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[SwiftDeath]

Think this may be an okay to good deal for some people

http://slickdeals.net/f/8689939-cyb...artband-the-division-tomb-raider-989-with-f-s

$989 for a 15" laptop w/ an i7-6700HQ and 4GB 965m. Skylake with a USB 3.1 Type C port to boot.

Specs:
Intel Skylake Core i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz Quad Core (3.5GHz Turbo, 6MB L3 Cache)
15.6" 1080P LED IPS Display
8GB DDR4L 2133MHz Ram
Nvidia GTX 965M 4GB GDDR5
2x USB 3.0
1x USB 3.1 Type C
2x USB 2.0
256GB Sandisk X400 M.2 SATA + 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
Intel 7265 Dual band 802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth 4., Gigabit Ethernet
4-in-1 Card Reader
HDMI Out
Backlit Keyboard
6 Cell 4400 mAh Li-Ion Battery
2.75kgs or 6.06lbs
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

Edit: Actually I'm wondering if this is the updated 965m with higher performance?

Haven't seen 4GB 965m models too often

 

[K.Jack]

The XPS 13 starts at 1830$. The XPS 15 starts slightly over 2000$. Will look into them though!

Ouch. What about the Dell Inspiron w/ GTX 960M? It's like $800 in the US.

What sort of laptop would be great for heavy use, stays in the house, can run any program from editing videos, watching HD movies, streaming, game emulation, and possibly futureproof.

Just buy the $800 Dell.

I have an important question about displays: UHD vs FHD.

I am looking to buy a new laptop, I have to admit not for gaming, but for everyday casual use and for some graphic (art) work. I will mostly run adobe Flash and photoshop on it, for illustrating and photo editing etc.

I will also use it a lot on the go, coffee shops, outdoors etc. So a good battery life is important to me.

So my question is, what are the pros and cons of having a 3840 x 2160 UHD, vs a 1920 x 1080 FHD Screen.

So far the cons I learned,

1) the Ultra HD res screens eat up "waay more" battery during use.

2) Most websites and browsers and even apps, show blurry and wonky text and formatting when things are not in their native res and it's a pain to simply read stuff online on a 3840x2160 screen.


Are the above true? Is there quick fix for the second issue? I hear there are application you can run that changes the laptop res according to the current app being used ( a'la running a game on your PC)

As far as Pros ( advantages) Well I would get more out of using a stylus pen and drawing and using Photoshop on a higher res screen, right?

Any thoughts would be appreciated, should I buy the 3840x2160 or the 1080p? the price difference is only 60 bucks more for the UHD. so the price isn't an issue but I am concerned about battery life and natural crisp presentation of text and photos. Also this Laptop wont be used for gaming...

If you aren't work with UHD images and videos, it's a waste.

My sister will need a laptop for her work. Main usage will be AutoCAD. I have no idea what would be good for her since 1) AutoCAD's site isn't very detailed in regards to requirements 2) I could recommend her a gaming laptop, but I suspect that would be an overkill

Can you guys recommend something not higher than 900EUR? That's her budget, because it will be partially covered by a grant, but I think she won't even need it all.
So to recap:
budget: 900EUR
location: Europe (Poland specifically)
usage: AutoCAD, design work

I don't even need specific models, just a rough hardware specification (CPU, GPU, RAM) would be enough.

Thanks in advance!

I know as much about CAD as you do. Just get something with a decent (non-ULV) CPU and some whatever kind of dedicated GPU fits within the budget.

Think this may be an okay to good deal for some people

http://slickdeals.net/f/8689939-cyb...artband-the-division-tomb-raider-989-with-f-s

$989 for a 15" laptop w/ an i7-6700HQ and 4GB 965m. Skylake with a USB 3.1 Type C port to boot.



Edit: Actually I'm wondering if this is the updated 965m with higher performance?

Haven't seen 4GB 965m models too often

Nice find, that's a great deal.

As far as the GTX 965M, I still have no proof that that "new" one even exists.

 

[Aurizen]

Just buy the $800 Dell.

Hmm Why dell? what is good about them? My last laptop was a dell and it sucked pretty bad. How are HP's or Asus?

 

[Eusis]

Hmm Why dell? what is good about them? My last laptop was a dell and it sucked pretty bad. How are HP's or Asus?

