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2016+ Gaming Laptop Thread: Embracing Pascal's Wafer (Please Read OP)

K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
PorkWing said:
Thank you for your input! :)

Is the 16 vs 8GB of RAM a big deal?

I assume RAM is pretty cheap these days and I could self upgrade to 16GB for under $100?
Click to expand...

No, because 16GB is ridiculous and games are barely pushing 4GB to its limit. 8GB is still an incredible amount of RAM, in regards to gaming.

As far as upgrading the RAM, 8GB (2 x 4GB) is indeed pretty cheap. But I'm not sure whether the machine comes with two 4GB sticks, or four 2GB sticks. In the latter case, you'd be upgrading to 12GB total.

I also had a thought. If you go the GT70 route, you could buy through a reseller like XoticPC. Would that circumvent tax in your case?

Outdoor Miner said:
Browsing laptops I saw Newegg has the Gigabyte P25 and P27 at a great price of $1099.99.

P25
P27

They are reasonably thin and light for the size and power they come in at. i7-4700+GTX765+12GB RAM is hard to beat at that price.
Click to expand...

Wow they're $1299 elsewhere.

Quixzlizx said:
To be honest, I don't really play AAA games often on here. Path of Exile is probably the most graphically-intensive game I've played lately, and it generally runs fine at 1080p except at the final boss fight.
Click to expand...

Cool.
 
H

HundredEyeMonk

Member
K.Jack said:
No, because 16GB is ridiculous and games are barely pushing 4GB to its limit. 8GB is still an incredible amount of RAM, in regards to gaming.

As far as upgrading the RAM, 8GB (2 x 4GB) is indeed pretty cheap. But I'm not sure whether the machine comes with two 4GB sticks, or four 2GB sticks. In the latter case, you'd be upgrading to 12GB total.

I also had a thought. If you go the GT70 route, you could buy through a reseller like XoticPC. Would that circumvent tax in your case?
.
Click to expand...

I actually decided to check Overstock and found it listed here:

http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...el-Core-i7-2.40-GHz-Brus/8005259/product.html

$1379- same price as Amazon and no sales tax. Amazon started collecting sales tax for Tennessee residents starting in 2013 and it has been rough!

I read this in a review about the machine:

Although the MSI shell allows for easy access to internal components, users will have to break the warranty seal first before removing the maintenance panel underneath. This is extremely unfortunate as even a simple hard drive swap or RAM upgrade will entail voiding the warranty. Thus, any internal tampering is recommended only after the warranty has expired.


That is kind of a shame, especially if it is a 2 year warranty.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
PorkWing said:
I actually decided to check Overstock and found it listed here:

http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...el-Core-i7-2.40-GHz-Brus/8005259/product.html

$1379- same price as Amazon and no sales tax. Amazon started collecting sales tax for Tennessee residents starting in 2013 and it has been rough!

I read this in a review about the machine:

Although the MSI shell allows for easy access to internal components, users will have to break the warranty seal first before removing the maintenance panel underneath. This is extremely unfortunate as even a simple hard drive swap or RAM upgrade will entail voiding the warranty. Thus, any internal tampering is recommended only after the warranty has expired.


That is kind of a shame, especially if it is a 2 year warranty.
Click to expand...

Speak with North American MSI support, and they'll tell you that it's okay to break the seal, as long as you don't damage anything.
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
Thanks K.Jack.
Early gaming impressions:
Typing of the dead OK seems to perform much better, I think on my old lappy it was decent FPS but here it seems to be better frame rate. Oh how do I set the output to 60 Hz or higher btw? I'm running Windows 8.1 and wouldlike to know if its possible.
 
M

Micerider

Member
Has anyone an experience to share with the latest XPS 15 from Dell (with the 750m with Gddr 5)? Got the opportunity to have one for half the price with my job and was hesitating. Already got an X51 with GTX 660 for gaming, but hooked to my TV for couch gaming, so I scarcerly use it for "desktop" playstyle (I use an XPS 17 from 3 years, showing it´s limits).
 
