Laptop For Online Poker - Gaming Laptop?

[paulyron]

Have an old dell xps 15 9550 with specs of


i5-6300hq
1tb nvme ssd
32gb ram
intel hd graphics 530
nvidia geforce gtx 960m
84whr battery
 

 

 

Play online poker on the laptop connected to 2 external monitors... one is a 32' 4k and the other is a 24' 1920x1200 monitor.  I play many tables and run some software on it that does require it to be fast.  However these poker clients apparently have made it where you need a fast processor and also a modern graphics card in order for it to run smoothly.  I am not sure if even getting the best graphic card can solve the issue though but my graphic card is very old to be use today right?

 

 

My laptop processor is still considered okay to use nowadays or is it a bit old?  My graphics card is very old right?  I looked at dell site and the older dell xps 9510 and current 9520 is what they are selling.  I see they have the i7 11th or 12th generation and also 3050 or 3050ti.  But the 9520 seem to cost at least 700 dollars more.  Its $1600+tax for the xps 9510 and $2049+ for the xps 9520.

 

 

Thing is years ago, this same laptop with only 8gb ram had no issues playing online poker with many tables on the sites.  But because of all the software changes these poker clients has done, my laptop can't seem to handle it anymore.  I also have this issue where my 2 external monitors get a black screen for a few seconds.  Then it goes back to normal.  But then the bottom taskbar disappears for a few minutes.  Then minutes later, it reappears and all the things below in my taskbar is there but they are not in order.  This is a black screen or not?  It happens for short time and happen a lot when playing lot of tables on these poker clients.  

 

 

 

[paulyron]

Are these laptops below worth it?  Is it worth paying that much for the xps 9520 than the xps 9510?  I do not play any games at all except online poker which back then didn't even require that fast of a computer.  



Some of them graphics card are 3050 or 3050ti or 3060. Which would you recommend from these? I do see there are cheaper gaming laptops though but just posting the better ones here. All these laptops are 15' except the Asus G14 which is 14'.  But I would be using it plugged in with external monitors.  Which of these would you recommend or not recommend?   I heard very mixed reviews about Dell Ryzen Gaming laptop.



But are gaming laptops better avoided if you don't play games?  It runs hot mostly?  Do all these laptops have bad battery if it has at last a 3060 graphics driver?  But the dell xps 15 is not a gaming laptop right even though it has either 3050 or 3050ti?  Would it be foolish to buy another xps since i heard they are overpriced and for something like the 9520, you can't even get 3060 graphics card compared to the gaming laptops?  I plan to use this laptop plugged in almost all the time with 2 external monitors.
 

The other reason I want to stick with the xps is because I currently have two PW7015L powerbanks with my dell xps 15 9550.  So if i get a non dell xps laptop, then there aren't much powerbanks for it?  If i get the dell xps 15 9510 or 9520, I see the powerbank they use is usb c but mine is not.  Could i buy an adapter and use my 2 PW7015L with it though?  I obviously wouldn't want to buy 2 more PW7018 powerbanks with the new xps laptop which I see that is what they use for it.





Also I see there are other laptops like


Older Dell XPS 9510

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9510-laptop

$1600+tax


Dell XPS 9520

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/laptops/new-xps-15/spd/xps-15-9520-laptop

$2049+tax with i7 configuration and 32gb ddr5



Dell G15 Ryzen Edition

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/g15-ryzen-edition-gaming-laptop/spd/g-series-15-5515-laptop/gn5515eyuch

$1100+tax


Lenovo Slim 7

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-legion-slim-7-15-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-5800h-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-512gb-ssd-shadow-black/6470819.p?skuId=6470819

$1350+ tax on sale from $1550


Lenovo Legion 5

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-legion-5-15-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-5800h-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-ti-8gb-memory-512gb-ssd-phantom-blue/6455136.p?skuId=6455136

$1200+tax



Asus G14

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-14-wqxga-120hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-16gb-ddr5-memory-amd-radeon-rx-6700s-1tb-pcie-4-0-ssd/6494638.p?skuId=6494638

$1400+ tax on sale from $1650

 

 

[jaslion]

2 hours ago, paulyron said:

but my graphic card is very old to be use today right?

Older yes but unless these clients have high budget AAA realistic graphics that 960m shouldnt have any problems.

 

 

Before you buy anything Id recommend you instal msi afterburner and monitor per cpu core usage and gpu usage and see if anything is maxing out. Same with ram

 

The powerbanks are only for the old chassis xps laptops. Aka the worse chassis that overheats like crazy. The new one is better but still doesnt fix the issue and the xps you are looking at eill also experience it which in turns causes lowered performance.

 

That legion 5 or g14 would allow you to get a baller mobile powerbank. If you are really focused on battery then get the asus g14/g15 their battery life is excellent and its one of their focuspoints

 

Either way before you do that we need to see where or eve  if the current laptop is lacking somewhere

 

[paulyron]

20 hours ago, jaslion said:

Older yes but unless these clients have high budget AAA realistic graphics that 960m shouldnt have any problems.