They went private again and stepped up their game big time. Much better reception, and using the newer one is much nicer than the ancient XPS I have.

 

[TURBO1112]

Have a friend who is selling his laptop. Just curious what you guys think of it.I dont know much about this stuff.. Here is specs

Toshiba Qosmio X8751-Q7380

500GB SATA
240GB SSD
12GB DDR3 RAM
Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.40GHz
Intel HD 4000
3GB NVDIA GeForce GTX 670M
1920x1080 Anti-Glare Screen (Upgrade)
Harmon/Kardon Sound
Windows 7 Home Premium

What is a reasonable price?

 

[Aurizen]

They went private again and stepped up their game big time. Much better reception, and using the newer one is much nicer than the ancient XPS I have.

Ohhh I see, looks like I'll be back on dell haha.

 

[K.Jack]

Have a friend who is selling his laptop. Just curious what you guys think of it.I dont know much about this stuff.. Here is specs

Toshiba Qosmio X8751-Q7380

500GB SATA
240GB SSD
12GB DDR3 RAM
Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.40GHz
Intel HD 4000
3GB NVDIA GeForce GTX 670M
1920x1080 Anti-Glare Screen (Upgrade)
Harmon/Kardon Sound
Windows 7 Home Premium

What is a reasonable price?

Doubt it'd sell for more than $400.

 

[TURBO1112]

Doubt it'd sell for more than $400.

Thanks. He was asking $500

 

[Gruso]

My sister will need a laptop for her work. Main usage will be AutoCAD. I have no idea what would be good for her since 1) AutoCAD's site isn't very detailed in regards to requirements 2) I could recommend her a gaming laptop, but I suspect that would be an overkill

Can you guys recommend something not higher than 900EUR? That's her budget, because it will be partially covered by a grant, but I think she won't even need it all.
So to recap:
budget: 900EUR
location: Europe (Poland specifically)
usage: AutoCAD, design work

I don't even need specific models, just a rough hardware specification (CPU, GPU, RAM) would be enough.

Thanks in advance!

You will find that Autodesk recommends a Quadro GPU. This is Nvidia's range of GPUs aimed at professional workstations. They are essentially the same hardware as the consumer GeForce GPUs, but with firmware & drivers optimised accordingly. And they're much more expensive.

Quick video explaining this situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Npt1BSF04

In reality, it's not really necessary to go down this path. We all get Quadros at work, but most of us use GeForce (aka GTX) GPUs on our personal PCs where we do a bit of work from home.

Spec guide:

• CPU: Core i5 or i7. Make sure it's quad core, not dual core. Quad cores will have a H in the model number, eg. i7-6700HQ. Dual cores will have a U, eg. i7-6500U. Refer: i5 | i7 (scroll way down to Mobile processors)
• GPU: You want a dedicated GPU of some sort. Try to get a 900 series. Higher numbers are better and more expensive, but you don't need to go nuts (ie. a 940M or 950M is sufficient, 960M is approaching overkill). Even earlier generations (700, 800 series) are going to be fine.
• RAM: 8GB minimum. If you can get 16GB, or at least the ability to expand to 16GB later, all the better.

 

[UberTag]

Think this may be an okay to good deal for some people

http://slickdeals.net/f/8689939-cyb...artband-the-division-tomb-raider-989-with-f-s

$989 for a 15" laptop w/ an i7-6700HQ and 4GB 965m. Skylake with a USB 3.1 Type C port to boot.

Edit: Actually I'm wondering if this is the updated 965m with higher performance?

Haven't seen 4GB 965m models too often

I was THIS close to springing on this deal. Seems like one hell of an offer.
If I could only talk myself out of the expectation of some additional $200-300 to import this into Canada (shipping on its own is $100), I'd pull the trigger.

 

[ss_lemonade]

So it looks like somebody (Microsoft) actually acknowledged the tearing issue with optimus now?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3158621

Hopefully its the same problem and hopefully this means a fix would be coming out sooner than later.

 

[malcher]

You will find that Autodesk recommends a Quadro GPU. This is Nvidia's range of GPUs aimed at professional workstations. They are essentially the same hardware as the consumer GeForce GPUs, but with firmware & drivers optimised accordingly. And they're much more expensive.