H

HundredEyeMonk

Member
Well, I got an email from Tiger Direct... they added another $50 off instantly on the Asus G750JX and a $50 mail in rebate.... bringing the total to $1399.

I went ahead and ordered one as well as a SSD to pop in there. It was a tough choice, but I am comfortable with it.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Tizoc said:
Thanks K.Jack.
Early gaming impressions:
Typing of the dead OK seems to perform much better, I think on my old lappy it was decent FPS but here it seems to be better frame rate. Oh how do I set the output to 60 Hz or higher btw? I'm running Windows 8.1 and wouldlike to know if its possible.
Click to expand...

60Hz is the the default, no?

And how is the screen quality? Any issues?

Micerider said:
Has anyone an experience to share with the latest XPS 15 from Dell (with the 750m with Gddr 5)? Got the opportunity to have one for half the price with my job and was hesitating. Already got an X51 with GTX 660 for gaming, but hooked to my TV for couch gaming, so I scarcerly use it for "desktop" playstyle (I use an XPS 17 from 3 years, showing it´s limits).
Click to expand...

PCWorld sure loves it.

PorkWing said:
Well, I got an email from Tiger Direct... they added another $50 off instantly on the Asus G750JX and a $50 mail in rebate.... bringing the total to $1399.

I went ahead and ordered one as well as a SSD to pop in there. It was a tough choice, but I am comfortable with it.
Click to expand...

What SSD did you get?


RedFalco said:
I was wondering if anyone could let me know if this laptop is worth is based on price with the specs and features included

http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/de...3041306&pid=1219086350875&pcatId=abcat0502000

Not sure if this is the best thread to post it in but Thanks to anyone in advance for your opinion.
Click to expand...

Link isn't working for me. "Sorry, the page you requested was not found."
 
H

HundredEyeMonk

Member
K.Jack said:
What SSD did you get?
Click to expand...

I ended up getting this guy:

Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD

I usually don't install a ton of games at once- I tend to go through phases. I figure if I decide I want/need more space, I can throw another one in there.

I plan on either using the Asus Backtracker tool to format/install the factory OS on the SDD, or use the Samsung tool to clone the disk to the SSD. I did read some folks had some problems using the clone tool when using it on Windows 8.1, so would need to do it before any patches/updates are applied.

Thanks for all of your help and responses K.Jack. You are a wealth of information :)
 
Arkage

Arkage

Banned
Hoping someone here can help me out. I'm selling off my tower because I don't have space for a computer desk and hogging up the TV isn't an option. I want to go to a really good laptop, but I also want the option for 3D. The only thing I've seen so far is Alienware's 17, but with 3D plus the 780M it costs around 2.5 G's ugh.

Are there any other options for 3D plus a 780M? I tried looking around xotic pc and MSI but haven't found much. I think I saw a 3D MSI model but it had a lower graphics card which really is pointless if I want to do legitimate 3D gaming on it. Thanks for the help!
 
C

Calmine

Member
K.Jack said:
Haven't seen anything better for the price, in the UK.

EDIT: In fact, that's going into the OP.
Click to expand...

I take that as that's a good deal. I've looked into it more and I can't find any similar in that price range so I think I'm gonna bite and get it.
 
H

HundredEyeMonk

Member
Calmine said:
I take that as that's a good deal. I've looked into it more and I can't find any similar in that price range so I think I'm gonna bite and get it.
Click to expand...

I would recommend it if it is at a price you can stomach.

The laptop I ordered apparently was a mistaken sale price. Two sales were applied to it, an instant saving and a mail in rebate. It was like that for one day (yesterday) when I ordered it- I noticed today the price has changed on their website and they have reduced the instant savings by $50.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
PorkWing said:
I ended up getting this guy:

Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD

I usually don't install a ton of games at once- I tend to go through phases. I figure if I decide I want/need more space, I can throw another one in there.