 

 

Before you buy anything Id recommend you instal msi afterburner and monitor per cpu core usage and gpu usage and see if anything is maxing out. Same with ram

 

The powerbanks are only for the old chassis xps laptops. Aka the worse chassis that overheats like crazy. The new one is better but still doesnt fix the issue and the xps you are looking at eill also experience it which in turns causes lowered performance.

 

That legion 5 or g14 would allow you to get a baller mobile powerbank. If you are really focused on battery then get the asus g14/g15 their battery life is excellent and its one of their focuspoints

 

Either way before you do that we need to see where or eve  if the current laptop is lacking somewhere

 

Hey.  Well how important is the msi afterburner?  That will determine what is causing these issues?

 

Okay so the legion 5 or the asus mean require which powerbank?  can you use the new dell xps powerbank or not?  

 

Pretty sure these programs use lot of graphics nowadays so want to know best laptop for this situation.  

[jaslion]

2 hours ago, paulyron said:

Well how important is the msi afterburner?  That will determine what is causing these issues?

It is meant to help you monitor things like cpu, gpu usage and temperatures. All things that can be quite telling where the issue lies and what needs to be improved.

 

2 hours ago, paulyron said:

can you use the new dell xps powerbank or not?  

The new usb c one yes but don't know why youd want to there are MUCH better cheaper units out there.

 

2 hours ago, paulyron said:

Pretty sure these programs use lot of graphics nowadays so want to know best laptop for this situation.  

This is why you running afterbunrer and checking the gpu usage and such during the programs running is VERY important. For all we know it might not even be your gpu struggling but something else. Then we can go from there and see if the current laptop can still be used or what to focus on in a new one.

[paulyron]

21 hours ago, jaslion said:

It is meant to help you monitor things like cpu, gpu usage and temperatures. All things that can be quite telling where the issue lies and what needs to be improved.

 

The new usb c one yes but don't know why youd want to there are MUCH better cheaper units out there.

 

This is why you running afterbunrer and checking the gpu usage and such during the programs running is VERY important. For all we know it might not even be your gpu struggling but something else. Then we can go from there and see if the current laptop can still be used or what to focus on in a new one.

Okay so after downloading afterburner, then i do the test?  How long does the test take?  Do i do the test when im playing online poker?  Or also do it in idle?

 

 

But what could you possibly tell from those tests though after i post the results?

 

 

So the dell usb powerbank... i could use that with any gaming laptop?  Can you confirm that?  The thing is i have 2 PW7015L powerbanks that i can use with my old xps 15 9550.  But the issue is this powerbank is a barrel and not usb-c.  So if i buy a new laptop such as the dell xps 9510/9520, could i still use it if i buy one of those barrel to usb c adapter if those exist such as this below or would it not work?

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/470-ACFG?gacd=9646510-1028-5761040-266706306-0&dgc=s...

 

 

The reason why i ask is because i would want to have 2 powerbanks with me... and if i buy a new dell xps... i don't want to spend more money and buy 2 of the new Dell PW7018LC usb-c powerbanks that they are selling because I already have 2 barrel ones.

 

 

So with a nondell gaming laptop, only the PW7018LC usb-c powerbank would work?  I wouldn't be able to get my barrel powerbank to work with it even buying that adapter?

 

 

When you say much cheaper units out there, which ones?  But the main thing though is could you carry those when flying?  I assume not because it's over the mAh right?  Because the ones I have... Dell PW7015L there is no issue with it.

 

 

Another thing I want to mention.  There is tons of dust through my keyboard on the laptop.  The reason for this is because I'm in a very hot and humid area so that is what caused it.  Could that be a reason for this as lot of dust?  I rarely use laptop keyboard as i use external keyboard.

 

 

 

[paulyron]

Also when playing online poker, this has happened almost every single day now.  Whenever I have lot of tables opened... I get a black screen for a few seconds.  But not only that, the bottom taskbar disappears every single time.  It usually take several minutes but after a while, the taskbar reappears.  But everything on the taskbar is rearranged and I have to move all the programs to how i want it from left to right.  This has happened multiples times in a day as well if I'm playing lot of tables. 

 

 

Is this a crash or what is it called?  There is no blue screen or anything like that.  It's literally a black screen for few seconds only, but then I could see my tables and the regular screen but the bottom taskbar is not there for many minutes.  Also when this happens, I do not need to restart my pc.  I just wait a bit and then it restores back.  But this is definitely related to the poker client and the programs that I use when playing.  So is this the cpu or graphics card?  Would that program be able to tell what it is?  Also I had sent a report to the poker software site which I use on this and when they looked at my log files when these issues occur such as the program crashes, they told me that they saw something along with their program was using close to 100% cpu.  I think they said their program might be using 25% cpu... their program is intensive... but something else is using a lot of the other cpu but don't know what it is.  The thing though is rarely have i seen my cpu at 100% or close to it anymore when playing.  So would that program be able to tell that?