Quick video explaining this situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Npt1BSF04

In reality, it's not really necessary to go down this path. We all get Quadros at work, but most of us use GeForce (aka GTX) GPUs on our personal PCs where we do a bit of work from home.

Spec guide:

• CPU: Core i5 or i7. Make sure it's quad core, not dual core. Quad cores will have a H in the model number, eg. i7-6700HQ. Dual cores will have a U, eg. i7-6500U. Refer: i5 | i7 (scroll way down to Mobile processors)
• GPU: You want a dedicated GPU of some sort. Try to get a 900 series. Higher numbers are better and more expensive, but you don't need to go nuts (ie. a 940M or 950M is sufficient, 960M is approaching overkill). Even earlier generations (700, 800 series) are going to be fine.
• RAM: 8GB minimum. If you can get 16GB, or at least the ability to expand to 16GB later, all the better.

Thanks for the detailed answer! Much appreciated.
And it aligns with what I told her already, so we are golden. Thanks again.

 

[illusionary]

Spec guide:

• CPU: Core i5 or i7. Make sure it's quad core, not dual core. Quad cores will have a H in the model number, eg. i7-6700HQ. Dual cores will have a U, eg. i7-6500U. Refer: i5

A minor point, but the "H" is for "high-performance graphics" rather than quad-core - that's the "Q". "U" is for "ultra-low power".

http://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/processors/processor-numbers.html

 

[Gruso]

Ah, thanks for the correction.

 

[hiro_x]

Will an i5 6200u and 940M max/high Civ 5 and Cities:Skylines at 768p? Thanks!

 

[NEO0MJ]

So, do you guys recommend using ventilated stands to cool your laptops? I plan on overclocking my laptop but I'm afraid the heat might get too much and lead to damage. If yes what do you recommend?

Will an i5 6200u and 940M max/high Civ 5 and Cities:Skylines at 768p? Thanks!

I'm sure it cam handle Civ based on how my card performs but I'm not sure about Skylines.

 

[Arthea]

I bought MSI GE62 Apache and one of first things I noticed that Intel still haven't done anything about "display driver stopped responding and has recovered" issue.
Why?

 

[hiro_x]

So, do you guys recommend using ventilated stands to cool your laptops? I plan on overclocking my laptop but I'm afraid the heat might get too much and lead to damage. If yes what do you recommend?



I'm sure it cam handle Civ based on how my card performs but I'm not sure about Skylines.

What's your card?

 

[Arthea]

So, do you guys recommend using ventilated stands to cool your laptops? I plan on overclocking my laptop but I'm afraid the heat might get too much and lead to damage. If yes what do you recommend?

Absolutely, especially when it gets older, it's outright necessary. I can't forgive myself that for a longest time I believed external cooling makes little to no difference, that's not true, it is necessary if you use your laptop extensively.
I use Deepcool stuff, not that I know it's the best, but they have wide selection and is regarded as good.

 

[NEO0MJ]

What's your card?

AMD Radeon 8870m. It's a stronger card I think but I can play it on high on 1080p if I remember right so you should be able to handle 768p fine with it.

You can always just buy the game and refund it if it's not up to par as well.

Absolutely, especially when it gets older, it's outright necessary. I can't forgive myself that for a longest time I believed external cooling makes little to no difference, that's not true, it is necessary if you use your laptop extensively.
I use Deepcool stuff, not that I know it's the best, but they have wide selection and is regarded as good.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Arthea]

AMD Radeon 8870m. It's a stronger card I think but I can play it on high on 1080p if I remember right so you should be able to handle 768p fine with it.

You can always just buy the game and refund it if it's not up to par as well.



Thanks for the info.

Then it even more applies to your situation, Radeons have overheating problem, so yeah, external cooling all the way.

 

[hiro_x]

AMD Radeon 8870m. It's a stronger card I think but I can play it on high on 1080p if I remember right so you should be able to handle 768p fine with it.

You can always just buy the game and refund it if it's not up to par as well.

I already have Civ 5 in my steam. Its the laptop I don't have

 

[NEO0MJ]

Then it even more applies to your situation, Radeons have overheating problem, so yeah, external cooling all the way.

All right, guess I'm importing, then. Most stores here only have small or cheap ones.