I plan on either using the Asus Backtracker tool to format/install the factory OS on the SDD, or use the Samsung tool to clone the disk to the SSD. I did read some folks had some problems using the clone tool when using it on Windows 8.1, so would need to do it before any patches/updates are applied.

Thanks for all of your help and responses K.Jack. You are a wealth of information :)
Click to expand...

Figured it'd be an EVO. Those are nice.

When I bought my GT70, I decided to bite the bullet and picked up the 960GB Crucial M500. Dropping ~$500 on a drive felt crazy, but I figured I could just buy one huge drive and be set on space for eternity.

Then, of course, the 1TB EVO came out right after. I was a little salty.

RedFalco said:
Hmm maybe because it was a mobile link. Could you try this one?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/satellite-17-3-laptop-8gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive/3041306.p?id=1219086350875&skuId=3041306&st=categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=4
Click to expand...

That's a decent laptop, unless you tell me you plan on gaming with it.


Arkage said:
Hoping someone here can help me out. I'm selling off my tower because I don't have space for a computer desk and hogging up the TV isn't an option. I want to go to a really good laptop, but I also want the option for 3D. The only thing I've seen so far is Alienware's 17, but with 3D plus the 780M it costs around 2.5 G's ugh.

Are there any other options for 3D plus a 780M? I tried looking around xotic pc and MSI but haven't found much. I think I saw a 3D MSI model but it had a lower graphics card which really is pointless if I want to do legitimate 3D gaming on it. Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately Alienware is your only option, in the 780M + 3D spectrum.

There was some technical reason I've forgotten, for why Clevo/Sager didn't offer 3D this go around. Asus is supposed to have a 3D enabled G750, but that laptop starts at $2499 already, so we'd be pushing $3k most likely.

Calmine said:
I take that as that's a good deal. I've looked into it more and I can't find any similar in that price range so I think I'm gonna bite and get it.
Click to expand...

Oh yes! I don't see a 750M GDDR5 at that low of a price, in any region.
 
C

Calmine

Member
Damn shame. Just found I don't actually have the funds for that laptop right now. Better get saving me thinks.

At least I contributed to the OP :p

Need more UK deals in this thread.
 
T

tim.mbp

Member
PorkWing said:
I plan on either using the Asus Backtracker tool to format/install the factory OS on the SDD, or use the Samsung tool to clone the disk to the SSD. I did read some folks had some problems using the clone tool when using it on Windows 8.1, so would need to do it before any patches/updates are applied.
Click to expand...

I just used the Samsung data migration tool on my Windows 8.1 Lenovo notebook, everything went smoothly. It doesn't copy the manufacturer installed recovery partition though. Not really an issue for me.
 
K

kingellesar

Member
Country: UK
Budget: £600 max, ideally £400-500
Maximum size: 15.6inch really, don't want anything bigger
Usage: Mainly a bit of light web design, some steam games (nothing heavy, RTS, Football Manager)

Would like a thin laptop but only if its possible within my budget.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Ultimadrago said:
Congrats on the tag, K.Jack!

Edit: Or maybe you've had it for a while and I didn't notice...
Click to expand...

Oh it's brand new. I don't know if the person who gave it to me knows I'm a huge Warhammer 40k fan, but it's pretty cool. Now I have to step my game up.

Calmine said:
Damn shame. Just found I don't actually have the funds for that laptop right now. Better get saving me thinks.

At least I contributed to the OP :p

Need more UK deals in this thread.
Click to expand...

Yes, you're correct. My short term intention is to fill it in with UK and Canada deals. I've added a bunch of UK based machines now.

kingellesar said:
Country: UK
Budget: £600 max, ideally £400-500
Maximum size: 15.6inch really, don't want anything bigger
Usage: Mainly a bit of light web design, some steam games (nothing heavy, RTS, Football Manager)

Would like a thin laptop but only if its possible within my budget.
Click to expand...
Well there's a £599 option in the OP.
 
