New Gaming Laptop

[puddleduck]

Yeah I think that looks better than the initial setup personally

I have 8gb of ram and it's plenty for everything. Skyrim for example only uses 4gb and that's one of the bigger games that exist on PC. 32 is a monstrous amount and almost certainly overkill. 16gb is probably too much, but when building such an epically good laptop, it would seem foolish to me to not go for 16 over 8.

The SSD hard drive means your basic windows operating and booting will be quicker. You're still rocking out the top of the line GFX card in SLI and you've got plenty of storage with the 750gb secondary drive. Not to mention being able to pick up a 1-2 tb external should you so need (ideally in a while once hard drive prices start coming back down again).

Screen wise then that is 1900x1080, so full HD? Only thing with the screen is probably whether you want a matte or gloss? Not really that big an issue to be honest.

Also, I prefer my laptop to the alienware, as although it's just personal preference, I prefer the plainer form factor and simpler design to the alienware - which to my mind are a bit over the top.

----------

One thing to bare in mind game wise. Is that currently Battlefield 3 is about as far as it goes in terms of ultra settings and what it demands. In a year, next E conference, will probably be announcements for the next consoles which will in turn start to release the developers to start pushing the boundaries again.

As obviously at the moment what is achieveable on a top end PC is far superior to the consoles. So in a year or two, specs will take a leap again in regards to what games can do, so your laptop will be well placed to deal with that leap.

 

[1iram1]

Not to be spamming this thread or anything, but I'm getting a new PC and I've set my eyes on this one:
iBuypower Gamer Desktop Computer featuring AMD FX-6100 Processor (BB561) - English : Performance & Gaming Computers - Best Buy Canada

I'm not looking for the most powerful pc, so this should do.

 

[puddleduck]

Looks ok. Could probably do better if you were putting it together yourself of course. As in by getting a barebones kit of processor/motherboard/psu/case/ram and then putting in your own GFX card.

I don't know much about the AMD chips these days. So I don't really know what it compares to performance wise with the Sandy Bridge Intel equivalents.

The gfx card will play anything that's been released up until today with varying success. Battlefield on average settings, most games on reasonably high with a resolution of 1300x720. Will struggle with anything full HD and in the 1920x1080 range. It'll get left behind fairly soon though and I think the 6850 or 6870 would be a much more powerful card at only a little bit more cost.

 

[Sedition]

I guess I was looking too far ahead with the 32gb RAM, and since it's speed is only 1333MHz, I'm thinking 16gb at 1600MHz will actually perform better. If Skyrim only requires 4gb, then yeah 16 is plenty.

After going back over the other brand's stock laptops with the new specifications in mind, I noticed most only have 8gb RAM anyway, and the small SSD + secondary SATA was a common combination too. The last time I bought a HD it was 40gb enhanced IDE, so I didn't really have a clue about SSD, but it makes sense to set it up that way. You saved me a lot of frustration there, had I bought the Alienware.

Yep the screen size is 1920x1080 full HD. The matte is $150 more, gloss $200, so I just went with the standard. My eyes are usually glazed when gaming, so not sure it matters

I agree that the Alienware looks tacky. Maybe if I was 15 it would seem cool, but really, it just looks too wanky. It's also sporting a sign saying "Steal me!" looking like that.

I was thinking about getting a console, but the next-gen is too far away. Besides, I love being able to easily mod stuff on pc's. I just hope my purchase doesn't speed up the development of the next-gen. It's a worrying sign when neanderthal Sedition from out in the sticks has the latest tech

 

[puddleduck]

Ha, they're only going to mention the new consoles at the next big E-vent, so it'll probably be another year from then.

That basically means that at the moment all the biggest games are getting released on PC, and will perform far better on PC. When the next set of consoles come out, they'll probably not surpass your laptop by much (if at all) so you should be good for the next 5 years comfortably.

I honestly have no idea why anyone would need 32gb of ram haha I just don't know what would use it? I guess if you were using 3 monitors to then run three different games at the same time... but you only have two hands as far as I'm aware

I'm baffled as to why the gloss costs more than the matte screen. Thought generaly a matte screen was considered preferable. As you said though, don't need to spend the extra, and if you have a decent television you can just hook up your laptop to that, invest in a wireless mouse and keyboard. Grab a 360 controller and sit back whilst you play pretty much any game that's on consoles in a console way of sofa and gamepad.

Then when you're bored, unhook it for some close-up Civ V loveliness... or maybe get involved in the total war series on the highest settings...

The other thing with PC gaming at the moment. It is much, much cheaper than consoles. With services like steam offering constant sales and then a couple of times a year having their massive Easter/Christmas/Summer sales. It's possible to build a massive game catalogue for next to nothing (easily over 100 games I haven't played in my Steam account now haha).

Oh, anyone on steam want a copy of Renegade Ops? Think I have one going spare.

