Casual gaming laptop

[scoboy]

Hi, I was hoping to get some feedback on this spec if possible;

Chassis & Display
Enigma IV: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) (£35)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3210M (2.50GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)
Sound Card
SRS 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
ENIGMA SERIES GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Enigma Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £661.00 including VAT and delivery.

I do some gaming (not a huge amount), and a bit of web design (nothing graphic heavy). I'd like to run various MMOs on it - AFAIK, the secret world is probably the highest spec requirement (run it on a desktop with minimal spec just now - not too bothered about running it at higher spec), also GW2 and random strategy games (settlers, etc).

Any feedback would be great - I'm not really that up to speed with the relative performance of the various components and how future-proof the setup will be. Also any thoughts on Windows 7 vs 8 at this point?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mantadog]

I'm not sure what the minimum spes of those games are like, but if they are a bit older and dont need too much oomph then they will run alright. A dual core and a very low end GPU isnt really a gaming machine these days but it will suffice for older titles no problems at all.

as for windows 7 vs 8 i think it has to be 8. my brother bought a windows 8 spec from here last week. It takes a bit of getting used to but after that its fine.

 

[Cymrodan]

Personally, that's a very nice build - more than just a "casual" gaming laptop. I haven't got one myself, but I am looking at buying a new one similar (was ideally looking for 14" first, but now due to budget seems I need to try a 15.6. I put a very similar one together myself. The 650M is a great laptop graphics card, and thats one of the best i5's, so I think personally that'd run current games on medium, and older games on max.

Regards to windows 7 vs 8, personally I'd get 7. I've seen quite a few offers which allow you to upgrade from windows 7 to 8 for like £15, so if you ever feel you need you made a mistake, then it's a cheap upgrade in future.

 

[scoboy]

Thanks for the feedback folks!

I've never really been that bothered about ultra high spec gaming - generally as long as something can run without lagging out I'm happy! Just wanted to be sure I wasn't picking up a spec that was bottlenecking somewhere or wouldn't last at least a few years. I toyed with putting the extra £250 or so to get a better model and spec, but don't really think I'd put it to good use.

Thanks again!