K

kingellesar

Member
That is a good looking laptop, saw it this morning. Thats my budget maxed though but i think performance wise its pretty much the best you can get for within my budget? Need to look at some videos of it.
 
M

mrchampipi

Member
Is there anything exciting happening in the 11" gaming laptops segment this year?
I'm still very satisfied with my trustworthy alienware m11x R3, but pretty curious to hear if there's anything really new coming in this size in 2014 (I'd love to hear bout a tablet/laptop hybrid from alienware).
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
mrchampipi said:
Is there anything exciting happening in the 11" gaming laptops segment this year?
I'm still very satisfied with my trustworthy alienware m11x R3, but pretty curious to hear if there's anything really new coming in this size in 2014 (I'd love to hear bout a tablet/laptop hybrid from alienware).
Click to expand...

Nope, gaming laptops aren't going smaller than 13" anymore.

But maybe someone will do something creative, when the 20nm GPUs come out.
 
L

Linius

Member
It quite amazes me 11 inch gaming laptops even exist. I'm not big in PC/laptop gaming so my knowledge is little. But gaming on such a little screen seems terrible to me :p

http://www.mediamarkt.nl/mcs/product/ASUS-F550CC-XX118H,10259,482723,1091209.html?langId=-11

Was wondering if a laptop like this (link above) could run some 'recent' games? And if it's price/performance rate is okay? Not gonna buy it right away, but some time later this year I'll be needing a new laptop. Would be nice if it could run some games too.
 
Arkage

Arkage

Banned
K.Jack said:
Unfortunately Alienware is your only option, in the 780M + 3D spectrum.

There was some technical reason I've forgotten, for why Clevo/Sager didn't offer 3D this go around. Asus is supposed to have a 3D enabled G750, but that laptop starts at $2499 already, so we'd be pushing $3k most likely.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. Ended up going with a refurbished Alienware off of ebay. Came with 780m, 16Gig Ram, i7 4800MQ and "3D Ready" all for around $2230. And no tax, yay! I have a few additional questions if anyone can answer.

First, I need to pick up a pair of 3D glasses. The laptop is an Alienware 17 and has the sticker "Nvidia 3D vision" on it, but do I still need the IR emitter for the glasses? Or is the IR emitter in the laptop? I tried to check out the hardware list and the only thing I saw that may be it is "Nvidia Stereoscopic 3D USB controller." Any other way to figure this out?

Also second question, the monitor can output in 120 Hz but is there any point to setting it to this when not using 3D? I'm no sure how Hz ties into frame rate. Will games I play in 2d be able to run over 60FPS if I keep the monitor settings at 120? Thanks again!
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Linius said:
It quite amazes me 11 inch gaming laptops even exist. I'm not big in PC/laptop gaming so my knowledge is little. But gaming on such a little screen seems terrible to me :p

http://www.mediamarkt.nl/mcs/product/ASUS-F550CC-XX118H,10259,482723,1091209.html?langId=-11

Was wondering if a laptop like this (link above) could run some 'recent' games? And if it's price/performance rate is okay? Not gonna buy it right away, but some time later this year I'll be needing a new laptop. Would be nice if it could run some games too.
Click to expand...

If you're buying later in the year, that laptop likely won't exist, as new GPUs and CPUs will likely be out. To speak on performance, the GT 720M is a low/medium settings at 720p kind of card, and that's in games from the 360/PS3 generation. It has no longevity.

Ultimadrago said:
K.Jack, any laptop bags you recommend (for 17.3 in particular)?
Click to expand...
Backpacks? I don't know too much about them, honestly. I use something similar to this.


Arkage said:
Thanks for the help. Ended up going with a refurbished Alienware off of ebay. Came with 780m, 16Gig Ram, i7 4800MQ and "3D Ready" all for around $2230. And no tax, yay! I have a few additional questions if anyone can answer.

