Best $2k Gaming Laptop

T

toasterpop

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 27, 2007
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I'm in the market for a new gaming laptop for under $2k.
So far I like the ASUS G73JH-A1. Good price, reviews, specs. I'm looking for any other rig that can compete with it or beat it for the same price range($1600 would leave me some extra cash for upgrades and accessories).

I'm looking for something at least these specs:
+4GB memory (6GB would be great)
1GB Vid Memory (preferably Nvidia but I'll be flexible if i have to)
i7 CPU or contender
17" screen or near

Any suggestions?
 
I think the g73 is the best you'll get before going over the 2000 range. you can customize a computer through many vendors to get similar specs for a little over 1600. the next stuff up i believe is going sli which so far, seems to be over 2000 price tag.
 
rivacom said:
I think the g73 is the best you'll get before going over the 2000 range. you can customize a computer through many vendors to get similar specs for a little over 1600. the next stuff up i believe is going sli which so far, seems to be over 2000 price tag.
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The Asus G73, isn't a bad spec'ed computer, but 1 hour and 20mins of battery life is horrible.


Alienware m15x

SYSTEM COLOR - Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black
PROCESSOR - Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM - Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
WARRANTY AND SERVICE - 1 Year Basic Service Plan
VIDEO CARD - 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M
LCD PANEL - 15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED
MEMORY - 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz (4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz + $25)
HARD DRIVE - 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE - Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
BATTERY OPTIONS - Primary - 9-cell (85Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
WIRELESS CARDS - Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
---------
$1924

Not too bad. There's the m17x, which is a bit over your price range. 4870 Crossfire, and RAID 0, however.:D

Alienware m17x

SYSTEM COLOR - Space Black - Anodized Aluminum
PROCESSOR - Intel® Core™ i5 520M 2.4GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 3MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM - Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
WARRANTY AND SERVICE - 1 Year Basic Service Plan
VIDEO CARD - Dual 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX™
LCD PANEL - 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 (900p)
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
HARD DRIVE - 320GB Raid 0 (2x 160GB 7,200RPM HDDs)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE - Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
WIRELESS CARDS - Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
---------
$2149.
 
it seems a lot like the M15x underperforms to the G73, but to get the Alienware logo brings the tag up to $1900+
What about the Sagers? Heard the name a few times and they apear to have a decent to good line up of gaming rigs.

Which is better:: the Radeon 5970? or the Nvidia GTX 260M?
and how does the i7 hold up to the C2Q with gaming?
 
King Icewind said:
The Asus G73, isn't a bad spec'ed computer, but 1 hour and 20mins of battery life is horrible.
Click to expand...

Wait... you're stating 1 hr 20 min is horrible and suggesting the m15x which runs around 1 hr 30 min (with an expensive battery upgrade) and m17 which get much less than that?

Also, the baseline GTX 260m in those models will be far inferior to the 5870 in performance, you're getting a lower resolution display, lower spec'ed CPU (on the m17) and you pay $500-600 more.

Moreover, with the Asus, your getting a 1-year accidental/2-year service warranty for free. That will cost you an extra $200 on the Alienwares.

Having moved from an Alienware to an Asus myself, there's just no comparing the as far as price/performance. Finding a G73 now is another story... :(
 
toasterpop said:
Which is better:: the Radeon 5970? or the Nvidia GTX 260M?
and how does the i7 hold up to the C2Q with gaming?
Click to expand...

I think you mean the 5870 mobility, not the 5970 (which doesn't exist in laptops... at least, not yet). Any case, considering a 260m is about co-equal with a 9600 GT desktop card and a 5870 is essentially an underclocked 5770 desktop card, the 5870 will perform about 50% faster than the 260m.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

Crazy generalization here, but a same-clocked i7 will perform around 20% faster than a Core 2 Quad, sometimes much faster.
 
I think you mean the 5870 mobility, not the 5970 (which doesn't exist in laptops... at least, not yet). Any case, the 5870 will perform about 50% faster than the 260m.
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Yeah, 5870 is what i meant, typo. Well thats awsome to know. I've been hearing ATI getting trashed on their performance vs Nvidia lately. though i'm betting most of the guys here are a bit out of the loop with new gear.

