Looking for new Gaming Laptop

[Kaptain O]

1. What is your budget?
$1500ish

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Screen size? umm I think 17".

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1920x1080

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
It will always be plugged in so it doesnt really matter.

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)?
Mostly MMO type games, Tera, The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, League of Legends. I would like to play them on the highest settings.

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

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500GB should be plenty

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I have been lookign at www.xoticpc.com, www.cyberpowerpc.com, www.ibuypower.com and www.malibal.com

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3 years, I understand that I will probably have to downgrade my gfx settings over the years.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
nothing special

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 don't really know.

13. What country do you live in?
US of A

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I don't really know what to go for, I have been trying to absorb as much info as possible. Most of the laptops I have seen are built on either MSI 1762 or the Sager/Clevo P170EM.

I think I am set on wanting an i7-3610QM for the core.

I think I am set on wanting 8GB Ram.

When it comes to the harddrive I have heard that SSD makes a noticeable difference when you enter populated areas in an mmo and the game has to pull all the textures out of your HDD. Is it worth the extra bucks? Also I heard bootup time is noticeably faster.

I have Windows 7 legit copy with a key so I'd rather not pay for an OS built in that I don't want/need.

When it comes to GPU that is where I am really confused. My options seem to basically be GTX660m, GTX670m, GTX675m and ATI 7970M. Some people say go with the 670 over the 660 because it has more power, others say it's an old chipset and the newer kepler 660 is better, cooler and can be oc'd to run better than the 670. Others say the 7970 is the way to go but some of the sites don't offer that video card, and it is fairly expensive.

so many decisions, I don't want to over pay but I don't want to skimp and regret it for the next 3 years (or less in case it doesn't last me).

 

[hpfreak]

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230408

ASUS G75 Series G75VW-NS71 Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 17.3" 12GB Memory DDR3 1600 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M

Price: 1449.99 USD


Oh, and I think it is a mistake OCing GPUs, yes you can. But it doesn't mean you should, each laptop is designed/equipped to work at a certain voltage and speed. Changing that.. which results in more heat.. etc.. not good. But it is your choice, if you prefer to go with another laptop besides the one I recommended, let me know and I'll post something else.

 

[game junky]

Gaming and laptops are diametrically opposed - there are options out there that can do a passable job of playing games, but you're much better off building a desktop.

If money weren't an object, I would recommend an OriginPC - they do the best job of making laptop gaming rigs, but you're going to be paying out the nose for their hardware. Here's the 15" variant:

http/www.originpc.com/eon15-s-gaming-laptop-features.asp

If I were you, I would build a desktop - much better gaming experience for less money. For $1500, you could build a beastly desktop and have plenty of money for a monitor

 

[Kaptain O]

I have always had desktops in the past but about 18 months ago I opened a game store with a few friends of mine and between my day job and running the store I spend very little time at home. My computer gaming has taken a hit. It's a pain to cart my desktop/monitor down the store and back again so a laptop would suit my life situation perfectly at this point.

Is the GTX670m a big improvement over the GTX660m? I can get pretty much the same ASUS from bestbuy, but it has the 660m and 8gb ram (should be all I need right?) for 1,249.

 

[Kaptain O]

OR for $1,545 with $145 in Mail-in-rebates (so $1400) I can get the following system:

