Another thread on gaming laptops…

Yeah, I know a desktop is better for gaming and all that, but I need a laptop. I use it for work and other things, and so I want to find a laptop that can also run some games without being too expensive. I used to be on top of it up until about the Pentium 4, but after that I totally lost track of what can run what with what and I pretty much have no clue anymore.

Last time I bought a laptop I just went to the store and asked, but while I think my GPU was acceptable, the CPU was surely rubbish, so I need to do some more research this time…

Anyway, after looking around a little, I found this Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P that I think looks pretty nice and it's surprisingly reasonable compared to other gaming laptops:

Intel Core i7 2,4 GHz
2 x NVIDIA Geforce GT 755M (4 GB of GDDR5 total)
16 GB DDR3L 1600 MHz
1 TB, Hybrid, 5400 RPM, SATA

What do you think? I don't need a laptop to run ultra settings though. I can settle for medium, but high would be nice.

And another and perhaps silly question (I know that the required specs haven't even been released yet), but do you think this stands any chance of running TW3? In any fashion?

I am very happy with my gaming laptop. It is now 2-1/2 years old but still runs everything I need it too.
I will be waiting until Christmas to buy myself another, just in time for TW3.

Processor Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
Memory 6GB DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
A/C Adapter Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
Display Panel 17.3-inch
AMD Radeon HD 6970M

I would prefer having one (better) GPU than two older ones. Also I'd go for an SSD.

Yeah, hybrids give only about 10-15% performance improvement over the standard HDs. Agree about GPU as well.

Thanks for your replies!

But I'm starting to think I know even less than I thought now. So, is there really no bonus from having two GPU's (if they are a little older) - a new(er) one would still beat them in performance? I'm confused now, cause I thought that looked real badass, haha

So, I found another laptop, an Asus N56JR:
Intel Core i7 2,4 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M
12 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
750 GB, Hybrid, 5400 RPM, SATA (I see this one also has this hybrid disc)

GTX cards are a little beefier I understand, so what do you think of this one? This one also has a nicer price.

This one looks better. Although I would still advise you to look (if it's within your budget) for a laptop with at least 250 gigs SSD and than get an external HD for backup, data storage and more games.

Just don't go for a laptop with OCZ (Toshiba) SSD…

It's seems that laptops with SSDs generally cost more than I had in mind, so I'm afraid I'll have to stick with old fashioned HDD's.

And yeah, I googled the first laptop I found. It seems its dual GPU setup often causes micro stuttering, and the Turbo Boost technology seems to be somewhat poorly implemented. The clock speed can apparently drop down to 2,4GHz if the GPU is stressed or if more than one core is tasked, which doesn't sound too good.

I've looked instead for other laptops with a single good GPU, and I think I've found the best one so far, a Lenovo IdeaPad Y50-70:

Intel Core i7 4710HQ 2.5 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M / Intel HD Graphics 4600 - 2 GB GDDR5 SDRAM
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
1 TB Hybrid Drive (8 GB flash) 5400 RPM

Thumbs up?

but the previous one wasn't too bad either.

Damn it, it's out of stock. I need to buy it during the 10 days I'm going home this summer, so that won't work… And it looked so nice

Anyway, you say the Asus isn't too bad either. I might go for that one then. But no chance of running TW3, or what do you think? I can settle for medium settings

Yeah, one more thing. A stupid question perhaps. Can laptops be upgraded, so that if I would like to later, I could put in a better card?

I think that you should be able to TW3 on this laptop. I have GTX 760 in my machine and fully expect that it should be enough to play this game. Like you have said: maybe not on high settings but still…

As for your second question… Actually not being able to get this Lenovo might have been a bit of a blessing in disguise… laptops are up gradable (throught not as easily or cheaply as a PC) BUT with new generation of CPUs, GPUs and DDR4 just around the corner I wouldn't think about upgrading but about buying for the least amount of money an adequate system which will get you through the next 2 or 3 years. I'm sure that during this period you should be able to save enough to buy a new laptop with a new tech inside?

Originally Posted by zahratustra
I think that you should be able to TW3 on this laptop. I have GTX 760 in my machine and fully expect that it should be enough to play this game. Like you have said: maybe not on high settings but still…

As for your second question… Actually not being able to get this Lenovo might have been a bit of a blessing in disguise… laptops are up gradable (throught not as easily or cheaply as a PC) BUT with new generation of CPUs, GPUs and DDR4 just around the corner I wouldn't think about upgrading but about buying for the least amount of money an adequate system which will get you through the next 2 or 3 years. I'm sure that during this period you should be able to save enough to buy a new laptop with a new tech inside?

Good advice here. And I agree you should be able to play TW3 on low/medium settings. I can't see that game being THAT taxing except on high settings, of course.

I'm hoping I can play on high with my 7970m. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see .

Thanks for your replies guys!

You know, I got a little excited yesterday and just went ahead and pre-ordered TW3, so I definitely need a new PC now! I think I'll just go ahead and order it then. I played TW2 on my current laptop, which ran so badly I had to put everything on low, and turn off all effects. On one of the bosses I even had to change the resolution to 640x480, which is just ancient… I can't even remember how far back in time that was standard resolution, so if I can get it to run on around medium, I'll be happy.

The cheapest way to get a laptop with SSD is to get one without SSD and get an SSD separately Which is what I did a couple of months ago.

With the popularity of Steam, another thing to keep in mind is the in-home streaming feature. It works pretty well - and if you've got a decent desktop, you won't really need a powerful gaming laptop for playing at home. Just as long as your games are on Steam, that is

I prefer to avoid gaming laptops, they are frail, they tend to overheat and reboot out of the blue, and due to bottlenecks their performance is very limited. You'll always think of how well your game would run on a desktop. I keep a laptop to play classic games and a few indies, and a desktop for anything demanding.

Originally Posted by Humanity has risen!
I prefer to avoid gaming laptops, they are frail, they tend to overheat and reboot out of the blue, and due to bottlenecks their performance is very limited. You'll always think of how well your game would run on a desktop. I keep a laptop to play classic games and a few indies, and a desktop for anything demanding.

That depends. Gaming laptops, that is laptops specifically built for gaming, like my Asus (Republic of Gamers) G750 has a hefty and very efficient cooling, it has never overheated, unlike my previous laptops, used for (but not specifically designed for) gaming. Of course, while a new well equippped desktop PC is better, this one significantly outperforms my 2 years older floortop (which still performes great with every game I throw at it).

On the downside, its expensive, not very expandable/upgradable, heavy (4.2 kg, add another for the power supply), and battery life is low (1-2 hours when gaming). Perhaps not something you would take with you on a long journey (unless you are like me, who does exactly that). More like a locally/regionally movable machine.

BTW: Using a KVM switch, along with the extra video ouputs (HDMI, Displayport), it works as a 3 monitor system. Which is sometimes nice.

pibbur who is very satisfied with it, named it Igor, and considers postponing replacing the desktop (when that day comes) because of it.