Support NeoGAF

[K.Jack]

Guys What would you pick between these 3 options? I like the idea of the Alienware GPU port thing so that's why i've picked Alienware as i'm hoping that when it runs slow in a couple of years i'll be able to just throw a desktop GPU at it?

Is it worthwhile picking one of these up just now or waiting till the 1080m drops as i'm assuming there should be some price cuts on the 980m/970m range?

Edit: Can't get the link to the Dell website to work

What were you trying to link?

Anyway, it's a bad time to spend that much dough on a high end laptop.

There will be no 980M/970M price cuts, but the 1070M/1080M will slot in at the same prices.

 

[Souldestroyer Reborn]

What were you trying to link?

Anyway, it's a bad time to spend that much dough on a high end laptop.

There will be no 980M/970M price cuts, but the 1070M/1080M will slot in at the same prices.

It was a comparison between 2 Alienware 15 R2's (£1,179 with a 970m & £1,329 with a 980m ) and a Alienware 17 R3 (£1,429 with a 980m).

The 3 of them have 16GB DDR4, 256SSD+1TB 7200RPM HDD with an i7-6700HQ CPU with everything else identical.

Ah that's a bummer, I was hoping the 980m would maybe drop to 960m or 970m prices when the new GPU's came out :/

All I really want one for is to do uni stuff with and play WoW and maybe some other games like Witcher 3. I cheaped out and bought a lenovo ideapad 100 i3-5010U which i kinda regret now.

 

[Radiant Chipmunk]

Guys What would you pick between these 3 options? I like the idea of the Alienware GPU port thing so that's why i've picked Alienware as i'm hoping that when it runs slow in a couple of years i'll be able to just throw a desktop GPU at it?

Is it worthwhile picking one of these up just now or waiting till the 1080m drops as i'm assuming there should be some price cuts on the 980m/970m range?

Edit: Can't get the link to the Dell website to work

I got a 15 inch 980m Alienware for my birthday. I didn't feel like waiting 4-8 months. If you can wait for the 1080m, that would be the wiser choice.

 

[K.Jack]

Awkward spot right now. New cards are coming, but when?

I know this, from analyzing the past:

Nvidia mobile cards pretty much always follow the desktop cards they're based from, by 1 to 2 months.

Examples:

The 8500 GT (yes I went back this far) launched in May, the 8600M GT launched in May/June

The 8800 GT released in February, the 8800M GTX launched in May.

The GTS 450 launched in September, the GTX 460M came in October.

GTX 670 launched in May, the GTX 680M was available in June.

The GTX 980/970 launched in September, the GTX 980M//970M were available in October.

Patterns can always be broken, but through my studies I see that Nvidia is very consistent with this, going back 8+ years.

 

[anddo0]

Here's hoping late June,early July.. I'm in the Clevo/Sager camp, since they are among the first to release new builds. I'll most likely go with Xoticpc, they've been good in the past. I hope, I don't have to break the bank, $1999 (wishful thinking)

 

[Spikematic]

Is the Dell XPS 15 still the best laptop in the market when it comes to low weight + battery life with decent gaming performance?

 

[georly]

Hi laptop gaf. Was looking to get a midrange gaming laptop soonish ($1000~ budget) so I can play when I visit family/friends during the weekend. I just moved to a town where I know no-one and am constantly traveling to visit every weekend and would like a way to bring a computer and play some mid-ranged multiplayer PC games. My PC is also really old (with a 660ti) so it's incredibly possible a $1k computer could outclass it and become my main PC (until I upgrade my PC later this year or next).

Reading a bit on this page, it sounds like it'd be smart if I waited til summer to do this, but I'm not sure how much of a gain I'd get by waiting (or even if those cards would be within my price range). Especially since I don't plan on playing anything too crazy, like Witcher 3 or anything else that's graphics heavy. I'd save those for my desktop upgrade.

I'd also hate to think I bought a $1k pc for $1k, i'd like to get a $1300 on discount for $1k, kinda deal, which I assume means i'd have to get one of the older laptops being phased out for the newer ones, in which case waiting til the new cards come out might benefit me in that way, also.

Kinda lost, don't know where to look, don't know what brands are reliable or the best places to look. Will keep reading this thread for advice (and subbed). I'm not in a huge rush to get it, but the sooner I do, the sooner my QoL improves.