I already have Civ 5 in my steam. Its the laptop I don't have

Oh, I see. If you're willing to wait 3 hours I'll be home from work and give you a better estimate on how it could run.

 

[derFeef]

What displays does Dell use? I am not getting any info on their site except resolution or "backlit". I am looking for a well-rounder laptop where you can do some photo editing, where the color space is pretty good.

 

[K.Jack]

Absolutely, especially when it gets older, it's outright necessary. I can't forgive myself that for a longest time I believed external cooling makes little to no difference, that's not true, it is necessary if you use your laptop extensively.
I use Deepcool stuff, not that I know it's the best, but they have wide selection and is regarded as good.

Necessary if you never ever clean its fans/heatsinks, maybe. I've literally never used a cooling pad, and I've never had one of my gaming laptops overheat.

Then it even more applies to your situation, Radeons have overheating problem, so yeah, external cooling all the way.

No they don't. Stop spreading bs please.

What displays does Dell use? I am not getting any info on their site except resolution or "backlit". I am looking for a well-rounder laptop where you can do some photo editing, where the color space is pretty good.

Which Dell?

 

[Arthea]

No they don't. Stop spreading bs please.

They do, I had 3 different laptops from different manufacturers with different Radeon cards.
How can you say it's nonsense when it is common occurrence?
I don't spread anything, I was trying to help. If you think I have some motives to lie for no reason, you just have to google it, you know.
Radeons also have problems with OpenGL, or rather probably drivers have, I'm not entirely sure. That's also bs? Am I right?


You know, if you buy only the best laptops, maybe you don't need external cooling, I wouldn't know, in an ideal world there would be no less perfect ones but in our world there are and most of them I must add. External cooling not only prolongs your laptop's life, it's sometimes difference between you being able to use it for prolonged periods of time, or not to be able.
I believed for years that external cooling does nothing, because there is a widely spread opinion that it makes no difference, but now I know better and cleaning a new laptop with overheating problem does literally nothing, much less then external cooling anyway.

 

[Orgen]

I don't know if this is the place (because I don't want a heavy gaming laptop) but I need a laptop and could use some help (sorry if it's not the place to ask). My needs are:

- Multimedia (HD Videos, Streaming...)
- Coding (Eclipse, Unity, UE4).
- Light Gaming (indie games, Telltalle games... not Witcher or The Division).
- Multitasking
- Good build materials
- Should last several years
- Windows 10
- Big HDD
- 900€ Budget (Spain)

So, I was looking at this:

Display: 15,6" / 39,6 cm HD BrightView with WLED (1366 x 768)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6500U (Intel® HD Graphics 520 (2,5 GHz, Turbo 3,1 GHz, 4 MB cache, Dual Core))
RAM: 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)
GPU: AMD Radeon R5 M330 Graphics
HDD: SATA de 1 TB 5400 rpm

I like the price (699€) and that is an HP laptop because I like HP build quality. The only thing I dislike about this laptop is the display resolution (sub 1080p) and the only thing I'm not sure is the CPU:

Looking at my needs... Do I need a Quad Core or it's overkill? It's also an overkill having an i7? I'm reading that Dell is also good with build quality, any other brand that has good materials? (not Lenovo please).

And the last,question: could you recommend me any other laptop that could suit my needs?

Many thanks!

 

[X05]

So, do you guys recommend using ventilated stands to cool your laptops? I plan on overclocking my laptop but I'm afraid the heat might get too much and lead to damage. If yes what do you recommend?

Nah, not needed, just use a stack of coins to raise the laptop if you need more air intake.

AMD Radeon 8870m. It's a stronger card I think but I can play it on high on 1080p if I remember right so you should be able to handle 768p fine with it.

You can always just buy the game and refund it if it's not up to par as well.

That card actually, if not overclocked trades blows with the 940 (I know because I have the FirePro equivalent). It is a good overclocker though, I have mine at a bit over desktop 7770 speeds and runs fine.

Then it even more applies to your situation, Radeons have overheating problem, so yeah, external cooling all the way.

They don't.

They do, I had 3 different laptops from different manufacturers with different Radeon cards.
How can you say it's nonsense when it is common occurrence?
I don't spread anything, I was trying to help. If you think I have some motives to lie for no reason, you just have to google it, you know.
Radeons also have problems with OpenGL, or rather probably drivers have, I'm not entirely sure. That's also bs? Am I right?