First, I need to pick up a pair of 3D glasses. The laptop is an Alienware 17 and has the sticker "Nvidia 3D vision" on it, but do I still need the IR emitter for the glasses? Or is the IR emitter in the laptop? I tried to check out the hardware list and the only thing I saw that may be it is "Nvidia Stereoscopic 3D USB controller." Any other way to figure this out?

Also second question, the monitor can output in 120 Hz but is there any point to setting it to this when not using 3D? I'm no sure how Hz ties into frame rate. Will games I play in 2d be able to run over 60FPS if I keep the monitor settings at 120? Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Um... I think you just need an Nvidia 3D Vision Kit.

re: Screen - You have a 120Hz screen. As far as I know, it's running at 120Hz all the time. Am I mistaken? Do you have control over this?

Games feel a lot smoother, over 60fps. Find a game you can run at 120fps, because it'll blow your mind.
 
Arkage

Arkage

Banned
K.Jack said:
Um... I think you just need an Nvidia 3D Vision Kit.

re: Screen - You have a 120Hz screen. As far as I know, it's running at 120Hz all the time. Am I mistaken? Do you have control over this?

Games feel a lot smoother, over 60fps. Find a game you can run at 120fps, because it'll blow your mind.
Click to expand...

Alright cool. As far as the refresh rate if I go into screen resolution, advanced settings, monitor, there's a monitor settings box where I can select the refresh rate. Default is 60 Hz, but I can also set it for 100, 110, and 120. Though I just set it to 120 now and even the mouse movement is obviously smoother, so I'll just leave it there methinks.

Edit: Er the package you linked me includues the IR emitter, which basically adds $60 on top of the cost of just the glasses. Hmm.
 
M

mrchampipi

Member
K.Jack said:
Nope, gaming laptops aren't going smaller than 13" anymore.

But maybe someone will do something creative, when the 20nm GPUs come out.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Will keep my finger crossed and my eyes open, then.

Linius said:
It quite amazes me 11 inch gaming laptops even exist. I'm not big in PC/laptop gaming so my knowledge is little. But gaming on such a little screen seems terrible to me :p
Click to expand...

Well, seems it was a niche market since even alienware stoped it alltogether.
But for me, the extreme portability made up for pretty much all the defaults. I never go on hollydays without my m11x and 2 xbox controlers in a mini backpack. But sure, last time we tried to play R:E 6 on split screen it was way too small ;)
 
S

StMeph

Member
Arkage said:
First, I need to pick up a pair of 3D glasses. The laptop is an Alienware 17 and has the sticker "Nvidia 3D vision" on it, but do I still need the IR emitter for the glasses? Or is the IR emitter in the laptop? I tried to check out the hardware list and the only thing I saw that may be it is "Nvidia Stereoscopic 3D USB controller." Any other way to figure this out?

Also second question, the monitor can output in 120 Hz but is there any point to setting it to this when not using 3D? I'm no sure how Hz ties into frame rate. Will games I play in 2d be able to run over 60FPS if I keep the monitor settings at 120? Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Nvidia 3D Vision requires proprietary glasses and an IR emitter. Some monitors (and maybe laptops) come with one built-in. This is something you'll have to look up, but the glasses you will need for sure if you want to try 3D.

As for your refresh rate, your monitor is capable of 120 Hz, which is a hardware setting. Your framerate is based on what you're running, and the graphics settings there. One is the rate at which your computer generates the images (framerate), and the other is the rate at which your display can show the images (Hz). You should see even bigger differences with 120 Hz if you can get 120 fps.

Keep in mind that 3D requires showing 120Hz because it's alternating two images at 60 Hz each. This means that you would ideally crush a game's settings, because if you want 60 fps, you would have to be able to achieve 120 in non-3D. Similarly, for 30 fps, you still need to be able to meet 60 in non-3D.
 
