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

T

TheDangerMan

Member
Trying to find a 1050 for right around $1k CAD, which as has been discussed recently can be tough. What do you guys think of the Acer Nitro 5 15.6" Gaming Laptop? It's $990 Canadian on Amazon atm

Alternatively Bestbuy marks the Dell i7567 down to $999 occasionally (last week it was on for that but I got busy and didn't follow up on it) and I'm not in a huge rush so can wait for a sale. May end up waiting for Black Friday anyways at this point but these two have my eye right now.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Chris R said:
Do we have any idea of a timeframe for a bump to 8000 series CPUs for laptops in the $800-$1200 range?
Click to expand...

Intel won't let the release slip past Q1 of 2018.

ty_hot said:
I need to update my computer but I am not sure what to do:

I have a Lenovo G580, basic laptop, i3 (2nd or 3rd gen, not sure), 4gb ram, 500gb hdd, some basic geforce card. I dont play on it, but I am feeling it a bit slow to open apps... I usually have Chrome (lots of tabs at once), some PDFs, Word, Spotify and RStudio (R language programming) open at all time when I use it (I only use it at university).

So first of all I want to get an 240gb ssd, sata3 as I found online. 87 euros on this Sandisk is fine?

edit:

for the RAM, I can:

add 4gb (total 8, but not in dual channel)
add 2x4gb (8, dual channel)
add 8gb (total 12gb)
add 2x8gb (16gb, dual channel)

I think 16 is too much, but I am not sure which of the other 3 options to choose. Max Mhz supported by my 1333 if that matters.
Click to expand...

That's a decent enough SSD. I see the 850 EVO there for 99 Euros, if you want the fastest possible.

As far as RAM goes, always spend the least amount possible. You definitely need 8GB, but I wouldn't spend exorbitantly for dual channel. 12 gigs and 16 gigs should not be considered, imo.

TheDangerMan said:
Trying to find a 1050 for right around $1k CAD, which as has been discussed recently can be tough. What do you guys think of the Acer Nitro 5 15.6" Gaming Laptop? It's $990 Canadian on Amazon atm

Alternatively Bestbuy marks the Dell i7567 down to $999 occasionally (last week it was on for that but I got busy and didn't follow up on it) and I'm not in a huge rush so can wait for a sale. May end up waiting for Black Friday anyways at this point but these two have my eye right now.
Click to expand...

Those are both good laptops, and the only options.
 
C

Chris R

Member
Cool, I just have a bunch of Amazon card points sitting around burning a hole in my pocket and want to upgrade my laptop sooner rather than later. I am patient enough to wait for the 8th gen stuff though.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Depends on what GPU you're targeting. I wouldn't wait for Coffee Lake unless I was after a 1060 or higher.
 
U

unknownstranger

Member
Chris R said:
Cool, I just have a bunch of Amazon card points sitting around burning a hole in my pocket and want to upgrade my laptop sooner rather than later. I am patient enough to wait for the 8th gen stuff though.
Click to expand...

I bought a new laptop this spring with a 6700 like a month before ones with 7700's started coming out. Didn't really regret it as I got this (with a 6700) for $1,330. I would say wait less for 8th gens to come out and more for just a good deal.
 
W

wol93

Banned
shockdude said:
The best cheap PC controller is probably the Logitech F310. Supports both XInput and DInput, and also has a DPAD/Left Stick toggle for platformers, shmups, fighters, etc.

Do you have older console controllers? There's often a way to use those on PC, and sometimes that way is free.
Click to expand...

Ugliest controller ever seen lol
What's the difference between xinput and D-input?
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
wol93 said:
Ugliest controller ever seen lol
What's the difference between xinput and D-input?
Click to expand...

xinput is the api that Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers use.

dinput is an open api that older or generic controllers use.


Some games support one, some the other, some both. xinput is extremely common in modern games for Windows machines, it's what essentially all major games have default support for. If you play games from back in the day they generally support dinput, not xinput.
 
W

wol93

Banned
ThoseDeafMutes said:
xinput is the api that Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers use.

dinput is an open api that older or generic controllers use.


Some games support one, some the other, some both. xinput is extremely common in modern games for Windows machines, it's what essentially all major games have default support for. If you play games from back in the day they generally support dinput, not xinput.
Click to expand...