 

[Poker Face]

idk if you guys can help, but I'm super impatient and really want to play gang beasts, so I downloaded it on my 2011 macbook pro. FPS seems okay, but lighting seems broken? There's not a whole lot of settings so I'm not sure what to do. (I have never played a PC game in my life lol)

any ideas on how to fix this:

it's supposed to look like this:

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post.

 

[Atomski]

Try an older Intel driver, or go back to a older NV driver (the one that was working for you).. #1 rule, Unless the new driver dramatically improves the performance of a game you're playing, stick to your current drivers; if it ain't broke....

I pray the new cards get rid of these Intel/NV/AMD combos.

So it turned out there was a new Intel video driver it just wouldnt download using their updater due to windows 10 or some crap. Got that updated.. didnt blink for a while then out of nowhere its blinking randomly again. ggrrrrr

I hear this is a known issue with this model.. theres a huge thread on the official lenovo thread but everyone seems to have different causes for it. Some say its a bad cord. But after updating my drivers last time it didnt blink for almost 5 months then right after upgrading again its blinking. So i have a hard time believing its not software related. Also it dosnt really blink when playing a game full screen.. but when im watching youtube it goes crazy.

Sad thing is many say to send it in but I am over seas at the moment with no plans on heading back to the states any time soon so thats kinda out of the question and this country charges up the ass taxes on stuff like this coming back in. :/

 

[shockdude]

idk if you guys can help, but I'm super impatient and really want to play gang beasts, so I downloaded it on my 2011 macbook pro. FPS seems okay, but lighting seems broken? There's not a whole lot of settings so I'm not sure what to do. (I have never played a PC game in my life lol)

any ideas on how to fix this:



it's supposed to look like this:


Sorry if this is the wrong place to post.

Which Macbook Pro model? Windows or OSX? Do you know your system specifications?

So it turned out there was a new Intel video driver it just wouldnt download using their updater due to windows 10 or some crap. Got that updated.. didnt blink for a while then out of nowhere its blinking randomly again. ggrrrrr

I hear this is a known issue with this model.. theres a huge thread on the official lenovo thread but everyone seems to have different causes for it. Some say its a bad cord. But after updating my drivers last time it didnt blink for almost 5 months then right after upgrading again its blinking. So i have a hard time believing its not software related. Also it dosnt really blink when playing a game full screen.. but when im watching youtube it goes crazy.

Sad thing is many say to send it in but I am over seas at the moment with no plans on heading back to the states any time soon so thats kinda out of the question and this country charges up the ass taxes on stuff like this coming back in. :/

I have a Lenovo Y50-70 with Windows 10 and used to have screen flickering on an older Intel driver, but I haven't seen any flickering in months ever since I updated the driver.
This is the driver I'm on, but unfortunately, it's no longer available due to signature issues on Intel's end.
I haven't tried the latest driver but it should also fix the issue.

Edit: Updated to the latest Intel driver, which shows up as version 20.19.15.4424 in Device Manager. Watched a bunch of Youtube, still no flickering on my end.

 

[wheeplash]

I need to buy a laptop before the end of the year and I'm crossing my fingers for the successor to the GTX960M!!
I was this close to buying a Dell Inspiron i7559 ($800) a couple of days ago, but since Pascal is so close to release I figured out I could play the waiting game with Dell in hopes that they'd released a similar laptop with the new chips. Maaaybe I could stretch my budget for a -70M model.

PLEASE HEAR MY PRAYERS DELL!!!

 

[Ribeiro]

Could anyone recommend me a $1000 Notebook that is good enough to play games from today?, if its possible it needs to be something not flamboyant.

 

[Poker Face]

Which Macbook Pro model? Windows or OSX? Do you know your system specifications?.

It's a 2011 with OSX. It's been super slow lately, constantly freezing forcing me to reboot. Now for some reason I can't get back in to my account (system just hangs after inputting password). These issues were why I started looking for a new laptop and posting in this thread lol.

Appreciate the help, but I'm probably going to try and salvage some files then wipe the HD and just wait for a new PC to play.

 

[georly]

Could anyone recommend me a $1000 Notebook that is good enough to play games from today?, if its possible it needs to be something not flamboyant.

