Which one is better for gaming?

[Lyubo]

Hello,

Recently I inquired for some opinions on few laptops and I narrowed it down my search to two:

ASUS N56VZ-S3376 - $820

Intel® Core™ i5-3230M Processor (3M Cache, 2.6GHz up to 3.20 GHz)
Intel® HM76 Chipset
15.6" HD (1366x768) Wide View Angle LED Backlight Anti-glare
4GB DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 16 GB SDRAM

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM
-----------
Acer V3-571G-736b6G1TMaii -$860

Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
15.6" IPS FHD Acer ComfyView LED-backlit HD non-glare
Mobile Intel® HM77 Express Chipset
6 GB DDR3 - I do not know if it is 1333 Mhz or 1600Mhz

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M 2 GB VRAM
---------
The HDD, no matter which one I choose, will be removed and an Intel 330 series SSD 180GB will be put in instead.
Can the laptops fully utilize the SSD I have?
Which one has better gaming overall performance?
Which one withstands extended periods of gaming time without heating to the point of getting throttling of the CPU?
What is the best way to improve the cooling of such laptop?
Games: The Witcher (1,2 and 3 when it comes out); Skyrim; Battlefield 3 and maybe 4 when it comes out; GTA4; Crysis 1,2,3; Mass Effect 1,2,3. If you have other suggestions regarding games I am all ears.
I am not from the US. (Residence: Netherlands/Bulgaria)

Open to any suggestions in this price range.

 

[gmkos]

Hello,

Recently I inquired for some opinions on few laptops and I narrowed it down my search to two:

ASUS N56VZ-S3376 - $820

Intel® Core™ i5-3230M Processor (3M Cache, 2.6GHz up to 3.20 GHz)
Intel® HM76 Chipset
15.6" HD (1366x768) Wide View Angle LED Backlight Anti-glare
4GB DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 16 GB SDRAM

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM
-----------
Acer V3-571G-736b6G1TMaii -$860

Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
15.6" IPS FHD Acer ComfyView LED-backlit HD non-glare
Mobile Intel® HM77 Express Chipset
6 GB DDR3 - I do not know if it is 1333 Mhz or 1600Mhz

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M 2 GB VRAM
---------
The HDD, no matter which one I choose, will be removed and an Intel 330 series SSD 180GB will be put in instead.
Can the laptops fully utilize the SSD I have?
Which one has better gaming overall performance?
Which one withstands extended periods of gaming time without heating to the point of getting throttling of the CPU?
What is the best way to improve the cooling of such laptop?
Games: The Witcher (1,2 and 3 when it comes out); Skyrim; Battlefield 3 and maybe 4 when it comes out; GTA4; Crysis 1,2,3; Mass Effect 1,2,3. If you have other suggestions regarding games I am all ears.
I am not from the US. (Residence: Netherlands/Bulgaria)

Open to any suggestions in this price range.

Second one, hands down. Better CPU. IPS display. More RAM. First one has a 15-20% faster GPU, to be quite honest, both of the GPUs are poor for those games, I believe you will be quite disappointed by both, even at laptop resolutions.

Laptops and SSDs are a perfect combination.

Extra cooling? There are some inexpensive metal/plastic mesh stands with USB fans that can help cooling a bit.

 

[Lyubo]

Hello,

Recently I inquired for some opinions on few laptops and I narrowed it down my search to two:

ASUS N56VZ-S3376 - $820

Intel® Core™ i5-3230M Processor (3M Cache, 2.6GHz up to 3.20 GHz)
Intel® HM76 Chipset
15.6" HD (1366x768) Wide View Angle LED Backlight Anti-glare
4GB DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 16 GB SDRAM

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM
-----------
Acer V3-571G-736b6G1TMaii -$860

Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
15.6" IPS FHD Acer ComfyView LED-backlit HD non-glare
Mobile Intel® HM77 Express Chipset
6 GB DDR3 - I do not know if it is 1333 Mhz or 1600Mhz

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M 2 GB VRAM
---------
The HDD, no matter which one I choose, will be removed and an Intel 330 series SSD 180GB will be put in instead.
Can the laptops fully utilize the SSD I have?
Which one has better gaming overall performance?
Which one withstands extended periods of gaming time without heating to the point of getting throttling of the CPU?
What is the best way to improve the cooling of such laptop?
Games: The Witcher (1,2 and 3 when it comes out); Skyrim; Battlefield 3 and maybe 4 when it comes out; GTA4; Crysis 1,2,3; Mass Effect 1,2,3. If you have other suggestions regarding games I am all ears.
I am not from the US. (Residence: Netherlands/Bulgaria)

Open to any suggestions in this price range.

