Purchasing a Gaming Laptop

[Nicholas Liedorff]

Hello Im buying a laptop for college I want to be able to play games on it too (its my replacement for Xbox 360 and Xbox One). I want to stay as close to $800 USD as possible while getting the best performance for the money. I want to play "next-gen" games like BF4 and COD Ghosts. Please do not recommend a desktop build, I know its better, but it is not portable and that is an issue. Thanks!

 

[Marcopolo123]

what about a mATX build ?

 

[giliara]

Hello Im buying a laptop for college I want to be able to play games on it too (its my replacement for Xbox 360 and Xbox One). I want to stay as close to $800 USD as possible while getting the best performance for the money. I want to play "next-gen" games like BF4 and COD Ghosts. Please do not recommend a desktop build, I know its better, but it is not portable and that is an issue. Thanks!

r
Here is a good one for $800 http/ If you want to spend a bit more this one is good http/

 

[Marcopolo123]

Hello Im buying a laptop for college I want to be able to play games on it too (its my replacement for Xbox 360 and Xbox One). I want to stay as close to $800 USD as possible while getting the best performance for the money. I want to play "next-gen" games like BF4 and COD Ghosts. Please do not recommend a desktop build, I know its better, but it is not portable and that is an issue. Thanks!

r
Here is a good one for $800 http/ If you want to spend a bit more this one is good http/

bad choices, the graphics card of them are bad

 

[RobCrezz]

It wont game as well as an xbox for $800...

 

[RobCrezz]

Hello Im buying a laptop for college I want to be able to play games on it too (its my replacement for Xbox 360 and Xbox One). I want to stay as close to $800 USD as possible while getting the best performance for the money. I want to play "next-gen" games like BF4 and COD Ghosts. Please do not recommend a desktop build, I know its better, but it is not portable and that is an issue. Thanks!

r
Here is a good one for $800 http/ If you want to spend a bit more this one is good http/

bad choices, the graphics card of them are bad

The Lenovo one has SLI GT650M, thats not bad for a laptop.

 

[giliara]

Hello Im buying a laptop for college I want to be able to play games on it too (its my replacement for Xbox 360 and Xbox One). I want to stay as close to $800 USD as possible while getting the best performance for the money. I want to play "next-gen" games like BF4 and COD Ghosts. Please do not recommend a desktop build, I know its better, but it is not portable and that is an issue. Thanks!

r
Here is a good one for $800 http/ If you want to spend a bit more this one is good http/

bad choices, the graphics card of them are bad

The Lenova is fine as it is SLI (2 graphics cards). And you can't get a super good graphics card at his budget this are still decent.

 

[Marcopolo123]

well wait for haswell..

 

[Mashari]

I agree with Marcopolo123, wait for haswell cpus

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

I agree with Marcopolo123, wait for haswell cpus

What is a haswell cpus? and when is it released?

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

Hello Im buying a laptop for college I want to be able to play games on it too (its my replacement for Xbox 360 and Xbox One). I want to stay as close to $800 USD as possible while getting the best performance for the money. I want to play "next-gen" games like BF4 and COD Ghosts. Please do not recommend a desktop build, I know its better, but it is not portable and that is an issue. Thanks!

r
Here is a good one for $800 http/ If you want to spend a bit more this one is good http/

bad choices, the graphics card of them are bad

The Lenova is fine as it is SLI (2 graphics cards). And you can't get a super good graphics card at his budget this are still decent.

The Lenovo website says that the Y500 for $850 has a Geforce 750m. Not a 650m and does it come standard with the second gpu?

 

[Mashari]

I agree with Marcopolo123, wait for haswell cpus

What is a haswell cpus? and when is it released?

Haswell is the 4th generation of core I cpu, announcement on 3 or 4 June

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

can you make it 850$-900$?

yes but $900 is the ABOSLUTE max.

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

I agree with Marcopolo123, wait for haswell cpus

What is a haswell cpus? and when is it released?

Haswell is the 4th generation of core I cpu, announcement on 3 or 4 June

Oh okay. Will this 4th generation cpu be more expensive?

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

no question then that the Lenovo Y500 with two GT 650Ms and I5 is the most cost effective. If you absolutely want to save money, you can sell the extra GPU and you'll get a GT 650M laptop for a really good price. You also get the 1080p screen (glossy though, but ok), good sound system for a laptop and 1TB HDD (and a backlit keyboard)

what do you think?[/quotemsg]

With the Y400 I will get the GT 750m (which has better performance than the single 650m) and a 720p capable screen (which doesnt seem like that huge of a deal to me since I will be getting higher frame rates with a lower res) Is that a better deal considering the cost difference? Is 720p to 1080p a big difference? And is the GT750m capable of running good frame rates on 1080p?

My questions are, does the Y500 come standard with the second GPU? From what I can tell from the website, it comes with an optical drive NOT the second gpu. Are/is the gpu a 650m or a 750m? and if i go with the much cheaper Y400, does it have a backlit keyboard and an ultrabay option? The lenovo web site leads me to believe that the Y400 is the exact same as the Y500 without the 1080p and extra 1.6" screen.

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

1. YES. 1080p vs 768p screen is a big difference. It's not only the resolution which is has a considerable effect on the graphics quality, but the fact is that manufacturers use higher quality 1080p screens compared to the 768p ones they use - higher contrast and brightness, better color reproduction, and better viewing angles. These are very significant - more than the FPS thing. But it comes with the lower FPS as you said and therefore the second GT 650M is a smart move (although one GT 750M will be very good for many games too).
I truly deeply sincerely suggest that you take an 1080p screen.
The one on the Y500 isn't one of the top 1080p screen, but it's much more better than the 768p they use - you can check the web.

2. Y500s with second GPU are available from almost every retailer that offers a Y500 + Lenovo has a GT 750M SLI one on their site - but I don't think it is really necessary.

thoughts?[/quotemsg]

Id love to get the 1080p with the 750m SLI! While the 750 SLI isnt necessary it will surly help with the frame rates. But how much does that cost and where could I get it for the cheapest price? I have to stay under $900 USD.

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

SLI and CF not always work perfectly. Even with the GT 650M SLI - the gains are about 40%-60% and not x2. Mind you.

this is the 750M SLI version - now on sale for 1100$ (was 1150$), includes also a 16GB mSSD and 16GB DDR3

thats way out of my price range. Is there a SLI 1080p version available for under $900?

 

[Nicholas Liedorff]

I thought you saw it.. it was the first link I posted:

Lenovo Y500 with two GT 650Ms

Great! and youre sure the 650m SLI is better than a single 750m?

 

[Adrian_JH]

I agree with Marcopolo123, wait for haswell cpus

What is a haswell cpus? and when is it released?

Haswell is the 4th generation of core I cpu, announcement on 3 or 4 June

Haswell is not as good as Sandy Bridge nor Ivy Bridge, do some research....Id rather have I.B