If you had to pick a gaming laptop...

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SamuraiInBlack

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
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What would it be?

I'm kind of in the market for a laptop but I'm having trouble narrowing down my options. A friend of mine is in the same boat. So I'd like to know what your guys' picks would be under these price points:

$2000+
$1500-$1999
$1000-$1499
Sub-$1000

We both play an MMO, but I also have a huge Steam library of games, from RPG's to FPS games, if that helps. He plays an MMO almost exclusively, game wise.
 
What specific games? Or at least the most resource intensive ones. That might help out to make better recommendations for you.
 
$2000+ ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 650m in an ULTRABOOK! Gaming capable, ULTRA Showy. Otherwise an m18x with two 680m in sli.

$1500-$1999. Sager NP9150 or m17x r4 680m

$1000-$1499 MSI 16F3 - 675m 1,100

Sub-$1000 Sager NP6165 -650m $823.53
 
My MSI GT70 is a beast, at ~$2000 it should be, it plays everything smoothly, wow and eq in raids are fluid smooth, skyrim with high res texture pack sees 50+fps at max settings, and well everything is just quick loading as could be asked for.
 
Nanan said:
My MSI GT70 is a beast, at ~$2000 it should be, it plays everything smoothly, wow and eq in raids are fluid smooth, skyrim with high res texture pack sees 50+fps at max settings, and well everything is just quick loading as could be asked for.
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GT60 owner here, I can confirm this.

I bought this one for $1300 + a free xbox 360 from the microsoft student program that I resold for $200.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152337

Great laptop, plays Skyrim on Medium-High with 1K texture packs at 30-40 FPS.
 
I'd honestly look at an Alienware, solely for the Complete Care warranty which fixes everything (accidents included) and will typically get you a free upgrade after a couple years because Dell never keeps a laptop model around for more than 12months without doing a revision or straight replacing it. Gaming laptops are notorious for overheating and frying video cards, complete care just takes all the hassle and worry out of dealing with that.
 
I'd be picking up a well equipped Y500/Y580 for <$900. But I'm cheap.
 
daveatx said:
$2000+ ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 650m in an ULTRABOOK! Gaming capable, ULTRA Showy.
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DON'T DO THIS. It throttles like a mofo if you're pushing the system (read: gaming).

Do you need it in laptop form? Above $2k you're looking at 10lbs beasts or something like the Razer Blade.

Money no issue, as mentioned before, Alienware with Complete Care for as long as possible. If you wanted something more portable, Razer Blade.

I honestly think the best buy right now is a Sony S13, but it has to be the Windows 7 version. That way you can OC the GPU and it's a BEAST.
 
I would pick anything but Asus to tell you honestly, they are really really slow on providing driver or bios updates .At one point for us G73 owners. we had to snatch a bios update for the GPU from MSI because it took quite some time for Asus to address an issue which was referred to as the GSOD (green screen of death)
 
Another MSI GT70 onwer, its expensive... but if you have the $$$, its a nice setup, all around the best laptop i have ever owned, plays WOW, Diablo, SC2 at max settings, for $2k is imo the best out there.

$1500 - $2000 Sager 9150/9170, a nice laptop all around, that comes now with the Nvidia GTX670MX, or you can upgrade to the GTX680MX (when released).

$1200 - $1500 Sager 9130 - a Value laptop with GTX660m with very good value. MSI also has a version of the GT60.

$800 - $1200 - Sager 6350 a GT660m makes this a decent low budget gaming laptop.

Whatever laptop you end up getting, get an SSD, it will help a lot on loading, something that MMOs are common loading between zones, etc.
 
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Another vote here for the Y580. Depending on options it can fall below 1K in pricing and has a 660M for gaming. You can also add an msata drive for extra speed on specific programs to install on it.
 
You can get Lenovo Y580 around $1000, get Samsung Series 7 NP700G7C-S02US $1000-$2000
 
raclimj said:
The new Samsung chronos which has 8870m and 11hrs of battery life
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8870m already? This and the 675mx pretty much came out of nowhere, atleast to me anyway. Would really like to get ahold of a GTX 680mx tho...
 