Second one, hands down. Better CPU. IPS display. More RAM. First one has a 15-20% faster GPU, to be quite honest, both of the GPUs are poor for those games, I believe you will be quite disappointed by both, even at laptop resolutions.

Laptops and SSDs are a perfect combination.

Extra cooling? There are some inexpensive metal/plastic mesh stands with USB fans that can help cooling a bit.

I forgot to mention that I want as fluent as possible performance, and I do not really care if I have to play on 1024*768 on the Lowest possible graphics settings. Would the 650M produce much higher FPS on such low graphics and resolution?

 

[gmkos]

For this price range, I think your selections are good. But you can expect painfully choppy frame rates on most of those games.

Do you absolutely need a laptop as opposed to a desktop? I only say this because you can get remarkably better performance in that price range with a desktop.

 

[gmkos]

Lowest resolution and lowest settings you should do OK. My suggestion is still the second one.

You can compare the GPUs directly for yourself here:
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844+M55dcd93edfa.0.html?&3dmark01=0&3dmark03=0&3dmark05=1&3dmark06=1&3dmark11=0&3dmark11_gpu=1&architecture=1&archive=0&benchmark_values=&cb11_ogl=0&cinebench10_ogl=0&codename=0&condensed=0&corespeed=1&daysold=0&deskornote=0&directx=1&dx=0&gpu_fullname=1&heaven=0&memorybus=1&memoryspeed=1&month=&multiplegpus=0&or=&pixelshaders=1&professional=0&search=&shaderspeed=1&showBars=1&showCount=1&sort=3dmark11_gpu&technology=0&vantage3dmark=0&vantage3dmarkgpu=1&vertexshaders=1

And here:
http/www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

 

[Lyubo]

For this price range, I think your selections are good. But you can expect painfully choppy frame rates on most of those games.

Do you absolutely need a laptop as opposed to a desktop? I only say this because you can get remarkably better performance in that price range with a desktop.

I am traveling frequently and changing my housing frequently and I really cannot get a desktop right now. I am still in university and I will be for another 2 years. Is there anything better in terms of laptop for gaming at this price point? I mean some old Asus ROG or old Alienware.

 

[gmkos]

For this price range, I think your selections are good. But you can expect painfully choppy frame rates on most of those games.

Do you absolutely need a laptop as opposed to a desktop? I only say this because you can get remarkably better performance in that price range with a desktop.

I am traveling frequently and changing my housing frequently and I really cannot get a desktop right now. I am still in university and I will be for another 2 years. Is there anything better in terms of laptop for gaming at this price point? I mean some old Asus ROG or old Alienware.

So, I'm not having much success finding any older but powerful, (i.e. GTX 485M, 580M or HD 6970M) laptops to consider. I also would not be very trustworthy of their reliability, even refurbished. I feel buying a new laptop is always better.

Honestly, get the Acer. The more I look into it, the more I realize this is a fantastic choice. That 3630QM processor, believe it or not, is 75% faster than the 3230M on the ASUS one, and you get an IPS panel display with the Acer too. Those two things (also the extra RAM, which does not matter so much) give you much more value.

If you wanted to compare, the 75% faster CPU will matter much more than 20% faster GPU for your games.

 

[Lyubo]

For this price range, I think your selections are good. But you can expect painfully choppy frame rates on most of those games.

Do you absolutely need a laptop as opposed to a desktop? I only say this because you can get remarkably better performance in that price range with a desktop.

I am traveling frequently and changing my housing frequently and I really cannot get a desktop right now. I am still in university and I will be for another 2 years. Is there anything better in terms of laptop for gaming at this price point? I mean some old Asus ROG or old Alienware.

So, I'm not having much success finding any older but powerful, (i.e. GTX 485M, 580M or HD 6970M) laptops to consider. I also would not be very trustworthy of their reliability, even refurbished. I feel buying a new laptop is always better.

Honestly, get the Acer. The more I look into it, the more I realize this is a fantastic choice. That 3630QM processor, believe it or not, is 75% faster than the 3230M on the ASUS one, and you get an IPS panel display with the Acer too. Those two things (also the extra RAM, which does not matter so much) give you much more value.

If you wanted to compare, the 75% faster CPU will matter much more than 20% faster GPU for your games.

Thanks for the reply I really needed to know which one matters more the more powerful CPU with less powerful GPU or vice versa for gaming, now I believe it the former. I just looked up the temps between the two systems and the Acer may run a little hotter like 6-7 degrees C, but I think a cooling pad would provide enough stability for longer periods of gaming. Thanks for the advice.

