Gaming Laptop & Advice

[Wazza]

Edit- Mod, this thread might be better in the "spec" forum, could you move it if it should be there. Sorry!

Hello all,

I'm looking to get a gaming laptop (due to size of flat and "negotations" with the better half).

I currently own a Dell Studio 15" i5 (430m) with an ATI 5745 and 4 gigs of ram and 5.6rpm hd. I'm mentioning this so I can get a steer on the performance gain. The laptop was my first foray into laptop gaming and although it was adequate i'm definitley starting to feel the burn (literally off the GPU and onto my lap).

Requirements:

1) About £1,200
2) Can run Skyrim, SWTOR at medium settings but with no fluctuations in fps.
3) will last me the next 3 years.

I've already identified that i'm going to get a 15.6" screen as I do use it in several different locations.

My questions:

1) with the CPU, should I go for the Top I5 one (2520M), Dual core I7 2640M, or the lowest quad core I7 (267QM)? Do games actually use all 4 cores?
2) I noticed that the 485m is on special offer, however it is a tech behind. is it worth it? Should I wait for the new Nvidia series to come out?
3) I'm thinking of getting 4 gigs of ram, as I doubt the games I mentioned above will use anything near that amount, and also I imagine it's easy to upgrade the ram. In order to get the maximum benefit do I need to get pairs? e.g. 2* 2gig?
4) I'm not persuaded to get the SSD as it merely increases loading times and I've never been particularly fussed about loading times. Am I correct in my beliefs?

Thanks all

 

[micken]

I just ordered a Vortex II 15.6" with the following spec, and in a couple days when it arrives I will be installing Skyrim and Battlefield 3, if you wait I'll be able to give you some valuable insight

CPU: i5-2430M
GPU: GTX 560M
Mem: 8GB DDR 1333Mhz
HDD: 120GB SATA3 HDD

I did a lot of research before hand, so to answer your questions:

1) From what I understand few games utilise multi cores, the i5's are possibly better as they run a few hundred MHz's faster. i5's are also cooler, and therefore quieter.
2) The 485M is a beast, check this chart out for a rough idea of where it stands compared to the others. I understand that the 6990M is actually more powerful (and cheaper) but that it has higher temps and power requirements.
3) I believe that getting two sticks will allow Dual Channel to be used, but how much benefit that gives I do not know. For gaming you only need 1333MHz sticks and they are cheap as chips (pun intended!), might as well go 8GB's, some games (BF3) apparently do run better with more memory.
4) SSD = changes your whole PC experience. Everything is faster (and in Skyrim with it's many load screens you care) to load, from the OS to the wake from sleep times, games, processes, playback. Everything is better with SSD. Expensive yes, worth it if you have the cash, yes! They are also quieter, more robust and consume less power than conventional drives.

 

[PCS]

Welcome to our forums

micken has answered most questions pretty well here. Here are some additional comments:

1. If you are planning to stretch to an i7 - choose the 2670QM as it's a fantastic processor for a great price point.

2. We have further reduced the 485M today, which represents exceptional value. We only have one left so once it's gone, it's gone.

3. Given how inexpensive memory is at the moment on a high spec notebook 8GB is worth the extra for future-proofing.

4. In my opinion an SSD is worth more than a powerful processor or higher memory amount - it makes such a big difference, so if your budget allows I would recommend this, and even consider reducing the CPU a little to fit in an SSD.

 

[Music Guy123]

This is what I would get and I wouldn't get the SSD as with that budget it would be better to spend it on a better gpu. SSDs are really a luxury! Anyway, here is the spec:

Chassis & Display
Vortex II: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6990M - DirectX® 11 (15.6" Vortex II)
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 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 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,229.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexII-15/

 

[Wazza]

Thank you all for your warm welcome and input.

I'm of the opinion that I should buy items that are either non-upgradable (CPU) or at the limit of my skills (GPU on a laptop). I feel comfortable upgrading the ram & hard drive at a later date in order to give it a new lease of life in a year or two.

After dealing with the heat issues of this dell I'm sensitive to buying a GPU that's got so many reports of heat issues, especially on the smaller 15.6" chassis. I'm looking at the 17.3 with the 6990, it's only £1,276... gah.

Even on this forum we've got 1 for the i5 and 2 for the i7!

Here's are my latest thoughts:


Chassis & Display
Vortex II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6990M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)

Memory - Hard Disk
250GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD2500BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 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 5 to 7 working days

 

[Music Guy123]

Looks solid, a couple of tips though! Upgrade the thermal paste, it is well worth the extra money. Secondly, I'd suggest getting the 2 sticks of 2gb as that is slightly faster and there are 4 slots so you can easily upgrade to 8gb without causing any problems. Finally, now that you can fit two hdds in that chassis, you may want to get a Kingston hyperx and then a secondary hdd for storage (the speed of this won't matter as it is for storage and the SSD will provide the speed).

 

[Wazza]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to move some money across to my debit card and then buy it tonight. Didn't realise there'd be an extra 2% charge for using a CC