Laptop recommendations?

Etherton

Etherton

Will Bang for Poof
Joined
Aug 7, 2006
Messages
6,996
Looking for a good gaming laptop. Not really wanting something too heavy but capable of playing some games on the go. Not necessarily on battery but for travel. I would like to go with a 15" model. These are the current contenders. I would like something that is well built too. All these have an i7, 16gb+ and SSD of some sort configuration.

MSI GS65 w/ 1070Q

Alienware M15 w/ 1070Q

Macbook Pro 15 w/ 560x (2016+)

Others to consider?

Games:

Overwatch, They are Billions, Mega Man 11, Rainbow 6 Siege, strategy and arcade type gaming...
 
I bought an Alienware m15 last week. Though I have yet to receive it. I mostly use my laptops for work.

I looked at the MSI GS65 Slim and sided with the Alienware due a better warranty (I think it should be anyways)

I can't entertain the idea of a Mac due its software limitations and no numpad is a pretty big deal breaker.

The m15 had the right balance and being stronger moreover than heftier. I especially like the option of the 4k screen, Alienware Amplifier, the huge battery that's available and so forth. There are a lot of reasons overall why I leaned towards Alienware.

Hopefully it gets here soon!
 
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I just got the Aero 15x w/ the 1070 max q for the away work/gaming. Great laptop, definitely check it out.
 
BTW: I looked at the MSI GS65 and m15 (and Razer 15 base & advanced) as well. The reason I went with the Aero was:

1) I knew I was going to upgrade ... something, if not all the things. The GS65 has an inverted / flipped mobo so you have to take everything, and I mean everything apart to upgrade simple things like ram / SSDs - the Aero 15x, Alienware m15 and Razor 15 don't have this problem.

2) I wanted it now. At the time, the m15 had just come out and basically 4-6 weeks+ of wait time. No bueno.

3) I didn't want to blow my whole wad ... so while I was originally going to go with the Razer 15 ... the thought of spending $2600 bucks, another +800 bucks more than I paid for the aero for the same specs ... well, that was money that went to another +16gb ram sodimm and a m.2 1tb 970 EVO with change left over instead. Not knocking the build quality of any of them, the Razer is definitely nice (with the new vapor chamber cooling), but I couldn't justify the extra bucks for the few times I might game on it (when I also have a house full of nice desktop computers already). Oh and of course leftover bucks means more upgrades for your desktop :-D
 
dvsman said:
I just got the Aero 15x w/ the 1070 max q for the away work/gaming. Great laptop, definitely check it out.
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Yeah, that's another good option Etherton!

I was looking at the 15x, but it seemed to not be built quite as well. The Alienware is definitely more expensive all in. By A LOT.

The Alienware 15x has been on my list for quite a long time. When my current laptop started acting up I decided to get a new one and just when I was going to pull the trigger the Alienware m15 got launched. Now I wait, patiently.

I did have a hell of a time getting the Alienware 15m ordered. DELL really needs to step up their game. Their Indian reps are garbage.
 
Kwaz said:
Their Indian reps are garbage.
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I chatted earlier and ended up disconnecting. Told them what I wanted and they linked me to an adapter of some sorts.

Any coupons out there?
 
The SD card reader is UHSII (the fast one). Good if you are also a camera nerd (like I am). Copying off the SD is very fast.

The Razer and Alienware I would say are tier 1 quality (mostly), like Apple - but that definitely comes at a price $$$. The Razer however has a thin and light build vs the chunkier Alienware m15, which for travel was a BIG consideration for me. The Aero 15x is in the same ballpark size / weight-wise as the Razer and MSI GS65 (they are often compared in the same laptop shootouts by tech reviewers).

My old work laptop is an XPS 13 and outside of the larger physical dimensions, when the Aero 15x is in my bag, I can't even tell the difference, it's that light. I'm still amazed at the amount of power in the latest gen of laptops - thin and light, 6 core CPUs with 1070 Max q graphics and the biggest thing of all - those thin bezels!

