Need Advice On A Med-High Quality Laptop (Game Design/Gaming)

[David Poult]

1. What is your budget?
I'm hoping around $1000 however I may be willing to approach the $1500 mark but not much more than that at most.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Size isn't something I care about, I'd like a screen ranging from 15"-17" however I have a spare monitor laying around so screen real estate isn't a massive issue at most times. As for the actual laptop case the size and weight won't bother me, I care more about the inside than the outside.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Has to be a full HD screen, but I'm definitely not aiming for 3K+.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'll probably be using it at home mainly however I will be taking it around with me fairly often. As I said before I have no issue of the size/weight of the laptop, I don't mind carrying a bulky laptop.

5. How much battery life do you need?
As I said it will mainly be used at home within close proximity to life giving plugs so nothing more than 4 hours will be a necessity.

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)?
I will use it as a gaming laptop but I'm not aiming to play any super high quality games. I'd rarely need to get to medium even if I did get some heavy duty games.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
The main usage will be for Game Design. This includes the actual 3D design of game elements, some basic animation, large amounts of coding. I'll also be using it for some basic modding however it shouldn't be a big deal.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I'd like around the 750GB-1TB range. A hybrid drive with SSD is preferable but it won't really be a deal breaker or maker.
**NB: I've also listed a few more concerns about hardware at the end.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I don't have any specific site in mind.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Anywhere from 3 years and beyond.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
A basic DVD ROM without writing capabilities would be good enough for me. I'd rarely ever even use it but the few times I would use it would be out of absolute necessity so I'd rather have it than not, if possible.

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 won't be buying an Acer computer as the local service is pathetic so if anything happens I'll be left with a broken laptop. Alienware laptops are also likely out of the picture, not because of tech specs but just because they are very expensive, however if there's a decent priced one I may look into it.

13. What country do you live in?
South Africa.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
The one thing I'm really sure about is that I want it to be Windows 8/10, not Apple or Linux. Because of the uses I'm aiming for I would like if I could get 8+GB of RAM, but I'm not sure if that would be enough. 32GB seems very excessive and I'm not sure if 16GB would also be? Also because I plan on 3D rendering and some games on the side, will I need a GPU with a chunk of dedicated RAM? I know most computers have a Point-to-Point connection between system RAM and GPU so is it worth the extra cost of 3GB/4GB of dedicated RAM as opposed to just increasing the system RAM a bit (let's say from 8GB to 12/16GB?) Finally will a CPU (preferably Intel i5/i7)with a speed of 2.5GHz or 3.5GHz make much of a difference anytime the computer isn't being pushed to its absolute limit?

Summarised: I want a Windos 8/10 laptop to last 3+ years that can support some Game Development software or medium/light-weight games at medium/low quality. I'm looking for 8+GB RAM and around 750GB-1TB storage with SSD optional. I want an Intel i5/i7 CPU to be anywhere between 2.5-3.5GHz.

If anything I'm looking for seems too low/high quality for what you think I'm going to need please mention it! Also if my pricing seems unrealistic for what I want (possible) then A: Please list what will be costing me that isn't necessary that I can downgrade OR B: Give the price as-is and I'll see if it's considerable.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!

 

[hang-the-9]

Take a look at www.xoticpc.com

Anything in your price range will do well for what you want, the higher in price you go (assuming that it corresponds to a faster video card that is), the more games you can play on higher settings for longer and faster it will render things faster. But for $1,000 you can get a nice fast system that will run most games at Medium with a few demanding games on low. $1,300-1,500 is the mid to lower high range of gaming laptops. The higher you go the better, not just due to the fact that it will be faster, there is less chance that you will have that nagging voice in your head saying "maybe I should have gotten the faster one"

 

[velo3100]

First ram is only useful if you plan on using a lot of programs at once, this is the same with the cpu.

Second as you are doing mostly gpu based things, having more vram will make a big difference if you are a professional.

Third, I would either try and get an asus rog series or one of the laptops from xotic pc. Msi is another good alternative.