Laptop shopping

Ok, my brother is after a new gaming laptop for Christmas so my parents have put me in charge of the decision on what to go for.
My brothers first choice was Alienware but I'm slapping that idea out of him given the immense rip-off that they are for the specification you get. He also doesn't want a desktop so it needs to be a laptop.

The first ones I came across were these two,

MSI GT70 0NC-016UK

Samsung 700G7C-S02UK

However I think I've since discovered two other options that I've narrowed it down to.

First is a custom build from PC Specialist,

17.3" Vortex III Elite

Processor - Intel i7-3630QM
RAM - 16GB (2x8GB) Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics - 2x AMD Radeon 7970M 2GB DDR5
HDD - 750GB 7,200rpm SATA 6 Gb/s 32MB Cache
Optical - 8x DVD/RW/Dual Layer
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price - £1,536


Next is a custom build from mySN and one of their XMG Pro range

XMG P722 Pro

Processor - Intel i7-3630QM
RAM - 16GB (2x8GB) CORSAIR Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics - Nvidia GTX 680M 4GB DDR5
HDD - 750GB SATA-II
Optical - 8x DVD/RW/Dual Layer
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price - £1,530.20
The XMG is also available with the 2x 7970M in crossfire for only £6 more.


I haven't been able to find any comparisons between crossfire 7970's and a single 680M, though comparisons of single cards have the two quite close, though the 680M is usually considered superior from what I see (though there's really not much in it in terms of gaming performance). If anyone has any comparisons I'd be interested in taking a look.
At the moment I am leaning towards the twin 7970's in crossfire as, on paper at least, they should give a great performance boost over the single 680M in gaming, and personally I'd go for the XMG in terms of looks.

I've also gone for Windows 7 rather than Windows 8 as, in all honesty, I think Windows 8 would just confuse my brother when he made the jump from Windows 7 which he uses at the moment.

You should really pick a SSD drive for your custom builds.

Try comet.

Lagamorph wrote:Ok, my brother is after a new gaming laptop for Christmas so my parents have put me in charge of the decision on what to go for.
My brothers first choice was Alienware but I'm slapping that idea out of him given the immense rip-off that they are for the specification you get. He also doesn't want a desktop so it needs to be a laptop.

The first ones I came across were these two,

MSI GT70 0NC-016UK

Samsung 700G7C-S02UK

However I think I've since discovered two other options that I've narrowed it down to.

First is a custom build from PC Specialist,

17.3" Vortex III Elite

Processor - Intel i7-3630QM
RAM - 16GB (2x8GB) Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics - 2x AMD Radeon 7970M 2GB DDR5
HDD - 750GB 7,200rpm SATA 6 Gb/s 32MB Cache
Optical - 8x DVD/RW/Dual Layer
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price - £1,536


Next is a custom build from mySN and one of their XMG Pro range

XMG P722 Pro

Processor - Intel i7-3630QM
RAM - 16GB (2x8GB) CORSAIR Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics - Nvidia GTX 680M 4GB DDR5
HDD - 750GB SATA-II
Optical - 8x DVD/RW/Dual Layer
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price - £1,530.20
The XMG is also available with the 2x 7970M in crossfire for only £6 more.


I haven't been able to find any comparisons between crossfire 7970's and a single 680M, though comparisons of single cards have the two quite close, though the 680M is usually considered superior from what I see (though there's really not much in it in terms of gaming performance). If anyone has any comparisons I'd be interested in taking a look.
At the moment I am leaning towards the twin 7970's in crossfire as, on paper at least, they should give a great performance boost over the single 680M in gaming, and personally I'd go for the XMG in terms of looks.

I've also gone for Windows 7 rather than Windows 8 as, in all honesty, I think Windows 8 would just confuse my brother when he made the jump from Windows 7 which he uses at the moment.

Twin 7970s? In a laptop? Are you.sure?

in b4 winckle "get a desktop"

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Lagamorph wrote:Ok, my brother is after a new gaming laptop for Christmas so my parents have put me in charge of the decision on what to go for.
My brothers first choice was Alienware but I'm slapping that idea out of him given the immense rip-off that they are for the specification you get. He also doesn't want a desktop so it needs to be a laptop.

The first ones I came across were these two,

MSI GT70 0NC-016UK

Samsung 700G7C-S02UK

However I think I've since discovered two other options that I've narrowed it down to.