You know, if you buy only the best laptops, maybe you don't need external cooling, I wouldn't know, in an ideal world there would be no less perfect ones but in our world there are and most of them I must add. External cooling not only prolongs your laptop's life, it's sometimes difference between you being able to use it for prolonged periods of time, or not to be able.
I believed for years that external cooling does nothing, because there is a widely spread opinion that it makes no difference, but now I know better and cleaning a new laptop with overheating problem does literally nothing, much less then external cooling anyway.

Empirical evidence does not equal "common occurrence".
Also cleaning and repasting will always be far, far better than a cooling pad ever will.

I don't know if this is the place (because I don't want a heavy gaming laptop) but I need a laptop and could use some help (sorry if it's not the place to ask). My needs are:

- Multimedia (HD Videos, Streaming...)
- Coding (Eclipse, Unity, UE4).
- Light Gaming (indie games, Telltalle games... not Witcher or The Division).
- Multitasking
- Good build materials
- Should last several years
- Windows 10
- Big HDD
- 900€ Budget (Spain)

So, I was looking at this:

Display: 15,6" / 39,6 cm HD BrightView with WLED (1366 x 768)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6500U (Intel® HD Graphics 520 (2,5 GHz, Turbo 3,1 GHz, 4 MB cache, Dual Core))
RAM: 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)
GPU: AMD Radeon R5 M330 Graphics
HDD: SATA de 1 TB 5400 rpm

I like the price (699&#8364 and that is an HP laptop because I like HP build quality. The only thing I dislike about this laptop is the display resolution (sub 1080p) and the only thing I'm not sure is the CPU:

Looking at my needs... Do I need a Quad Core or it's overkill? It's also an overkill having an i7? I'm reading that Dell is also good with build quality, any other brand that has good materials? (not Lenovo please).

And the last,question: could you recommend me any other laptop that could suit my needs?

Many thanks!

I like this one, wait for KJack to confirm
But yes, get a quad core or you'll regret it later.

 

[NEO0MJ]

I already have Civ 5 in my steam. Its the laptop I don't have

OK, after going back home and starting the game it turns out I have almost all setting on high except for Anti-Aliasing, which is on 4X MSAA. If I go for 8X it drops to 50 FPS or so.

*Snip*

Man, I'm getting mixed messages. For reference, here's my laptop, the Samsung 770Z5E.

It's kinda different from the usual design in that it vents out air from the gap where the hinge that raise the screen leaves in the middle. I take the bottom cover off and clean it every now and then but I'm too scared to try and remove the top part as I'm worried I might mess up dis-assembling and re-assembling it. so I don't clean that area myself. Here's how it looks like from the bottom.

And yeah overclocking seems to have given it big gains. I manged to boost Killer Instinct from 720P to 900P, and only had to give up Bloom.

 

[Vitor711]

I need something small and portable - mostly for DOTA 2, writing and learning to program on unity.

I might want to draw too so am thinking of a surface pro. Budget is $1,000 but, honestly, I have a full fledged desktop so feel this might be overkill. However, I'll be travelling for 2 months and need something I can take with me.

Anyone used a Surface much? Does it hold up or should I just get a regular slim laptop? I guess if I remove the requirement for a stylus its advantages are moot but I was curious outside of that.

 

[Orgen]

I like this one, wait for KJack to confirm
But yes, get a quad core or you'll regret it later.

Kike, is that you? 😱 (he is a friend d mine that recommended me the same laptop). Ignorant question: difference between a 4th gen processor and a 6th one? By the numbering it seems old (despite being quad core) so I wanted to know what I'm missing for not choosing a 6th gen CPU.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[K.Jack]

They do, I had 3 different laptops from different manufacturers with different Radeon cards.
How can you say it's nonsense when it is common occurrence?
I don't spread anything, I was trying to help. If you think I have some motives to lie for no reason, you just have to google it, you know.
Radeons also have problems with OpenGL, or rather probably drivers have, I'm not entirely sure. That's also bs? Am I right?


