Suggest laptop for programming and gaming

[gr3ymatter8055]

Hi, I am looking to buy a laptop in the coming weeks.

 

Right now I'm looking into these 3 laptops: Lenovo Legion y520 , ASUS TUF FX504, Acer Nitro 5 . (Links are to the online store in my country (India) from which I'll be making the purchase)

Prices and availability of laptops vary a lot here when compared to the US, but I hope those 3 laptops help in identifying what budget I'm going for.

 

I need this laptop to last a while, at least 4 years (during which I'll be attending university). I do a lot of programming, so I need programs like Android studio, android emulator etc to run smoothly and compile times of large programs to be fast. I usually have several programs open and running at the same time (And there is a lag of 4-5 seconds when I Alt+Tab between them in my current laptop, which is painful.). Being able to dual boot a Linux distro is also an absolute must. I don't play too much games, I'll only be playing light titles like Fortnite, Overwatch/Paladins etc, with some slightly more heavier ones like FIFA18, Battlefield 1 etc. But I do want the 1050Ti as I want to run whatever are the "light games" available 4 years from now in good quality as well. My previous laptops have had poor TN panels so this time I'm considering an IPS panel a must.

 

The laptops I linked above have nearly identical configuration: i5-7300HQ, 1050Ti, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD, IPS Display, Backlit keyboard. (Except the ASUS which has a i5-8300H)

 

I've heard the Legion has issues dual booting Linux, and the Nitro has cooling issues. Not sure if they are true. (I would prefer not do to things like repasting which may void the warranty). The ASUS is a bit more expensive but seems to be currently my best pic as it has a better processor.

 

I'm here to learn about things that can't be read off a spec sheet (Like cooling performance, battery life, keyboard experience when typing for a long time etc) and to get a recommendation.

 

I'm also open to suggestions other than these three laptops in the same budget range, although I would avoid Dell (most Dell laptops are priced way too high or simply not available here) and HP (I've had absolutely terrible experiences with both HP products and their customer care in the past)

[Sauron]

The Acer doesn't have an ssd so I wouldn't touch that with a 10m pole. The other two are almost the same but the asus has a better cpu.

[Theguywhobea]

I don't know if you can get them in India but I've been really happy with my Eluktronics W650KK1, and you can configure it with a full desktop i7.

[genexis_x]

6 hours ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

at least 4 years

Then consider increase your budget and get a Dell G5/G7 with 8750H and TB3. FX504 is shit, Nitro 5 is OKish. Y520 is good but has outdated CPU (if you really want it, get the 7700HQ model).

[gr3ymatter8055]

8 hours ago, Sauron said:

The Acer doesn't have an ssd so I wouldn't touch that with a 10m pole. The other two are almost the same but the asus has a better cpu.

Oh didn't realize the link I gave was to a model without an SSD. The Acer Nitro is actually available at offline stores here and comes with an SSD at around the same price.

 

8 hours ago, Theguywhobea said:

I don't know if you can get them in India but I've been really happy with my Eluktronics W650KK1, and you can configure it with a full desktop i7.

Unfortunately they are not available here.

1 hour ago, ZM Fong said:

Then consider increase your budget and get a Dell G5/G7 with 8750H and TB3. FX504 is shit, Nitro 5 is OKish. Y520 is good but has outdated CPU (if you really want it, get the 7700HQ model).

I would have loved to get a Dell, but both G5 and G7 are not available here and there is no information as to when they will launch. The Dell Inspiron gaming 7000 with i7-7700HQ is available at a slightly lower price than the FX504, but has a TN panel which is a deal breaker.

 

My budget is already at it's limit with here, can't increase it. I know by "4 years" I'll Ihave to face some struggles with outdated hardware, but I guess I'll have to deal with it. Reliability of a device is a bigger concern than slowdowns. I can put up with a slow system, but I don't want to be running to the service center every few months to fix broken parts. (I currently have an HP laptop that needed a small fix on something in the motherboard, then the screen, then the battery in the space of a year)

 

Which one of those 3 laptops would you consider the most likely to last several years? And how much of a performance difference does an 8300H have over a 7300HQ? Benchmarks would have me believe it's a 30-50% increase but is it really that much in real scenarios?