In the same boat as you :/

Sounds like maybe we should wait? Not sure. Laptops are confusing ;-;

 

[Ribeiro]

In the same boat as you :/

Sounds like maybe we should wait? Not sure. Laptops are confusing ;-;

I was trying to help a friend that is travelling to US, but he told me is only in November >.> Like why bother by now =~

 

[georly]

I just wanna know: Which brands are the better ones and where should I be looking for good deals on them? Is best buy or something OK or is that a big nono? I'd ideally like a deal on them for roughly 10-20% off so I feel like I'm getting a value, you know?

I'll keep reading the thread to see what I come up w/

Copy/paste from OP
Country where it will be purchased. - USA
Maximum budget. - $1200
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight). - None, I guess. 15~ is fine.
Planned usage. - Playing most games on medium to high settings. using it at home and away to browse the internet and play some games. Will plug in via HDMI to play on TV/monitor.
Whatever else you find relevant - Nothing special, just runs well and plays games. Just wanna get a solid/sturdy laptop that can play a lot of games and last me until I upgrade my PC this year/next year. Want one on SALE or w/ a good deal. Would hate to pay full MSRP.

 

[ss_lemonade]

Is the Dell XPS 15 still the best laptop in the market when it comes to low weight + battery life with decent gaming performance?

Not sure where it stands but I do also like how it looks and the display is lovely. If you prefer gaming though, one option in a similar price range as the mid-higher xps 15 configs would be the msi gs60. It's lighter (IIRC) and definitely faster with the 970m. Battery life is terrible though. You could also wait for pascal.

How long does it usually take for lower end gpus to appear in laptops? With the expected jumps in performance, it would be interesting to see how well a 1060m would do

 

[wheeplash]

Could anyone recommend me a $1000 Notebook that is good enough to play games from today?, if its possible it needs to be something not flamboyant.

I posted one just before your post ..

 

[Fox318]

Newegg is showing this off as the deal of the day

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834725022

some deal


only $2,499.00 for a system about to be lapped by the next gpus

 

[Ribeiro]

I posted one just before your post ..

Yeah i saw, but when i said 1000- i was thinking in something more like 999 or closer, with a 970 . But i sent that one for my friend

I just wanna know: Which brands are the better ones and where should I be looking for good deals on them? Is best buy or something OK or is that a big nono?

I have a MSI GT70 for about a 2 years and i would recommend MSIs if you dont have a problem with more bulky laptops.

 

[ph33nix]

Newegg is showing this off as the deal of the day

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834725022

some deal


only $2,499.00 for a system about to be lapped by the next gpus

oh man that 4 percent discount is a can't miss

 

[Karish]

Is the Dell XPS 15 still the best laptop in the market when it comes to low weight + battery life with decent gaming performance?

yes. 4k.

 

[Ribeiro]

yo.

Other thing. normally you cant upgrade the videocard from the notebook, and when the notebook has some sort of graphics upgrade its very expensive and a little complicated, so i would recommend you to look for something with a 970m with 4gb at last (and if you can spend a litte more try to get one with a 980)

 

[Eusis]

Could anyone recommend me a $1000 Notebook that is good enough to play games from today?, if its possible it needs to be something not flamboyant.

This would do it but with the 10xx lineup coming out it may be best to wait. If it's not critical to play games extra well however then that will stand toe to toe with consoles.

 

[Poker Face]

This would do it but with the 10xx lineup coming out it may be best to wait. If it's not critical to play games extra well however then that will stand toe to toe with consoles.

We don't have an ETA yet for that do we? My mac is all kinds of messed up right now, and I'm pretty sure it's a hardware issue since I wiped the HD and it's still randomly crashing/freezing/rebooting

I really want to buy a new laptop lol

 

[Sr Kitsune]

Gather around children, let me tell you a story about how somehow I killed my Windows installation.

It begins an afternoon when my internet was failing for some reason. I decided to play around with my router settings, eventually I end up enabling 802.11n so I decide to just double check that my laptop supports it. I accidentaly end up opening the disk mananger instead of device mananger. That is the moment when I notice that I have 4 partitions on my SSD(RAID, M.2) and 2 on my HDD.

In the HDD: Data and a Recovery Partition of 20 gb.
In the SSD: System/BIOS(or something), Windows, unused(apparently), recovery.

