Laptop / Gaming advice

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leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek

#123157 26-Jun-2013 16:15

Hello guys,

Just looking for some advice, I currently play Guild Wars 2, Civ5 and Shogun 2 Total War on my desktop, Q9300 and Nvidia 550GTX, SSD with 4GB DDR2.

My plan was to upgrade the CPU, MB and memory however I might be going overseas and plus I'd like something I can sit on the sofa with, watch TV on demand in bed, not just at a desk.

I was thinking of selling my desktop in parts and buying something like this:
http://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/173-Acer-Aspire-V3-i7-Laptop-Black/21484153/

Would it do a good job or am I best just upgrading my desktop and maybe getting a cheap laptop for TV on demand? Also are there any other good gaming Laptops around the price, obviously looked at Alienware but seem way over priced.

Is that laptop perhaps overkill?

Thanks,

Scott

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487 posts

Ultimate Geek

#845693 26-Jun-2013 17:32

How about just buying a tablet in the interim?

If you're still going on your o/e... buy your Alienware lappy overseas, as we're being price gouged for them here.

The Alienware mx14 model for example is being sold in the US for US1199.00, which is approx NZD1499... if you bought it locally it'll cost you NZD2000.00!!

chiefie

I iz your trusted friend
5877 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#845698 26-Jun-2013 17:44

It's great... the only thing is, it won't have backlit keyboard, and for weird reason, there are not Caps Lock or Num Lock LEDs.

I have a slightly "older" V3-771G... had I waited a wee bit longer (like 2 weeks) then I could go for V3-772G.

Anyhow, this one you're looking at, awesome device. Mine had GT730m and 3rd Gen i7 with 16GB. It's a bargain, compare to Asus RoG or Toshiba Qosmio or AlienWare m17x.

p/s: I had to replace my v3-771G 3 times as the first two units had stuck pixels... :-( all within 3 days period when first started up.

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Stan

929 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#845807 26-Jun-2013 22:46

Dell have a rather good sale on at the moment:

http://www.dell.com/nz/p/inspiron-17r-se-7720/fs

leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek

#845986 27-Jun-2013 11:01

Stan: Dell have a rather good sale on at the moment:

http://www.dell.com/nz/p/inspiron-17r-se-7720/fs

The lower end one looks really good and like it will play the games I want to plus about $1000 cheaper, might go for that one.

So will it play Guild Wars 2 and Civ5 / Shogun 2 Total War on near high?
i7-363QM up to 3.4GHz
8GB DDR3
Geforce GT650m

I currently have a Q9300, Geforce 550 and 4GB DDR2, so it would be better than that right?

jonb

1772 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#846001 27-Jun-2013 11:17

The laptop graphic card numbers don't correspond like for like with the desktop card model numbers.

You can get an idea of how the 650M card benchmarks at notebookcheck.net, seems like it can run those games ok in medium detail settings..

wasabi2k

2098 posts

Uber Geek

#846062 27-Jun-2013 12:20

If you want awesome performance, great price you can buy Clevo/Horize from somewhere like affordablelaptops.com.au.

Haswell i7 + 1080p screen + 16GB + SSD + HDD + Nvidia 770M for ~2500

You will save at least $1000 on an equivalent alienware.

What hardware you need will depend greatly on the resolution of screen. Most cheap/mid range is 1366x768, anything dedicated GT630+, Radeon 7600+ will drive that at medium settings. 1920x1080 will need something beefier. 660M/760M from Nvidia at a minimum for decent performance. At the top end 680M/780M is spectacular but carries a 750 dollar premium on the model below.

Processor wise i7 is overkill in most cases, i5 is just fine if it saves you money.

End of the day a mid range, i5, 630/640m will be fine. Just make sure you get an SSD to go with it.

Stan

929 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#846425 27-Jun-2013 21:02

leo0787sx:
Stan: Dell have a rather good sale on at the moment:

http://www.dell.com/nz/p/inspiron-17r-se-7720/fs

The lower end one looks really good and like it will play the games I want to plus about $1000 cheaper, might go for that one.

So will it play Guild Wars 2 and Civ5 / Shogun 2 Total War on near high?
i7-363QM up to 3.4GHz
8GB DDR3
Geforce GT650m

I currently have a Q9300, Geforce 550 and 4GB DDR2, so it would be better than that right?

The CPU will be much faster as with the ram

The GPU maybe similar performance.
Basically its a cheap gaming laptop for under 1200 it is by far the best you can do.

If the GPU is the most important thing go for this:

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=919/ID=20002/SID=854103852/productdetails.html

The CPU does let it down a tad but the GPU performance is extremely good

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Stan

929 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#846428 27-Jun-2013 21:08

leo0787sx:
Stan: Dell have a rather good sale on at the moment:

http://www.dell.com/nz/p/inspiron-17r-se-7720/fs

The lower end one looks really good and like it will play the games I want to plus about $1000 cheaper, might go for that one.

