Looking for a gaming laptop. Any suggestions?

SpANiSH

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Hello Everyone,

I've had some luck with people being extremely helpful on this site, so I figured I would come back and give it a try again.

I am looking to purchase a laptop, specifically for gaming and photoshop. I want something comparable to my desktop (core i7 4770k, 16 gb ram, and sli 660ti ftws).

I am looking to spend about 1500$ but I am extremely flexible up to about 1900$ with shipping. But If i could spend 1500-1600$ and have a great machine I'd rather that. I want a ~17" screen 1920x1080 res.

I would like to be running certain games at certain frame rates:

World Of Tanks - I'd like to be running at 120 FPS, but I'd be willing to settle for ~80 FPS.

Counterstrike GO: ~80 FPS, really anything above 60 I can live with.

Extraction (Close Beta): >60 FPS

As for my Adobe work, I have an external drive that can do most of the storage I would need. I was thinking 1TB hdd space is the most I need, but I haven't settled on whether I want SSD or optical.

Windows 7 is a must, I don't really like Windows 8.

I am fond of Intel / nvidia.

I was looking at some of the ibuypower laptops. Specifically Battalion 101 p177sm-a.
 
If you're looking at 17 inch, I'd check out MSI GS70 or Asus G750JS. Both have some very good gaming laptops at that price/range.

The tradeoff is the MSI laptops are generally thinner and more portable while being quite noisy. Asus is thicker and bulkier but handles cooling very well so it'll run quieter. Either one will easily handle your games.
 
If you're set on getting 660ti SLI performance, you're going to need to break your $1500 budget by a wide margin and go with a dual GPU laptop. Otherwise, you can get 75% there with a GTX 880m -- anything else will be a significant step down in power. As for 17" laptop models that take the 880m, you have:

  • MSI G70 "Dominator" (or whatever they've decided to call it this week)
  • Sager/Clevo NP82xx/p17xsm models (the Battalion is one of these with an adorable little ibuypower hood emblem)
  • Asus G70jz
  • Alienware 17
You can eliminate two of them straight off: the Asus and Alienware are outside your budget ($2000+). So that leaves you with the MSI G70 and Sager NP82xx. There are pros/cons to each you should research. I personally like the Sager since the design is less "game-y" and the cooling better (although the keyboard is not nearly as good as MSI's). You should be able to pick up either with an 880m for $1600-1700.

Also, I'd go with another of the gaming laptop resellers instead of ibuypower e.g. xoticpc, powernotebooks as you'll generally get much better service and selection. I'm sure they've improved (they must have...), but I still remember how utterly horrible ibuypower was in the early 2000s.
 
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I'll have my mechanical keyboard with me most times. So the keyboard won't be an issue. I am not dead set on matching my video performance, i just want the games to run as stable as possible. As for the ibuypoewr that was really more of a reference for what I was looking into. I built my desktop and know no much about laptops. I live nearby to a microcenter, so that may also influnce my decision because I'm impulsive like that.

Thanks for the replies.
 
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Be careful going with the gaming laptop resellers. Their return period is extremely short on many models and between RMA and shipping delays it could easily leave you with only 1 day to determine if you like the laptop.
 
I'm thinking about going with the MSI. Their hardware is pretty good, and I can get it in my hands with-in the hour.
 
If you're set on getting 660ti SLI performance, you're going to need to break your $1500 budget by a wide margin and go with a dual GPU laptop. Otherwise, you can get 75% there with a GTX 880m -- anything else will be a significant step down in power. As for 17" laptop models that take the 880m, you have:

  • MSI G70 "Dominator" (or whatever they've decided to call it this week)
  • Sager/Clevo NP82xx/p17xsm models (the Battalion is one of these with an adorable little ibuypower hood emblem)
  • Asus G70jz
  • Alienware 17
You can eliminate two of them straight off: the Asus and Alienware are outside your budget ($2000+). So that leaves you with the MSI G70 and Sager NP82xx. There are pros/cons to each you should research. I personally like the Sager since the design is less "game-y" and the cooling better (although the keyboard is not nearly as good as MSI's). You should be able to pick up either with an 880m for $1600-1700.

Also, I'd go with another of the gaming laptop resellers instead of ibuypower e.g. xoticpc, powernotebooks as you'll generally get much better service and selection. I'm sure they've improved (they must have...), but I still remember how utterly horrible ibuypower was in the early 2000s.

I must be looking in the wrong places, every site I seem to go to the 800m adds $300, and I end up over budget.
 
Well our MSI barebone (each shop names theirs differently) can be configured (With 17.3" 1080p TN or 15.6" 1080p IPS) with 4800MQ, 880M, 750GB 7200RPM HDD, windows 7 or 8, DVD-RW, 1202 wireless. This for under $1800.

You are allowed to open up the barebone and put in your own SSD, you have a choice of either a spare 2.5" bay or for $60 you can pop in the 3x mSATA card instead (for both 15.6" and 17.3"). On the other end you can make it a 3 year warranty for $120 extra.

That's us, there are other options out there with different balances of cost, options and service so I recommend you read up on which you like the look of.
 
Well our MSI barebone (each shop names theirs differently) can be configured (With 17.3" 1080p TN or 15.6" 1080p IPS) with 4800MQ, 880M, 750GB 7200RPM HDD, windows 7 or 8, DVD-RW, 1202 wireless. This for under $1800.

You are allowed to open up the barebone and put in your own SSD, you have a choice of either a spare 2.5" bay or for $60 you can pop in the 3x mSATA card instead (for both 15.6" and 17.3"). On the other end you can make it a 3 year warranty for $120 extra.

That's us, there are other options out there with different balances of cost, options and service so I recommend you read up on which you like the look of.

Ok, I will take a look at the site. I am not home right now. I might have a few questions for you. What is the best way to reach you?
 
Go to the contact us link on our site, there is a toll free phone number and you can speak to someone :)
 
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