Need help deciding between desktop video card and laptop option

McRackin

McRackin

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
284
Hey guys. I'm a student so I need to buy a laptop for school purposes. I also have a desktop system (in my sig) that I love playing BF3 with, with maxed settings. I was hoping that with my laptop purchase, I could spend in the range of $1000-$1400 and get one with a good enough video card to play BF4 on high settings. Is this possible with a GTX 670MX (which seems to be the option in this price range)?

My other option is to get a cheaper laptop in the range of $700-$900, and buy a desktop video card in the range of $300-$400 for use in my current system.

I do put some value in playing video games on my laptop because I'm on the road quite a bit and don't have consistent access to my desktop. Any opinions on laptop video card/price range versus desktop video card option/price range?

Cheers and thanks!
 
What size laptop are you looking for? The thing I've noticed about laptop graphics cards (could have changed a lot since I looked a year or so ago) is that they're very different price/performance-wise than desktop cards. Desktop cards you get slightly less and less performance increase % wise as you go up the price range, but with laptop cards it seems to be much more linear. There's also a lot less mobile gpu skus in general and the performance seems to tail downwards much more rapidly as they usually cut shaders and memory bandwidth with each step. Take this article for example:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/In-Review-Nvidia-GeForce-GTX-780M-GTX-770M-GTX-765M.93277.0.html

Look at the performance differences between those cards. As of a year ago (last time I really looked), the price on nvidia mobile gpus is generally a decent higher compared to the price of amd mobile gpus of a comparable speed, but amd had some issues with drivers that I believe are mostly resolved now.
 
17.3"

After checking out that website you posted I see a 670MX barely cuts it for BF3, let alone BF4. That's very disappointing, lol. The best "gaming" laptop I've seen in my price range is right at the top at $1400 with a 760MX.
 
don't skimp, go with the Asus G series.. i've loved both of ours

make sure you visit

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html as they have a great comparison of all the mobile cards.

for example, you can review the Mobile 780M here

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-780M.88993.0.html

and if you scroll down it tells you all the laptops that it comes in.

we've actually converted over to laptops, starting with a G50VT and then a G73JH and finally the G74SX.. i don't know if i'll ever build another desktop because of how happy i am with the laptops.


I can't comment on the other lines, but the Asus G series have been rock solid for me and my wife.
 
We really need to know the resolution you're playing on each computer to give the best advice. A 7950/670 or higher will play BF4 on highest settings at 1080p with ~50 fps. A 280X is probably the best bet right now for ~$300 (MSRP, not coin-inflated prices).

For laptops, the Lenovo Y510p has SLI'd 750m for around $900 on sale. Newegg had this for $900 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834313583

If it were me, I'd choose the compromise route, $300 desktop GPU and a good gaming laptop.
 
McRackin said:
17.3"

After checking out that website you posted I see a 670MX barely cuts it for BF3, let alone BF4. That's very disappointing, lol. The best "gaming" laptop I've seen in my price range is right at the top at $1400 with a 760MX.
Click to expand...

Ya, there's a pretty big performance drop off in terms of high, high-mid, and low-mid range, and that's about how it goes with laptop cards.

I, for one, will suggest possibly looking at used options if you really want to go the laptop route. The 7970m in my laptop is literally the exact same thing as a 7870 desktop card just downvolted and clocks lowered. If you're on a budget it's going to be hard to get something like a 680m or a 780m, they're fairly expensive (new atleast, no idea what resale prices are).

Or you can just get a desktop card; it's really all about your needs and situation. Also, I don't know how much it bothers you, but those 17.3 laptops with gaming cards in them are fairly heavy and pretty bulky. I have no problems with it, but I did desktop/laptop support for a company long enough to know people are weird about laptop weight. I'd carry a 30 pound laptop around on my back if it meant I could get 10 more FPS out of it, whereas some people are overjoyed at going to a macbook-air type laptop from an already fairly-light dell. You'd think they'd been carrying the one ring around their neck or something.

I'm pretty sure my alienware has atleast 4 pounds worth of copper in it alone. The thing looks like a water treatment facility with all the heat pipes inside.
 
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