Work/Gaming laptop

jwhat

I'm looking for a 13-14" laptop that I can use for Autocad, multiple browser tabs, excel and outlook along with some gaming.
I was thinking that i need at least 8gb of ram but preferably 16 or upgradable in the future to 16
An I5 or I7 8th gen chip
and at least a mx150 2gb graphics card
and an SSD or a solid with the option to upgrade to an m.2 in the future or visa versa

Budget is about 1250 ish

The only one I have found so far is the Lenovo 720S

Alanstrainor

The following XPS15 is a whopper machine for the money, and 10% off today as well:

http://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/xps-15-laptop/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop?view=configurations

It would just about come in under budget but you'd need to order today. They've just updated to 8th gen processors. The graphics chip is great and it has both m.2 and SATA with 16GB of RAM. Great value. And it is the same size as a normal 14" laptop.

doesn't sort all your criteria but it's a very good price at 550 sterling , so could be worth considering

one linked is 7th gen i5 but there is an 8th gen option available as a configuration option but it's an expensive upgrade

mx150
full hd ips
ssd
8gb ram but NOT upgradable as it's soldered on LPDDR3 ram
all-metal chassis, light enough for carrying around in a bag/ backpack


https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/NX.GQNEK.001-Acer-Swift-3-SF314-5G-530Q_2140682.html

OldMrBrennan83

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or this is a cool option, super-light, mx150. 8th gen i5

https://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90720342/asus-zenbook-13-ux331-m02590-ic.asp

for 16gb need to go to the 512ssd i7 model as far as I can see which appears to be above your budget at 1400

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWRwuilpbGw

Patww79

Patww79 wrote: »

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is there a separate dedicated graphics card in your xps?

don't think that this is what the op is looking for anyways. he wants a 13 to 14 inch laptop.

the dell xps 15 is 2kg in weight so fairly heavy.

OldMrBrennan83

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Patww79

Patww79 wrote: »

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surprised that it performs so badly tbh. that's not a very demanding game.

maybe lower your settings on the graphics side. or maybe it's being thermally throttled.

TerrorFirmer

Patww79 wrote: »

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Either a software or hardware issue, not inherently the specs. Could be thermal throttling.

I've a similar issue on my laptop, Overwatch runs at ultra settings but stutters because thermal throttling of the CPU causes the game to drop constantly from 60 to 45fps like a yo-yo.

My laptop has a dedicated 'high fan' option so once I turn that on, the problem goes away.

OldMrBrennan83

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Patww79

Patww79 wrote: »

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the xps 13 doesn't have a discrete gpu, only intel hd graphics so not what he's looking for.

here is a comprehensive review of the Asus UX331. notebookcheck are the gold standard of laptop reviews really.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ZenBook-13-UX331UN-i7-8550U-MX150-Laptop-Review.277586.0.html

All things considered, we were quite happy with the ZenBook 13 UX331UN. It features a high-quality display and surprisingly decent speakers, which are the prime ingredients of a multimedia notebook that can be used outdoors thanks to its impressive maximum display brightness. In addition, the combination of CPU and GPU is powerful enough to run games smoothly at reduced resolutions and details. As such, the ZenBook is a textbook example of a true all-rounder. It is thin and light, features a high-quality case, a very good touchpad, and it remains cool most of the time. In addition, battery life is excellent despite the run-of-the-mill 50 Wh battery.

OldMrBrennan83

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jwhat

Alanstrainor wrote: »

The following XPS15 is a whopper machine for the money, and 10% off today as well:

http://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/xps-15-laptop/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop?view=configurations

It would just about come in under budget but you'd need to order today. They've just updated to 8th gen processors. The graphics chip is great and it has both m.2 and SATA with 16GB of RAM. Great value. And it is the same size as a normal 14" laptop.

I was going to get one last week when you posted the link but the site bugged out and kept directing me to the 2 in 1 version so I abandoned that plan.

glasso wrote: »

doesn't sort all your criteria but it's a very good price at 550 sterling , so could be worth considering

one linked is 7th gen i5 but there is an 8th gen option available as a configuration option but it's an expensive upgrade

mx150
full hd ips
ssd
8gb ram but NOT upgradable as it's soldered on LPDDR3 ram
all-metal chassis, light enough for carrying around in a bag/ backpack


https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/NX.GQNEK.001-Acer-Swift-3-SF314-5G-530Q_2140682.html

glasso wrote: »

or this is a cool option, super-light, mx150. 8th gen i5

https://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90720342/asus-zenbook-13-ux331-m02590-ic.asp

for 16gb need to go to the 512ssd i7 model as far as I can see which appears to be above your budget at 1400

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWRwuilpbGw

I'll check it out thanks

glasso wrote: »

here is a comprehensive review of the Asus UX331. notebookcheck are the gold standard of laptop reviews really.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ZenBook-13-UX331UN-i7-8550U-MX150-Laptop-Review.277586.0.html

Thanks I'll go check out some reviews.