L

Lesath

Member
I'm sort of pissed off at MSI right now. I bought the GT70 a month ago and discovered a dead pixel shortly after. And since <5 pixels is the "industry standard", it's not covered under warranty, and they're not willing to repair it even when I offered to pay for a replacement display.

Anyway, Amazon has some decency and is willing to accept it as a returned item. A shame too; the laptop itself is otherwise very beautiful, but my experience with MSI has turned me off so much I don't know if I want to look towards them for another laptop in the future.

EDIT: Anyway, I'm in the market for another laptop. Does anyone have any recommendations for something somewhat more portable (maybe 13")? Limit is $1300.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Lesath said:
I'm sort of pissed off at MSI right now. I bought the GT70 a month ago and discovered a dead pixel shortly after. And since <5 pixels is the "industry standard", it's not covered under warranty, and they're not willing to repair it even when I offered to pay for a replacement display.

Anyway, Amazon has some decency and is willing to accept it as a returned item. A shame too; the laptop itself is otherwise very beautiful, but my experience with MSI has turned me off so much I don't know if I want to look towards them for another laptop in the future.

EDIT: Anyway, I'm in the market for another laptop. Does anyone have any recommendations for something somewhat more portable (maybe 13")? Limit is $1300.
Click to expand...
You want something that can game? That would be the Sager NP7330.

I added the i7-4700MQ, 240GB mSATA SSD, and (free) 1TB HHD, and Windows 8, which makes it come to $1329.00 shipped.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Lesath said:
I'm sort of pissed off at MSI right now. I bought the GT70 a month ago and discovered a dead pixel shortly after. And since <5 pixels is the "industry standard", it's not covered under warranty, and they're not willing to repair it even when I offered to pay for a replacement display.

Anyway, Amazon has some decency and is willing to accept it as a returned item. A shame too; the laptop itself is otherwise very beautiful, but my experience with MSI has turned me off so much I don't know if I want to look towards them for another laptop in the future.

EDIT: Anyway, I'm in the market for another laptop. Does anyone have any recommendations for something somewhat more portable (maybe 13")? Limit is $1300.
Click to expand...

Don't most places offer a no-dead pixel warranty for a surcharge of $50 or so? I know xoticpc does. I guess maybe Amazon's not as good as a dedicated hardware seller.
 
L

Lesath

Member
K.Jack said:
You want something that can game? That would be the Sager NP7330.

I added the i7-4700MQ, 240GB mSATA SSD, and (free) 1TB HHD, and Windows 8, which makes it come to $1329.00 shipped.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Minsc said:
Don't most places offer a no-dead pixel warranty for a surcharge of $50 or so? I know xoticpc does. I guess maybe Amazon's not as good as a dedicated hardware seller.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just jumped on the GT70 when it was somewhat low in price around Black Friday, and I needed a new laptop for work. Maybe Amazon would have been willing to accommodate an exchange, but it looks like they're out of stock.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
Alright K. Jack, I bit the bullet on the MSI build I showed you earlier! :) I went for the premium Matte screen because "What the hell." The payment went through, so I'm waiting for the parts to get allocated for it to get built. As soon as it comes in I'm planning to clean install Windows 8.1 onto it.

However, I'm worried about having the "lowest" i7 processer (i7-4700MQ). Even though I'm unlikely to tell them to upgrade, as the price to upgrade even once is quite hefty. Is it efficient for a good gaming laptop?

Lesath said:
I'm sort of pissed off at MSI right now. I bought the GT70 a month ago and discovered a dead pixel shortly after. And since <5 pixels is the "industry standard", it's not covered under warranty, and they're not willing to repair it even when I offered to pay for a replacement display.
Click to expand...

I am sorry to hear that and hate to hear that. I was able to catch a free 30-day guarantee for Dead Pixels on this upcoming laptop from XoticPC. Yet, if one pops up afterwards, I'll be screwed. Gonna cross my fingers.
 
