Deciding between laptops for moderate gaming

[ShadowForce]

My brother came to me asking for advice on a new laptop because his old one finally gave up the ghost and I am turning to you guys because I could not firmly decide between two models. He has a max budget of $1500 and has a few requirements: it must have a SSD (at least for boot), must have a backlit keyboard, 1920x1080 screen, and be reasonably portable. Uses will be productivity in MS Office, content consumption, and moderate gaming (Civ V, Smite, Bioshock infinite, and would like to be able to in the future run Mass Effect 4 at higher than low settings).

 

I have narrowed it down to a MSI GE62 Apache (i7 4720HQ, 8GB ram, 1TB HDD, GTX 965m 2GB) and a Gigabyte P35Wv2 (i7 4710HQ, 8GB, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD, GTX 870m 6GB). Note: would purchase a SSD to add to the the GE62.

 

It is a difficult decision because the Apache seems to have higher build quality and a brand new gpu but that gpu only has 2GB of VRAM whereas the P35W has 6 and we would have to order a SSD which would add to the cost of the Apache. Also a concern is that the P35W is reviewed to be quite loud at full load. Six GB of vram is ridiculous for 1080p gaming but I don't feel comfortable about 2GB.

 

Suggestions? Maybe there is a great model that I missed or some flaw I am not seeing. Am I worrying too much about the vram and 2GB is plenty? 

[Aniallation]

My brother came to me asking for advice on a new laptop because his old one finally gave up the ghost and I am turning to you guys because I could not firmly decide between two models. He has a max budget of $1500 and has a few requirements: it must have a SSD (at least for boot), must have a backlit keyboard, 1920x1080 screen, and be reasonably portable. Uses will be productivity in MS Office, content consumption, and moderate gaming (Civ V, Smite, Bioshock infinite, and would like to be able to in the future run Mass Effect 4 at higher than low settings).

 

I have narrowed it down to a MSI GE62 Apache (i7 4720HQ, 8GB ram, 1TB HDD, GTX 965m 2GB) and a Gigabyte P35Wv2 (i7 4710HQ, 8GB, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD, GTX 870m 6GB). Note: would purchase a SSD to add to the the GE62.

 

It is a difficult decision because the Apache seems to have higher build quality and a brand new gpu but that gpu only has 2GB of VRAM whereas the P35W has 6 and we would have to order a SSD which would add to the cost of the Apache. Also a concern is that the P35W is reviewed to be quite loud at full load. Six GB of vram is ridiculous for 1080p gaming but I don't feel comfortable about 2GB.

 

Suggestions? Maybe there is a great model that I missed or some flaw I am not seeing. Am I worrying too much about the vram and 2GB is plenty? 

 

For those uses, you will never reach 6GB of VRAM usage. 2GB is perfectly fine with a 965M. Get the MSI.

[ShadowForce]

For those uses, you will never reach 6GB of VRAM usage. 2GB is perfectly fine with a 965M. Get the MSI.

 

Thanks. I knew 6GB was way more than overkill but was not sure about 2GB. Looks like the MSI will be ordered soon.

[Aniallation]

Thanks. I knew 6GB was way more than overkill but was not sure about 2GB. Looks like the MSI will be ordered soon.

No problem. 3GB would have been preferable, but in reality we always want more GB's for everything and it's definitely not the end of the world with 2GB. GTX 965M will give you about the performance of the desktop GTX 760, which was perfectly happy maxing out games at 1080p with 2GB of VRAM. Enjoy your new laptop

[ShadowForce]

No problem. 3GB would have been preferable, but in reality we always want more GB's for everything and it's definitely not the end of the world with 2GB. GTX 965M will give you about the performance of the desktop GTX 760, which was perfectly happy maxing out games at 1080p with 2GB of VRAM. Enjoy your new laptop

 

Yup, wish the 965m came with 3 GB but 2 should do for him. I'll be sure to pass on the message to him. Thanks for your help

[D2ultima]

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8651-clevo-p650se-p-7690.html?wconfigure=yes

 

Or he could buy this with a 970M and put an OS on it and it'll be fine...

[Aniallation]

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8651-clevo-p650se-p-7690.html?wconfigure=yes

 

Or he could buy this with a 970M and put an OS on it and it'll be fine...

Are you being paid to advertise them or something?

[D2ultima]

Are you being paid to advertise them or something?

They're the best value, and this forum seems to be heavily about price pinching. If you look at people asking for under ~$900 or so, you'll find I don't offer a laptop suggestion.

 

MSI is overpriced on their higher end newest models (so much so I can build a SLI 980M laptop fully decked out for the price of their single GPU GT72 fully decked out), alienware have gone so far down the drain they're in another world and I really, really dislike ASUS.

 

Want power and a strong CPU that you can set to never throttle? I suggest the MQ line still running in Clevo or the ZM desktop-CPU-using line.

Want pure gaming strength at a decent cost and not too big? The P6xxSx series are nice. Gigabyte's models have been having lots of issues AND are ~$200+ more expensive by default.

Want super thin and able to game a bit? MSI's GS series is where I go. At least they have HDD slots unlike certain Razer overpriced models.

 

I could also ask the same about this forum that instantly recommends ASUS and Lenovo. It's as if they don't know anything else really exists.