 

[Sedition]

I've never put this much thought, or cash, into building a gaming pc before and it's like my 6th or 7th now, so I have a feeling I won't be disappointed with anything in this setup. Buying a console is just being lazy.

I thought I might regret not getting the highest possible RAM somewhere down the road, but if nothing in the setup even comes close to using it, it's just redundant. I'm not known for my multi-tasking abilities either

I definitely need a new mouse, won't worry about a keyboard though as using the TV would just make it feel like a desktop. I probably need to look into cooling systems too and by the time I buy 4 or 5 games to get me going, I'll be over the 4k mark. I'll have to contact the two companies I found and see if I can work out a deal. I tried with Dell the other day and got nothing, heh, fearsome tweak 'em

 

[puddleduck]

Err why are you looking at cooling systems too? A well made laptop should surely be setup to deal with whatever it does? Should only need to worry about all that if you were building a desktop and had to purchase it all yourself. I'm assuming those laptops are all as standard in regards to the cooling. It's basically where you end up losing some of the power in a laptop to compensate for the obvious lack of space/heat dissipation.

Don't buy any PC games unless it's a Steam sale is basically my rule haha You can top up your collection of gaming classics whilst adding fairly new releases without spending much at all. It's only when you buy brand new releases straight off the bat that you're looking at spending a load on games. Even then most new PC games aren't far off ?20 (and around half their console equivalent).

Hell, on PC you should grab Dwarf Fortress (as well as the Lazy Newbie Pack) and you're good to go with a free strategy game that has more depth than most things out there!

----------

Also, just get the GOTY editions of some of the big RPG classics of the last few years and you'll be set up for hours of gaming heh (and buy Dark souls when it gets ported).

 

[Sedition]

Yeah I'm hoping it will handle the heat, I thought it was common to get something extra though. Some kind of water cooled fan desk thing. Maybe they don't even exist, I hadn't checked yet

Steam will definitely be the most convenient option for me. GTA IV, Civ V and Mafia 2 should all be fairly cheap by now and whatever else that I've overlooked the last few years. Skyrim and BF3 will probably have to wait.

 

[puddleduck]

I got GTA IV and all the add-ons for a fiver in a steam sale not long ago.

I didn't think it was, but then I don't have two of the most powerful laptop gfx cards around inside mine

Interesting that you mention Mafia 2. I tried to like the first one, but in the end driving at 30 mph in a car that felt slower than that just wasn't fun (regardless of how realistic it was meant to be). I bought a bundle with every Civ ever released and some of the railroad tycoon games for the price of Civ V alone when I first got my laptop. Must admit I think I preferred Civ IV to V.

 

[Sedition]

Those dual cards really push the price up. An extra $449 over the standalone 675. If it means I might also need additional cooling, and can't negotiate the overall price from $3600, I might have to reconsider that option.

The only other decision I'm hanging on is whether the Bigfoot Killer wifi is worth the extra $129. MiniPCI is the base option, then Intel Advanced and Ultimate for +$49 and $99. It might only be for Mark's benefit on BF3 anyway, so maybe Intel Adv is the best option.

Heh, yeah the driving is a bit annoying in the original Mafia. My main criticism was that it was too linear and Free Ride wasn't very fun. Apparently 2 is more open-ended, so I can't wait to check it out. Might start with GTA IV if it's the price of a happy meal though

When I got Civ IV, I played through one game, then went back to III until I pretty much knew it inside out and got bored. I might end up doing the same thing with IV and V since I haven't been able to fully appreciate IV on the current laptop.

 

[puddleduck]

I really enjoyed IV. It felt enough like 2 with enhancements. 2 was ridiculous though. I think I remember sitting down once and 36 hours later I was close to end game. Never played 3, and I find V is a bit too streamlined (apparently they're adding back in religion at some point so that'll be nice).

Have you played any of the Total War games? Think Civ style campaign map, except you can take control of the battles and mould your future generals. Again, able to grab one's like Rome and Empire fairly cheap now.

Personally I don't know what you're getting for the extra cash on the wifi front. A standard module should be more than good enough. Especially when using it for gaming. If you're not attempting to run crazy networks through it, then you could almost certainly just stick on the ultimate for the extra $49 and save yourself another $100.

I would suggest if you're not a graphics whore, then a singular 675 will play all games you've mentioned so far on ultra high settings. It might have to tone it down for any future new games, but so far you seem more keen on catching up what you've missed out on, as well as reliving some old classics. For example my current 550m plays Arkham Asylum on full settings without a blip. Fifa 12 it could probably play twice over and still have left over power to make me a cup of tea.

Personally if I was building myself a laptop at the moment. I'd aim to get the 675 in there for my gfx card. I'd even consider getting an i5 ahead of an i7 to save on cash to free up the SSD boot drive.