 

 

Anyone play online poker or know much about this?  I got to assume my cpu and my graphic card is not good enough?

[paulyron]

Anyone have recommendations for laptop for online poker that is very fast?  Do i need a fast graphics card?

[paulyron]

Anyone?  I know many of those I posted above are not on sale anymore but thoughts on these gaming laptops and the dell xps 9510/9520?

[jaslion]

On 8/13/2022 at 8:06 AM, paulyron said:

Okay so after downloading afterburner, then i do the test?  How long does the test take?  Do i do the test when im playing online poker?  Or also do it in idle?

 

In settings you have the on screen display tab. Activate the cpu and gpu setting monitoring and assign a shortcut so it shows in "game". Or monitor thr graphs on another monitor.

 

Do this during your matches and see what it gives.

 

 

Your powerbanks will not be used for any other laptop youll need new ones no matter the system you buy. This time I recommend getting universal ones to avois this happening again.

 

As for aeeing what is using the cpu the most open task manager and sort by cpu usage

[paulyron]

On 8/23/2022 at 2:34 AM, jaslion said:

In settings you have the on screen display tab. Activate the cpu and gpu setting monitoring and assign a shortcut so it shows in "game". Or monitor thr graphs on another monitor.

 

Do this during your matches and see what it gives.

 

 

Your powerbanks will not be used for any other laptop youll need new ones no matter the system you buy. This time I recommend getting universal ones to avois this happening again.

 

As for aeeing what is using the cpu the most open task manager and sort by cpu usage

So there is no way for me to use the Dell PW7015L powerbanks with other laptop brands like the lenovo legion or lenovo legion 7 slim or asus g14 even if i buy that dell adapter below?

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/470-ACFG?gacd=9646510-1028-5761040-266706306-0&dgc=s...

 

 

The thing is I want powerbanks where I could carry it while flying.  And I know lot of powerbanks have too high of a mAh to be allowed for flying.  So that is why the PW7015L is what I use.  So what alternatives are there for powerbanks if I were to get a lenovo legion or lenovo 7 slim or g14 laptop then?

 

 

In that list I posted, which laptop would you suggest overall?

 

 

Should I just go with the dell xps?

 

[jaslion]

3 hours ago, paulyron said:

So there is no way for me to use the Dell PW7015L powerbanks with other laptop brands like the lenovo legion or lenovo legion 7 slim or asus g14 even if i buy that dell adapter below?

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/470-ACFG?gacd=9646510-1028-5761040-266706306-0&dgc=s...

 

 

The thing is I want powerbanks where I could carry it while flying.  And I know lot of powerbanks have too high of a mAh to be allowed for flying.  So that is why the PW7015L is what I use.  So what alternatives are there for powerbanks if I were to get a lenovo legion or lenovo 7 slim or g14 laptop then?

 

 

In that list I posted, which laptop would you suggest overall?

 

 

Should I just go with the dell xps?

 

Legion 5, Asus g14 or legion 7 slim are the picks. The xps simply cant cool itself

 

[paulyron]

On 8/25/2022 at 2:40 AM, jaslion said:

Legion 5, Asus g14 or legion 7 slim are the picks. The xps simply cant cool itself

 

What do you mean by it can't cool itself?

 

So should i get a gaming laptop for it or not?  Because an xps seem like good idea if i5 or i7 processor and the 3050 ?

[jaslion]

15 hours ago, paulyron said:

What do you mean by it can't cool itself?

 

So should i get a gaming laptop for it or not?  Because an xps seem like good idea if i5 or i7 processor and the 3050 ?

Xps base model overheats already so id get any of the other suggestions

[paulyron]

On 9/10/2022 at 5:36 PM, jaslion said:

Xps base model overheats already so id get any of the other suggestions

What do you mean by overheats?  Is it doing a certain thing that it does that?  I see pretty good reviews on the dell site though.

 

You would still recommend a gaming laptop over a dell xps 15 9520 though?

[jaslion]

3 hours ago, paulyron said:

What do you mean by overheats?  Is it doing a certain thing that it does that?  I see pretty good reviews on the dell site though.

It runs hotter than it's cooling solution can handle causing it to need to slow down and you lose performance. This has been an issue since 2016.

 

If you need performance yes. The xps cant even dream of getting there even the new design will engage thermal throttling with an i5 and a 3050. The old design xps does it more severe.

 

The xps does certain things very right like a good display and trackpad but for people that need raw performance it is simply not good enough.

 

The asus g14 and g15 I don't call gaming laptops as thats not their target audience. They are creator laptops and their design and focus on features reflects that.