As far as battery life... i dont think i would ever expect a high-end gaming laptop to have any sort of long battery life, especially when running a high res game. At least not untill they incorperate nuclear fusion batteries. I always plug mine in unless just checking email or typing up a document, so that's not really an issue.

the more i look at the G73JH-A1 the more i'm liking it.
not sure what the gain is going from 6GB to 8GB of memory but at least memory would never become an issue. And i take it the i7 720QM is more than enough to run most of todays newer FPS games.

Finding a G73 now is another story... :(
Click to expand...

how true, ive been looking for a while and more are back ordered with no clear shipping date
 
harmattan said:
Wait... you're stating 1 hr 20 min is horrible and suggesting the m15x which runs around 1 hr 30 min (with an expensive battery upgrade) and m17 which get much less than that?
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Battery life for m15x is 2:30 - 3 hours, with a 6 cell battery. If you read the specs I listed, there is a 9 cell battery. So around 3:30-3:45 hour battery life. ;)
 
King Icewind said:
Battery life for m15x is 2:30 - 3 hours, with a 6 cell battery. If you read the specs I listed, there is a 9 cell battery. So around 3:30-3:45 hour battery life. ;)
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From experience, this is under no load though. It goes down quick when everything is running.

Whatever the case, I think the best bang for your buck right now is the asus g73jh, you definately get more for less(even if you don't factor the battery life).

To the above poster, besides the "battery" issue, you are getting more memory, better video card, better screen, more hard drive space and a blu-ray player for less than $1700(depending on where you buy it) where as the alienware m15x has less for at least 200 dollars more... am i missing something?
 
I have a G73 that I use as a Desktop replacement and an M15x that I carry with me to school every day. There is not a huge difference in performance but the Asus has serious BSOD issues that I am working to get resolved. It also gets so hot while gaming it feels like a grenade went off near you. The M15x never gets above 50 even while gaming. In my opinion you will get some better specs with the Asus but the overall build quality, quietness and cooling of the Alienware are far superior. So you can either have a high quality machine worthy of its price or you can load up on features and buy a machine thats put together to meet a price point. Just my opinion.
 
Sounds like bang for the buck, the G73JH has it. As for the running hot, I already picked up a high-end cooling pad so that should help a bit.

Now I'm wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade the CPU from the 720QM to the 820QM. For $550+ for the 820QM it doesnt appear to be a worth while upgrade for what seems to be a small increase in performance. 6MB to 8MB L3 cache, 1.6-2.80GHz vs 1.73-3.06GHz
that and thinking of swapping the 1066MHz memory for some 1333MHz.
Does anyone think this would be much of a gain?
 
actompkins said:
I have a G73 that I use as a Desktop replacement and an M15x that I carry with me to school every day. There is not a huge difference in performance but the Asus has serious BSOD issues that I am working to get resolved. It also gets so hot while gaming it feels like a grenade went off near you. The M15x never gets above 50 even while gaming. In my opinion you will get some better specs with the Asus but the overall build quality, quietness and cooling of the Alienware are far superior. So you can either have a high quality machine worthy of its price or you can load up on features and buy a machine thats put together to meet a price point. Just my opinion.
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apples to apples, how hot would the alienware get with the higher end card? They are not the same insides.


Honestly, for a desktop replacement get the most powerful, and if you are dropping that kind of cash get something less powerful and more portable for campus and being on the go. If you absolutely need something that can play some games try the envy 15 with the i5 and 5830. No it is not as powerful as the 260m, let alone the 5870, but up clock the memory to help with the bandwidth issues and it should be decent enough, and far more suitable for taking around with you, and for home use you can use your asus.


Though if you really have 2 gaming laptops as opposed to one, that seems a bit redundant. To OP I would just get the Asus, and no, 550 for the upgrade to the 820 does not seem worth it imo.
 
actompkins said:
I have a G73 that I use as a Desktop replacement and an M15x that I carry with me to school every day. There is not a huge difference in performance but the Asus has serious BSOD issues that I am working to get resolved. It also gets so hot while gaming it feels like a grenade went off near you. The M15x never gets above 50 even while gaming. In my opinion you will get some better specs with the Asus but the overall build quality, quietness and cooling of the Alienware are far superior. So you can either have a high quality machine worthy of its price or you can load up on features and buy a machine thats put together to meet a price point. Just my opinion.
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Interesting, the many reviews already out for it seem to say otherwise. They say it's quiet and cool.