Oh and the other thing that gets mentioned alot which also influenced my decision - the Aero 15x has a 94 watt hour battery, about as close to the legal limit for carry on airplanes as you can get (and I think the largest battery of all its' peers that I mentioned above).
 
dvsman said:
The SD card reader is UHSII (the fast one). Good if you are also a camera nerd (like I am). Copying off the SD is very fast.

The Razer and Alienware I would say are tier 1 quality (mostly), like Apple - but that definitely comes at a price $$$. The Razer however has a thin and light build vs the chunkier Alienware m15, which for travel was a BIG consideration for me. The Aero 15x is in the same ballpark size / weight-wise as the Razer and MSI GS65 (they are often compared in the same laptop shootouts by tech reviewers).

My old work laptop is an XPS 13 and outside of the larger physical dimensions, when the Aero 15x is in my bag, I can't even tell the difference, it's that light. I'm still amazed at the amount of power in the latest gen of laptops - thin and light, 6 core CPUs with 1070 Max q graphics and the biggest thing of all - those thin bezels!

Oh and the other thing that gets mentioned alot which also influenced my decision - the Aero 15x has a 94 watt hour battery, about as close to the legal limit for carry on airplanes as you can get (and I think the largest battery of all its' peers that I mentioned above).
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Definitely,

I still like the Aero 15x! I'm risky up for buying one if this Alienware m15 doesn't work out.

I don't travel for work a lot just a handful of times each year. The Aero 15x decibel has a weight advantage but I think that the biggest drawback for me came down to Gigabyte. I haven't heard of any failures, it just left a large question mark on too large of a purchase. Too much of one for me to feel comfortable buying it with the Alienware a possibility.

Actually, originally I was going to buy the second generation Aero 15x, but got the laptop I have now (Inspiron 7577) which isn't holding up very well.

I'm curious if the Alienware m15 will have good thermals. It should, and I'm certainly planning on replacing the thermal paste and thermal pads over the holidays.

Hopefully we get snowed in and I can get to some projecting and reading.

Etherton said:
What configuration did you end up with? I am not sure what screen options I should pick and if the cost is worth the upgrade.
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I got the i7, 32GB of RAM, GTX 1070, 4k Screen and 90whr battery.

I also added 3 years of Support Plus w/ the accident coverage. I figured three years out is a good time to replace a laptop.
 
Stay away from anything with MAX Q if you want to game.....

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compa...-Q-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1070-Mobile/m301524vsm164129

Unless you dont care about performance.

I carry around with me a 15 R3 that's got the i7 7700HQ and a 1070 and its cake to carry it around.. MAXQ 1070 just not worth the 17%ish loss due to thermal throttle.

Also Note... every time I've flown, I've had a 17" Laptop with me in my carry on....
 
Well, I chickened out. I've been in Nashville for the week using my sons HP Omen 15" (i7, 16gb and 1060) and I don't think I can carry something this big around as a daily driver. I ended up buying a Dell XPS 13 with an i7-8550, 16gb, 256 ssd and 4k.
 
The XPS line is great. My work laptop was a XPS 13 from last year. Works great, light, great build quality. Dell really knows their way around a business laptop. This time around, I almost went XPS 15 myself.

The only reason I got a new laptop at all is because the new thin and light, thin bezel laptops have gotten so good. They were available with 6 core CPUs and 1060+ graphics in a still small package. That's a helluva lot of power no matter what apps you run. So it was a great time to consolidate everything I wanted to do in one place. I've got games, photo / video editing software (amateur photographer), spreadsheets all running on mine. Even if it's not everyday, it's good to know that I can should the need ever arise. Also, the biggest plus for me - full Thunderbolt 3 (the XPS 13 from last year was a 2 lane not 4). RE: gaming, since you have full TB3 this year's XPS 13, you can always go external GPU down the road.

Squall_Rinoa89 The Max Q is definitely a compromise between power and portability / form-factor. You have to decide what's more important to you. 17% more GPU power or greater portability. For me - portability wins. Plus those new thin bezels .. looks so good.