First is a custom build from PC Specialist,

17.3" Vortex III Elite

Processor - Intel i7-3630QM
RAM - 16GB (2x8GB) Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics - 2x AMD Radeon 7970M 2GB DDR5
HDD - 750GB 7,200rpm SATA 6 Gb/s 32MB Cache
Optical - 8x DVD/RW/Dual Layer
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price - £1,536


Next is a custom build from mySN and one of their XMG Pro range

XMG P722 Pro

Processor - Intel i7-3630QM
RAM - 16GB (2x8GB) CORSAIR Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics - Nvidia GTX 680M 4GB DDR5
HDD - 750GB SATA-II
Optical - 8x DVD/RW/Dual Layer
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price - £1,530.20
The XMG is also available with the 2x 7970M in crossfire for only £6 more.


I haven't been able to find any comparisons between crossfire 7970's and a single 680M, though comparisons of single cards have the two quite close, though the 680M is usually considered superior from what I see (though there's really not much in it in terms of gaming performance). If anyone has any comparisons I'd be interested in taking a look.
At the moment I am leaning towards the twin 7970's in crossfire as, on paper at least, they should give a great performance boost over the single 680M in gaming, and personally I'd go for the XMG in terms of looks.

I've also gone for Windows 7 rather than Windows 8 as, in all honesty, I think Windows 8 would just confuse my brother when he made the jump from Windows 7 which he uses at the moment.

Twin 7970s? In a laptop? Are you.sure?

7970m's yes. It's not that unusual. My own laptop has twin 5870m's in it.
Crossfire/SLi setups aren't unusual in laptops now.

Oh Teh Noes wrote:in b4 winckle "get a desktop"

Judging by the 17.3" screen on that thing, I think he already is.


Is there any point in buying a 17.3" laptop?

If I was going to buy a laptop it would be a 17.3.

I will need to be buying one in about a years time for the few PC games I want to play.

£1500 on a Christmas present?

Moggy wrote:£1500 on a Christmas present?

I wonder if his folks don't mind adopting a 30 year old before Christmas...

The more I think about it the more I lean towards the XMG with the dual 7970's in xfire....

Both of these 'laptops' are a joke. Look at how thick and heavy they are. By buying one of these, you'd be compromising on screen, battery life, usability, keyboard, trackpad, performance (compared to a desktop) and of course portability.

If you really want a decent laptop then there are only 2 brands worth considering - Apple and Lenovo.

Fishfingers wrote:Both of these 'laptops' are a joke. Look at how thick and heavy they are. By buying one of these, you'd be compromising on screen, battery life, usability, keyboard, trackpad, performance (compared to a desktop) and of course portability.

If you really want a decent laptop then there are only 2 brands worth considering - Apple and Lenovo.

If you are buying this sort of laptop it is for gaming, if you buy a Lenovo or an Apple you loose this option.

When I buy a new laptop it would be something along these lines or an Alienware one. I dont take my laptop anywhere making portability / size not an issue.

Fishfingers wrote:Both of these 'laptops' are a joke. Look at how thick and heavy they are. By buying one of these, you'd be compromising on screen, battery life, usability, keyboard, trackpad, performance (compared to a desktop) and of course portability.

If you really want a decent laptop then there are only 2 brands worth considering - Apple and Lenovo.

Gaming laptop? Apple? Seriously?

Technically they shouldn't be called a "laptop". The correct term is "desktop replacement computer".

http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/high-end-gaming-laptops-recommendations/

Not a Lenovo or Apple in sight

Can you get a Lenovo to match even my MSI GT60? Let alone one of those he's listed? And what's wrong with the portability of one? Mine weighs 3.5kg, what sort of wimp can't carry that around in a backpack? Seriously, I had no trouble at all carrying it around all day in a backpack until I'd visit the Mrs at her office before she left at night during the weekdays when I was last in Singapore.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y series

Is that the best they do for gaming? And it may be thinner but it's really not much lighter (And it does state starting at 2.70kg)

As for a battery life, you really wouldn't be gaming unless hooked up to the mains (Mine uses Optimus so downclocks quite a lot if running from the battery to save battery life) so for browsing and doing work I'm sure the 9 cell battery would last a good few hours without gaming.

Here's the specs from mine..

Get a desktop. Seriously.

1cmanny1 wrote:Get a desktop. Seriously.

He also doesn't want a desktop so it needs to be a laptop.

Yeah I read that. A gaming laptop sounds good in theory, but then you just start using it for internet stuff and be careless with it etc. If you get a desktop you can have better gaming experience, upgrade it, look after it etc etc.

Yes but some times a Desktop isn't precticle.

I use a laptop because I dont want a desk setup in the living room and dont want to have to go sit in another room to play games as its anti-social.

A gaming laptop is perfect, you can then put it on the coffee table / a stand and play your games whilst remaining sociable.