Got it
Thank you so much :)
 
T

ty_hot

Member
K.Jack said:
That's a decent enough SSD. I see the 850 EVO there for 99 Euros, if you want the fastest possible.

As far as RAM goes, always spend the least amount possible. You definitely need 8GB, but I wouldn't spend exorbitantly for dual channel. 12 gigs and 16 gigs should not be considered, imo.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Got a 850 EVO for 85 euros (used - like new from amazon) and a 4gb kingstom RAM. I expect my computer to run a lot better after the upgrade. Gonna do a clean install to make the most out of it. I will do some benchmarking before/after just to check the difference.
 
B

Bane

Member
A friend of mine is looking to buy a laptop that can run wow decently enough.

He's in the US, and he'd like to stay within $500-$600 if possible with a 15" screen and an ssd (I'm gonna guess this is unlikely). Would an older gaming laptop be his best bet? And are there better options for not much above his budget?

Thanks for any help.
 
C

Chris R

Member
K.Jack said:
Depends on what GPU you're targeting. I wouldn't wait for Coffee Lake unless I was after a 1060 or higher.
Click to expand...

I was thinking 1050TI or 1060 so I don't mind waiting, but if I see a deal one something with those chips, a good screen and m.2 drive I'll probably jump

Just wish Amazon's site was a little more user friendly when it comes to searching for laptops. I'm almost better off just narrowing it down to model numbers and plugging those in.
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
A.D. Skinner said:
UK folk, how does this look?

https://www.box.co.uk/80RU00EGUK-Le....html?source=webgains&siteid=116019#DetailTop

Looks good from what I can see? Might stay if I can call and get an SDD instead of a 1TB HDD.
Click to expand...

UK here. This one's fucking awesome dude. Lenovo is an excellent brand with their IdeaPads and the specs are incredible for the price. Only downside I can see is the GPU is rather low-end. Depends if you want high-end gaming on the machine or not. Outside of that the specs are extremely impressive and it's a steal for that price. Hope this helps!
 
C

Clipse

Member
Hi all, would it be worth upgrading my dad's old laptop with 8GB RAM and a SSD? It's only really used for streaming and general internet browsing, but it has definitely been showing its age for some time.

Samsung NP300E5C-A01UB
Intel Core i3-2350M Processor (3M Cache, 2.30 GHz)
6GB DDR3 RAM
Intel HD Graphics 3000

I'm currently looking at a refurbished Dell Inspiron 15' 7567 on their outlet store for $651 before tax.

Intel Core 7th Generation i5-7300HQ Processor (Quad Core, up to 3.50 GHz, 6M Cache, 45W)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC SDRAM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
256GB Solid State Drive

I know the Dell might seem like overkill, but it seems like a great deal. Also, one of the things I wouldn't be able to upgrade on the old laptop is the awful 1366 x 768 TN screen.

I've been doing some research over the past few days and it seems like as soon as you want a 15.6" IPS screen and SSD, the prices easily go above $700, so the refurb Dell looks like a great buy.
 
S

shockdude

Member
Clipse said:
Hi all, would it be worth upgrading my dad's old laptop with 8GB RAM and a SSD? It's only really used for streaming and general internet browsing, but it has definitely been showing its age for some time.

Samsung NP300E5C-A01UB
Intel Core i3-2350M Processor (3M Cache, 2.30 GHz)
6GB DDR3 RAM
Intel HD Graphics 3000

I'm currently looking at a refurbished Dell Inspiron 15' 7567 on their outlet store for $651 before tax.

Intel Core 7th Generation i5-7300HQ Processor (Quad Core, up to 3.50 GHz, 6M Cache, 45W)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
8GB DDR4 Non-ECC SDRAM 2400MHz (1x8GB)
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
256GB Solid State Drive

I know the Dell might seem like overkill, but it seems like a great deal. Also, one of the things I wouldn't be able to upgrade on the old laptop is the awful 1366 x 768 TN screen.

I've been doing some research over the past few days and it seems like as soon as you want a 15.6" IPS screen and SSD, the prices easily go above $700, so the refurb Dell looks like a great buy.
Click to expand...
Depends on what you mean by "showing its age." If Windows boots slowly and programs open slowly, you can do an SSD upgrade. If you can't stream anything without stuttering, check RAM and CPU usage. RAM is easy to upgrade (though 6GB should be plenty imo), while CPU demands a new laptop. Also consider browsing with Microsoft Edge; not as many features as other browsers but it's definitely fast.
 