I decide to add the unused space to my Windows partition. Afterwards the MSI notification popups reminding me of creating a physical backup, so since I still don't have internet I decide to do it, I open the wizard and get "Recovery Partition wasn't found" so I'm like: "Oh, so that was what it was for", I decide to try and recover the partition and leave it as it was before, since I haven't done any changes on files or something.

Just before applying the changes I notice in the diagram that my Windows partition is being physically moved a few blocks, and I wonder for a few moments if things could get bad because of that. I go whatever and apply the changes, my laptop reboots, and.... "Your computer needs reparing; file not found: /windows-something"

"Well shit"

I call a friend that I'm going to his house to download windows 10. After downloading windows 10 I try to move it to my usb, but I need to change the filesystem first. But my friend has a Mac, and FAT32 wasn't an option, I have to choose exFAT. After 4 failed attemps to move it to the USB, since the USB connection of his mac was failing, it is finally on the usb. I try to boot from the USB, but I'm surprised with the fact that my computer doesn't recognize my usb, I try several times, and then I look it up and it is because UEFI doesn't support exFAT. So I look around in UEFI and change it to Legacy.

Just to be surprised that there isn't any information in Legacy boot. No help in what any button does, so I'm constantly rebooting my laptop and pressing different buttons, eventually I discover that in Legacy: F11 is boot options, and DEL takes you back to UEFI. No luck reading my usb in legacy. I hit the streets and buy a fresh DVD, and then burn windows 10 onto it. New attemp, it fails, for whatever reason it doesn't do anything, it reads the disc but nothing happens. It gets late and I have college the next day, I got back to my home, where I remember I still have my old laptop somewhere.

After finding it I format my usb in FAT32, move windows 10 there and try again on my latop, it works. Installation process begins, but only to discover that it only shows up my HDD and not my SSD, and I don't want to delete all my data in my HDD, I leave it as a plan B if all else fails to install Windows in HDD, fix the issue with the SSD, and then move windows there.

Plan A begins, I look around in my old laptop about what I could do. Eventually I decide to download the drivers since I will need them anyways. And there I found in the MSI support page, a driver with a note like this: "This drivers makes SSD available during installation process". Couldn't it be? I download them, try installing windows again, plug my usb with the new ssd drivers, select load drivers, and after a few minutes my SSD is back again, I fix the partitions thing, and install Windows there. And just a few hours ago I finished downloading most of my programs back, with drivers installed and everything.

All this happened because my internet was failing.

Oh, and I need some help. For whatever reason my battery no longer discharges when it's fully loaded as before. I'm worried for my battery life. I didn't find any driver or anything about it. Help pls. Also, my screen and cursor freezes for a few moments sometimes. For example, when using some dropdown menu. For whatever reason.

 

[georly]

Other thing. normally you cant upgrade the videocard from the notebook, and when the notebook has some sort of graphics upgrade its very expensive and a little complicated, so i would recommend you to look for something with a 970m with 4gb at last (and if you can spend a litte more try to get one with a 980)

Or should I just wait for pascal? How expensive will a pascal laptop be? Any way it's possible to get one this year for < $2k?

This would do it but with the 10xx lineup coming out it may be best to wait. If it's not critical to play games extra well however then that will stand toe to toe with consoles.

This seems super solid and reasonably priced. I'd hate to think something much better for nearly the same price would come out right after I bought it though :/

 

[SwiftDeath]

Adventures in Partition Management, Windows 10 Installs and SSD Driver Goodness

Wow that's a hell of a night.

I think I'm going to backup my stuff tonight...

 

[wheeplash]

Or should I just wait for pascal? How expensive will a pascal laptop be? Any way it's possible to get one this year for < $2k?



This seems super solid and reasonably priced. I'd hate to think something much better for nearly the same price would come out right after I bought it though :/

I'm in the same position.
I'm waiting for an update of this very model with a GTX1060M/GTX1070M ... considering Pascal's performance so far it would just ace anything you try to run at 1080p.

 

[K.Jack]

I haven't been responding much, because "At least wait until Computex is over, May 31 to June 6 yadda yadda" is my auto-answer to every new laptop inquiry, even for the low end user.

