New laptop

[cull501]

Hi I am looking for a new laptop for gaming purposes. I have a budget range of $800-$1200max and already have 3 laptops in mind. I want a 15.6 inch screen and an illuminated keyboard. I was wondering what would be best for playing games like Star Wars: The old Republic and Shogun 2: Total War. If you can think of any other laptops please let me know.

-Thanks

$800= My low end choice is an ASUS A53SV-XE1 15.6-Inch Intel Core i7-2630QM NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1GB DDR3 VRAM
6GB of DDR3 1333MHz DRAM 640GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) 15.6-Inch HD Display (1366x7681 Year Accidental

$950= My mid choice is an ASUS G53SW-XA2 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop Intel Core i5-2410M (2.3GHz with Turbo Boost); 6GB DDR3 1333MHz 500GB HDD Illuminated Keyboard Nvidia GTX 460M Graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5; Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Operating System 15.6-Inch Full HD (1920x1080) LED Display

$1200= My budget limit and an angry girlfriend is an ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop Intel i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz Quad-Core with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz); Nvidia GTX 460M Graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM 8GB DDR3 1333MHz; 500GB HDD (7200RPM); Illuminated Keyboard; 15.6-Inch FULL HD (1920x1080) LED Display; Windows Home Premium 64-bit Operating System

 

[WR2]

Hello cull501;

I think that middle cousin is a great choice. It's got enough CPU power to support that GTX 460M graphics card.
The GTX 460M is roughly equivalent to a desktop GTS 450 graphics card.

 

[cull501]

I did some additional research and checked benchmarks and it looks like the i7-2630QM is better than the i5-2410M. So that makes the first choice have a good CPU and slower GPU and the middle choice is the opposite. The last choice has the best of both.

I guess now I have to decide what ill need but its looking like the middle one will be what I choose. I just wish I could see the performance difference between the 3 on the same game just for comparison.

 

[WR2]

No doubt about it, the i7-2630QM is the better CPU. But your analysis is backwards.
In gaming, you want the BEST GPU you can get with enough CPU power to support it.

 

[WR2]

If you could find an i5-2410M CPU and GT 540M GPU on a 1366x768 screen at a very good price I think you could get enjoyable game play there.

But the GTX 460M/560M and 1920x1080 resolution would be ideal laptop gaming.
If you can swing the budget to get the better CPU? All the better for you.

 

[cull501]

Best answer selected by cull501.

 

[cull501]

Alright ill go for the $950 one and if i can get the funds ill try for the $1200 the extra CPU power would be nice but as long as the i5 doesnt hold back the 460M then that will work too.

-Thanks