Again even if it gets a little hot. You can request thermal compound from places like xotic when you order it. Will help keep the temp down a few degrees.
 
toasterpop said:
Which is better:: the Radeon 5970? or the Nvidia GTX 260M?
Click to expand...

You'll find this extremely helpful in evaluating different notebook video cards. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html FYI, I just noticed someone else posted that link while I was typing away, oh well.

In my opinion the G73JH currently offers the "best bang for your buck" in gaming laptops. In fact I think it's the screaming deal of the year, so far, but then so does everyone else; which is the reason you can't find anyone who's got in stock. FYI, BB for business might have then in stock.

There are a couple of reviews out on the G73JH and I found this one addressed cooling/heat http://www.notebookcheck.net/Hands-On-Asus-G73Jh-with-ATI-s-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5870.25103.0.html
 
I have the G73JH and it plays everything on high or max settings. As far as heat is concerned, IT IS NOT AN ISSUE. Asus has a new cooling design for the G73 that sucks from the top and blows out the back. Any notebooks cooler is a waste of money for the G73. It stays nice and cool all the time even after hours of gaming. The bottom of the machine is barely above room temp after hours of gaming also. If someone has a G73 that gets hot they need to RMA it. There are however a few instances of BSOD for some of the people that got the G73 on the first shipment, but it is rare. I do not have one of those and have had absolutely no problems at all. I have no info on the battery life because I always have it plugged in, I have heard some talk about it making between 1.5 to 2 hours, but for a gaming laptop what do you expect.
 
I have been seriously considering this laptop as a replacement for my G71V-Q1. Only issues with this rig that I have are

- no eSATA
- no ExpresCard (my aircard is expresscard as well as my eSATA card)

Something for the OP to consider
 
rivacom said:
Interesting, the many reviews already out for it seem to say otherwise. They say it's quiet and cool.

Again even if it gets a little hot. You can request thermal compound from places like xotic when you order it. Will help keep the temp down a few degrees.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with the reviews on this point. I've used a an XPS, m17x, w90vp and now a G73. The G73 is by far the coolest, quietest and lightest of the bunch.
 
Aright, some sweet reviews, now its just a matter of upgrades if any (then finding one). With it already having 8GB of 1066MHz memory, what kind of gain would i expect to see from going to 8GB of 1333MHz?
For around $250 more i could make this change but i doubt i will. The stock memory should be more than adequate to run anything im going to do.
 
toasterpop said:
Aright, some sweet reviews, now its just a matter of upgrades if any (then finding one). With it already having 8GB of 1066MHz memory, what kind of gain would i expect to see from going to 8GB of 1333MHz?
For around $250 more i could make this change but i doubt i will. The stock memory should be more than adequate to run anything im going to do.
Click to expand...

Mine came with 8GB 1333. I don't know if that is what Asus intented or not but that is what came standard in the first shipment at least. There is no noticable performance gain in 1333 over 1066, so no it is not worth the money. If you are willing to spend the $250, get an SSD instead, that will be the biggest performce gain to this laptop over anything else.
 
The best gaming laptop at your price range is the Clevo W860CU. I have one for sale and I'm about to put it up the For Sale/Trade section after making 50 posts.

Please PM me if you're interested.

Thanks.
 
kevindd992002 said:
The best gaming laptop at your price range is the Clevo W860CU. I have one for sale and I'm about to put it up the For Sale/Trade section after making 50 posts.

Please PM me if you're interested.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The W860CU/P8690 is a nice solution, especially if you want a more compact 15" screen. eSata and nice warranty (if it's transferable) Looks to be around $1500 new.

Drawbacks to the G73 are less RAM, slower GPU and smaller/lower res screen (if you're ok with 17").
 
kevindd992002 said:
The best gaming laptop at your price range is the Clevo W860CU. I have one for sale and I'm about to put it up the For Sale/Trade section after making 50 posts.

Please PM me if you're interested.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

If your selling your Laptop for under $1500 depending on the specs this might be his best deal. But Both AVADirect and XoticPC, if you match the specs of the Clevo's and the Clevo's rebrands, with the Asus G73JH, your total is at least $2000 and the video card although a nice card, still falls behind the 5870.