TerrorFirmer

Keep in mind that the MX150 in that laptop is likely heavily downclocked and a lot slower than a normal MX150 - if gaming is a big concern, even at full speed an MX150 isn't going to be great for the latest AAA titles, though fine for stuff like Overwatch, Fortnite, etc.

I would say a GTX1050 should be a minimum for gaming unless you are positive you'll only be playing lighter stuff.

Bawnmore

I like the look of that Asus. Good reviews for what it is. Wonder would it be a better call to go with the 8th gen i7/no fingerprint/no dedicated graphics version of that machine for around the same price if gaming wasn't ever going to a concern. I'll be looking to pick up something light and nippy for work and that looks ideal.

i5 + mx150 > i7 without mx150

the i7 is only about 5 to 8% more in cpu perf over i5 in real world. the price premium for 8th gen i7 over i5 is simply not worth it and not noticeable.

the mx150 gives you options for video playback (e.g. 4k output to tv), photo and video editing and light gaming if ever needed.

TerrorFirmer

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Keep in mind that the MX150 in that laptop is likely heavily downclocked and a lot slower than a normal MX150 - if gaming is a big concern, even at full speed an MX150 isn't going to be great for the latest AAA titles, though fine for stuff like Overwatch, Fortnite, etc.

I would say a GTX1050 should be a minimum for gaming unless you are positive you'll only be playing lighter stuff.

it's still performant and will run games well enough and I would be surprised if you could not overclock a bit if needed. I wouldn't call it Heavily downclocked. personally I'd rather have a 1.12 kg laptop with tiny power supply than a 2kg + big power supply (400g)- but each to one's own.

it's all a tradeoff. the asus is a superb machine.

beauf

Patww79 wrote: »

I've something similar to that machine (XPS15, i7-7700HQ, 16GB, and it ramps up the fan and stutters very badly in no time when I even try play something like The Golf Club 2 on it.
I know it's the 7th gen processor but it still shouldn't be terrible, so it would worry me about the whole range of them.

Someone in the family has the earlier dell one with the 7700 and the 960 in it. Had no issues with games. There must be something wrong with yours. Likely it's configured wrong.

OldMrBrennan83

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beauf

No idea. Could be something like hardware, bad thermal paste or a software problem. Could be one of a thousand things.

beauf

If it's under warranty have you contacted Dell?

TerrorFirmer

glasso wrote: »

it's still performant and will run games well enough and I would be surprised if you could not overclock a bit if needed. I wouldn't call it Heavily downclocked. personally I'd rather have a 1.12 kg laptop with tiny power supply than a 2kg + big power supply (400g)- but each to one's own.

it's all a tradeoff. the asus is a superb machine.

The Max Q MX150 is something like 25% slower than the standard MX150, so a lot of the latest 2017/2018 AAA titles would only run at 720p low-medium.

Again, really depends on what you plan playing.

Something like Fortnite/Overwatch/Rainbow Six Siege/COD WW2/GTA V are a lot more forgiving than say Battlefield 1, Far Cry 5, Assassins Creed Origins, etc.

The first batch would all run at 1080p at reasonable settings at very decent framerate. The latter batch would all run at 720p low-medium settings at 30-40fps.

I'm not disagreeing that it's a superb machine of course, but expectations would have to be realistic from the gaming perspective.

OldMrBrennan83

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Alanstrainor

Patww79 wrote: »

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Is the BIOS up to date? I've read around that your model XPS had a bad BIOS that throttles massively on both CPU and GPU for some reason, updating it to the latest fixes it. I'd do that at least and see what happens.

OldMrBrennan83

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beauf

The PC requirements for Golf Club 2 are not very high mean that your laptop should run that easily.

Did you try uninstalling and re-installing it.

There something wrong somewhere.

OldMrBrennan83

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Alanstrainor

Pat, all the instructions are on the Dell site along with the BIOS. You can see the changelog here that this version is said to improve CPU and GPU performance. From my googling it seems like a lot of people have this issue. BIOS updates used to be risky business but these days it's a smooth process:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=wwt57&fileid=0463827075&oscode=wt64a&productcode=xps-15-9560-laptop&languagecode=it&categoryid=bi&lwp=rt

TerrorFirmer

Patww79 wrote: »

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Also just to point out that running at 180fps is utterly pointless on a standard screen.

That is why the GPU is at 99% usage and under full load. Turn on Vsync in the options to lock it at 60fps and the usage will plummet, and thus heat/noise.

Some games will push the card to 99% on normal settings, and not saying it's normal for severe throttling to happen, but in this particular case you can solve it by turning on v-sync and reducing unnecessary strain on the card.

OldMrBrennan83

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TerrorFirmer

It'll be an option with the game in the graphics settings, to turn v-sync on or off.

If turned on, it limits the framerate to the refresh rate of the screen. In the case of a game like Golf, at 60fps, the game will be perfectly smooth and the card will only be getting a mild workout.

If turned off, the card will work 100% to output the highest possible framerate it can, even though it makes pretty much no difference to the game.

OldMrBrennan83

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OldMrBrennan83

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