Best Lightweight Gaming Laptop

podgemk

Looking to get a Laptop for Gaming and College. I've had a look around and I'd like something like the MSI GS60 Ghost or the Lenovo Y50 for around €1500. It has to be light though as I can't be lugging a chunky gaming laptop around college.

I want an SSD, i7 processor or AMD equivalent, a 1tb hard drive, good graphics card, lightweight and a UHD/4k screen as an extra if i can get it for that price.

These are the models I've been looking at:

Lenovo Y50 with 860m, UHD screen, i7,1TB HDD no SSD (but it can be installed separately), 16GB ram.
http://pricespy.ie/product.php?p=2760606&c=all

MSI GS60 with 970m, i7, 128gb SSD, 1TB HDD, 16GB ram, UHD screen.
http://pricespy.ie/product.php?e=2961660

MSI GS60 with 970m, i7, 128gb SSD, 1TB HDD, 8GB ram, HD screen.
http://pricespy.ie/product.php?e=2955141

MSI GS60 with 870m, i7, 256gb SSD, 1TB HDD, 8GB ram, HD screen.
http://pricespy.ie/product.php?e=2845257

I really like the GS60s build, cool as F***, but it is a bit over priced for the same specs in a different body. I'm hoping their prices drop a bit once windows 10 comes out and they are shipping with windows 8.

What else is there in this category around this price? Whats the best Value for money?
I've seen the Razor Blade 14 but I don't think its worth the money and I really would prefer a 15.6' screen over a 14'. Is there any new laptops coming out soon that would be better?
I'm in no rush to buy.. Don't really need to get it till September.

For Forks Sake

HP Omen? http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Offer.aspx?p=c-gaming-laptops

i7, 8 or 16gb ram 256 SSD 4Gb dedicated on GTX860. 15.6" HD, 2.12kg and less than 20mm thick.

podgemk

For Forks Sake wrote: »

HP Omen? http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Offer.aspx?p=c-gaming-laptops

i7, 8 or 16gb ram 256 SSD 4Gb dedicated on GTX860. 15.6" HD, 2.12kg and less than 20mm thick.

How does the 860 with 4gb compare to the 870 or 970?
Which is better ? More memory or a newer/higher spec card?

K.O.Kiki

Card number is usually the easiest indicator of performance, so 970 > 870 > 860.

As with all technology, if you hold out for X months you'll get a more powerful machine then. Weigh up if you want to/can wait, or play now.

Avoid the HP Omen IMHO.

podgemk

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Avoid the HP Omen IMHO.

What's wrong with it ? Seems good bar the lack of a hard drive.

K.O.Kiki

podgemk wrote: »

What's wrong with it ? Seems good bar the lack of a hard drive.

No user-serviceable parts, AT ALL.

HP denies the user access to maintenance-friendly parts like the fans or other internal components like the memory slots, the WLAN module or the SSD. Besides the lack of a maintenance cover we cannot find any possibility to open the device. The battery is integrated as well.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Omen-Notebook-Review.134844.0.html

cnocbui

Gigabyte?

podgemk

I've found 2 Laptops that I'm leaning towards now, both MSI GS60s, both just over €1600 with shipping:

Intel® Core™ i7-4710HQ Quad Core Processor
15.6" Full HD Screen
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit
8GB DDR3 RAM
2x 128GB SSD Super Raid2 + 1000GB HDD
Dedicated GTX 870M 3GB Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
Backlit Keyboard
2 Year Warranty
Includes SteelSeries Siberia V2 Gaming Headset & MSI Interceptor Mouse
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/9S7-16H212-223-MSI-GS60-2PE(Ghost-Pro)-223UK_1718948.html

or

Intel® Core™ i7-4720HQ Quad Core Processor
15.6" Full HD Screen
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit
16GB DDR3 RAM
128GB SSD + 1000GB HDD
Dedicated GeForce GTX 965M 2GB Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth | DisplayPort
Backlit Keyboard
2 Year MSI Warranty
Includes MSI Bag

Both Ram and Memory are expandable.
Both graphics cards give roughly the same performance.
So do i take the newer graphics card, slightly better processor and extra 8gb Ram, or the older graphics card with 1GB more VRAM and extra 128GB SSD?
Ignore the extra Headset, Mouse and Bag offered.