However if your looking for a 15" with similar specs, you may pull off something around $2000.
 
kevindd992002 said:
On a side note, the 5870 only outperforms the GTX 280M in synthetic benchmarks because of lack of driver support (which ATI has been infamous about), so nowadays most games are optimized for Nvdia and the GTX 280M still runs perfectly for them.
Click to expand...

ATI is releasing drivers (10.3) that support the 5870m in a few weeks, it is already out on beta now and they work great. I use nvidia cards on all of my desktops for this reason, but I got the G73 because the value compared to the clevo you have, which I also considered is too much to pass up. I will say this is the first modern ATI card I have used and I am very happy with its perfromance.
 
caniba said:
ATI is releasing drivers (10.3) that support the 5870m in a few weeks, it is already out on beta now and they work great. I use nvidia cards on all of my desktops for this reason, but I got the G73 because the value compared to the clevo you have, which I also considered is too much to pass up. I will say this is the first modern ATI card I have used and I am very happy with its perfromance.
Click to expand...

Was just going to mention that.

Usually I would agree, I'm a Nvidia man. But it's been proven that this card does well in the Mobile market. So really you want $400-500 dollars more for less. Going to be hard for anyone looking to sell similar spec laptops.
 
Though I see all over the Internet that there are still two sides, the Clevo W860CU side and the Asus G73 side, so I guess it's really up to the buyer :)

My price is very reasonable right?
 
ATI always does well at introduction. But they have not YET (considering the years they have been selling mobile GPU's) come out with a public driver program for mobile cpu's. Given how many issues ATI drivers continue to have on the desktop, you would do well to be a bit cautious. The 5870 is a wonderful "looking" chip. By that I mean it performs very well, and has a superb feature set, and great power consumption. But this thread is on the desktop version of the same chip:
http://forums.amd.com/game/messagev...121063&STARTPAGE=11&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

It might open your eyes a bit. When a laptop is a couple years old and the original maker has forgotten all about you, how well does that GPU work on a new game? Many former users of ATI chips (like on the Asus W90) will never go back after their experiences.

Notebookforums.com and Notebookreview.com both have threads on owners of the Asus, and you can quiz them on the pro's and con's as well.

For the price, the Asus gives you a lot. Asus does not recommend any higher CPU's than the 720, so the cooling/power to the CPU is probably at maximum. Many users have complained of hot machines. Heat kills over time. That may be ok for the price paid, but be aware. You wouldn't believe the number of users with 2-3 year old machines who regret their choices. So just be aware of the compromises. I believe the Asus is "good" and the M15x is "very good" but you pay more.

For long term durability and compatiblity I'd still say Nvidia. But the 5870 feature set and performance are great selling points, so it is also a good choice, just one I'm more nervous about from a longer term angle.

$.20
 
Again I'm a little confused. Because every review I have seen on the new Asus G73JH has been, it's cool and quiet. Granted I'm assuming these are all the people who got the standard build.

Now your arguement is, in 2 years, will you still be able to play games? I don't see why not, even with no driver updates, it's still doable. Heck I still use a 8800GT, if you look at all the driver updates for Nvidia, there really isn't anything done to the 8 Series that would benefit or improve performance. Yet I can still play all the latest games. Now i'll agree it;s really apples to oranges but it's the same idea.
 
rivacom said:
Again I'm a little confused. Because every review I have seen on the new Asus G73JH has been, it's cool and quiet. Granted I'm assuming these are all the people who got the standard build.
Click to expand...

From first hand experience, it is cool and quiet.

rivacom said:
Now your arguement is, in 2 years, will you still be able to play games? I don't see why not, even with no driver updates, it's still doable. Heck I still use a 8800GT, if you look at all the driver updates for Nvidia, there really isn't anything done to the 8 Series that would benefit or improve performance. Yet I can still play all the latest games. Now i'll agree it;s really apples to oranges but it's the same idea.
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+1,

Also, when you spec the G73 for similar specs against Alienware or Clevo/Segar. The Asus is considerably of greater value by hundreds of $$$. Me personally, I don't mind the $1500 for a laptop, but anything over $2000, I would much rather build a watercooled beast that would wipe its ass with any laptop on the market.
 
