looking to buy 17 inch, dedicated graphics card, low noise and heat

[Sunstone]

I have a gaming pc but because i regularly spend a few days at a time away from home I want a decent laptop. I am looking at 17inch as I love the ease of reading on a large screen while still having crisp clear images for games.The thing I do most is facebook flash games. I can tell you they make my husbands brand new highest level macbook pro's fan go nuts and work loudly as it engages the dedicated graphics. I would like it light for portability to take to the couch or to bed but thats not as important as performance. Same with budget. I was hoping for $2000 au or under but will pay more if there is enough of a performance upgrade. I also want one with a SSD or a bay to put a SSD in for performance. Any ideas on a quiet 17 inch laptop with decent performance and dedicated graphics?

 

[uberman]

I like the Asus or MSI laptops if I was going to get one. I don't know about pricing or availability in AU, I shop on Newegg in the States. Maybe Amazon. Check some reviews on Toms or PCPer .

 

[uberman]

One thing to consider is battery life esp. with dedicated graphics. For most apps and light gaming the new intel Skylake CPUs have somewhat improved integrated graphics over previous generations.

 

[Sunstone]

Not too worried about battery life, I usually have somewhere to plug in. I have already been fooled with the surface pro 3 that everyone thought would run the facebook games just fine so i am definitely getting dedicated graphics.

I have heard of noise problems with the MSI range, specifically the stealth ones,

I was looking at the Acer Aspire V17 Nitro but it does not have ethernet and i was surprised that for such a modern laptop it only have the 860 graphics card with only 2gb memory, not the the 970 or 980

 

[uberman]

Trying to keep a laptop with dedicated cards cool is a challenge since the fans are small and operate at high rpm. Not so much on normal apps but gaming can increase the stress factor. Its a laptop so there will be trade-offs.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you are playing Facebook games, why bother with a gaming system?

You can get a regular mid-range non-gaming computer for that. Unless you get a non-gaming laptop you will have to live with sound and heat coming from it, it's impossible to make a system that compact with fast components not have fans running and not be generating heat.

There are lots of 17" models here you can check out http/www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118-96-98.html#!/dir=asc&no_cache=true&order=price&size=13&p=clear

This should handle simple games fine and will not be nearly as loud as the systems with a gaming video card http/www.xoticpc.com/asus-p2710jaxs51-sale-limited-availability-p-8194.html

 

[Sunstone]

if you look up facebook games with adobe flash you will find dedicated graphics cars are recommended as they run too slowly on intergrated cards.

 

[hang-the-9]

if you look up facebook games with adobe flash you will find dedicated graphics cars are recommended as they run too slowly on intergrated cards.

Depends on the model of the integrated video and the game. They may be talking about the much slower video in the older CPUs.

If you want a quieter system but still have some faster graphics, something with a 940M card would be a good compromise between speed and heat/sound.

 

[Acesis]

I must agree with hang-the-9. It seems like your budget is extremely high if you only plan on using your computer for browser games. A $2000 laptop would be able to run most new games like a cinematic movie without any problems.

The newer technology for 'onboard graphics' on a new system will gladly meet your specifications. I would think that for around $800 - $1000 you would be able to get a laptop that would meet your expectations and more.

You also mentioned a SSD HD, which I don't see making any difference in an online forum - but I would definitely recommend just on overall performance of any newer computer

 

[Sunstone]

I have tested this with the brand new macbook pro 15 inch. It had intergrated graphics and dedicated graphics. It automatically chooses which to use and was automatically going on as soon as I put on a facebook game. I got an app to take control of it. I made it use the intergrated instead of the dedicated and it was jerky as anything. Switched the dedicated on and it ran tons better but the temp went right up quickly to 80 degrees and of course so did the fans and the fans when going fast are a fairly annoying pitch and at 6000 rpm they sound like a jet engine as many online describe them.



15-inch MacBook Pro

with Retina display

15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Retina display
2.2GHz, 2.5GHz or 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor
Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
Up to 9 hours battery life1
Up to 1TB flash storage2
2.04 kg (4.49 pounds)3

 

[Sunstone]

It would seem that it needs dedicated graphics. The graphics cards make heat as said above and heat means cooling and fan noise. I have been told the fan noise is because of the chassis size, the thinner the chassis the louder the fan noise. That is why I was looking at the gaming ones as they are designed to get rid of the heat. If you have any other suggestions like the 940m card I would love it because the gaming computers also come with a ton of unnecessary weight. I also sometimes play things like minecraft and sims which i am trying to get back into rather than the facebook games. With those I tend to add 101 mods and overload the ram

So I think now I am looking for 17 inch laptop that runs a relatively cool dedicated graphics card like the 940m if I want a relatively thinner and cheaper non gaming specific laptop..... Any suggestions?

 

[uberman]

If you can get something with at least a 960m it would probably be much better. The newer AMD apu's have some fairly good integrated graphics, much better than Intel's and as good as some low to mid tier dedicated cards. That might be something to check out.

 

[velo3100]

Which facebook games are you playing?

 

[Sunstone]

castleville and coral isle are the two main ones at the minute