http/www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1E6RF0

Notebook: MSI MS1762 Gaming Notebook 17.3" FHD LED-Backlit 1920x1080 16:9 Display w/ Built-in 720p HD Webcam, HDMI Port, Li-Ion Battery, & Universal AC Adapter
Notebook Color: Xplorer X7 Gaming Notebook Cover
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM Mobile Processor 2.30 GHz 6M Smart Cache, Max Turbo Freq. 3.30 GHz
Motherboard: Intel HM77 Chipset Mainboard
Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-1333 SODIMM Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 670M 1.5GB PCIe Video
Hard Drive: * 60 GB OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 525MB/s Read & 475MB/s Write (Single Drive)
Data Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM SATA300 Hard Drive [+3]
RAID: Non-RAID Storage
External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None
USB Flash Drive: None
Optical Drive: 8X DVD±R/RW/4X + DL Super-Multi Drive (MS1762)
Sound: Built-in 3D Premium Surround Sound
Freebies: NONE
Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: Built in Intel N2230 WLAN802.11 b/g/n+Bluetooth 4.0
WiDi Router: None
LCD Monitor: None
Freebies: None
Speakers: Built-in Stereo Speakers System
Network: Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Card
Keyboard: Built-in Keyboard
Mouse: BUILT-IN TOUCHPAD
Mouse Pad: None
Gaming Gear: None
External Wireless Network Card: None
Wireless 802.11 B/G/N Access Point: None
Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth
Flash Media Reader/Writer: Built-In 4in1 Media Reader
Battery: 9 cells Smart Lithium-Ion battery pack, 48.84WH
Carrying Bag: None
AC Adapter: Universal AC-DC Adapter
Car Adapter: None
Video Camera: Built-in 720p HP Webcam
Headset: None
HDMI Output Port: Built-in HDMI Port
Printer: None
Cable: None
Power Protection: None
USB Port: Built-in 2x USB2.0 Ports + 3x USB3.0 Ports
Operating System: None - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY [-83]
Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None
Office Suite: None
Games: * Diablo III Game [+60]
Service: STANDARD 1-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY AND LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Additional Warranty: None
Rush Service: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 10~15 BUSINESS DAYS

How is that?

 

[moornix]

I have always had desktops in the past but about 18 months ago I opened a game store with a few friends of mine and between my day job and running the store I spend very little time at home. My computer gaming has taken a hit. It's a pain to cart my desktop/monitor down the store and back again so a laptop would suit my life situation perfectly at this point.

Is the GTX670m a big improvement over the GTX660m? I can get pretty much the same ASUS from bestbuy, but it has the 660m and 8gb ram (should be all I need right?) for 1,249.

Just curious, but why don't you just leave your desktop at the store and play on an older rig at home? Or vice versa depending on where you spend the most time.

 

[Kaptain O]

My current desktop was from sept 2008, and although she's done me well playing various mmo's since then it's time she retired. I play Tera on the lowest settings and The Secret World is really choppy for me even on lowest settings. I would need to buy 2 computers (one for home and one for the store) plus I don't want to permanently dedicate table space for a rig at the store. I know gaming laptops are sub optimal but in my caseit just fits my lifestyle. Fortunately I don't play super graphics intensive games, mainly MMO's.

 

[Wave Fusion]

I've always been largely a notebook user. Up until recently, I didn't have a desktop monitor (or suitable HDTV substitute) any desktop peripherals, or even a desk.

So raw GPU performance aside, it would cost roughly the same $1000~$1200 to get the level of performance I wanted, desktop or laptop.

I also like having good replacement options if something goes wrong. (2 year standard warranty)
I bought right when Sandy Bridge launched, so because I was "affected" by that earlier chipset issue, I got a completely new system with a 50% beefier GPU, among other things.

The HP DV7 had alot of good aesthetics; metal finish, 4.1 sound, lightweight; and the best GPU of all the major OEMs at the time (Dell, Toshiba, HP, Sony, etc)
And the 6770M was over five times faster than my old 9300M GS

But if I had waited until now to upgrade, I'd have to go with the ASUS G75.

The 660M is a way better bet imo.
It uses the new Kepler architecture while the 670M is a rebranded Fermi 570M

The 670M/570M is slightly faster, but not enough to recommend
Here is a link with some performance data on the 660M
Its an excellent site for anything PC mobile
http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-660M.71859.0.html

Both may be faster than my 6770M, but its not even twice as fast, in spite of their larger size.
I probably won't upgrade again until another five-fold improvement
I'm running Tera just fine (and SWTOR, Rift, Witcher 2, etc) so you should be in good shape

 

[Kaptain O]

I keep hearing that the gtx660m is new kepler stuff, the gtx670m is rebranded 570m fermi chips but I don't really know what that means.

If the 670m is better than the 660m then what does it matter if it's been rebranded or whathaveyou? What benefit do I get from the 660m that make up for it having worse graphics than the 670m? Will either the 660m or the 670m last me the 3 years I am looking for?