A

Azure J

Member
Ultimadrago said:
Alright K. Jack, I bit the bullet on the MSI build I showed you earlier! :) I went for the premium Matte screen because "What the hell." The payment went through, so I'm waiting for the parts to get allocated for it to get built. As soon as it comes in I'm planning to clean install Windows 8.1 onto it.

However, I'm worried about having the "lowest" i7 processer (i7-4700MQ). Even though I'm unlikely to tell them to upgrade, as the price to upgrade even once is quite hefty. Is it efficient for a good gaming laptop?
Click to expand...

For my own personal reference, which build did you pick up? I'm getting a laptop (confirmed) on the last Friday of the month and I'm still bouncing the options around between a bigger MSI or the 15inch one with the 3K screen.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
Azure J said:
For my own personal reference, which build did you pick up? I'm getting a laptop (confirmed) on the last Friday of the month and I'm still bouncing the options around between a bigger MSI or the 15inch one with the 3K screen.
Click to expand...

Awesome to see you getting one too, Azure! And I decided on the larger screen in the end. I simply desire more screen estate over higher resolution. However, I see little reason to not go for the 3k if you're very interested in it as its price easily rivals the 17.3 last I checked. I'm not very well-versed in such matters, so I have little clue as to possible cons of such an option.

I was considering it for a while after I confronted the 17.3, but (correct me if I'm wrong) it seems that many programs/windows aren't optimized for the very high resolution as of yet? Of course, you can switch resolutions manually, but some aren't fond of going through the hassle due to programs not up to the task. Even still I suppose someone could pick it up knowing that it'll be proofed in the future as higher and higher resolutions are supported worldwide. Not to mention that there are current games that will support it and I'm sure they look very sexy.
 
A

Azure J

Member
Thanks for the tips drago. I've been bouncing the idea around in my head between getting the MSI GT60 2OD-261US at stock versus a slightly custom Alienware 17 from XoticPC. On one hand, the extra resolution from the MSI laptop might turn out to be a good thing for me since I want to kickstart some drawing and visual design on my down time (in addition to my own attempts at programming). The system's weight and size as a 15" model is also pretty awesome for portability sake. On the other hand, any laptop with a 1080p screen alone is going to be a massive step up from this old desktop I've been using for the last 4 or so years (1280x800) and I've always liked 17 inch screens better.

Everything else is pretty much the same between the two (Intel i7-4700MQ, 16GB DDR3 RAM, nVidia GTX 780M) with the Alienware requiring one additional "upgrade" to a Blu-Ray reader (because Dell's a bunch of jerks that don't offer this stuff standard).
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Ultimadrago said:
Alright K. Jack, I bit the bullet on the MSI build I showed you earlier! :) I went for the premium Matte screen because "What the hell." The payment went through, so I'm waiting for the parts to get allocated for it to get built. As soon as it comes in I'm planning to clean install Windows 8.1 onto it.

However, I'm worried about having the "lowest" i7 processer (i7-4700MQ). Even though I'm unlikely to tell them to upgrade, as the price to upgrade even once is quite hefty. Is it efficient for a good gaming laptop?

I am sorry to hear that and hate to hear that. I was able to catch a free 30-day guarantee for Dead Pixels on this upcoming laptop from XoticPC. Yet, if one pops up afterwards, I'll be screwed. Gonna cross my fingers.
Click to expand...

1. The i7-4700MQ is more than enough. The 4800MQ is only 10% faster anyway, so the idea of paying $245 for such an increase is ludicrous.

2. You're 100% covered on the dead pixels. Since you bought a screen upgrade, Xotic is going to make sure there aren't any bad pixels, before they ship it to you.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
K.Jack said:
1. The i7-4700MQ is more than enough. The 4800MQ is only 10% faster anyway, so the idea of paying $245 for such an increase is ludicrous.