I'd probably pick up a Lenovo Y400/480 (I like the smaller size of the 14" versus the 15" for a portable machine). Of course it's not as powerful as some of the other options but it'd get the job done for a good price, and in two years you can buy again (instead of spending twice as much now hoping for a computer to last twice as long).
 
Samsung series 7 gamer, its the only 1 with a 120 hz display and it doesnt have a crappy key jamming keyboard.
 
The M14X is ok and much more mobile than the M17x or M18x but lacks the same punch.

With the 1600x900 screen and a 3630qm it is pretty competent and the alienware cooling system means that temps should not be an issue.
 
The M17X is an excellent platform, pretty easy to get inside and upgrade, good cooling, 120hz screen options and you can turn off switchable graphics if you want.
 
m17x is a beast though, not much of a portable laptop, thing runs in around 12+lbs but it is built for gaming.
 
Its a shame dell discontinued the XPS 17 I got one a few months ago its around 7 or 8lbs I can't remember off the top of my head, but its handled every game I've thrown at it. It did have an option for a 120hz screen, and wasn't as expensive as the m17x.
 
razer blade, m17x, or possibly one of the samsung/asus/acer mentioned earlier provided the cooling proved to be sufficient (haven't looked into it). absolutely positively nothing else.

i can't stress this enough, stay the hell away from all those "custom" gaming laptops like sager, cyberpower, ibuypower etc. just trust me, you'll regret that shit.
 
Yes the M17X is not quite as heavy as it used to be in the R2 days, the M18X has taken that crown.
 
You should first look at what GPU hardware the platform (laptop model) can deliver, then go from there.

Note: I've actually used (or owned) all of the options I list below.

$2000+ - dual 7970ms at the low end, or 680ms above $2500. Only the m18x and Clevo P370EM. My preference in this range, after using both, is the m18x. Come big or don't come at all is my philosophy in this range. You could go with an "ultra-premium" laptop here like the Razer Blade, but are significantly compromising GPU power for a smaller-sized laptop.

$1500-$1999 - single 7970m at the low end, or single 680m at the high-end (or wait for the 680mx). Your options open up a lot in this tier. MSI GT70, m17x, p170em or p150em. My preference is a tie between the GT70, p170em or p150em (which can't be beat for size/performance); the m17x is the nicest model, but overpriced.

$1000-$1499 - Single 7970m would be my choice here although you can go with a 675m or 670m -- both a significant step back in performance. Same model options as in the 1500-1999 tier.

Sub-$1000 - 660m or 670m in this range. Something like the Force 16F3 with a 670m will give you the best bang for the buck. Lenovo y480 and y580s are also good options.
 
Spades45 said:
i can't stress this enough, stay the hell away from all those "custom" gaming laptops like sager, cyberpower, ibuypower etc. just trust me, you'll regret that shit.
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Not at all. After owning, working on and selling dozens of Alienwares and Sager/Clevos, I'd say they have about the same failure rates. The benefit with Sager/Clevos is you will get absolutley second-to-none service from some of the boutique vendors like XoticPC, Mythlogic and GenTech. These guys know what their doing i.e. you will normally get very knowledgeable techs, if needed, are locally based and will go the extra mile to keep you happy. With Dell-lienware, you will always end up dicking around with an outsourced level 3 tech for hours and it can take weeks for repair to be returned.

But yes, stay away from non-boutique/specialist laptop vendors like cyberpower, ibuypower. Sager is ok if you know what you're doing, but they don't have the tech service bench that the boutiques have.
 
It's a versatile platform like I said, very customisable so you can tune it very well when you order it and when you get it.
 
I absolutely love love my m17x r3 upgraded 7970m & m18x r2 7970m CFX. Being able to open up your laptop/repaste yourself under warranty is nice. Using standard mxm3.0 cards and being able to upgrade just makes it even nicer. I feel like there's some control to the laptop. I really enjoyed how nice they were when I moved overseas too. Warranty transfer was a breeze.