W

wol93

Banned
I have a question regarding gaming on laptop:
What I could do to preserve the battery ?
It's reccomended to play with the battery or without the battery plugged in the ac charger?
Or it's better to play until the battery dies , then power off, let it fully recharge and then start again ?
 
Velurian

Velurian

Member
Get the battery to about 60% charge and disconnect it. Afaik this is the optimum charge amount for battery storage.
Only keep it connected when you need to use it. Depending on what type of battery you have , the last article I read about mobile batteries stated, that you should never deplete them totally and never fully charge.
TBH its getting complicated to know what is true these days since every now and then someone has a new idea about what is best.
 
A

AzureSkies

Member
My friend of mine is looking for a laptop in the UK for gaming. Would the Inspiron 7577 with coupons be the best choice, or would he be able to find something cheaper?

He's looking for something with a 1050 Ti or 1060.
 
C

Clipse

Member
shockdude said:
Depends on what you mean by "showing its age." If Windows boots slowly and programs open slowly, you can do an SSD upgrade. If you can't stream anything without stuttering, check RAM and CPU usage. RAM is easy to upgrade (though 6GB should be plenty imo), while CPU demands a new laptop. Also consider browsing with Microsoft Edge; not as many features as other browsers but it's definitely fast.
Click to expand...
No problems when actually streaming. Just slow when booting up, opening programs and web browsing. Ordered the RAM and SSD and will see how it goes.
 
W

wol93

Banned
Velurian said:
Get the battery to about 60% charge and disconnect it. Afaik this is the optimum charge amount for battery storage.
Only keep it connected when you need to use it. Depending on what type of battery you have , the last article I read about mobile batteries stated, that you should never deplete them totally and never fully charge.
TBH its getting complicated to know what is true these days since every now and then someone has a new idea about what is best.
Click to expand...

Thank you :)
What about keep it connected without battery?
 
J

JB73

Neo Member
I want to say thanks for any feedback or help on this. I love this thread, some great information. It helped me buy my first MSI system last year. However I dropped my MSI GT62VR 1060 6GB so Bestbuy couldn't fix it and is giving me a store credit. So they have 2 GT62VR systems I am looking at. I was thinking of considering the GS73VR, but it doesn't have gsync. (If i am wrong and should consider the GS73VR please tell me).

Here are the two options from bestbuy i am looking at:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-15...-drive-aluminum-black/5731307.p?skuId=5731307

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-15...-drive-aluminum-black/5731301.p?skuId=5731301

The big difference obviously is a 1070 and a 1060. It's 200 bucks difference. Is it worth the additional 200 to buy the 1070 system? I am assuming it is, but I am sure you guys know a lot more than I do on that. I am familar with the GS, GE, and GT MSI systems, but I just saw there is a model GP that I have never seen before.
Thanks again.
 
C

Crub

Member
Whatever happened to dedicated GPUs in non-gaming laptops? Are there any at all, still?

I remember my 2009 Vaio laptop handling Just Cause 2 almost as well as my PS3. Meanwhile, I get very noticeable framedrops in Guacamelee on my Asus laptop from last year, which cost about as much as the Vaio did.

Don't care about high-end gaming on laptops, but it would be nice if it were able to handle your average indie game.
 
F

Fox318

Member
Crub said:
Whatever happened to dedicated GPUs in non-gaming laptops? Are there any at all, still?

I remember my 2009 Vaio laptop handling Just Cause 2 almost as well as my PS3. Meanwhile, I get very noticeable framedrops in Guacamelee on my Asus laptop from last year, which cost about as much as the Vaio did.

Don't care about high-end gaming on laptops, but it would be nice if it were able to handle your average indie game.
Click to expand...

The Surface Book has a gpu.

In fact I just bought a laptop for somebody with a 950 in it. They are still out there.
 
M

Mr_Kuschels

Member
Man i just saw previews of the new Microsoft surface book 2 and that one ticks almost all the right boxes.

Does anybody here have the previous version? If so how did it serve you? Any complaints beside the steep price?
 
