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Laptop spec gaming check...

  • 26-11-2014 12:05pm
    #1
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭


    Hi guys,

    So we're buying a family laptop as the old one is dead as a dodo.

    We've saved €600 for a day to day machine but I'm thinking of adding max €600 to it to get a machine that could potentially run some games on it preferably new up to date games like FPS etc..

    So I was on pc specialist a minute ago running some quotes..

    The one I speced came in at approx €1200

    Bear in mind the €1200 included the likes of a SSD, Blu Ray, spare battery, cooling device, carry case etc on it as well so I know I could get slightly better specs without these things but I want these things.

    Anyway...

    Intel Quad Core Mobile i7-4710MQ )2.5ghz 6mb
    8gb kingston hyper X impact 1600mhz sodimm DDR3 1 x 8gb
    Nvidia Geoforce GT840M 2gb ddr3 Video Ram Direct X 11

    They're the main stats I'm querying.
    Would it far off the likes of a PS4 or an XboxOne specs wise?
    I think if I could get close to them its giving me around 5 years or so of being "current"

    thanks

    ps: I should mention I need a laptop, so please dont suggest a desktop. thanks.


Comments

  • #2
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    I'm always wary of telling people that they will get 5 years out of a laptop, especially a gaming rig which are prone to high temps.

    Can you give us a price without any of the extras, keep the SSD, but get rid of the blu-ray (complete waste of time), and cooling pad, case etc?

    As fro the spec, I reckon it'll play all 2014 games on at least medium settings with 720p res at least. It would probably do a lot better a lot of the time.


  • #3
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    Alanstrainor wrote: »
    I'm always wary of telling people that they will get 5 years out of a laptop, especially a gaming rig which are prone to high temps.

    Can you give us a price without any of the extras, keep the SSD, but get rid of the blu-ray (complete waste of time), and cooling pad, case etc?

    As fro the spec, I reckon it'll play all 2014 games on at least medium settings with 720p res at least. It would probably do a lot better a lot of the time.

    Blu ray only adds an extra €50 to the price and bear in mind the missus will use this as well and has requested it in there if possible.

    Other extras are cooling compound €12, extra battery and 2 power leads €80, carry case €20, cooling fan €30.

    They're really the only extras but having had battery problems in the past I think having 2 of them would be nice for the futre.

    Need a carry case and cooling fan I though made sense due to these things possibly overheating. Same goes for the cooling compound.
    I'm not sure how effective either are but thought it'd be a good idea.

    Based on what you've said its not far off PS4 / XboxOne as some of the games there dont run in full 1080p or 60fps all the time.

    thanks for the reply btw.


  • #4
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    OSI wrote: »
    I'll answer you here seeing as you want the other thread close:

    What screen is that with?

    Recently ordered a 13" laptop with same CPU, RAM and 250GB Samsung SSD and a GTX860M gpu and 3200x1800 display for just over a grand. So your price isn't great. And to be honest the GT840M will struggle today, never mind in 5 years.


    For comparison the GTX860M benchmarks at more than double the GT840M

    that was a 17.3'' screen. The reasoning on the big screen again harps back to the missus wanting to use it for watching blu rays etc on..


  • #5
    thierry14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭thierry14


    Decent one here for 330 euro

    CORE I3
    840M
    amazon.de/Lenovo-Notebook-GeForce-Betriebssystem-schwarz/dp/B00KCJAI1A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413645193&sr=8-2&keywords=840m


  • #6
    thierry14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭thierry14


    Decent one here for 330 euro

    CORE I3
    840M
    amazon.de/Lenovo-Notebook-GeForce-Betriebssystem-schwarz/dp/B00KCJAI1A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413645193&sr=8-2&keywords=840m

    I would buy that and another laptop for 400 euro or so in 2 years time.

    Spending 1000 euro on something now, which is where near the power of a desktop is crazy imo.

    Laptop's for gaming, get old fast.


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  • #7
    ShadowHearth
    Registered Users Posts: 22,929 ✭✭✭✭ShadowHearth


    thierry14 wrote: »
    Decent one here for 330 euro

    CORE I3
    840M



    I would buy that and another laptop for 400 euro or so in 2 years time.

    Spending 1000 euro on something now, which is where near the power of a desktop is crazy imo.

    Laptop's for gaming, get old fast.


    Thing is, that if you get a laptop with 970m, then you are not having a very bad gaming device. In fairness 970m made Gaming laptops to be quite amazing machines. Yes, still not at the level of desktop, but it is giving you a great value if you looking for actual laptop!

    I just went through scan and their XS laptops.
    http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/15in-gaming-laptop-geforce-970m-980m
    I made this for 1007£ pounds, which ends up around 1280eu

    15.6 1080p
    i7 4710
    8gb ram
    GTX 970m
    1tb hdd

    It comes with no ssd ( as their prices are just donkey... You can buy 256gb ssd for same price they sell 128gb ) and no Windows ( not a problem for some people )


    On the other hand, that laptop from amazon for 330eu is a STEEL. I am not sure which rout I will go myself. Getting something with 970m or that i3 840m.


  • #8
    TerrorFirmer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    The 840M can be gotten in €450 laptops, getting one in a 1,200 euro laptop is madness. It's also not comparable to the Xbox One or PS4 and in a couple of years it'll be struggling with low resolution and low settings (certain games it's already limited to 720p low settings).

    I don't understand with that budget why you wouldn't get a desktop and a laptop? With that about of cash, you could easily afford a high end PC that would run all the latest games at high settings fantastically, and still afford a laptop that could play games as well.

    If you want a gaming laptop to last 5 years, you need to get something like the GTX970M as suggested above. Otherwise there's no point.