Gather around children, let me tell you a story about how somehow I killed my Windows installation.....

Man, I had an eerily similar experience recently, when I dropped my MSI, the mSATA SSD came dislodged and corrupted the boot sector. I was getting that same exact repair error. Took a long night to fix and get to the point where I could reinstall Win 8.1 successfully.

As far as the flickering, hmm which MSI is this? Did you install the latest Intel iGP driver?

 

[Sr Kitsune]

I haven't been responding much, because "At least wait until Computex is over, May 31 to June 6 yadda yadda" is my auto-answer to every new laptop inquiry, even for the low end user.



Man, I had an eerily similar experience recently, when I dropped my MSI, the mSATA SSD came dislodged and corrupted the boot sector. I was getting that same exact repair error. Took a long night to fix and get to the point where I could reinstall Win 8.1 successfully.

As far as the flickering, hmm which MSI is this? Did you install the latest Intel iGP driver?

GT72S 6QE Dominator Pro-G

The flickering is largely gone. It just happens in some apps, but rarely.

I'm more worried with the fact that my battery no longer stops charging when full... and that windows data usage is not updating. (0 bytes used(Wifi and ethernet) in the last 30 days... right) lol

I have all drivers and utilities from the support page, except BIOS and firmware updates. That wasn't changed as far as I know in all this mess, so there shouldn't be a need to update those. I'm frankly kind of scared to flash my bios and risk bricking my laptop to be honest.

 

[Poker Face]

How much do y'all think I'll save if I wait for the 10xx to come out? I want to get a 970 or 980, but if I'm only gonna save like 200 bucks I'll probably just buy now.

 

[K.Jack]

The flickering is largely gone. It just happens in some apps, but rarely.

I'm more worried with the fact that my battery no longer stops charging when full... and that windows data usage is not updating. (0 bytes used(Wifi and ethernet) in the last 30 days... right)

Man I wish my data usage meter had EVER worked, on my GT72. Which laptop do you have?

My laptop sits at 'Fully Charged 100%", is that what you're talking about there?

One thing you may nee to do, is get MSI to send you a set of factory install discs. They'll do it for free, if your laptop isn't beyond a year old.

How much do y'all think I'll save if I wait for the 10xx to come out? I want to get a 970 or 980, but if I'm only gonna save like 200 bucks I'll probably just buy now.

You won't save anything, because the 1070M and 1080M laptops will simply release at the same prices the 970M and 980M ones are at now.

Old mobile GPUs don't get cheaper, they get replaced.

 

[momshotdad]

I just wanna know: Which brands are the better ones and where should I be looking for good deals on them? Is best buy or something OK or is that a big nono? I'd ideally like a deal on them for roughly 10-20% off so I feel like I'm getting a value, you know?

I'll keep reading the thread to see what I come up w/

Copy/paste from OP
Country where it will be purchased. - USA
Maximum budget. - $1200
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight). - None, I guess. 15~ is fine.
Planned usage. - Playing most games on medium to high settings. using it at home and away to browse the internet and play some games. Will plug in via HDMI to play on TV/monitor.
Whatever else you find relevant - Nothing special, just runs well and plays games. Just wanna get a solid/sturdy laptop that can play a lot of games and last me until I upgrade my PC this year/next year. Want one on SALE or w/ a good deal. Would hate to pay full MSRP.

I have the Alienware 15 with the quad core i5 (3.2GHz), 8gb memory, 1tb HDD, and the GTX 965 and it's pretty rad. I can play all last gen console games at high on 1080 no sweat and the newer stuff on low 1080p or high 900p all at 60fps minimum. I ended up paying $1075 after tax for it and I'm super happy with it.

 

[Sr Kitsune]

Man I wish my data usage meter had EVER worked, on my GT72. Which laptop do you have?

My laptop sits at 'Fully Charged 100%", is that what you're talking about there?

One thing you may nee to do, is get MSI to send you a set of factory install discs. They'll do it for free, if your laptop isn't beyond a year old.



You won't save anything, because the 1070M and 1080M laptops will simply release at the same prices the 970M and 980M ones are at now.

Old mobile GPUs don't get cheaper, they get replaced.

I edited my previous post.
MSI GT72S 6QE Dominator Pro G.

My data usage used to work before, I know because I checked it once when I was reading about data caps from some ISP.