You know, if you buy only the best laptops, maybe you don't need external cooling, I wouldn't know, in an ideal world there would be no less perfect ones but in our world there are and most of them I must add. External cooling not only prolongs your laptop's life, it's sometimes difference between you being able to use it for prolonged periods of time, or not to be able.
I believed for years that external cooling does nothing, because there is a widely spread opinion that it makes no difference, but now I know better and cleaning a new laptop with overheating problem does literally nothing, much less then external cooling anyway.

I mean no offence. I certainly don't mean to imply that you're lying or trying to mislead people. That just isn't accurate information. There is no specific AMD GPU that has issues with overheating. 99% of the time it's more about the laptop's cooling capacity, than it is the actual GPU. There are more than enough laptops, within every budget range, that will have zero cooling issues.

It's really hard to buy a laptop with cooling issues anymore, as information is too widespread to make that mistake. You certainly won't see any recommended in this thread.

I'll never say cooling pads don't make a difference, it's just my opinion that a laptop that needs one is not worth buying in the first place.

I don't know if this is the place (because I don't want a heavy gaming laptop) but I need a laptop and could use some help (sorry if it's not the place to ask). My needs are:

- Multimedia (HD Videos, Streaming...)
- Coding (Eclipse, Unity, UE4).
- Light Gaming (indie games, Telltalle games... not Witcher or The Division).
- Multitasking
- Good build materials
- Should last several years
- Windows 10
- Big HDD
- 900€ Budget (Spain)

So, I was looking at this:

Display: 15,6" / 39,6 cm HD BrightView with WLED (1366 x 768)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6500U (Intel® HD Graphics 520 (2,5 GHz, Turbo 3,1 GHz, 4 MB cache, Dual Core))
RAM: 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)
GPU: AMD Radeon R5 M330 Graphics
HDD: SATA de 1 TB 5400 rpm

I like the price (699&#8364 and that is an HP laptop because I like HP build quality. The only thing I dislike about this laptop is the display resolution (sub 1080p) and the only thing I'm not sure is the CPU:

Looking at my needs... Do I need a Quad Core or it's overkill? It's also an overkill having an i7? I'm reading that Dell is also good with build quality, any other brand that has good materials? (not Lenovo please).

And the last,question: could you recommend me any other laptop that could suit my needs?

Many thanks!

I like this one, wait for KJack to confirm
But yes, get a quad core or you'll regret it later.

Yeah I like that Asus. Strong CPU, and it has the rare GTX 950M which has GDDR5 VRAM. Literally takes a dump on the specs of the HP.

Take the Asus if you're serious about longevity.

Man, I'm getting mixed messages. For reference, here's my laptop, the Samsung 770Z5E.

It's kinda different from the usual design in that it vents out air from the gap where the hinge that raise the screen leaves in the middle. I take the bottom cover off and clean it every now and then but I'm too scared to try and remove the top part as I'm worried I might mess up dis-assembling and re-assembling it. so I don't clean that area myself. Here's how it looks like from the bottom.


And yeah overclocking seems to have given it big gains. I manged to boost Killer Instinct from 720P to 900P, and only had to give up Bloom.

Well... tell us what temps it runs under load, and we can give a more nuanced opinion.

Kike, is that you? �� (he is a friend d mine that recommended me the same laptop). Ignorant question: difference between a 4th gen processor and a 6th one? By the numbering it seems old (despite being quad core) so I wanted to know what I'm missing for not choosing a 6th gen CPU.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Skylake is not as raw powerful, but has energy savings.

 

[hiro_x]

OK, after going back home and starting the game it turns out I have almost all setting on high except for Anti-Aliasing, which is on 4X MSAA. If I go for 8X it drops to 50 FPS or so.

I compared your card with 940m in gpuboss and it sounds like I could set most of it to high and maybe 2x AA. Thanks!

 

[daman824]

Thinking of either getting this laptop:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G3SW1691

or a macbook.

I want to play games like overwatch on the laptop, and I know that a lot of games don't come to Apples operating system, and the ones that are there probably wont run well on the integrated intel chipset.

buuuut.... the biggest thing keeping me from getting the asus is customer support. If someting goes wrong with the asus laptop, how much will it cost me to send it in, and how hard is it going to be to do so? Apples support obviously has a pretty good repuation. And I know if I go with the macbook, It will most likely last me five years.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Thinking of either getting this laptop:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G3SW1691

or a macbook.

