Looking for a good gaming laptop

[bisnettda23]

Ok guys here is the deal. I'm your average college student who is somewhat into technology, but not super in tune with computers. I was given a macbook for graduation 3 years ago and it is awesome. For school. For 3 years now I've been wanting a gaming laptop for my love of strategy games. Games such as the total war series, Civilization, and other simulation games are incredibly fun for me. Games like Fifa, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed and skyrim I enjoy on the Playstation. (Even though I heard skyrim is fun on pc). Anyway, I don't know enough about laptops to make a good decision about a gaming laptop. I want my strategy games to run smoothly with fantastic graphics, and since I don't plan on playing super high end games I don't feel the need to drop tons of money on a gaming laptop. Everything I search says spend 1800, or spend 2500 when I just don't have that money. My budget is 1300. What is the best laptop I can get for my buck that will allow me to play the games I enjoy on that price. Any help at all is greatly appreciated! Also I have considered a desktop instead of a laptop but I enjoy being able to sit on my couch and watch the NBA playoffs while gaming. As a disclaimer I apologize for my ignorance on the subject.

 

[dixon8809]

There is a website called Xoticpc.com. They sell Sager laptops. The Sager NP6350 Is a great laptop. Plus its light so you can carry it around for school. It runs the GTX 660m which will run your Strategy games on ultra with no issues. The stock system runs the I5 3230m but for $70 more you can have a I7 3630QM installed. With the I7 installed the system price is $1009. That leaves room for upgrades like a 120 GB SSD for about $100. I think This would be the perfect system for you.

 

[olin9]

The Y500 is cheaper with 2 GT750 on the Lenovo site.
i7
2 GT750
8 ram
1 tb\ 16 gb ssd
1080 screen

 

[dixon8809]

Its Still $1000 on newegg and those are the 650m's. Lenovo's website i cant find SLI 750m's. There is a model on there with one 750m for $850. He isnt playing ultra graphics on just one 750m. Although it is a nice laptop.

 

[groundrat]

MSI GX-60 $1099-1200 depending on the vendor.

 

[dixon8809]

I like the GX60. Tom's just did a nice review on it. It would certainly handle all your strategy games as it has a AMD 7970m in it but its heavy. Its 7.7 pounds.

 

[bisnettda23]

I like the GX60. Tom's just did a nice review on it. It would certainly handle all your strategy games as it has a AMD 7970m in it but its heavy. Its 7.7 pounds.

Dixon8809 and groundrat thanks for the help! I'm really looking into these two models. Not being huge into computers is there anything I gain or lose in the Gx60 vs the SagerNP6350? From first glance, it appears that I can perhaps get more performance out of the SagerNP6350 as I can upgrade it slightly while staying in my price. So I guess where I'm going with this, is if they would both do the job well, what would be more bang for my buck? Also I was just on xoticpc.com and the sagernp6350 is starting at $939 so there is some wiggle room for upgrades. What upgrades would be good to get?

 

[dixon8809]

Well here is the Deal. The GX60 has a trade off for the cheaper price. The CPU is actually a APU A10-4600M. If you play more demanding games the APU will bottleneck the GPU. The GPU is one of the Fastest mobile Graphics cards out right now. The only thing that Rivals it is the GTX 680m. However you will still get easily playable frame rates on any game you play in Ultra settings. I have one more significant difference between the two, and that is the weight. The NP6350 Weighs 5.95 pounds but the MSI weighs 7.7 so its not the heaviest laptop but it might be bulky to carry around all the time.

 

[bisnettda23]

Well here is the Deal. The GX60 has a trade off for the cheaper price. The CPU is actually a APU A10-4600M. If you play more demanding games the APU will bottleneck the GPU. The GPU is one of the Fastest mobile Graphics cards out right now. The only thing that Rivals it is the GTX 680m. However you will still get easily playable frame rates on any game you play in Ultra settings. I have one more significant difference between the two, and that is the weight. The NP6350 Weighs 5.95 pounds but the MSI weighs 7.7 so its not the heaviest laptop but it might be bulky to carry around all the time.