And before all this mess when my battery reached 100% a few seconds after that it said "Plugged and discharging" or something like that, then when it hit 95% it started charging again. 100-95-100-95

I'm worried since my old laptop because of being constantly over charged and because of heat, it's energy only lasted for 5 minutes.... or less.

And thank you for reminding me of the discs, I have totally forgotten about them. And I have the box in which the laptop came barely 1 meter away from me, lol. Salvation?

 

[Poker Face]

You won't save anything, because the 1070M and 1080M laptops will simply release at the same prices the 970M and 980M ones are at now.

Old mobile GPUs don't get cheaper, they get replaced.

Well damn. I'm thinking about buying now, but maybe I should just suck it up and not have a laptop for a couple months.

 

[Sr Kitsune]

-_-

This would have saved me hours, literally.

I might do a new fresh install next week. It wouldn't hurt to be sure everything is as intended. I guess.

 

[K.Jack]

I edited my previous post.
MSI GT72S 6QE Dominator Pro G.

My data usage used to work before, I know because I checked it once when I was reading about data caps from some ISP.

And before all this mess when my battery reached 100% a few seconds after that it said "Plugged and discharging" or something like that, then when it hit 95% it started charging again. 100-95-100-95

I'm worried since my old laptop because of being constantly over charged and because of heat, it's energy only lasted for 5 minutes.... or less.

And thank you for reminding me of the discs, I have totally forgotten about them. And I have the box in which the laptop came barely 1 meter away from me, lol.

Man, now that I'm thinking about it, I think my battery used to do that too, before I reinstalled with an OEM Windows 8 disc, due to the recovery discs not working when the partition was borked. I might actually make that call myself, even though they'll likely charge me for them.

Yeah there's a software/drivers disc in the box, but no recovery discs, which is why they have the software prompt you to make your own. Like I said, they will send you a free set if you call them.

Well damn. I'm thinking about buying now, but maybe I should just suck it up and not have a laptop for a couple months.

Suck it up until we at least have a release window, then decide based on whether you can wait that long. Like I've said, Computex (next week) will be very telling.

-_-

This would have saved me hours, literally.

I might do a new fresh install next week. It wouldn't hurt to be sure everything is as intended. I guess.

Lol well I'm at least glad I reminded you. That driver disc is a life saver.

Side note: You thinking about buying the GTX 1080M upgrade kit, when MSI offers them? I'll wait until next year, to see if there's a successor which is also compatible. A GTX 1080 derivative with GDDR5X would be ace, and judging history, it's inevitable.

 

[Sr Kitsune]

Man, now that I'm thinking about it, I think my battery used to do that too, before I reinstalled with an OEM Windows 8 disc, due to the recovery discs not working when the partition was borked. I might actually make that call myself, even though they'll likely charge me for them.

Yeah there's a software/drivers disc in the box, but no recovery discs, which is why they have the software prompt you to make your own. Like I said, they will send you a free set if you call them.



Suck it up until we at least have a release window, then decide based on whether you can wait that long. Like I've said, Computex (next week) will be very telling.



Lol well I'm at least glad I reminded you. That driver disc is a life saver.

Side note: You thinking about buying the GTX 1080M upgrade kit, when MSI offers them? I'll wait until next year, to see if there's a successor which is also compatible. A GTX 1080 derivative with GDDR5X would be ace, and judging history, it's inevitable.

The thing is I bought my MSI from Amazon with a USA address (friends), but I live in Mexico.

I don't know how would this affect my warranty and/or geting a recovery disc from them.

And I was thinking about upgrading to 1080M but I look up the prices of the 980M upgrade kit and it was a bit more than expected (around 850 usd, iirc). And with the dollar getting stronger lately along with my currency being hit by speculators, it would be a bad investment at the moment.

Perhaps in late 2017 or early 2018 it might be a viable option.
But if I have to wait for 2018, I might as well save and build my PC, since in 2018 I wouldn't be in college anymore.

 

[K.Jack]

The thing is I bought my MSI from Amazon with a USA address (friends), but I live in Mexico.

I don't know how would this affect my warranty and/or geting a recovery disc from them.

