Gaming Laptops

[supersonicsjm]

Hi all.

 

I'm new to the forums, recently started watching Linus and cos videos and really got into them and thought this may be the place to ask what I'm about to ask.

 

I'm in the process of saving up for a new gaming laptop.  I currently have a Dell L501X XPS 15" laptop which is coming up to 5 years old and has really lasted me well, but I think it's time to upgrade.  I'm looking at getting another laptop as I don't have the space for a desktop setup and need the portability to a degree, but it's not going to be carried everywhere with me all the time.  I may move it around my room or on occasion, take it with me somewhere, but not often.

 

The things I've been looking at for my new laptop are Skylake i7 chipsets, NVidia GTX 900 series graphics (either M variants or the newly announce 980 for laptops) DDR4 RAM, using an SSD for OS and games and HDD for personal files, USB Type C and Thunderbolt etc.  One of the main things I want to make sure my new laptop does have is a blu-ray writer.  It's something I still use quite a lot for movies and I still have some software that requires it, like my driving theory stuff.

 

I also do video editing when I do recordings of my video games either on my PC or from one of my consoles so I need to factor that into specs as well.

 

I've been looking around and not sure what to go for.  The other thing I'm not sure on is do I stick with another 15" laptop or go 17".

 

I should also add, I do want this to last me a while, so I want to go as decent spec as possible and/or as much upgradeability as possible, if at all possible.

 

So I thought I'd come here and get some opinions and see what others thought.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ttam]

Hi all.

 

I'm new to the forums, recently started watching Linus and co's videos and really got into them and thought this may be the place to ask what I'm about to ask.

 

I'm in the process of saving up for a new gaming laptop.  I currently have a Dell L501X XPS 15" laptop which is coming up to 5 years old and has really lasted me well, but I think it's time to upgrade.  I'm looking at getting another laptop as I don't have the space for a desktop setup and need the portability to a degree, but it's not going to be carried everywhere with me all the time.  I may move it around my room or on occasion, take it with me somewhere, but not often.

 

The things I've been looking at for my new laptop are Skylake i7 chipsets, NVidia GTX 900 series graphics (either M variants or the newly announce 980 for laptops) DDR4 RAM, using an SSD for OS and games and HDD for personal files, USB Type C and Thunderbolt etc.  One of the main things I want to make sure my new laptop does have is a blu-ray writer.  It's something I still use quite a lot for movies and I still have some software that requires it, like my driving theory stuff.

 

I also do video editing when I do recordings of my video games either on my PC or from one of my consoles so I need to factor that into specs as well.

 

I've been looking around and not sure what to go for.  The other thing I'm not sure on is do I stick with another 15" laptop or go 17".

 

So I thought I'd come here and get some opinions and see what others thought.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What is your budget.

[supersonicsjm]

At the moment I have £1600, but looking at saving around £3000.

[ADeadlyGinger]

Let me give you some advice as a 17" gaming laptop owner.

 

Just don't do it. You will be so much better served buying a desktop and a cheap laptop for when you're on the move.

 

Unless you absolutely must have the mobility and performance of a gaming laptop, it just isn't worth it.

[supersonicsjm]

I haven't got space for a desktop sadly and do need something that can be easily moved.

 

Think this was mentioned in my original post.

[exercutor5]

snip

 

This.

 

http://mysn.co.uk/shop/xmg-u706-gaminglaptop.html

 

The specs I recommend

The price you see already includes VAT.

[NeoZeon]

I think you should get a 15 inch laptop (plenty of strong gaming in that size) and then an external monitor: 17 inch laptops are easily moveable but basically useless as a laptop for someone as a go because they are so heavy. 

[supersonicsjm]

This is great guys, really appreciate the advice and suggestions.

 

Keep them coming, I'd love a range of opinions and suggestions on this.

 

Thanks so far to everyone who's pitched in. :-)

[ShadowCaptain]

This is great guys, really appreciate the advice and suggestions.

 

Keep them coming, I'd love a range of opinions and suggestions on this.