[genexis_x]

24 minutes ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

Which one of those 3 laptops would you consider the most likely to last several years?

Like I said above, if you want something that can last several years, consider increase your budget. Otherwise go for Y520 with 7700HQ. Note that reliability mainly depends on luck

25 minutes ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

And how much of a performance difference does an 8300H have over a 7300HQ?

Quite significant. In games too (much better single core and multi core performance)

[gr3ymatter8055]

Why do you say the ASUS FX504 is not worth it?

Also in your Legion y520 review you said you reinstalled windows. Did you face any problems doing so? Because other forums say you can't dual boot Linux or reinstall windows without switching a setting in the BIOS (I forget which exactly) from Raid to AHCI and that comes with it's own host of problems.

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

Why do you say the ASUS FX504 is not worth it?

Terrible cooling, OKish build quality, poor TN panel (i5 model), typical Asus QC+QA

1 hour ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

Also in your Legion y520 review you said you reinstalled windows. Did you face any problems doing so?

See my review

1 hour ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

Because other forums say you can't dual boot Linux or reinstall windows without switching a setting in the BIOS (I forget which exactly) from Raid to AHCI and that comes with it's own host of problems.

Not a big deal

[gr3ymatter8055]

The GE model of ASUS TUF (Which is the one I linked) has i5+an IPS display, so that's not a problem, but the cooling is an issue then, I guess.

46 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Not a big deal

So did you have to switch Raid to AHCI? And if you did what problems if any did you face? Online forums say Windows won't boot normally until you go into recovery mode and do something.

 

Just checked the notebookcheck review of the ASUS, they mention the CPU is not able to reach it's high clocks but still the CPU benchmark scores are consistently better than Legion y520 with i5-7300HQ...

 

Actually, just checked and found that the Acer Predator Helios 300 with i5 8300H + 1050Ti is available at the same price as ASUS TUF FX504, it's "Coming soon" but would that be worth the wait?

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

So did you have to switch Raid to AHCI? And if you did what problems if any did you face?

I switched it because I added a SSD. No problems so far, just need Windows reinstall

1 hour ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

Just checked the notebookcheck review of the ASUS, they mention the CPU is not able to reach it's high clocks but still the CPU benchmark scores are consistently better than Legion y520 with i5-7300HQ...

It has terrible cooling. Firmware lock (TDP limit, clock speed reduction) to keep the temps safe. Also, the problem isn't just cooling, see above. If you really liked it then go for it, the choice is yours, I can't help you to decide.

1 hour ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

Actually, just checked and found that the Acer Predator Helios 300 with i5 8300H + 1050Ti is available at the same price as ASUS TUF FX504, it's "Coming soon" but would that be worth the wait?

Also has mediocre cooling. But not as terrible as FX504, can be solved by undervolt+repaste. Other issues: OKish build quality and input devices. Not sure the model comes with 144Hz panel or not.

[gr3ymatter8055]

Then I guess I'll wait a week or two for the Acer Predator (It has a 60hz display, not 144Hz) to become available, and if it does not, go with the ASUS TUF FX504.

 

6 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

It has terrible cooling. Firmware lock (TDP limit, clock speed reduction) to keep the temps safe. Also, the problem isn't just cooling, see above. If you really liked it then go for it, the choice is yours, I can't help you to decide.

But my question was, even with the terrible cooling and limitations does the ASUS outperform the y520 with i5-7300HQ? The benchmarks on notebookcheck seems to suggest that. Asking this specifically because if my decision comes down to any laptop with 7300HQ or the ASUS TUF with 8300H I want to have a clear pick.

[genexis_x]

8 hours ago, gr3ymatter8055 said:

even with the terrible cooling and limitations does the ASUS outperform the y520 with i5-7300HQ?

Yes. But why you still want the FX504

[gr3ymatter8055]

I can't extend my budget for i7-7700HQ models, so I'll have to go with something that has a i5-8300H. I only have two options available with that, either the ASUS or the Predator. I'll wait for the Predator to launch but if it doesn't become available in time, doesn't look like I don't have a choice except to go with the ASUS.

 

Thanks for your help and advice!