G

GrinningColossus

Member
Hey, are there good alternative forums for serious gaming laptop updates and deals? Just in case. I'll have a harder time finding deals if this thread stops being active.

My current choice is xoticpc sager 15" with 1060 6gb gpu, and an added SSD, 16GB RAM, comes to around $1200 USD right now. Hoping for a better deal to pop up black friday.
 
paolo11

paolo11

Member
GrinningColossus said:
Hey, are there good alternative forums for serious gaming laptop updates and deals? Just in case. I'll have a harder time finding deals if this thread stops being active.

My current choice is xoticpc sager 15" with 1060 6gb gpu, and an added SSD, 16GB RAM, comes to around $1200 USD right now. Hoping for a better deal to pop up black friday.
Click to expand...

That’s actually a good deal. What’s the screen?
 
W

weepingangelz

Banned
what's a good laptop to play epic movies on? need a good sound system.

ScKtk4T.png
 
G

GrinningColossus

Member
paolo11 said:
That’s actually a good deal. What’s the screen?
Click to expand...

15.6" FHD IPS Matte Screen. Probably standard average/above-average.
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7850-clevo-n850hp6.html

My config: (No windows, using Windows 10 education edition through school)
http://www.xoticpc.com/shared_product/index/configure/id/50686/

Anyway, so it doesn't get missed,
The main point of my post was my question:
Hey, are there good alternative forums for serious gaming laptop updates and deals? Just in case. I'll have a harder time finding deals if this thread stops being active.
Click to expand...
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Okay peeps, I'm back off of a 2+ week ban, sorry the thread's been so inactive.

Please believe I'm not going to abandon the gaming laptop users on GAF.

Give me a couple hours, and I'm going to try to respond to everyone who has a query still in limbo.
 
Xion_Stellar

Xion_Stellar

People should stop referencing data that makes me feel uncomfortable because games get ported to platforms I don't like
K.Jack said:
Btw, if GAF dies, I guess I'll be moving this thread to ResetERA.
Click to expand...
Thank goodness

To stay on topic thou is Lenova Y520 with the 1050 TI still a good recommendation? My nephew is thinking about buying it but he's no sure if there's a better deal out there.

Country where it will be purchased: US
Maximum budget: $1000-$1200 depending on Tax and Shipping costs.
Max size: 15" OR 17"
Planned usage: Just being able to play modern AAA games at normal or higher settings at 1080p
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Mr_Kuschels said:
How does a 1060 Max Q compare to a 970M? I'm thinking about upgrading soon but from my 2015 Razer Blade but don't want to downgrade Gpu wise.
Click to expand...

The 1060 Max-Q is like 5% within the regular 1060, meaning it's probably 50% faster than the 970M. I think Digital Foundry did a video comparing them.

Xion_Stellar said:
Thank goodness

To stay on topic thou is Lenova Y520 with the 1050 TI still a good recommendation? My nephew is thinking about buying it but he's no sure if there's a better deal out there.

Country where it will be purchased: US
Maximum budget: $1000-$1200 depending on Tax and Shipping costs.
Max size: 15" OR 17"
Planned usage: Just being able to play modern AAA games at normal or higher settings at 1080p
Click to expand...

Um, we have to have two completely different conversation, depending on if the budget is closer to $1k or $2k.
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Xion_Stellar said:
The budget is closer to $1K
Click to expand...

Well, buying direct from Lenovo's site, you can currently use the 'Build Your Own' to get the GTX 1060 model with a 128GB SSD for 999.20 shipped, with the coupon code Lenovo provides on the page. Paying an extra $100 to double the SSD size isn't a bad idea, unless he plans to just install his own, in which case it's $919.20.

I would jump ASAP, as the deal is insane.
 
Xion_Stellar

Xion_Stellar

People should stop referencing data that makes me feel uncomfortable because games get ported to platforms I don't like
K.Jack said:
Well, buying direct from Lenovo's site, you can currently use the 'Build Your Own' to get the GTX 1060 model with a 128GB SSD for 999.20 shipped, with the coupon code Lenovo provides on the page. Paying an extra $100 to double the SSD size isn't a bad idea, unless he plans to just install his own, in which case it's $919.20.

I would jump ASAP, as the deal is insane.
Click to expand...