I carry the m17x around to work / out to lunch. People look at me like I'm crazy when I pull it out of my bag. I feel like Mary Poppins. I also get alot of pleasure when I'm sitting close to somebody with a Macbook air 11" or a netbook.
 
harmattan said:
Not at all. After owning, working on and selling dozens of Alienwares and Sager/Clevos, I'd say they have about the same failure rates. The benefit with Sager/Clevos is you will get absolutley second-to-none service from some of the boutique vendors like XoticPC, Mythlogic and GenTech. These guys know what their doing i.e. you will normally get very knowledgeable techs, if needed, are locally based and will go the extra mile to keep you happy. With Dell-lienware, you will always end up dicking around with an outsourced level 3 tech for hours and it can take weeks for repair to be returned.

But yes, stay away from non-boutique/specialist laptop vendors like cyberpower, ibuypower. Sager is ok if you know what you're doing, but they don't have the tech service bench that the boutiques have.
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i will admit i have a MUCH more limited experience with these laptops than you do.

i would just like to add to really think about this decision. these laptops are good for a very small niche; are you part of that niche, or has marketing simply convinced you that you are? nobody wakes up in the morning and decides they want to buy a timeshare...
 
harmattan said:
Not at all. After owning, working on and selling dozens of Alienwares and Sager/Clevos, I'd say they have about the same failure rates. The benefit with Sager/Clevos is you will get absolutley second-to-none service from some of the boutique vendors like XoticPC, Mythlogic and GenTech. These guys know what their doing i.e. you will normally get very knowledgeable techs, if needed, are locally based and will go the extra mile to keep you happy.
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True.

harmattan said:
With Dell-lienware, you will always end up dicking around with an outsourced level 3 tech for hours and it can take weeks for repair to be returned.
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Hardly the truth. When my Dell was still covered under warranty, I had my laptop replaced no less than 5 times. I didn't have to go through a level 3 outsourced tech. I just called, told them the issue, and because I had 5 year complete-care with on-site, they would either have someone make an appointment with me to fix my computer, or just send me a new one with a return shipping box for the broken one.

harmattan said:
But yes, stay away from non-boutique/specialist laptop vendors like cyberpower, ibuypower. Sager is ok if you know what you're doing, but they don't have the tech service bench that the boutiques have.
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Agreed. If you're going to go with a sager/clevo, stick to the top boutique brands. Check out the NotebookReview forms for more information.
 
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I have an Asus G46 and It gets the job done for the most part. I do play games such as Rift, CS:Go, and Path of Exiles. The laptop is great but there are some pro's and con's. The con's are things that you could fix on your own too.

Pro's -
Not too big
Graphics
Easy to use settings
You can OC if you want but i dont suggest it
It is pretty quick to load programs

Con's -
Windows 8 it seems to have a hard time running it on this series of laptop.
When playing games you have a choice between using the Intel Hd 4000 and the Nvidia 660M andyou have to manually select the Nvidia card for gaming.
When gaming your battery will drain faster than normal. but thats kind of a given.

Mainly i think the issue for me is Windows 8 there are so many problems with compatibility and the Asus G46 would do so much better with Windows 7 IMO.

The price for this thing was about $949.99 before tax and i bought it at my local Best Buy (Huge Mistake) which meant Bloatware out the butt. But I am satisfied with it so far for on the go gaming.

I also use it for my Engineering class and it runs autodesk, cad, and multisim very well
 
I have an MSI GT70 that just rocks at everything I throw at it. The backlit keyboard kicks ass also.
 
Just bought a MSI GT60. Hoping everything goes well. Reading about the "gaming" laptop failure rates are a little concerning though.
 
My favorite gaming laptop has actually been a Dell Precision M6600. It never overheats or throttles, has a great build quality and warranty, is easy to use as a desktop replacement thanks to a very nice docking station, and runs relatively quiet even at full power. It does use a workstation graphics card, but it seems to perform just fine in games. I run 5 copies of WoW at the same time without any issues. Mine also has an optional IPS lcd which is probably the nicest laptop lcd I have ever used.
 
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