What $300-500 laptop can I get at Best Buy not online?

[Blinx26]

I'm looking for a gaming laptop that has a range of $300-500 that can handle TF2, DoTa, Minecraft and its mods, and some other games as well. The problem is I don't know which one to get and I'm planning it to get it at Best Buy, not online since I'm only 16 and don't have a card yet. So can anyone please tell me what gaming laptop is good for me and please list the specs of it. Thank you.

 

[okcnaline]

Nothing $500 in Best Buy would be good for games. All you'll get is either Intel HD Graphics 4400/4600, or hopefully AMD A8.

But if they have a Thanksgiving combo with an AMD A8 laptop (the laptop itself, a sleeve, a mouse, and some 6-months security software) then get that, since you're getting something $500-600 for $400-500.

 

[Blinx26]

Nothing $500 in Best Buy would be good for games. All you'll get is either Intel HD Graphics 4400/4600, or hopefully AMD A8.

But if they have a Thanksgiving combo with an AMD A8 laptop (the laptop itself, a sleeve, a mouse, and some 6-months security software) then get that, since you're getting something $500-600 for $400-500.

Alright thank you for the recommendation but i was wondering if these laptops would be good for games that aren't like BF3 of CoD jsut like minors ones like the ones I listed. Which one is the better for gaming? Very Sorry if this is too much links to view and read; I just don't know much about laptops.

Acer - 15.6" Aspire Notebook - 4 GB Memory - 500 GB Hard Drive:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-15-6-aspire-notebook-4-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive-black/1311546188.p?id=mp1311546188&skuId=1311546188


Toshiba - 15.6" Satellite Notebook - 6 GB Memory - 750 GB Hard Drive

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-15-6-satellite-notebook-6-gb-memory-750-gb-hard-drive-textured-resin-in-jet-black/1311800716.p?id=mp1311800716&skuId=1311800716


Dell - 15.6" Inspiron Notebook - 4 GB Memory - 500 GB Hard Drive

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-15-6-inspiron-notebook-4-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive-black/1311249379.p?id=mp1311249379&skuId=1311249379


Asus - 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-dark-gray-blue-gray/6643023.p?id=1219229364828&skuId=6643023


Asus - 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/9298108.p?id=1219405806801&skuId=9298108

 

[jaguarskx]

Alright thank you for the recommendation but i was wondering if these laptops would be good for games that aren't like BF3 of CoD jsut like minors ones like the ones I listed. Which one is the better for gaming? Very Sorry if this is too much links to view and read; I just don't know much about laptops.

Of the laptops you have selected, the 1st is the best for playing games because it has the best integrated graphics core out of all of them. However, it only comes with 4GB of RAM. Generally speaking, you want to add another stick of 4GB of RAM that will generally cost around $45 when you have the money for it.

Integrated graphics generally works best when there are two sticks of RAM because it will operate in something called Dual Channel mode rather than Single Channel mode. That basically means data will transfer faster which means you should get between 5% - 10% better performance in games. Also, because integrated graphics uses system RAM, having only 4GB of RAM means that Windows 8, the game, and the graphics core will all be trying to use 4GB of RAM.

You can always install another stick of 4GB of RAM later if you cannot afford to buy it immediately. You will need to install if yourself, but that is pretty easy for most laptops. Here's a video...

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcBwnb8rENQ

 

[jaguarskx]

I need to make correction...

The Acer laptop with the A8-6410 APU is actually not the best to play games with. I had thought that APU had an integrated Radeon R6 graphics core, but it actually has the Radeon R5 graphics core. That basically means it is less powerful than I originally thought; it is almost as powerful as the Intel HD 4200 graphics core.

The following Asus laptop for $430 is actually the better choice for games. The dual core i5-4200u is more powerful than the quad core A8-6410 when it comes to processing power. Additionally it has the integrated Intel HD 4400 graphics core which is more powerful than the Intel HD 4200 graphics core. That means it is also more powerful than the Radeon R5 graphics core.

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-dark-gray-blue-gray/6643023.p?id=1219229364828&skuId=6643023

 

[okcnaline]

1) A10-7300, AMD Radeon R6
The only not very good point of this one is that it has a 1.9 Ghz CPU.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314557

2) Intel Core i3-4000M, Intel HD Graphics 4600
Is the HD 4600 better than a R6?
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317155

3) Pentium N3540, nVidia GeForce GT 820M
The only thing here I'm nervous about is both the not-at-expectation GPU and the poor CPU.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314712

4) A10-5750, Radeon HD 7660G
This could possibly be the best one...
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA29P1ZU3863

 

[jaguarskx]

The Radeon R6 (Kaveri) is more powerful than the Intel HD 4600. It is about equivalent to the Radeon HD 8650m and Geforce GT 555m. Early "guess-timates" seems to peg the upcoming Intel HD 5500 in the Broadwell generation Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs to be equal to the Radeon R6 (Kaveri) based on specs I suppose. Notice that I have stated "(Kaveri)" because the "Radeon R6" exists for a less powerful family of AMD APUs. The Radeon R6 (Mullins) is in the lower end AMD Mullins family of APUs that are strictly for tablets like the A10 Micro-6700T. There is another family of APUs known as "Beema" which are a little more powerful than Mullins APUs and less powerful than Kaveri APUs. These are meant for low end laptops. But none of these APUs have a graphics core called the Radeon R6; they only go up to the R5.

The Pentium N3540 is actually a Bay Trail-M CPU from Intel which is basically an improved version of their Atom CPU series that competes with AMD's Beema APUs. Bay Trail-M CPUs have better processing power than Beema, but the integrated graphics core is weak. For $500 I would definitely avoid the Acer laptop that comes with it and the Geforce 820m. Plus the 820m is less powerful than the Radeon R6 (Kaveri) graphics core.

The Radeon HD 7660G in the Thinkpad E545 is actually less powerful than the Geforce 820m, but it is better than the Intel HD 4600.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Acer E5-551-T5SV with the A10-7300 APU seems to be the best choice for $500.

Oh, while it's base speed is only 1.9GHz, it can go as high as 3.2GHz if necessary as long as the APU is not too hot. I assume that is when only 1 core is used. I assume max speed hits around 3.0GHz when two cores are used and probably around 2.8GHz if all 4 core are used. While the A10-7300 does have 4 cores, benchmarks that measures CPU processing powers pegs it as about equal to a dual core Intel Core i3-4010u CPU.

However, as sated by the OP, he does not have a credit card because he is 16 years old so he can't purchase it from Newegg.com.

 

[okcnaline]

Oh, okay... Based on your advice, jaguarskx, I found this one. Hope the OP would be fine with ~$20 over...

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-e545-15-6-led-notebook-amd-a-series-a10-5750m-2-50-ghz-matte-black/1311359009.p?id=mp1311359009&skuId=1311359009