So my 6 year old Dell workhorse is starting to wheeze a lot and it’s time to start thinking of an upgrade. And since my creaky back finds the couch more pleasant than my computer chair these days, I was thinking I’d get a rig that can play a few games on. I’m not looking for anything too outrageous – Witcher 2 is the most graphics intensive game in my library, but I do play the LOTR MMO on occasion. So far as budget, I’m trying not to go too far north of $500.
Suggestions?
When buying a gaming laptop the most important feature you are looking for is GPU. Here a ranked list of all the laptop GPUs on the market. Simply put, don’t choose any laptop that has a GPU that is ranked lower than the Intel HD Graphics 4000. That should be your base GPU, although you might get away with a slower one (but I wouldnt risk it).
These sites can also help you:
Gaming Laptops under 500 Dollars
Gaming Laptops under 600 Dollars
I would personally recommend the ASUS K55N-DS81 (or any k55n series)
Moderator Action
Moving thread from General Questions to The Game Room.
Personally - I would use a good desktop, and invest in a quality chair.
I’d be aiming for something higher than an intel 4000. An intel 4000 barely runs the Witcher 2 - it’s definitely not an enjoyable experience.
Why not keep your current laptop for whatever computing you need to do and invest the same money on a little, small form factor PC for your living room? $500 worth of desktop is going to give you a lot more bang for your buck in terms of gaming performance.
Here are some cases you might want to look into if you go this way:
Even going ultra thin (smaller than a next gen console even) is a possibility with something like a nice APU from AMD - which will give you really great gaming performance at 720p.
There are also micro PC gaming towers that are smaller than your average cable box and still pack a lot of gaming punch from the likes of Alienware, Falcon Northwest, ibuypower and others. They can be pricey, but many have acceptable base models for around $600.
Along with something like XBMC and Steam big picture you can have a nice little gaming/media center setup.
You can also hold out a bit longer - Steam machines are coming out later this year and many promise to be inexpensive, yet powerful little machines meant for TV use.
I’d strongly recommend an Acer they’ve, nailed down the mid-range laptop market hard.
Give this a look the first one looks like a winner https://www.laptopninja.org/finding-the-best-gaming-laptops-under-1000-dollars/
Bought a budget $500 Acer very similiar - thin, lightweight, smooth performance. The ones there will have aluminum casings to for a better look and feel, mine was bit plasticy
This. I know it’s not the answer the OP is looking for, and it’s generally considered a bit rude to quibble with the setup rather than answer the question, but… you’re paying a lot more than you would for a comparable desktop; “gaming” laptops have horrible heating issues, etc.
If he was looking for a desktop he wouldn’t have asked about LAPTOPS.
I’ve found only Nvidia based chips and badly designed laptops ‘tend to have serious overheating problems’ .
At the end of the day depends on what framerates you want. Desktop you will squeeze more obviously, but if you can deal with framerates like these http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-8650G.87916.0.html then a laptop is by far the better option, and that’s for under $500 https://www.laptopninja.org/finding-the-best-gaming-laptops-under-500-dollars/
there are some awesome list of gaming laptops http://www.laptopsamurai.org/gaming-laptops-under-600.html
Agreed, but often times people assume that laptops perform similarly to desktops in both performance and other factors (heat, etc.) without realizing that they really don’t in most cases. They also might not realize that the price-to-performance ratio is sky high compared to a comparable desktop. I’m not going to preach to him that desktops are master race, but it’s always good to throw out some information and let him decide.
I hear this all the time and I was shopping for a gaming computer a while back and found it to be untrue. Maybe I got an amazing deal on my laptop, or maybe I wasn’t looking in the right places, but I have been unable to find a comparable desktop+monitor for less than what I paid:
Sager NP7378 (Clevo W370SS)
4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4810MQ
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 860M (2.0GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11 w/ Optimus™ Technology
8GB DDR3 1600MHz [2x4GB] Dual Channel RAM
17.3" FHD 16:9 “Matte Type” Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen (1920x1080)
1TB 7200RPM SATA II HDD
Sound Blaster 3D Audio
I paid exactly $1109.01, with free delivery, from xoticpc.
Now, I’ll grant you, were I to purchase the components separately and build it myself, I could probably get close to or under that price point, but I have yet to find a custom desktop vendor that can deliver the same performance for the same price or lower. If you know of one, please direct me there (I checked Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and ibuypower already).
ETA: Not being snarky, I’d really like to know.
If you’re thinking of your couch, why not consider a box to fit your TV? There are plenty of small cases. Add on a wireless peripherals, and you’re done.
Laptops = stock cooling most of the time. You probably won’t be able to overclock that processor very much from stock where I would be able to get massive boosts from a similar chip in my desktop
Also, that GPU is an 860m which is equivalent to like a 660, maybe…in a desktop. Not a bad card, but you won’t be anywhere near the cutting edge. Furthermore, no OC on this either, so free performance gains lost.
HDD, no SSD.
RAM is fine.
I could put the same system together for less AND higher actual performance (massively jacked up CPU, much better GPU, SSD for OS and decently large HDD for storage) without ever having heat issues.
My job here is not to soapbox desktops as that’s not what the OP wants, but to say that laptops achieve the same performance per dollar is just not accurate. This might be true in lower-end systems, but if you want a rig for 1080p gaming (or higher), for example…
I will agree that pre-built might not offer similar results, but at least you have the OPTION and building a desktop is not very hard these days. Laptops have no such option. You’re forced to pay the huge labor / brand mark-ups.
/hijack. Sorry.
Ok, this is really intriguing. I have been considering getting a laptop to replace my monstrous, loud, and probably borderline failing PC.
I guess I’d call it a ‘gaming’ laptop, but honestly the games I would play are a few years old at least, so it doesn’t need to be top-of-the-line.
I haven’t shopped for computers for a while and had no idea that there were well-performing PCs in such a small form factor.
With the micro aspect, though, do they still end up being cheaper than an equivalently performing laptop?
Created a new thread on small form factor PCs: