"Gaming" Laptop Shopping (1,750$ and under)

[Darkinstinct]

Looking for some advice on what laptop to purchase, I want to be able to game on it so the better it is for gaming the more I will like it. I want something with at the least a 17” screen, if it can be bigger than I’m all for it. It wont need any more than 500GB of space because I wont be playing more than 4-5 games at a time and I keep my school work on an external mass storage device.

The form factor isn’t so important to me, I’m not going to be carrying this around in my hands, it’s going to be in a well-padded backpack so I’m not worried about dropping it but it will be traveling a lot, this will be used on Campus pretty much all day every day, the thing I care about more is cooling than size, if it’s got to be bulky to not be burning hot then I’m fine with it. I want something with a nice keyboard since I will be gaming on it and typing up school work, the track pad is less important, I’m going to have a wireless mouse with it so the keyboard is the important part, so it’s got to be comfortable to type on if at all possible.

If I forgot to mention anything and you need any more info to make a suggestion just ask, I should be able to respond in the same day, I’m looking to get this ordered by the end of next week if I can find one that is the right fit for me.

[Firearm2112]

for school I always recommend macs

[arnavvr]

The Sager NP9772 is good especially for gaming, because of the GTX 970M, with 6GB of GDDR5, but it is $1700: http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP9772.html

 

Other wise I would go for Digital Storm's 17.3 Forbus, but It only has a GTX 965M: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/forbus.asp  

[Darkinstinct]

The Sager NP9772 is good especially for gaming, because of the GTX 970M, with 6GB of GDDR5, but it is $1700: http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP9772.html

 

Other wise I would go for Digital Storm's 17.3 Forbus, but It only has a GTX 965M: http://www.digitalstormonline.com/forbus.asp  

Everying good at gaming seems to be around 2,000 but thats how much I spent on my desktop, I just cant bring myself to spent that much on a laptop, also I forgot to add that I dont need any more than 500GB of space on it.

[arnavvr]

Everying good at gaming seems to be around 2,000 but thats how much I spent on my desktop, I just cant bring myself to spent that much on a laptop, also I forgot to add that I dont need any more than 500GB of space on it.

 

Maybe you could get a Nice Mini-ITX

[Darkinstinct]

That 17.3 forbus is looking nice, do you have personal experience with either of them or did you just think they fit my post?

[Guest]

I recommend looking at MSI gaming laptops then, nice keyboards too.

[D2ultima]

Looking for some advice on what laptop to purchase, I want to be able to game on it so the better it is for gaming the more I will like it. I want something with at the least a 17” screen, if it can be bigger than I’m all for it. It wont need any more than 500GB of space because I wont be playing more than 4-5 games at a time and I keep my school work on an external mass storage device.

The form factor isn’t so important to me, I’m not going to be carrying this around in my hands, it’s going to be in a well-padded backpack so I’m not worried about dropping it but it will be traveling a lot, this will be used on Campus pretty much all day every day, the thing I care about more is cooling than size, if it’s got to be bulky to not be burning hot then I’m fine with it. I want something with a nice keyboard since I will be gaming on it and typing up school work, the track pad is less important, I’m going to have a wireless mouse with it so the keyboard is the important part, so it’s got to be comfortable to type on if at all possible.

If I forgot to mention anything and you need any more info to make a suggestion just ask, I should be able to respond in the same day, I’m looking to get this ordered by the end of next week if I can find one that is the right fit for me.

Clevo P170SM-A (sleek/black) or P177SM-A (flashy) should be up your alley. I suggest the P170 model as you'll get it on a "special" version which has bundled discounts.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8278s-clevo-p170sma-p-6985.html?wconfigure=yes

[Darkinstinct]

Clevo P170SM-A (sleek/black) or P177SM-A (flashy) should be up your alley. I suggest the P170 model as you'll get it on a "special" version which has bundled discounts.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8278s-clevo-p170sma-p-6985.html?wconfigure=yes

I have never heard of this site, is it really trustworthy? they are selling the sager that was mentioned already but its not from the actual manufacturer with this site.

[D2ultima]

I have never heard of this site, is it really trustworthy? they are selling the sager that was mentioned already but its not from the actual manufacturer with this site.

It's called a reseller website. My first Clevo, the D900F (NP 9280 from Sager) was purchased there. It is most definitely trustworthy; they only liaise with the OEM (in this case Sager) and usually get you cheaper prices than from Sager's website itself. They also have a little clout in warranty matters if things are not going your way so much.

It's a good site to get stuff like MSI/ASUS/Gigabyte notebooks too.

[Darkinstinct]

It's called a reseller website. My first Clevo, the D900F (NP 9280 from Sager) was purchased there. It is most definitely trustworthy; they only liaise with the OEM (in this case Sager) and usually get you cheaper prices than from Sager's website itself. They also have a little clout in warranty matters if things are not going your way so much.

It's a good site to get stuff like MSI/ASUS/Gigabyte notebooks too.

what do you think of the Sager NP9772(clevo P770zm) then? i think i like the look of the case a bit more

[D2ultima]

what do you think of the Sager NP9772(clevo P770zm) then? i think i like the look of the case a bit more

Should be a fine choice as well; no Optimus if battery life is of any concern and no ODD if that is of any concern either; but it's a new model and should do quite well.

 

Be warned; it's a machine that likely could do with a little elbow grease; a bit more than I'd class the P17xSM-A as needing (though it should very well work fine at stock). It's their new high-end model with desktop CPUs in it (as intel no longer offers socketed mobile CPUs).

 

Either way, enjoy your purchase! =D

 

Fn + 1 will become your best friend. That's the shortcut for max fans.

[Darkinstinct]

Should be a fine choice as well; no Optimus if battery life is of any concern and no ODD if that is of any concern either; but it's a new model and should do quite well.

 

Be warned; it's a machine that likely could do with a little elbow grease; a bit more than I'd class the P17xSM-A as needing (though it should very well work fine at stock). It's their new high-end model with desktop CPUs in it (as intel no longer offers socketed mobile CPUs).

 

Either way, enjoy your purchase! =D

 

Fn + 1 will become your best friend. That's the shortcut for max fans.

what do you mean by optimus?  >.< I already have an external Disc drive so its perfect without it, what do you mean by needing elbow grease? you mean like manual OC?

[junky]

It really depends which games you want to play and whether you want to spend money on that.

 

There is a good deal on the P650SE now (link) - only $1200 for 1080p IPS + 970M + I7 + lightweight + good keyboard

[D2ultima]

what do you mean by optimus?  >.< I already have an external Disc drive so its perfect without it, what do you mean by needing elbow grease? you mean like manual OC?

Maybe a manual repaste or something; and possibly a little undervolting of the CPU via XTU, but nothing really major at all.

 

Optimus means the iGPU is the primary GPU, and the dGPU is simply used as a "number cruncher". It means better battery life as the dGPU is not used naturally, meaning less power is drawn. It'll probably mean somewhere between an hour extra battery life in favour of the P17xSM-A models, but the P770ZM is by no means a bad choice; just letting you know what you're getting into.

[Darkinstinct]

Maybe a manual repaste or something; and possibly a little undervolting of the CPU via XTU, but nothing really major at all.

 

Optimus means the iGPU is the primary GPU, and the dGPU is simply used as a "number cruncher". It means better battery life as the dGPU is not used naturally, meaning less power is drawn. It'll probably mean somewhere between an hour extra battery life in favour of the P17xSM-A models, but the P770ZM is by no means a bad choice; just letting you know what you're getting into.

an hour more is a big deal... darn now I’m rethinking that one, I think I’m going to raise my budget to 1,750 because everything I find ends up at around that price range, what do you suggest with that raise in budget? I was thinking SSD or M.2 for the OS mass storage doesn’t really need to be a TB, 500GB is enough on top of the OS drive.

