Looking for help deciding on a gaming laptop please.

carolluke1

Folks,

I would be much obliged if someone would look at the following spec for me and let me know if it would be suitable as a gaming laptop.

SATELLITE S50-A-10V

PART NUMBER: PSKK6E-00M00DEN

TPP £ 699.00 (inc VAT)
Windows 8 64-bit (pre-installed)
4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
Toshiba TruBrite® HD TFT High Brightness display with 16 : 9 aspect ratio and LED backlighting
1 TB
Ice blue brushed aluminium finish, black keyboard
6,144 (4,096 + 2,048) MB
DDR3L RAM (1,600 MHz)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 740M with CUDA™ Technology and NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology
maximum life : up to 4h00min (Mobile Mark™ 2012)
weight : starting at 2.40 kg
W x D x H : 377.5 x 244.0 x 25.95 mm

Processor type : 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
clock speed : 2.40 / 3.40 Turbo GHz
3rd level cache : 6 MB
Operating System / Platform
Windows 8 64-bit (pre-installed)

Design Colour colour : Ice blue brushed aluminium finish, black keyboard
System memory standard : 6,144 (4,096 + 2,048) MB
maximum expandability : 16,384 MB
technology : DDR3L RAM (1,600 MHz)
Hard disk capacity : 1 TB
drive rotation : 5,400 rpm
DVD Super Multi drive (Double Layer) compatibility : CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-R(DL), DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+R(DL), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM
maximum speed : Read: 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM/ Write: 24x CD-R, 4x CD-RW, 10x HS CD-RW, 16x US CD-RW, 8x DVD-R, 6x DVD-R (Double Layer), 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 6x DVD+R (Double Layer), 8x DVD+RW, 5x DVD-RAM
type : Slim DVD Super Multi (Double Layer) drive
Display size : 39.6cm (15.6”)
type : Toshiba TruBrite® HD TFT High Brightness display with 16 : 9 aspect ratio and LED backlighting
internal resolution : 1,366 x 768
Graphics adaptor type : NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 740M with CUDA™ Technology and NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology
memory amount : 2,048 MB dedicated VRAM. Available graphics memory can be expanded using system memory, through TurboCache™ technology: up to 4,095 MB with 6 GB system memory installed as shown in the NVIDIA control panel, (with pre-installed 64-bit Windows® operating system).
memory type : DDR3 Video RAM (resp. Video RAM and system memory combined)
connected bus : PCI Express®
Internal video modes The following internal video modes are supported: :
resolution : 1366 x 768
Max External Video Modes Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
Max Refresh Rate : 100 Hz
Non-interlaced resolution with max refresh rate : 1,600 x 1,200
Interfaces 1 × external monitor
1 × RJ-45
1 × external microphone
1 × headphone (stereo)
1 × USB 2.0
1 × Multi-Card Reader
(supports SD™ Card up to 2 GB, miniSD™/microSD™ Card with adapter up to 2 GB, SDHC™ Card up to 32 GB, SDXC™ Card up to 64 GB and MultiMedia Card™ up to 2 GB)
1 × HDMI-out supporting 1080p signal format
2 × USB 3.0 (one supporting USB Sleep-and-Charge)
1 × integrated 0.9MP HD Web Camera (1,280 x 720) with built-in stereo microphone
Expansion 2 × memory slots
Wireless communication Compliancy : Wi-Fi®
Network Support : 802.11b/g/n (up to 150Mbps)
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN
Wireless Technology : Bluetooth® 4.0 + LE
Version : 4.0 + LE
Wired communication topology : Gigabit Ethernet LAN
speed : 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T
Sound system supported audio format : 24-bit stereo
speakers : built-in Onkyo stereo speakers, enhanced by DTS® Sound™
Keyboard keys : 87
Windows keys : Yes
special features : Matt black tile backlit keyboard and 10-digit numeric keypad
Pointing device type : Clickpad with multi-touch control gestures supporting various scroll, zoom and launch functionalities at your fingertips.
Battery technology : lithium-ion (prismatic), 4 cell
maximum life : up to 4h00min (Mobile Mark™ 2012)
AC adaptor input voltage : autosensing AC adapter (100/240 V) for worldwide usage
output voltage : 19 V
output current : 6.32 A
Physical dimensions W x D x H : 377.5 x 244.0 x 25.95 mm
weight : starting at 2.40 kg
Warranty 1 year European Carry-in incl. local Pick-up & Return in the UK & Ireland. Toshiba also offers a large range of services to upgrade your standard warranty, please have a look at our website www.toshiba.co.uk/services to find the right service for your product.
Bundled hardware AC adaptor
Bundled software DTS® Sound
McAfee® Internet Security (includes complimentary 30 day subscription)
Microsoft® Office 2013 (1 month trial for new Microsoft® Office 365 customers)
TOSHIBA Desktop Assist
TOSHIBA Display Utility
TOSHIBA Eco Utility™
TOSHIBA Function Key
TOSHIBA Media Player by sMedio TrueLink+
TOSHIBA PC Health Monitor
TOSHIBA System Settings
Security features HDD password on request
slot for Kensington Cable Lock
supervisor password
user password
Special features ENERGY STAR qualified computer
Enhanced Intel® SpeedStep® Technology
HD Audio support
SM BIOS compliant
Certification The manufacturer declares that this product complies with the following directives and regulations for the CE-marking. Responsible for CE marking is Toshiba Europe GmbH, Hammfelddam 8, 41460 Neuss, Germany.

AnthonyB

I'm looking too. The Tosh seems pretty good, and they're getting good reviews from lots of folks. The spec is good but two things I'd look at - the HDD is 5400, 7200 would be better, and an SSD would be excellent. I'm thinking of getting one with a smallish SSD (128GB) for boot-up and some games, and adding a second 7200 regular hard drive. It adds around £100 or so, if the rig you've specc'd is customizable. Second, 6GB seems a little light on RAM these days, I'd look for 8-16. But it depends on what games etc you're running. Processor is Haswell, which is awesome. Also, who's selling it? The after-sales can be important.

Still - to answer the question: two things are really important for gaming - processor and video card. Both your options are excellent. And the price looks really good - £700 for a Haswell rig is very good.

carolluke1

Thank you for your observations, I don't really understand a lot of the tech stuff, but I will pass your reply to someone who does. As far as I know the rig is buildable, it's ordered at this stage and coming from Click. I wish you the best with your search. Thanks again

AnthonyB

carolluke1 wrote: »

Thank you for your observations, I don't really understand a lot of the tech stuff, but I will pass your reply to someone who does. As far as I know the rig is buildable, it's ordered at this stage and coming from Click. I wish you the best with your search. Thanks again

no worries...who's "click"? i've not heard of them. have a link?

carolluke1

AnthonyB wrote: »

no worries...who's "click"? i've not heard of them. have a link?

www.click.ie

rai555

i did't see them customising laptops, OP could you provide the link ?

AnthonyB

rai555 wrote: »

i did't see them customising laptops, OP could you provide the link ?

I checked them out too, they don't seem to. I'm pretty much decided on a rig from PC Specialist in the UK. They ship to Ireland and seem to have pretty good specs. This is the one I'm after...with a dual SSD(120)/HDD(750@7200), 16GB RAM it totals 1242, which seems to be really good (Haswell chip and NVidia 765).

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusV-17/