OK than you! I will be sure to let him know.
 
M

Mr_Kuschels

Member
K.Jack said:
The 1060 Max-Q is like 5% within the regular 1060, meaning it's probably 50% faster than the 970M. I think Digital Foundry did a video comparing them.
Click to expand...
Oh wow, I didn't expect it to be that much better than the 970m. Thanks for your reply, I'm gonna check out the DF video asap.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Anyone still active here?

So I got myself an entry level gaming laptop not so long ago (GTX 1050ti, 16gb ram, i7 7700 quad core 2.80 GHz).
But I'm getting some pretty big performance issues when using it with my TV (a Samsung JS8500).

Games that generally stay pretty much locked to 60fps (with some drops to 55fps) are dropping to like mid 30 fps in taxing areas and I have no idea why.
Game is set to 1080p, all drivers are updates and I'm pretty sure it's not defaulting to the integrated graphics card (it still reaches 60fps in some areas of quantum break which seems too good for a intel HD 630).

The one thing that has Stood out to me is that when I first connected the laptop to my TV it automatically set a 30 FPS cap. To fix it I had to go to Display settings - Display Adapter Properties - List all modes - 1920X1080 true color (32 bits) 60hzs.


Might I have entered something wrong here ?
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Fbh said:
Anyone still active here?

So I got myself an entry level gaming laptop not so long ago (GTX 1050ti, 16gb ram, i7 7700 quad core 2.80 GHz).
But I'm getting some pretty big performance issues when using it with my TV (a Samsung JS8500).

Games that generally stay pretty much locked to 60fps (with some drops to 55fps) are dropping to like mid 30 fps in taxing areas and I have no idea why.
Game is set to 1080p, all drivers are updates and I'm pretty sure it's not defaulting to the integrated graphics card (it still reaches 60fps in some areas of quantum break which seems too good for a intel HD 630).

The one thing that has Stood out to me is that when I first connected the laptop to my TV it automatically set a 30 FPS cap. To fix it I had to go to Display settings - Display Adapter Properties - List all modes - 1920X1080 true color (32 bits) 60hzs.


Might I have entered something wrong here ?
Click to expand...

So off TV the performance is completely normal.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
K.Jack said:
So off TV the performance is completely normal.
Click to expand...

Yep.

Off TV the performance is great. But as soon as I connect to my TV with an HDMI cable performance goes to shit.

Both the Laptop screen and TV are 4K (laptop screen in 4K was overkill but it was the only way to get this model with an IPS panel in my country) but the game is set to 1080P
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Fbh said:
Yep.

Off TV the performance is great. But as soon as I connect to my TV with an HDMI cable performance goes to shit.

Both the Laptop screen and TV are 4K (laptop screen in 4K was overkill but it was the only way to get this model with an IPS panel in my country) but the game is set to 1080P
Click to expand...

Man that is incredibly peculiar. I can't see why it'd be happening outside of some power management issue. I mean the laptop shouldn't care to which screen it's outputting. The game isn't displaying on the laptop and TV simultaneously, right?

Do you have everything in the Nvidia control panel set to maximum performance?

So I was looking around, and I found this thread. What is the HDMI setup on your 4k TV?
 
llien

llien

Member
Crazy news about soon to be announced Intel + AMD APU (paywalled):

Intel planned to announce Monday a laptop-computer chip that combines an Intel processor and an AMD graphics unit, according to a person familiar with the matter. The chip is intended for laptops that are thin and lightweight but powerful enough to run high-end videogames—attributes that lately have been driving sales in an otherwise waning market for personal computers.
Click to expand...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/rivals-intel-and-amd-team-up-on-pc-chips-to-battle-nvidia-1509966064
 
llien

llien

Member
Ryzen ultrabooks hit the shelves in US, Lisa Su herself (AMD CEO) picked one:

PyGcuJD.png


https://twitter.com/LisaSu/status/929885959918845952


2 mobile Ryzen APUs have been released so far:

AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U


As these are targeted as ultra low power consumption (15W/25W max, up to OEM to choose) with "up to 10 hours on battery" market. They are not truly gaming chips, although are faster than Intel's parts and could play most games at lower settings.

33qwcg2.png


(and are much cheaper too, HP model retails at 600-700$)
 
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