  • #9
    FocusFord
    Registered Users Posts: 28 ✭FocusFord


    I'm just after buying that lenovo from amazon.de so hopefully it works out. Part of the reason why its so cheap is that theres no operating system... Which is perfect as I can get a win 7 copy for free. It costs 560e on amazon.com and 510e for the same model with the lesser 820M on amazon.co.uk ! Overall it costs 351e with postage to Ireland.


  • #10
    thierry14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭thierry14


    TerrorFirmer wrote: »
    The 840M can be gotten in €450 laptops, getting one in a 1,200 euro laptop is madness. It's also not comparable to the Xbox One or PS4 and in a couple of years it'll be struggling with low resolution and low settings (certain games it's already limited to 720p low settings).

    I don't understand with that budget why you wouldn't get a desktop and a laptop? With that about of cash, you could easily afford a high end PC that would run all the latest games at high settings fantastically, and still afford a laptop that could play games as well.

    If you want a gaming laptop to last 5 years, you need to get something like the GTX970M as suggested above. Otherwise there's no point.

    Exactly 350 euro on a laptop and 500 - 600 decent gaming pc, hell with a budget of 1200 you could probably get a PS4 as well :)


  • #11
    thierry14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭thierry14


    FocusFord wrote: »
    I'm just after buying that lenovo from amazon.de so hopefully it works out. Part of the reason why its so cheap is that theres no operating system... Which is perfect as I can get a win 7 copy for free. It costs 560e on amazon.com and 510e for the same model with the lesser 820M on amazon.co.uk ! Overall it costs 351e with postage to Ireland.

    Well done Ford.

    It's great value, 350 euro delivered is a steal

    You should be able to run about every game released in 2014 at 720p medium settings. In the grand scheme of things, that is pretty good.

    Screen is suppose to be pretty good too, don't get that very often in cheap laptops.


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  • #12
    braddun
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,221 ✭✭✭braddun


    make sure it has a graphics card

    most don't,the come with intel or amd on the motherboard-cpu


  • #13
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    Ok so thanks a mil for all your feedback guys.

    Based on a lot of research, not just yesterday, and thoughts on here I decided not to buy a gaming laptop. I just cant justify the extra expense and risk of overheating and low specs for the money etc..

    I own a PS4 and a Vita (amonst other consoles and handhelds)
    I might buy a second blu ray player for when the missus wants to watch a blu ray while I play the PS4 remotely on the Vita.
    Or maybe I'll let her use the PS4 and I'll read the paper. :pac: (been a long time since I bought a newspaper)

    Anyway bottom line is I decided to just buy a ok family day to day spec'd laptop from Dell.

    Its the non touch screen version of the link below. I didnt see the point in spending approx €100 for a touch screen version.

    http://www.dell.com/ie/p/inspiron-17-5748-laptop/pd?oc=cn74820&model_id=inspiron-17-5748-laptop
    • 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4510U processor (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz)
    • 8GB Single Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx1)
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® 840M 2GB DDR3
    • 1TB 5400 rpm SATA Hard Drive
    • 17.3 inch LED Backlit Display with Truelife and HD+ resolution (1600 x 900)
    So its not what I wanted but with that spec I should be able to do a small amount of gaming anyway on the go, obviously not the high end stuff but some older stuff, indies and football manager etc..

    Its on sale at the moment for €679 fdown rom €729 and I got the sales person down to €631 on the phone when I called.

    Laptop arrives tomorrow. Only thing I'm not looking forward to is dealing with Windows 8.1 but I'm sure it cant be toooooo bad once I get used to it. I might end upgrading to windows 10 when that eventually arrives end of next year from what I hear.

    Lastly I'll do a search in a minute but theres a few things I'll need now as I wont be buying them from dell or anywhere for that matter.
    • Office of some sort (I have office 2000 I think at home I'll use if theres not a better freeware version)
    • Antivirus and Antimalware and well any other form of this stuff you reckon I'll need. I think theres one call Avira or something like that I used in the past.
    So yeah thats it. Thanks again for helping me make a decision and I look forward to your replies on the office and antivirus stuff.


  • #14
    thierry14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭thierry14


    Could have got that laptop for 597.

    Discount code for 12% on bargain alerts.

    Get openoffice, it's free.


  • #15
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    thierry14 wrote: »
    Could have got that laptop for 597.

    Discount code for 12% on bargain alerts.

    Get openoffice, it's free.

    I was told it was off the original price €729, not the sale price, which would have brought it to €642

    So getting it for €631 was below that. If you can tell me different I'll go after them for it.

    Openoffice I'll try cheers.

    Any ideas on free antivirus and antimalware etc..?

    edit: ps... I just emailed them about the 12% to see would they refund the difference. I doubt it but worth a shot.


  • #16
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    thierry14 wrote: »
    Could have got that laptop for 597.

    Discount code for 12% on bargain alerts.

    Get openoffice, it's free.

    I followed it up and they gave me the remaining 5% after about 3 emails.

    So got it for the €597 in the end. Thanks


  • #17
    ShadowHearth
    Registered Users Posts: 22,929 ✭✭✭✭ShadowHearth


    I am really liking that dell laptop myself. i5 version with that discount works out around 550eu. That's a good deal for 17inch lappy with 840m.


  • #18
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    ShadowHearth wrote: »
    I am really liking that dell laptop myself. i5 version with that discount works out around 550eu. That's a good deal for 17inch lappy with 840m.

    It's very cheap tbh. I did a good bit of research on this. The closest I could find was in pc world for nearly €700 which is nuts. I was close to buying it actually.

    Mines arriving tomorrow according to dpd. Looking forward to tinkering with it after work.


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