 

Thanks so far to everyone who's pitched in. :-)

 

 

Honestly with your budget the world is your oyster, yuo need to decide what kind of laptop you want

 

Thin and light?. Razer blade / MSI GS60 Ghost / Aorus X5/x7

 

Thick and powerful? GT80 Titan, Alienware 17.18

 

All around + upgradable - Clevo p650se (and many other models)

[exercutor5]

Clevo p650se

 

Bro, it's time for the P650RE with Skylake.

[ShadowCaptain]

Bro, it's time for the P650RG with Skylake.

 

Yeah I forgot about that

[supersonicsjm]

I'm hoping the world is my oyster, been saving for months to do this.

 

I'm not too bothered about thin and light, like I said, if possible, I'd like to retain the internal optical drive if it's not going to be too difficult, but I'd rather have more power than a thinner machine.

[ApolloX75]

I haven't got space for a desktop sadly and do need something that can be easily moved.

 

Think this was mentioned in my original post.

Speaking as an owner of an older MSI GT780 series, they are extremely durable. The new GE series are even better. The best part about the MSI laptops is upgrading. For instance I can put a new GTX 970M in my GT780DXR and since it's a sandy bridge i7 I don't have to worry about bottlenecking and it will run much cooler.

 

I enjoy having a gaming laptop personally, they're damn useful for visiting family and traveling when you can't drag a watercooled desktop around with you.

 

The Asus G55 and G75 are excellent also but I find them more prone to bizarre failures and quality issues. You can also buy direct from Sager and Clevo. In fact MSI uses Clevo for their chassis and general baselines.

[supersonicsjm]

Another thought occurs to me, is it worth waiting for the Pascal chips from NVidia to come out before buying, or is that not much of a concern as these machines will be upgradeable/not be that much less powerful than Pascal offerings?

[ApolloX75]

Another thought occurs to me, is it worth waiting for the Pascal chips from NVidia to come out before buying, or is that not much of a concern as these machines will be upgradeable/not be that much less powerful than Pascal offerings?

Considering the current crop of mobile GPUs are downright amazing in comparison to previous generations I don't think it's worth waiting for something that may or may not be drastically better. Nvidia is just as bad as AMD when it comes to over hyping upcoming tech, and Pascal isn't due to drop til Q3 2016 at least.

So it's up to you really, do you want to wait that long? The current generation are excellent and most feature upgradeable MXM 3.0 cards.

[Andrew Storlie]

Msi gs60 or gs70 both have a 970m which is plenty for 1080p gaming, rgb steel series keyboards.... m.2 NVME SSD SUPPORT... nice, thin and light. Im about to be buying a gs70 with the i7 6700hq from xotic pc with some custom eching done

[exercutor5]

http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(1,336,0)ec

 

Thank me later.

[supersonicsjm]

OK, I know it's been a while since any updates have been posted in this thread, but I finally ordered my laptop.

 

This is what I went with in the end:-

 

XMG U726 17.3"

3840x2160 Screen

2xNVidia GeForce GTX980M 8192 GDDR5 SLI

Intel Core i7-6700K 4 core 8 threads 4.0-4.2GHz

1x32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 RAM

Intel AC-8260

 

I'll also be buying 2 512GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD's and 2 Samsung Spinpoint 2TB M9T SATAIII hard drives for storage and and external blu-ray writer.

 

I want to thank everyone who gave me suggestions and advice, it's all been really helpful and I really appreciate it.

 

Thanks again. :-)

[Shrake907]

OK, I know it's been a while since any updates have been posted in this thread, but I finally ordered my laptop.

 

This is what I went with in the end:-

 

XMG U726 17.3"

3840x2160 Screen

2xNVidia GeForce GTX980M 8192 GDDR5 SLI

Intel Core i7-6700K 4 core 8 threads 4.0-4.2GHz

1x32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 RAM

Intel AC-8260

 

I'll also be buying 2 512GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD's and 2 Samsung Spinpoint 2TB M9T SATAIII hard drives for storage and and external blu-ray writer.

 

I want to thank everyone who gave me suggestions and advice, it's all been really helpful and I really appreciate it.

 

Thanks again. :-)

 

That is one powerful laptop, man.

Props.