Solved! WTB Laptop - i7, Good graphics card, etc.

[ElectroGoofy]

Hello, all.

Ok, I am looking to buy a laptop within the next month or so... I am wondering if any of you have seen a laptop that meet the following requirements:

Price:<=$1000
GPU: ATI 5850m, 5870m, or GTX 460m (or higher, if can be found)
CPU: i7, quad core variant. Would really prefer Sandy bridge, but not absolutely required...
RAM: >=4gb (seems pretty much the standard at this price...)

Note: I know that finding a laptop with these specs would be really difficult... I've been looking quite a bit

I've been keeping an eye on LogicBUY for a couple weeks, and have seen some that come mighty close to this... just with a lower-end graphics card.

Thanks!

P.S. I saw what looked like a pretty good deal on a laptop, but it had a GT 550m.... how much of a difference is there really between a GTX 460m and a GT550m?

 

[WR2]

Hello ElectroGoofy;
"finding a laptop with these specs would be really difficult" not so much as finding the specs as finding the specs & in your budget range.

How do you feel about getting refurbished/reconditioned notebooks?
As far as I know that's about the only way you'll meet all your goals.

Otherwise it's Price: >$1000 or lower your GPU requirement.

 

[ElectroGoofy]

Hello ElectroGoofy;
"finding a laptop with these specs would be really difficult" not so much as finding the specs as finding the specs & in your budget range.

Ok, I was sort if implying that, but maybe not obviously enough

Anyway, if I can find a new laptop with those specs (within my budget, of course) I would be very happy with that... I would be much more reluctant to get a refurbished, but it isn't completely out of the question... it just seems that when I look at places with refurbished laptops they don't seem to have newer ones (ok, I was mainly looking in the Dell outlet... not sure what other companies sell refurbed laptops).

If I could find a benchmark list with framerates (3DMark numbers mean almost nothing to me... I need a comparison like FPS) for the GT 550m, GTX 460m, ATI 5850/5870m, then I would be able to decide if I need to go over 1k, or if I would be willing to take the performance hit of going with something lower.

 

[WR2]

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards

No actual benchmarks on the GT 550M or GTX 560M. But the main chart above tries to rank order the card where they expect they will land once tested. For GT 540M / GTX 460M / HD 5850/5870:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[ElectroGoofy]

Alright, ty for the resonse.

Judging by the performance of the GT540m, I am thinking I may want to go with something higher than a 550m... do you have any recommendations of places I could look at refurb pricing at?

 

[WR2]

NewEgg and TigerDirect would top the list of places to look.
You might have to keep looking to find a GTX 460M - most people won't be wanting to give them up