My gaming laptop before was an Asus Strix GL502 (6700HQ, 32gb, 1070m regular) but it was bulky, fat bezel central. Switching to the Gigabyte allows me to consolidate both my work and my mobile gaming into one laptop. Now for work or vacation, I just grab one thing and I have a portable workstation that can do everything I need.

If and when I want full on high res / squeeze out every single frame type craziness, I'll game on a desktop 100%.
 
dvsman said:
you can always go external GPU down the road.
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I ordered the newest one, I believe the 9370. It supports e-gpus?

edit: They are Billions is one of my current favorite games. Think I will have much trouble running this game or games like it? I know when there are "billions" of zombies on the screen I will most likely see some lag - even my desktop sees a bit now and then.

Reqs:
  • CPU SPEED: 2 GHz Dual Core.
  • RAM: 3 GB.
  • OS: Windows 7, 8, 10 (32 and 64 bits)
  • VIDEO CARD: Intel HD Graphics 3000, Radeon, Nvidia card with shader model 3, 1GB video ram.
  • FREE DISK SPACE: 4 GB.
 
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Thunderbolt 3 (4 lanes) can run an External GPU to a monitor or loopback to the internal screen - though slower in that mode from the tests I've seen (since the data is being sent out then doubling back on the same connection, splitting bandwidth. If it goes to EGPU then external monitor it gets the full fat 4 pci lanes of Thunderbolt 3.

At least that was my take from the initial research I did when I was in the market to buy. A 1060 or 1070 (max q or not) is still plenty viable for most games as long as we're talking 1080p and you're on wall power. For 4K I had to admit my eyes were just not great enough for tiny fonts anymore and windows scaling which works for the desktop, still sucks across different poorly coded apps and of course that 1080p came in 144hz was a plus too.
 
One other question. Disappointing that the RAM isn't upgradable but what is the best 1TB SSD you can put in this thing?
 
If you want to save a few bucks 970 EVO is also perfectly fine. They might still be on sale at various outlets too - like Newegg or Amazon.
 
How much of a difference would the 16gb to 32gb of RAM make? Its not too late to change it.

Ill take a look at the 970. Thanks
 
Depends on your workload and how the stock Dell setup is.

My Aero came in the form of 1x dimm + 1 empty socket - so running single channel. Since it was mostly a office machine, from the youtube reviews it was maybe 10% slower. If your XPS comes with 2 dimms (2x8) in dual channel already, it won't make any difference at all performance wise unless and until you load up on open apps (like 10 browser windows + other apps or some such) that really stretch your ram. For 99.9% of work and people, 16GB is plenty!
 
OK, will look at investing in the biggest SSD I can. Probably a better idea.
 
dvsman said:
970 EVO
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Went with a 1TB 970 EVO. Found a good deal on one, $227. How is the migration software on these or is it better to do a fresh install? Any issues getting all the XPS drivers to work?
 
I've used the Samsung software a few times with no problems. But regardless of whether you use that or one of the other apps, I don't think any will be as good as a wipe and fresh install. Plus, Dell support website is pretty good about making all the necessary drivers available. If you have registered the computer (not sure if they do this for you automatically or not anymore), you can just log in and goto My Products and follow links from there.

Given how fast internet connections are, plus fast SSD storage - wiping and re-installing windows isn't that big of a deal anymore. Plus it saves you from worrying about weird bugs down the road being 'possibly' caused by the cloning you did way back when.
 
Etherton said:
Found a good deal on one, $227.
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Damn BestBuy... ordered for in-store pick up and they are still processing it so I called... they're having trouble locating it in the store so I am waiting. Just checked and it is sold out. Waiting for the cancellation email. Checked B&H and they have the same deal. Cool, I add it to the cart but checkout is closed until tomorrow evening and the sale ends today. Microcenter has it but won't ship so I get to go pick it up - not close but worth the drive. Ugh...
 
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