I want to play games like overwatch on the laptop, and I know that a lot of games don't come to Apples operating system, and the ones that are there probably wont run well on the integrated intel chipset.

buuuut.... the biggest thing keeping me from getting the asus is customer support. If someting goes wrong with the asus laptop, how much will it cost me to send it in, and how hard is it going to be to do so? Apples support obviously has a pretty good repuation. And I know if I go with the macbook, It will most likely last me five years.

Firstly that Asus seems expensive for what it is. For under $1k, you can get something ~40% more powerful.

Further those two laptops seem to be for different things tbh.

If you were trying to buy a Macbook that would last you 5 years and you want to play more modern games on it, I would imagine you'd really have to go for one of the 15" Macbook pro models that have a dedicated GPU in it which are either $2k or $2.5k and have a GPU only around half the power of the 965M in the laptop I linked for more than double the cost.

Macbooks are terrible price-to-performance for really any type of gaming applications and I think you would run into the limitations immediately if you tried to run anything modern that's not a moba or like a moba [games designed to run on as weak hardware as possible for the most potential players]

Honestly for what you're talking about I might just suggest the Dell Inspirion 15 7559 with a 4GB 960M for $850 or the Dell XPS 15 with a 2GB 960M for $1150

Dell's a bigger name than Cyberpowerpc so I believe would offer better customer service but someone can probably weight in more on that.

 

[daman824]

Firstly that Asus seems expensive for what it is. For under $1k, you can get something ~40% more powerful.

Further those two laptops seem to be for different things tbh.

If you were trying to buy a Macbook that would last you 5 years and you want to play more modern games on it, I would imagine you'd really have to go for one of the 15" Macbook pro models that have a dedicated GPU in it which are either $2k or $2.5k and have a GPU only around half the power of the 965M in the laptop I linked for more than double the cost.

Macbooks are terrible price-to-performance for really any type of gaming applications and I think you would run into the limitations immediately if you tried to run anything modern that's not a moba or like a moba [games designed to run on as weak hardware as possible for the most potential players]

Honestly for what you're talking about I might just suggest the Dell Inspirion 15 7559 with a 4GB 960M for $850 or the Dell XPS 15 with a 2GB 960M for $1150

Dell's a bigger name than Cyberpowerpc so I believe would offer better customer service but someone can probably weight in more on that.

Thanks a ton for this! I think I'm going to go with the dell.

I know the base macbooks (which are still incredibly expensive) aren't made for gaming. But I almost just bought one for the form factor and the stereotype that Apple puts more reliable parts in their laptops. I'm not going to be buying another laptop for aroud five years. So I was almost willing to toss the gaming capabilities out the window for a well built machine that won't crap out on me in a year.

I'm not an expery by any means. Would the dell you linked to (the i5/gtx960m) be able to play pretty much any game at 30fps at the native screen resolution? It doesn't matter to me if I have to drop all the other settings to low

 

[SwiftDeath]

Thanks a ton for this! I think I'm going to go with the dell.

I know the base macbooks (which are still incredibly expensive) aren't made for gaming. But I almost just bought one for the form factor and the stereotype that Apple puts more reliable parts in their laptops. I'm not going to be buying another laptop for aroud five years. So I was almost willing to toss the gaming capabilities out the window for a well built machine that won't crap out on me in a year.

If you do go with a Dell, make sure to use this coupon

Save $50 off of PCs $699 plus with coupon code 50OFF699. Coupon applies in cart.

I agree that Macbooks are well made laptops that last a long time but from what I can tell you would have to give up on any reasonable level of gaming on it at all. Not sure it's worth it.

I'm not an expery by any means. Would the dell you linked to (the i5/gtx960m) be able to play pretty much any game at 30fps at the native screen resolution? It doesn't matter to me if I have to drop all the other settings to low

K.Jack or someone else can weigh in on this one as I haven't played with a 960m or its ilk in person tbh. I know it is more than capable of playing overwatch though

 

[Sneaky Gato]

I'm looking for a new laptop battery to replace the one I have. All of a sudden it only holds a 30 minute run time at full charge and is getting very hot now. I have a Dell Inspiron 17R 5720. Can you guys point me to any good sites or what to look for on Amazon? Unfortunately I do not know what to look for when buying. I'm not quite sure what to look at and what is better.