I plan on gaming in the higher end spectrum, dying light, witcher 3, farcry, and the more demanding games. But I will need the battery life for when I’m using it in class, not all classes have a power plug within reach of your seat.

thanks again for still talking about this lol, I’m really trying to make the best choice before I spend 1,750 before shipping on the 20th lol this laptops going to be the only laptop I have for a good 3 maybe 4 years

[D2ultima]

an hour more is a big deal... darn now im rethinking that one, I think im going to raise my budget to 1,750 because everything i find ends up at around that price range, what do you suggest with that raise in budget? I was thinking SSD or M.2 for the OS mass storage doesnt really need to be a TB, 500GB is enough ontop of the OS drive.

I plan on gaming in the higher end spectrum, dying light, witcher 3, farcry, the more demanding games. but i will need the battery life for when im using it in class, not all classes have a power plug within reach of your seat.

thanks again for still talking about this lol, im really trying to make the best choice before i spend 1,750 before shipping on the 20th lol this laptops going to be the only laptop i have for a good 3 maybe 4 years

Yeah, I definitely suggest the Optimus notebook then. Easily able to clear 2 hours with that. It'll be a good machine to game with, even with a 970M. I'd push for a 980M for you, but your budget would cut it quite close and it'd be better to get warranty/SSD/etc that you might want.

 

And you can't really take LESS than the 1TB in HDDs for it. But trust me, the Travelstar is a very good drive.

[PaulKolby]

4k lenovo y50

[D2ultima]

4k lenovo y50

He asked for a good gaming laptop.

[Darkinstinct]

Yeah, I definitely suggest the Optimus notebook then. Easily able to clear 2 hours with that. It'll be a good machine to game with, even with a 970M. I'd push for a 980M for you, but your budget would cut it quite close and it'd be better to get warranty/SSD/etc that you might want.

 

And you can't really take LESS than the 1TB in HDDs for it. But trust me, the Travelstar is a very good drive.

which model was the optimus? 

[D2ultima]

which model was the optimus? 

P170SM-A and P177SM-A. The original link I sent you is the model with optimus.

[Darkinstinct]

P170SM-A and P177SM-A. The original link I sent you is the model with optimus.

just to make sure im looking at the right one, is it this one? http://www.amazon.com/NP8278-S-P170SM-A-Notebook-Computer-i7-4810MQ/dp/B00JCGP706

since I cant link what im looking at specifically on XOTIC lol, Is that the right model?

[D2ultima]

just to make sure im looking at the right one, is it this one? http://www.amazon.com/NP8278-S-P170SM-A-Notebook-Computer-i7-4810MQ/dp/B00JCGP706

since I cant link what im looking at specifically on XOTIC lol, Is that the right model?

That is the same model, correct.

[Darkinstinct]

That is the same model, correct.

I think Im going to get it then, what do you think of these specs for it?

CPU: Haswell i7-4810MQ (2.8GHz-3.8GHz

RAM:16GB DDR3 1600MHz

GPU:GTX 970M (6GB vRAM)

SSD:120GB samsung 840 EVO

HDD:1TB 7200RPM SATA II- 3GB/s

[D2ultima]

I think Im going to get it then, what do you think of these specs for it?

CPU: Haswell i7-4810MQ (2.8GHz-3.8GHz

RAM:16GB DDR3 1600MHz

GPU:GTX 970M (6GB vRAM)

SSD:120GB samsung 840 EVO

HDD:1TB 7200RPM SATA II- 3GB/s

I suggest a Plextor M6M SSD if you can, or the crucial M600 over the 840 Evo. Try to use the mSATA SSDs instead of 2.5" SSDs before using your HDD bays; as you only have two bays.

 

Also, your 1TB is on SATA 3, not SATA 2. Getting it from Xotic, right?