You're going to get shot down on these forums for simply using the words 'gaming laptop', but I'll answer you.
For a few years (up until very, very recently), I did a lot of travelling through work. As such, I needed a laptop for my gaming. It simply sucks having to install games on two machines and keep swapping saves and profiles. I've had an Alienware and a Clevo (PCSpecialist in the UK). The Clevo is the one I'd recommend.
The Alienwares are relatively nice machines, but I had problems with two of them. The Clevo on the other hand, was extremely powerful, if not a little large.
Regarding GPUs, to compete with a decent spec desktop, you'll need to be looking at either the :
- NVidia 780M (4GB GDDR5)
- AMD Radeon 8970M (4GB GDDR5)
If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, look at last year's 680M or 7970M. Just be aware that laptop GPUs have come a VERY long way in the past 18 months.
'Gaming laptop' does not equal 'laptop that can play games'. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 15 (company laptop), and whilst it will play most games at a reasonable (not good) level, it overheats like hell and doesn't have a good time doing it.
Buy a gaming laptop. They're bigger and heavier, but that gives the components the necessary cooling to cover your hours and hours of gaming.
I figured I'd get shot down, but at the base of it, what I want matters more. The arguments I'm sure to get (lack of: longevity, customization, high price, long term use) can't really amount to what I want:
A portable computer I can passably play newer games in (almost) anywhere I go. Not asking for the best build with powerful graphics. I just need to sate my need to play.
I'm really happy that I got a decent reply though, with the same constraints I'm experiencing now.
Clevo looks pretty no-nonsense and nondescript, and that there's a model that doesn't hit 16" (bigger than I'd like, but again, sacrifices for my want-need) is awesome. It gets a plus for not being all that attractive to people who'd want to steal a laptop (looks heavy, bulky and without being flashy, score).
How's your experience with your Clevo? (Or rather, what did it not do that Alienware got that you prefer Clevo?)
How's your experience with your Clevo? (Or rather, what did it not do that Alienware got that you prefer Clevo?)
To give you some perspective, I had the top spec of each. They were near identical, so comparing them is extremely fair.
There is pretty much nothing the Alienware can do which the Clevo cannot. Even the fancy keyboard backlight light displays are there on the latest Clevos.
In terms of pure gaming laptop, Clevo and Alienware are the only viable two. With Alienware, you're paying a premium for the name and styling/finish. Clevos look as understated as they could. Definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Again, if you're in the UK/Europe, the PCSpecialist Vortex IV 15.6" could be a great buy. The Vortex III (last year's model) is what I had. In the US, this is called the P150EM.
I own an ASUS G75 and its a great machine. Recently upgraded from the G73 series.
My laptop is pretty awesome in my opinion. 12 gig ram, sandy 3 i7 and 3g on the gpu (670mx).
Was playing the BF4 beta on ultra and had a solid 75fps. Over heating is not an issue with the design of the laptop and the way it moves air through the back.
Downside is it weighs about 11lbs and is very large haha.
I recommend ASUS G series.
forgot to mention, I replaced the HDD the first day I bought it because it comes with a 5200 rpm stock. Which is not that great for gaming.
Downside is it weighs about 11lbs and is very large haha.
I recommend ASUS G series.
forgot to mention, I replaced the HDD the first day I bought it because it comes with a 5200 rpm stock. Which is not that great for gaming.
Originally posted by RabbiFang I forgot about Asus. That's another option I looked at, and the 675M is a pretty good card.
Aha, thanks for these. I'll take a deeper look at both ASUS G series and Clevo then weigh my personal pros and cons (portability, weight, budget, support and how understated they can get - definitely not looking for anything flashy or something that screams !!! STEAL ME !!!, not to mention the differences if I'll change some stocks for other components.)
What are you going to do with the laptop? Which laptop you should get--and whether to get any at all--depends tremendously on how you'll use it. The needs of a business traveler who will only ever use the laptop to play games from a hotel room are wildly different from the needs of a student who wants to do light work on the laptop in class but will only play games from his dorm room.
If all you want is most games to run smoothly at low settings but not necessarily at high settings, a lot of budget AMD laptops running integrated graphics can do that. If you want high settings for a game to look nice, but don't need max settings, you can find some options in the $1000 range with a decent enough discrete card. If you're a max settings sort of guy, then the Clevo P150EM mentioned earlier is probably what you're after--if you configure it properly.
Originally posted by RabbiFang I forgot about Asus. That's another option I looked at, and the 675M is a pretty good card.
No, it's not. That's an old Fermi card, and hopefully off the market by now. That much heat doesn't belong anywhere near a laptop, and especially not inside the laptop.
Originally posted by RabbiFang I forgot about Asus. That's another option I looked at, and the 675M is a pretty good card.
No, it's not. That's an old Fermi card, and hopefully off the market by now. That much heat doesn't belong anywhere near a laptop, and especially not inside the laptop.