And I was thinking about upgrading to 1080M but I look up the prices of the 980M upgrade kit and it was a bit more than expected (around 850 usd, iirc). And with the dollar getting stronger lately along with my currency being hit by speculators, it would be a bad investment at the moment.

Perhaps in late 2017 or early 2018 it might be a viable option.
But if I have to wait for 2018, I might as well save and build my PC, since in 2018 I wouldn't be in college anymore.

Hmm the Xotic PC listing, for the default warranty: 2 Year MSI US/Canada Parts & Labor 1 Year Global Warranty w/ Lifetime Tech Support + 1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty

So I think you're even covered in Mexico, for 1 year.

And yeah, if you'll eventually go desktop, I'd stand pat.

 

[Ianan]

I'm considering buying a used laptop and was looking at the ASUS Zenbook UX301LA. The configuration is this:
Intel Core i7 4500U
8GB RAM
256GB SSD (This is actually 2x 128GB SSD's in Raid 0 config).
Windows 8 (can upgrade if you want to)
2560 x 1440 resolution screen
Touchscreen
Intel HD 4400 graphics

Its from Amazon Warehouse and listed as "Very Good Condition" for £450.

You guys think this is a good purchase for the price? Kinda just want it for browsing, Visual Studio and a bit of use in Unreal Engine 4.

 

[georly]

I'm in the same position.
I'm waiting for an update of this very model with a GTX1060M/GTX1070M ... considering Pascal's performance so far it would just ace anything you try to run at 1080p.

I just bit the bullet on the inspiron i-7559. I spend most weekends away from home and was tired of only playing 3DS or watching stuff on my phone. Hope I don't regret it too much :/

 

[wheeplash]

I just bit the bullet on the inspiron i-7559. I spend most weekends away from home and was tired of only playing 3DS or watching stuff on my phone. Hope I don't regret it too much :/

I don't think you will, it's a great choice nonetheless.
I'd say is the absolute best option for a sub $1000 laptop there is right now, no contest.

 

[Fox318]

Man I know everyone is waiting on Pascal but these thunderbolt 3 external gpu docks is what I really want to see.

What the hell is taking the core so long to hit the market?

I'm sure Acer and MSI will have something right after that hits.

 

[Fox318]

Speak of the devil people just started getting their Core's yesterday.

https://youtu.be/bGyWFDb2pEo

 

[Beefy]

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 14" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core&#8482; i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo

Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD SLIM BLUE 2.5" WD10SPCX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8260 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

So I know nothing about building a laptop. But can get this setup for £870 on PC specialists.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/

I have two questions:

1) Can this play the latest games (mainly Warhammer TW)

2) Is this a decent price for what I am getting? Or would you go for a different build? (Around £870 is my limit)

Thank you for any help.

 

[anddo0]

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 14" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core&#8482; i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo

Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 965M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD SLIM BLUE 2.5" WD10SPCX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8260 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

So I know nothing about building a laptop. But can get this setup for £870 on PC specialists.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/

I have two questions:

1) Can this play the latest games (mainly Warhammer TW)

2) Is this a decent price for what I am getting? Or would you go for a different build? (Around £870 is my limit)

Thank you for any help.

^^Warhammer TW- would chug on that setup.. I've seen guys with desktop cards 970,980ti etc... struggle to maintain 30fps during large battles. You're looking at 14-24fps at 1080p, could drop into single digits in some occurrences.

965m falls between a 750 ti and GTX 960

 

[Beefy]

^^Warhammer TW- would chug on that setup.. I've seen guys with desktop cards 970,980ti etc... struggle to maintain 30fps during large battles. You're looking at 14-24fps at 1080p, could drop into single digits in some occurrences.

965m falls between a 750 ti and GTX 960

Could you recommend a build on that site? I can afford £870., but if I do the 12 month payment plan I can probably stretch to £1100.

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core&#8482; i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
4GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD SLIM BLUE 2.5" WD10SPCX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3

I can get this for £1079.

 

[Fox318]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Lr2kH5ldE

Razer Core setup vid

 

[momshotdad]

Does anyone here have any experience with the Alienware Graphics Amplifier? I know that mine supports it, but I was curious as to how easy it was to work with or if it's worth buying at all. Is there a list of GPUs that are and aren't supported? Will it support the 1080? It's on sale on the website for $170 and I have a $50 gift card.....