So will it play Guild Wars 2 and Civ5 / Shogun 2 Total War on near high?
i7-363QM up to 3.4GHz
8GB DDR3
Geforce GT650m

I currently have a Q9300, Geforce 550 and 4GB DDR2, so it would be better than that right?

Performance when gaming:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezmynrb-H8A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21zKD7G0Vtg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk1_e0QF-CA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxp6AnKm7Sg

leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek

#846472 27-Jun-2013 22:32

Just been doing some comparisons and the portability isn't worth the performance hit, my current Graphics card is way better than the Laptops. Thinking I'll bin the Laptop idea and buy a refurbed ipad and just upgrade my CPU, even an i3 is an improvement on my current CPU and with MB and memory would be about $300 looking at desktop upgrade kits.

My Current
GeForce GTX 560 passmark: 3073 Rank:37
Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 cpumark: 3,190 Rank: 389

Could invest in:
i-3 3220 cpumark: 4241 Rank: 243
i5-3570K cpumark: 7117 Rank: 93
i7 3770 cpumark: 9445 Rank: 30
i7-4770 cpumark: 10093 Rank: 16

Compared with:
Dell 17r SE
GeForce GT 650M passmark: 1283 Rank: 106
Intel Core i7-3630QM cpumark: 7,774 Rank: 72

Acer Aspire V3
GeForce GT 750M passmark: 1685 Rank:79
Intel Core i7-4702MQ: cpumark: 8,056 Rank: 69

bongojona

253 posts

Ultimate Geek

#847408 30-Jun-2013 15:42

Gaming laptops must combat their limited space or else will overheat compared to desktop pcs which have much better airflow. Gpus in laptops are usually underclocked compared to their desktop equivalents so you cannot directly compare say a 650 gtx to a 650m. Therefore a gaming laptop is all about compromise between space, power and price. The best gaming laptops are actually quite large and heavy and more designed as a portable desktop replacement that to sit on your lap

leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek

#848144 2-Jul-2013 11:24

Hello guys,

I've now decided to upgrade my desktop instead, I have a good graphics card 560GTX and a SSD so was thinking of this to upgrade my Q9400 and DDR2:
http://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/Intel-Core-i5-3570-CPU-Upgrade-Kit/21364807/

Intel Core i5 3570 CPU - Seems recommended for Guild Wars 2 and games I play as most don't use hyperthreading (i7)
Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Motherboard - Performs well in reviews, just not good for overclocking and I don't plan to.
Kingston 8GB (2× 4GB) DDR3–1333 DIMMs - Only part that worry's me as its only 1333. Might upgtade to 8GB at some point too.

Will this work well for Guild Wars 2, Shogun 2, XCom and Civ 5? I can currently play Guild Wars 2 on high but not maxed, this will allow me to play on better settings as my CPU is the hardware letting me down not the grpahics card.

Also is Mighty Ape a good place to use?

Krishant007

1403 posts

Uber Geek

#848172 2-Jul-2013 12:06

since they are not a dedicated computer shop, you might find the odd deal that works out cheaper there. but generally, I use:

PB Tech
Playtech
Computer Lounge
Alpha City
PC Online
Expert Infotech (non computer stuff like mobiles and cameras)

leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek

#848213 2-Jul-2013 12:53

OK I've priced this one up using Dragon PC as they are near me and I can walk in, seem to be competitive with those listed. Please check and let me know if its any good / can be made better / cheaper easily. Not looking to overclock. Also if it will work well together. sorry not good with the recent generation.

CPU: i5-4670 Haswell, 3.40GHz(Turbo 3.8GHz - $312.92
MB: Gigabyte (GA-H87M-D3H) Intel H87 Micro-ATX Motherboard, Haswell, Socket LGA1150 - $155.83
Memory: Kingston (KHX1600C10D3B1/8G) 1x 8GB Hyper X 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL10 DIMM - $111.25

Krishant007

1403 posts

Uber Geek

#848215 2-Jul-2013 12:56

seems good to me.. personal preference, but i suggest getting 2 x 4gb sticks instead of 1 8gb stick. better performance. basically you are spreading the bandwidth across 2 memory slots instead of bottlenecking on one slot.

but its not that much of a big deal.

leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek

#848216 2-Jul-2013 13:00

leo0787sx: OK I've priced this one up using Dragon PC as they are near me and I can walk in, seem to be competitive with those listed. Please check and let me know if its any good / can be made better / cheaper easily. Not looking to overclock. Also if it will work well together. sorry not good with the recent generation.

CPU: i5-4670 Haswell, 3.40GHz(Turbo 3.8GHz - $312.92
MB: Gigabyte (GA-H87M-D3H) Intel H87 Micro-ATX Motherboard, Haswell, Socket LGA1150 - $155.83
Memory: Kingston (KHX1600C10D3B1/8G) 1x 8GB Hyper X 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL10 DIMM - $111.25

Just not sure about the Motherboard, couldn't find any good reviews but gigabyte have always seemed good.

What kind of performance will I see over a Q9400 with DDR2 with my GTX560 in Guild Wars 2, Shogun2 etc? I'm guessing it will be really noticeable?

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