NEED HELP. Looking for $800 Gaming Laptop. ASUS vs MSI

[jane23]

I’m about to buy a new laptop in the next few days.. i need your help in choosing between these two laptops. basically, they almost have the same specs. hope you could help me decide.

asus k501lx: http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232576&cm_re=asus_k501lx-nb52-_-34-232-576-_-Product
notable specs:
5th gen i5 5200u
GTX 950M 2GB
8 GB Ram
1 TB HDD + 128 SSD


MSI GP60 Leopard: http/www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-gp60-leopard-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-black/8702277.p?id=1219694767257&skuId=8702277
notable specs:
4th gen i5 4210H
GTX 950M 2GB
8 GB Ram
750 GB HDD

i also managed to find a lenovo y50 selling for ~$850 in Lenovo Outlet online and i'm interested in this and seriously considering it.
specs: GTX 860M; i7 4710HQ

i'll use the laptop primarily for university/college and for occasional mid-high end gaming (GTA V, NFS, NBA 2k15, ETS 2, COD, MOH) during my spare time.

 

[Reyaz123]

Go with the Asus K201lx. It has an SSD drive which is a good advantage over the other options (faster load times, boot times etc)


If you do not bother about faster load/boot times, go for the MSi
The msi has a better processor for games.

 

[jane23]

Go with the Asus K201lx. It has an SSD drive which is a good advantage over the other options (faster load times, boot times etc)


If you do not bother about faster load/boot times, go for the MSi
The msi has a better processor for games.

since i'll probably use the laptop 2-3 yrs, which one should i pick considering reliability/durability?

 

[Reyaz123]

That's personal choice. From personal experience, durability doesn't come into play until the 4th year you've owned a laptop but still go for the MSi

 

[jane23]

That's personal choice. From personal experience, durability doesn't come into play until the 4th year you've owned a laptop but still go for the MSi

Why are you choosing MSI? i never owned either of the two so i have no idea of their respective build quality

 

[Reyaz123]

On second thought, I've only owned an Asus and heard about MSI quality builds. Asus is known to not make cheap plastic laptops, the design of them are really sturdy/durable. With that in mind,

But, the gtx 950m vs the 860m (from the lenovo laptop) perform differently in terms of fps. There are benchmarks for these online and the 860m has more fps than the 950m in gta 5
http/www.notebookcheck.net/GTA-V-Benchmarked.140881.0.html

Also, thats a good price for a laptop with an i7 processor. In that case, you are a higher end gamer and should get the lenovo as your final decision

Here is some gameplay of nba2k15 on that exact lenovo model laptop:
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks8_3klltPM&app=desktop

Get the lenovo

 

[jane23]

So in terms of durability, asus will be a good choice? Considering i'll be using the laptop for about 2-3 yrs..

Yeah, seems lenovo definitely has the upper hand in terms of performance (hardware) and that makes me want it BUT i have read some user reviews sayingbthat they experienced various issues such as poor wifi connection, hardware defects etc.. So reliability/durability of lenovo laptops is really a question mark for me and that is what is holding me back. Do you have any first hand experience of lenovo laptops?

 

[Reyaz123]

I've only owned an Asus one for about 5 years and the only problems it had was system lockups in the fifth year. I fixed that though and gamed alot on it

 

[jane23]

I've only owned an Asus one for about 5 years and the only problems it had was system lockups in the fifth year. I fixed that though and gamed alot on it

Did you experienced any overheating/heating issue especially on the keyboard and touchpad panel area?

 

[Reyaz123]

Was warm near the touchpad but rarely ever overheated maybe once or twice

Probably because it had good cooling fans equipped

 

[calinpuscas]

my experience: MSI returned (backlit keyboard not working) and bought Lenovo y50... gaming ok but the display like crap (the full HD one)... there is a solution at 2k, never tried... and, cooling pad really necessary (for GTA V, for example) although, I have 256GB SSD and it really rock... HDD are so yesterday (only for storage and external) ... also I get an external DVD unit

oops... forgot one thing... the JBL speakers sounds better to \o/

 

[jane23]

my experience: MSI returned (backlit keyboard not working) and bought Lenovo y50... gaming ok but the display like crap (the full HD one)... there is a solution at 2k, never tried... and, cooling pad really necessary (for GTA V, for example) although, I have 256GB SSD and it really rock... HDD are so yesterday (only for storage and external) ... also I get an external DVD unit

oops... forgot one thing... the JBL speakers sounds better to \o/

Can't i just use a laptop stand instead of a cooling pad? How old is your y50? And have you ever had any problems with it? Thanks!

 

[calinpuscas]

my experience: MSI returned (backlit keyboard not working) and bought Lenovo y50... gaming ok but the display like crap (the full HD one)... there is a solution at 2k, never tried... and, cooling pad really necessary (for GTA V, for example) although, I have 256GB SSD and it really rock... HDD are so yesterday (only for storage and external) ... also I get an external DVD unit

oops... forgot one thing... the JBL speakers sounds better to \o/

Can't i just use a laptop stand instead of a cooling pad? How old is your y50? And have you ever had any problems with it? Thanks!

No problem so far dear Jane... I'm working and gaming since October... you can use a stand if you don't play at "ultra" or doing Autocad or something, the CPU is tough, and the 8MB RAM is enough for daily use & playing, but please remember the crappy display (my son have an ACER, one year and half old (the GTX760M version, but the display is marvelous)... I've played The Witcher, and it moves really OK on default/normal/high.. hope I've helped

 

[jane23]

I'll probably just use external display whenever i'm gaming to avoid that crappy display.. Lol. Thanks for your feedback!