Solved! MSI GX660R vs. GX660

[watsonte]

I am looking to replace my current laptop with something a little more robust and have found the MSI GX660R.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152211&Tpk=MSI%20gx660r

The laptop will be used for SC II, and World of Warcraft. More than likely nothing else as I imagine I will be buying a new laptop by the time Diablo III is released... ( A few years from now). I am looking for something on the lighter and smaller side of mobile gaming, 15", less than 8lbs.

I am debating between the 660R, which offers a higher native resolution, more memory, and a blu-ray drive, vs. the 660 which offers a cheaper price, and similar specifications with a Core i5 vs. a Core i7 in the 660R.

Which would be the better buy? Do I spend the extra $300? Are the performance gains worth the cash? I know these are questions I can only answer, but thoughts and input from others certainly doesn't hurt.

Also, with Cataclysm coming within the next few months ( /Crossing Fingers) would I be better off waiting, assuming the new line of Nvidia Mobile GPUs might be better and cheaper than the current 5870m?

 

[Maziar]

First of all if you want to wait,you can't every buy anything because there is aalways something new around the corner, but i don't think Nvidia will announce any VGA(in 4xx series)faster than the current GTX 480M.
As for the laptops,well for $300 its worth it IMO,you get a better screen,more RAM and Blu-ray drive, however the difference between 4GB and 6GB RAM isn't much, so it depends on you.If you need a higher resolution screen and a blu-ray drive,then its worth the $300 more.

 

[watsonte]

That's the one feature, the higher native res 1920x1080 in the 660r vs 1366x768 in the 660, pushing me into thinking the extra $300, will be worth it. However, I am still trying to find reviews showing avg. frame rates of SC II, as finding a review including a game like WoW is unlikely, running at 1920x1080 on a 5870M.

I am also curious to know if the difference between the Core i5 and i7 would be something to consider. $300 Isn't an easy thing to throw away if I won't benefit from it in terms of performance. While a higher rez is nice, I guess the question is am I sacraficing image quality and FPS with it. Meaning, at 1920x1080 do I have to dial things down a bit, where as with 1366x768 could I run everything at ultra with reasonable frame rates?

Thanks for the reply, Maziar.

 

[Maziar]

Well a 5870M can handle most games on medium-high settings on 1080p and it can handle all games at high on 1366x768,so you are right about the resolution.
As for CPU,well there are some games/apps(games like WIC,GTA IV and apps like PS,3D max etc) benefit from 4 cores.
But if you find $300 expensive,then go with the cheaper one,its still a great machine.

 

[watsonte]

Well a 5870M can handle most games on medium-high settings on 1080p and it can handle all games at high on 1366x768,so you are right about the resolution.
As for CPU,well there are some games/apps(games like WIC,GTA IV and apps like PS,3D max etc) benefit from 4 cores.
But if you find $300 expensive,then go with the cheaper one,its still a great machine.

Thanks again, for the reply.

I am still debating, however, I do think that if I am unhappy with the lower resolution that I could at some point go ahead and replace the LCD in the GX660, the cheaper model, for a little less than what I would pay for the GX660R. That is assuming I could find a resonably priced replacement.

 

[Maziar]

Yes that's also an option.