Drivers are a big issue. Of course your 'still playing with your 8800GT' but that's because you have driver updates. Drivers may be in beta and they may be out in a month, but there are still no assurances you won't wait 3 or 6 months or longer to get a fix from AMD for a bug.

Again, feature wise the 5870 is great. And if you are ok with the risks, then it's going to give great performance. But most folks cite using older Nvidia cards as a good reason why an ATI card will be "ok" in a few years time, and yet most of them are not trying to get Win 7 to run on a X1900. The only way to do that is with hacked Vista drivers. So I'm not at all convinced that ATI is going to remember you as a customer a few years from now when their next hot chip is out. They may, and it might all be good. It's a risk.

That's all I wanted folks to be aware of.
 
caniba said:
From first hand experience, it is cool and quiet.



+1,

Also, when you spec the G73 for similar specs against Alienware or Clevo/Segar. The Asus is considerably of greater value by hundreds of $$$. Me personally, I don't mind the $1500 for a laptop, but anything over $2000, I would much rather build a watercooled beast that would wipe its ass with any laptop on the market.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Your getting more performance for less money with the G73. However, there is an advantage to having a 15" laptop if you're going to be traveling with it. If I would have seen the Clevo/Sager, I might have bought it instead of my G73.

Looky what just showed up at Xotic for $1415... http://www.xoticpc.com/gx740079us-order-p-2765.html Same CPU and GPU as the G73; lower res display and less RAM. Looks like same design as MSI's older gaming laptops -- a little gaudy for my taste.
 
if you're gonna buy a powerful laptop battery life is NOT a consideration, who cares what the battery life is, chances are you're gonna be plugged in when you're using it, otherwise it's really dumb to have a gaming high performance laptop to begin with because the battery drains faster than my paycheck on taxes.

size is a consideration yes, but i'd rather have those extra 2 inches than not

it all depends on you.

I would NOT buy an Alienware, they overcharge and underdeliver for what you're paying for

you can pay the same or less, for MORE performance from other vendors

Alienware is nothing more than a boutique brand that mass produces notebooks and has them outdated the moment they roll out the doors
 
i was shopping for a gaming laptop and definitely did not even consider battery life nor size, since any size laptop is probably smaller than a desktop setup
 
Fail said:
if you're gonna buy a powerful laptop battery life is NOT a consideration, who cares what the battery life is, chances are you're gonna be plugged in when you're using it, otherwise it's really dumb to have a gaming high performance laptop to begin with because the battery drains faster than my paycheck on taxes.

size is a consideration yes, but i'd rather have those extra 2 inches than not

it all depends on you.

I would NOT buy an Alienware, they overcharge and underdeliver for what you're paying for

you can pay the same or less, for MORE performance from other vendors

Alienware is nothing more than a boutique brand that mass produces notebooks and has them outdated the moment they roll out the doors
Click to expand...

Agree regarding Alienware :)
 
Thank you sir

all you're really paying for with Alienware is the brand name and the shiny alien head on the laptop

it's not worth the premium you pay for all that fluff when at the end of the day you're only really concerned about how well your laptop performs
 
Fail said:
Thank you sir

all you're really paying for with Alienware is the brand name and the shiny alien head on the laptop

it's not worth the premium you pay for all that fluff when at the end of the day you're only really concerned about how well your laptop performs
Click to expand...

Yup and it is infamous of its heat problems all over the place.
 
The M17X is not a rebranded sager/clevo... and they are now owned by Dell which makes them not a boutique brand any more :| Also, their price is fairly resonable now (except when compared to the G73, it rocks everything in price/performance ratio)

Oh and the M17x uses an aluminum cassing. Doesn't have overheating problems. Guys need to get your alienware facts straight :)
 
Alienware laptops have just had enough negative reviews to consider them a boutique brand. I feel that they just are in for the aesthetics of the laptop, that's my opinion :)
 
kevindd992002 said:
Alienware laptops have just had enough negative reviews to consider them a boutique brand. I feel that they just are in for the aesthetics of the laptop, that's my opinion :)
Click to expand...

Their getting better, but it's not different than people paying hundreds of dollars for an apple product.
 
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