Is there a huge difference between the NP6350 and some of the other Sager models that start in NP9?

 

[whyso]

Well here is the Deal. The GX60 has a trade off for the cheaper price. The CPU is actually a APU A10-4600M. If you play more demanding games the APU will bottleneck the GPU. The GPU is one of the Fastest mobile Graphics cards out right now. The only thing that Rivals it is the GTX 680m. However you will still get easily playable frame rates on any game you play in Ultra settings. I have one more significant difference between the two, and that is the weight. The NP6350 Weighs 5.95 pounds but the MSI weighs 7.7 so its not the heaviest laptop but it might be bulky to carry around all the time.

Depends, some games such as mmo's will be hurt by that cpu, CPU heavy games such as hitman, GW2, BF3 (MP) will run poorly. Some strategy games are quite cpu heavy so the GX60 may not be a good choice.

If you wait a bit you may be able to get the upgraded model with the a10-5750m (richland) which will help but not completely eliminate the cpu problem.

 

[dixon8809]

While is true that u may bottleneck with that apu on the gx60 toms review showed that you will still easily get playable frame rates. As far as your question about the other np series. The np9150 and 9170 is sager flagship laptops. The 9150 is the 15 inch version while the 9170 is the 17 inch version. They also come with backlit keyboards and are capable of better graphics. You can get the gtx 675mx for $100 bucks more. Putting the 9150 at about $1320.

 

[bisnettda23]

While is true that u may bottleneck with that apu on the gx60 toms review showed that you will still easily get playable frame rates. As far as your question about the other np series. The np9150 and 9170 is sager flagship laptops. The 9150 is the 15 inch version while the 9170 is the 17 inch version. They also come with backlit keyboards and are capable of better graphics. You can get the gtx 675mx for $100 bucks more. Putting the 9150 at about $1320.

Well I think for my gaming usage I am looking mostly at the 9150. Think this is a good choice for total war series and civilization? With perhaps the occasional dip into a game that may be something different?

 

[dixon8809]

Oh yeah. I didn't mention the 9150 because it was at the top of or out of ur stated budget. But not by a lot. Like I said u can bump to the gtx 675 mx which is a new Kepler GPU and only slightly slower then the gtx 680 for only $100 . Or stay the the gtx 670mx. It will deff run anything on high to ultra settings. I think it's a great choice. I will own one soon too. I just built a beast of a desktop. Well if you have any more questions just ask. Plenty of knowledgable guys here.

 

[olin9]

This one has GT750 SLI for $1159.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?sb=:000001C9:0000C509:

But this one is the best deal. $869 and then order a 2nd GPU $229. The GPU is onsale alot for $137.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?sb=:000001C9:0000C50D:

2nd GT750 for the ultrabay.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=460&Code=0C22235

The Y500 with GT750 SLI will run faster than the GTX 670MX GDDR5 (3.0GB) and the GTX675 on the 9150. The Y500 with the GT650 SLI was faster than the GTX670. Check out the review of the of the GT650 SLI model, The GT750 SLI model is 22% faster than the GT650 SLI.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y500-Notebook.87585.0.html

Note: Unless they have changed since the GT650 SLI, The Y500 does not have Optimus enabled. So max battery life is 4 hours.

 

[dixon8809]

The first two links don't work. The ultra bay link works but as of right now you can't order the SLI model with the new 750m. Plus if you upgrade to the 675mx it is about 20% faster for not a lot of money. Also the review you linked to states that the microstutter from the SLI is significant. I still think the 9150 is the better option.

 

[olin9]

Link to gt750 SLI
http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=5B0116E237099FA0FCA012D9B20ED2FB&action=init

GPU

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=460&Code=0C22235

The GT750 SLI is faster than the GTX675. The GT650 SLI is faster than the GTX670. In games that support SLI.