However, if I didn't have to worry about the cash, then obviously I'd up the processor and/or double the GFX cards

----------

I think it's worth baring in mind the weight/size/heat factor. Because there can come a point where a laptop really stops being that much more portable/convenient than say a desktop. If you did have to consider extra cooling options (which I would be quite shocked about if I'm honest) as well as the fact that it potentially gets scorchingly hot on the bottom if on your lap, and weighs a ton. It wouldn't be far off basically being a desktop

----------

So I guess, what I'm saying is.

If, like myself, it's always going to be gameplay over graphics, then you could very feasibly save yourself almost a grand and still have a mighty nice laptop.

With a single 675 in there, an i7 processor, an SSD boot drive and secondary storage drive. The standard or advanced wi-fi module. What sort of costs are you looking at in comparison in this 17.3inch size lappy?

(Don't let me be a spoil sport though mind, if you get your heart set on the extra power and grunt, have the spare cash, and want to be able to play games on top settings for longer, go wild and double your pleasure and fun)

 

[Sedition]

I somehow missed out on Civ II, which is strange because a lot of the classics I remember playing are from around 1996 and it wasn't until '98 that I went the console route for a few years. III would have to be up there as my most played game though, and I still never did bother with the highest couple of difficulties.

I've tried Total War, couldn't really get into it. It sounded like something I'd like, but for some reason it didn't suck me in.

Good point about the Wifi. I won't be setting up networks or anything and I'm not even sure how much online gaming I'll do in the end. Brings me down to $3500 with delivery.

Considering I've ran new games on medium at best my whole life, the single 675 would probably be more than adequate. I just have a feeling it's the one thing that I'll regret not throwing the extra few hundred at later on.

The i5 isn't in my options for this rig. The 3 listed are:

i7-3820K 3.6-3.8GHz 10mb L3 cache [base cost] (questioning the validity of 3.6ghz.. surely they mean 2.6)
i7-3930K 3.2-3.8GHz 12mb L3 cache [+$359]
i7-3960X 3.3-3.9GHz 15mb L3 cache [+969]

So I went the el cheapo route. With the single 675 and standard wifi, I'm looking at $3058 with delivery.

This is the site and model I'm customising if you wanted to check it out:
Metabox P270WM

 

[puddleduck]

Got smaller caches the less expensive processors

----------

They can be a bit long-winded the Total War series. This has just been released, and is apparently really good for epic strategy - Wargame: European Escalation Review • Reviews • Eurogamer.net

Certainly if you want the GFX power of this laptop to be untroubled for a while, then go with the SLI setup. As you said yourself, it would be annoying to not put it in, and then regret it.

Basically it's at 3,441 on mine with the dual SLI cards and a 128gb SSD drive paired with the 500gb secondary HD. This is with the maximum, next day, recorded delivery stuff as well adding 65 on to the price. There's a part of me that says cut back on certain spends and you can get something really good for a laptop at around 2,000. At the same time, if you're already spending close to 3,000, why not spend the extra 500 and double your GFX power?

----------

Importantly, you're already at $500 less than the Alienware, and with better specs

 

[Sedition]

I thought an 8mb cache seemed fine, would like to have that option for this model. If I take the single card route, I'm better off choosing the previous model and also getting a normal 2.5GHz 8mb cache for $2736 overall. Decisions

 

[puddleduck]

I'd assume that most of these laptops aim to avoid any bottlenecking of parts. For high-end products, that would seem somewhat silly if they did bottleneck

Also, clearly these guys are giving slightly more bang for their buck than the Dell/Alienware equivalent

----------

It's a tough one to logically reason (especially with someone else's money as I am trying to do heh).

For example, from everything you've said you'll play, cutting back a bit seems the logical and cost-effective solution. Hell, you could go on holiday somewhere nice, or spend the extra getting a really nice TV/Monitor, Amp, and speakers Have yourself a quality 5.1 surround setup.

Or knowing that you don't want a desktop PC at any point, you could just splash the extra cash and turn what isn't exactly a budget laptop in the first place into an even better high-end laptop.

In fact, I'd suggest at this point and onwards I'm just likely to confuse you more and complicate things further (a page ago you were ordering tomorrow after all!). It might not hurt to post a thread on here - What Notebook Should I Buy? - and give it a day to see what sort of input you get

Also, one thread there suggest a new chipset is being released shortly (Ivy Bridge) and that may reduce the costs of Sandy Bridge ones. Or if not cheaper, then you may want to make sure you're getting the slightly more efficient chipset.

Good lord, now I'm just making things even more complicated haha

-----------------------------------------

^ That is the bottom line. Which in this instance is saying you will almost certainly love any laptop with a minimum of a 675 in it and will clearly love one with dual 675s Basically, whichever setup you go for will clearly be fairly sweet and you will no doubt get many years of enjoyment from them