 

[gmkos]

For this price range, I think your selections are good. But you can expect painfully choppy frame rates on most of those games.

Do you absolutely need a laptop as opposed to a desktop? I only say this because you can get remarkably better performance in that price range with a desktop.

I am traveling frequently and changing my housing frequently and I really cannot get a desktop right now. I am still in university and I will be for another 2 years. Is there anything better in terms of laptop for gaming at this price point? I mean some old Asus ROG or old Alienware.

So, I'm not having much success finding any older but powerful, (i.e. GTX 485M, 580M or HD 6970M) laptops to consider. I also would not be very trustworthy of their reliability, even refurbished. I feel buying a new laptop is always better.

Honestly, get the Acer. The more I look into it, the more I realize this is a fantastic choice. That 3630QM processor, believe it or not, is 75% faster than the 3230M on the ASUS one, and you get an IPS panel display with the Acer too. Those two things (also the extra RAM, which does not matter so much) give you much more value.

If you wanted to compare, the 75% faster CPU will matter much more than 20% faster GPU for your games.

Thanks for the reply I really needed to know which one matters more the more powerful CPU with less powerful GPU or vice versa for gaming, now I believe it the former. I just looked up the temps between the two systems and the Acer may run a little hotter like 6-7 degrees C, but I think a cooling pad would provide enough stability for longer periods of gaming. Thanks for the advice.

You're welcome. Oh, I stumbled upon this youtube video, this guy is running Dirt 3 on that Acer, it actually looks pretty smooth and he is running good settings. Looks like there is some decent discussion in the comments there too, maybe some useful info for you.

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkYPABNQ9XU

 

[Lyubo]

For this price range, I think your selections are good. But you can expect painfully choppy frame rates on most of those games.

Do you absolutely need a laptop as opposed to a desktop? I only say this because you can get remarkably better performance in that price range with a desktop.

I am traveling frequently and changing my housing frequently and I really cannot get a desktop right now. I am still in university and I will be for another 2 years. Is there anything better in terms of laptop for gaming at this price point? I mean some old Asus ROG or old Alienware.

So, I'm not having much success finding any older but powerful, (i.e. GTX 485M, 580M or HD 6970M) laptops to consider. I also would not be very trustworthy of their reliability, even refurbished. I feel buying a new laptop is always better.

Honestly, get the Acer. The more I look into it, the more I realize this is a fantastic choice. That 3630QM processor, believe it or not, is 75% faster than the 3230M on the ASUS one, and you get an IPS panel display with the Acer too. Those two things (also the extra RAM, which does not matter so much) give you much more value.

If you wanted to compare, the 75% faster CPU will matter much more than 20% faster GPU for your games.

Thanks for the reply I really needed to know which one matters more the more powerful CPU with less powerful GPU or vice versa for gaming, now I believe it the former. I just looked up the temps between the two systems and the Acer may run a little hotter like 6-7 degrees C, but I think a cooling pad would provide enough stability for longer periods of gaming. Thanks for the advice.

You're welcome. Oh, I stumbled upon this youtube video, this guy is running Dirt 3 on that Acer, it actually looks pretty smooth and he is running good settings. Looks like there is some decent discussion in the comments there too, maybe some useful info for you.

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkYPABNQ9XU

Thanks. I will take a look at it. I even think that I will get a considerable performance improvement using the SSD.

 

[olin9]

You can get a Y500 with GT750 and i7 for $849 on the Lenovo site.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/landing_pages/promos/ideapad/weekly-sale/

 

[Momo Iko]

the socond one! other to consider: MSI C Series CX61 0NF-258US, at $849 can be considered a great value for one of the better brands in gaming laptops in the market. Weighing only 5.3 lbs, this MSI model comes with a 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 display and a 750GB SATA hard drive. Bundled with Windows 8, it is powered by a 3rd generation quad core Intel Core i7-3630QM clocked at 2.4 GHz with a 6GB system RAM. Its graphics engine is midrange Nvidia GeForce GT 645M with its own 2 GB video RAM and DirectX 11 support that gives this model enough muscle to play virtually all of the most demanding games in the market today in medium to high settings.

 

[Lyubo]

You can get a Y500 with GT750 and i7 for $849 on the Lenovo site.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/landing_pages/promos/ideapad/weekly-sale/

Can I order that to the Netherlands or Bulgaria

 

[olin9]

Not sure, Lenovo took over IBM ThinkPads and is based in China. Check on their site.