 

[Cute Dragon Here]

I'm looking for a new laptop battery to replace the one I have. All of a sudden it only holds a 30 minute run time at full charge and is getting very hot now. I have a Dell Inspiron 17R 5720. Can you guys point me to any good sites or what to look for on Amazon? Unfortunately I do not know what to look for when buying. I'm not quite sure what to look at and what is better.

(Repost from the other thread)

Generic/OEM replacement batteries should work more than well enough in my experience. Check the battery model, look up your favourite online marketplace, buy from someone with a good rep.

Though I didn't personally use online stores myself - I bought my replacement battery off a local shop, and it works fine. So long as you avoid the "fakes" (nobody but your laptop's original manufacturer/service centre should sell the original battery packs; best you can do outside of it are generics in my experience, may be different in the USA), you will be fine.

Also want to ask: what do you think of the auto-overclocking DDR3L-1866 or DDR3-2133 laptop RAM? Was thinking of replacing my current laptop's RAM with something a lot more capacious (going from 2x4 to 2x8), and was thinking if going high-speed RAM is worth it on a laptop.

 

[GRaider81]

Still looking for a laptop for a hospital stay.

I need one capable of playing games like Stellaris, EU4, Civ, Battlefleet Gothic etc.

Don't really want to spend more than £500, do I need dedicated graphics for games like those?

 

[NEO0MJ]

Still looking for a laptop for a hospital stay.

I need one capable of playing games like Stellaris, EU4, Civ, Battlefleet Gothic etc.

Don't really want to spend more than £500, do I need dedicated graphics for games like those?

It's preferred to have a dedicated card. I'm sure there are some good options at that range. Where do you live?

 

[derFeef]

Which Dell?

Sorry for late answer. I just checked at notebookcheck and their displays all seem bad to terrible. I guess better than the old Lenovo that is doing the job now but still not acceptable. I know if you want to get serious with color ranges you should not look at (cheaper) laptops at all, but that's the only option for that person.

 

[GRaider81]

It's preferred to have a dedicated card. I'm sure there are some good options at that range. Where do you live?

UK, I have an Operation due in next couple of months so need to save up and prepare for what could be a lengthy stay!

Obviously cheaper the better but I still want to run these games "well"

 

[NEO0MJ]

UK, I have an Operation due in next couple of months so need to save up and prepare for what could be a lengthy stay!

Obviously cheaper the better but I still want to run these games "well"

Ok. Did a little digging on amazon during my break and these are the best options I could find for that price. Maybe our resident expert can provide more insight later.

MSI, Acer, Samsung

The one by MSI seems to be the best overall but not everyone's a fan of such a "gamey" design. The Acer seems good on paper but I think I read that they don't have the best build quality and they come with a lot of bloatware that you'll have to remove. The Samsung is there in case you want something smaller but it doesn't come with a dedicated GPU. Actually I think you should disregard it as it seems pretty old.

 

[Orgen]

Yeah I like that Asus. Strong CPU, and it has the rare GTX 950M which has GDDR5 VRAM. Literally takes a dump on the specs of the HP.

Take the Asus if you're serious about longevity.

Skylake is not as raw powerful, but has energy savings.

So the only downside would be worse battery life? (and a higher electrical bill I suppose).

I can live with that. Thank you!

 

[Poker Face]

So seeing those Dells, how well would something like this run Killer Instinct?

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7559-laptop/dncwpw5722s

 

[derFeef]

So seeing those Dells, how well would something like this run Killer Instinct?

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7559-laptop/dncwpw5722s

My guess is that it tears through KI, maybe not native res, but 1080p surely.

 

[NEO0MJ]

So seeing those Dells, how well would something like this run Killer Instinct?

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7559-laptop/dncwpw5722s

My laptop can run it at 900P with reflections, motion blur, and bloom toggled off so this should run it at 1080p just fine. It probably won't go higher than that though, so you won't get native res. on your laptop.

 

[NEO0MJ]

OK, so I tested it and when put under heavy load my laptop's temp rises to and hovers between 74-76C.

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

I just got a new laptop!

17.3 1080p screen
6th Generation Intel Skylake i7-6700HQ (3.5 GHz)
GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5
32GB DDR4 2133 MHz of RAM
250GB SSD
1TB HDD