2. You're 100% covered on the dead pixels. Since you bought a screen upgrade, Xotic is going to make sure there aren't any bad pixels, before they ship it to you.
Click to expand...

Awesome and awesome. Both of these responses are great reliefs to me.
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Just wanted to post I love my Alienware 14, got the 675m 1080p one. Upgraded the 750gb hdd to a 1tb evo ssd. Currently have 48 games installed, using just over half the ssd.

The alienware has great build quality, coming from apple laptops this is very important to me.

Was considering upgrading to 16gb of ram but looks like it would be wasted on me since really just play games and watch vids on it.
 
K

kingellesar

Member
So after much looking around I have decided my initial £600 budget isn't enough and that I will go up to the £900-1000 range. Now I am tempted with an Alienware as I have always wanted one but the Razer Blade laptop looks amazing too but above my budget and I would have to import.

Im thinking of the base Alienware 14 but with the ssd upgrade.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
K. Jack, any programs, procedures and/or rituals you recommend for the laptop upon arrival and clean install that will maximize or complement it for gaming?
 
W

Wichu

Member
My Clevo W230ST I got in September is already starting to fall apart - turns out the weird clicking sound it was making when I opened it was because the plastic screw sockets holding the screen casing together were starting to break. I have no idea whether I can get this replaced.

Annoyingly, I suspect it might be because I had to have the screen itself replaced a couple of times (faulty batch?), so they'd had to take apart the screen casing a couple of times.

I was hoping the specs alone would let this laptop last me a couple of years; guess I should have paid more attention to the OP :(
 
H

hohoXD123

Member
My Dell L502X (i7 2630QM/GT 525M) has served me well these past 2.5 years, though I'll probably have to bite and upgrade soon. I'd recommend keeping an eye on the Dell outlet, you can get some great bargains on there.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
kingellesar said:
So after much looking around I have decided my initial £600 budget isn't enough and that I will go up to the £900-1000 range. Now I am tempted with an Alienware as I have always wanted one but the Razer Blade laptop looks amazing too but above my budget and I would have to import.

Im thinking of the base Alienware 14 but with the ssd upgrade.
Click to expand...

The base Alienware 14 is a lot of money, to only come away with a 1GB GT 750M.
Ultimadrago said:
K. Jack, any programs, procedures and/or rituals you recommend for the laptop upon arrival and clean install that will maximize or complement it for gaming?
Click to expand...

Download this user made GT70 fan control.
Update to latest Nvidia driver.

That's all I can think of atm.

Wichu said:
My Clevo W230ST I got in September is already starting to fall apart - turns out the weird clicking sound it was making when I opened it was because the plastic screw sockets holding the screen casing together were starting to break. I have no idea whether I can get this replaced.

Annoyingly, I suspect it might be because I had to have the screen itself replaced a couple of times (faulty batch?), so they'd had to take apart the screen casing a couple of times.

I was hoping the specs alone would let this laptop last me a couple of years; guess I should have paid more attention to the OP :(
Click to expand...

It should be easy to get that taken care of, under warranty.
 
M

mantidor

Member
My good old RoG Asus has served me well, but seeing the gpu not even listed makes me think I should upgrade. is a GT 460 really that outdated? In all honestly I haven't felt my PC games are starting to left my gpu behind like in previous gens, but maybe I'm just very tolerant to low settings :p with no upcoming games that really catch my eye I'm in no rush to upgrade though.
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
Another random hard drive related question, but, how well does a Hybrid drive perform in relation to a regular drive if it's not being used as a boot drive?

In particular, given that I'm planning to use an mSATA SSD as my boot drive, how would these two drives compare as secondary drives:

Hybrid drive
Regular drive

Also, another different question. Would having a 1TB 5400RPM drive as my third hard drive, just for data/storage, slow the system down in any meaningful way when starting up/accessing stuff on the other two drives?
 
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