 has

- a 2.2GHz i7-2670QM processor
- 8GB of RAM

in any way make up for the fact that it has a 555m, as compared to the HP dv6t-7000's i5 (but 2.5GHz) processor and 6 GB of RAM, with a 650m?

Would the 1920x1080 screen on the HP negate some of the performance of the 650m?

 

[chad2625]

And I don't know a whole lot when it comes to all the technical stuff, but would the fact that the y570 has

- a 2.2GHz i7-2670QM processor
- 8GB of RAM

in any way make up for the fact that it has a 555m, as compared to the HP dv6t-7000's i5 (but 2.5GHz) processor and 6 GB of RAM, with a 650m?

Would the 1920x1080 screen on the HP negate some of the performance of the 650m?

Let me say this Never ever purchase a computer because it has more ram than another. RAM is the cheapest and easiest component to upgrade. Besides most manufactures will put in less than great ram, I suggest that you purchase the ram I recommended instead.

I had two laptops with the same video cards amount of ram and everything. The only difference where the screen size and resolutions. The first one was 1386 by 786, the other was 1600 by 900, when I went the larger and higher resolution I had to lower the settings on my games to get playable Frame Rates. Look at it like this it was a increase of screen resolution by about 32%, so there is 32% more for my video card to render. The increase from 1600 by 900 to 1900 by 1080 is about 44% increase in pixels or 44% more work for your video card to run. So to say that you wouldn’t notice the performance I would have to disagree. I ran A 3dmark11 test for both 720 and 1080 and here are the results look at the FPS I know Im running 6620G, wich is the previous generation of the A10, and substantially less powerful than any of the options your looking at but the performance hits should be pretty comparable . The ofall four test for 720 is 3.355 while 1080 is only 1.855 so by running my 6620G at 1080 vs 720 I see a 45% performance hit. Going from 1600 by 900 (average fps of 2.5) 1080 I saw a hit of 27%

I personally I don’t see the FHD screen on a 17in laptop being necessary, this is a personal opinion. Here is my reasoning, the smaller the screen the fewer pixels needed to make it look “HD”. In fact most tablets that say there “HD” actually sub HD resolutions, but screens so small you would never notice.
Looking at the specs you would have a 15.6 in laptop running a FHD witch in my opinion is overkill. I would go for the larger screen over the high resolution. At that size you could always run games at 1600 by 900 and it would still look good, and you would get better performance.

One thing that I would suggest any laptop you get should have number pad, a lot of games, and game tools require one, and I missed it when I had a smaller laptop.


Benchmarks : Look at FPS
http/3dmark.com/3dm11/4001703
http/3dmark.com/3dm11/4001610
http/3dmark.com/3dm11/4001547

 

[chad2625]

Also, most gaming is GPU based so you should really be balancing good CPU performance, with the best GPU you can get. A more power CPU will not makeup for an under powered GPU. The exception for this rule is with AMD's APU or A series processors as they have the video cards built in, and when combined with another amd video card they can cross fire.

And I don't know a whole lot when it comes to all the technical stuff, but would the fact that the y570 has

- a 2.2GHz i7-2670QM processor
- 8GB of RAM

in any way make up for the fact that it has a 555m, as compared to the HP dv6t-7000's i5 (but 2.5GHz) processor and 6 GB of RAM, with a 650m?

Would the 1920x1080 screen on the HP negate some of the performance of the 650m?