My third option would be to wait for these to drop in price and get a better spec (maybe 970m or 3k/4k display). Would the price drop enough between now and September for me to get a better graphics card or display at the same price or should I just go ahead and buy one of the above?
Let me know what you think.
What would you do?

5star02707

I would take the first one

extra SSD (can perform Raid 0) and extra 1gb dedicated graphics card.

But a bit of advice try checking Ebay too you could save a bit more and less than 1600euros for the same specs.

Edit: Ebay only has the laptop but i guess it's well worth it if you consider the gaming mouse and Headset.

podgemk

5star02707 wrote: »

I would take the first one

extra SSD (can perform Raid 0) and extra 1gb dedicated graphics card.

But a bit of advice try checking Ebay too you could save a bit more and less than 1600euros for the same specs.

Edit: Ebay only has the laptop but i guess it's well worth it if you consider the gaming mouse and Headset.

His much is it on ebay? Is it a reputable seller? I wouldn't mind getting the laptop and installing extra RAM or SSDs myself if there was enough of a saving.

5star02707

around 1500, not much of a difference tbh. Just a thought i'll give youif you want to save more. Didn't do much research on it as for example this one is Free Dos (No operating system) you will have to install it yourself

I am pretty sure you can find some more (cheaper) if you researched on it.

Can't post link here.

podgemk

So I've found a gs60 with a 970m at €1580, but it doesn't have Windows pre installed. Could some one tell exactly how I could first install windows, and then install all the necessary drivers for the graphics card, etc. I can get a free download of windows 8.1 from college but I don't have a clue how to install that.

MrSparkle

Sorry to bump an older thread, just saw the MSI GS60 being mentioned here. I picked it up over Christmas and I'm really happy with it, the performance is amazing.

This is the version I got with the Skylake processor and GTX 970M
http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/GS60-6QE-Ghost-Pro.html#hero-overview



The SSD NVMe is fantastic, in the first Seq section of CrystalDiskMark I'm getting 2GB/s read and 600 MB/s write.

I haven't run the latest version of 3DMark but in 3DMark06 I'm getting a score of 25165.


3 upgrades I'll complete in a few months are:
- It's just a 128GB boot drive so I'll upgrade it to a 512GB NVMe SSD.
- I'll replace the 1TB regular HDD with an SSD drive
- There's 16GB RAM in it at the moment, I'll upgrade to 32GB as I'm doing a lot of work with Virtualization at the moment.



Negatives are:
- Battery life is poor as expected with the specs, around 2 1/4 hours but I'm not going to be using it on battery so not an issue for me.
- This was mentioned in a few reviews also, the hinge for the screen should be bigger and sturdier. There's a bit of wobble when you open the screen. You can see in this photo how small the 2 hinges are
http://assets.hardwarezone.com/img/2014/06/MSIGN_10.jpg
- Not really an issue as I use headphones but the fans are on all the time. You won't notice them at all if you are talking to somebody or have the TV or radio on in the background but if the room is silent they are a bit noticeable. Not loud or anything but they are running. They got quite loud when I was playing Crysis last night but as soon as I closed it they were back to normal volume. Not a big issue but just to be aware of it.

Xoticpc have it for $1699
http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gs60-ghost-pro002-p-8587.html

podgemk wrote: »

So I've found a gs60 with a 970m at €1580, but it doesn't have Windows pre installed. Could some one tell exactly how I could first install windows, and then install all the necessary drivers for the graphics card, etc. I can get a free download of windows 8.1 from college but I don't have a clue how to install that.

Bit late for a reply to this but the steps are:
Get the ISO install file of Win8.1 or Windows 10
Create a bootable USB stick with this on a working laptop http://wudt.codeplex.com/
Connect the USB you created to the gs60 and turn it on
Run through a normal windows setup, Next, Next, Next etc.
MSI ship a CD with their laptops with all the drivers on it.

devnull

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

No user-serviceable parts, AT ALL.


http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Omen-Notebook-Review.134844.0.html

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/900227/Hp-Omen-15.html