You're absolutely right. I thought the 675M was Kepler.
From what I've just read, the 675M is basically a 580M. The huge leap I was referring to earlier started with the Kepler 680M and the 7970M.
I have 2 Sagers (one is mine, one is my wifes). We both love them and no matter what game I throw at it, we barely even hear the fan running lol. The laptop is high quality, made in the US.
I have 2 Sagers (one is mine, one is my wifes). We both love them and no matter what game I throw at it, we barely even hear the fan running lol. The laptop is high quality, made in the US.
Originally posted by RabbiFang I forgot about Asus. That's another option I looked at, and the 675M is a pretty good card.
No, it's not. That's an old Fermi card, and hopefully off the market by now. That much heat doesn't belong anywhere near a laptop, and especially not inside the laptop.
You're absolutely right. I thought the 675M was Kepler.
From what I've just read, the 675M is basically a 580M. The huge leap I was referring to earlier started with the Kepler 680M and the 7970M.
There is also a GTX 675MX, which is Kepler. Now, though, Nvidia has rebranded their Kepler laptop cards into a GTX 700 series, and the GTX 760 and up are nice laptop cards.
Comments
You're going to get shot down on these forums for simply using the words 'gaming laptop', but I'll answer you.
For a few years (up until very, very recently), I did a lot of travelling through work. As such, I needed a laptop for my gaming. It simply sucks having to install games on two machines and keep swapping saves and profiles. I've had an Alienware and a Clevo (PCSpecialist in the UK). The Clevo is the one I'd recommend.
The Alienwares are relatively nice machines, but I had problems with two of them. The Clevo on the other hand, was extremely powerful, if not a little large.
If you're in the UK, take a look at the Vortex IV on http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk
Regarding GPUs, to compete with a decent spec desktop, you'll need to be looking at either the :
- NVidia 780M (4GB GDDR5)
- AMD Radeon 8970M (4GB GDDR5)
If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, look at last year's 680M or 7970M. Just be aware that laptop GPUs have come a VERY long way in the past 18 months.
I was getting good results playing windowed on a HP dv6 until it died due to overheating issues just out of warranty, so stay away from them.
Also :
'Gaming laptop' does not equal 'laptop that can play games'. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 15 (company laptop), and whilst it will play most games at a reasonable (not good) level, it overheats like hell and doesn't have a good time doing it.
Buy a gaming laptop. They're bigger and heavier, but that gives the components the necessary cooling to cover your hours and hours of gaming.
I figured I'd get shot down, but at the base of it, what I want matters more. The arguments I'm sure to get (lack of: longevity, customization, high price, long term use) can't really amount to what I want:
A portable computer I can passably play newer games in (almost) anywhere I go. Not asking for the best build with powerful graphics. I just need to sate my need to play.
I'm really happy that I got a decent reply though, with the same constraints I'm experiencing now.
Clevo looks pretty no-nonsense and nondescript, and that there's a model that doesn't hit 16" (bigger than I'd like, but again, sacrifices for my want-need) is awesome. It gets a plus for not being all that attractive to people who'd want to steal a laptop (looks heavy, bulky and without being flashy, score).
How's your experience with your Clevo? (Or rather, what did it not do that Alienware got that you prefer Clevo?)
To give you some perspective, I had the top spec of each. They were near identical, so comparing them is extremely fair.
There is pretty much nothing the Alienware can do which the Clevo cannot. Even the fancy keyboard backlight light displays are there on the latest Clevos.
In terms of pure gaming laptop, Clevo and Alienware are the only viable two. With Alienware, you're paying a premium for the name and styling/finish. Clevos look as understated as they could. Definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Again, if you're in the UK/Europe, the PCSpecialist Vortex IV 15.6" could be a great buy. The Vortex III (last year's model) is what I had. In the US, this is called the P150EM.
MOST IMPORTANTLY : The Clevo ran MUCH cooler.
I own an ASUS G75 and its a great machine. Recently upgraded from the G73 series.
My laptop is pretty awesome in my opinion. 12 gig ram, sandy 3 i7 and 3g on the gpu (670mx).
Was playing the BF4 beta on ultra and had a solid 75fps. Over heating is not an issue with the design of the laptop and the way it moves air through the back.
Downside is it weighs about 11lbs and is very large haha.
I recommend ASUS G series.
forgot to mention, I replaced the HDD the first day I bought it because it comes with a 5200 rpm stock. Which is not that great for gaming.
Aha, thanks for these. I'll take a deeper look at both ASUS G series and Clevo then weigh my personal pros and cons (portability, weight, budget, support and how understated they can get - definitely not looking for anything flashy or something that screams !!! STEAL ME !!!, not to mention the differences if I'll change some stocks for other components.)
Thanks for your assistance!
What are you going to do with the laptop? Which laptop you should get--and whether to get any at all--depends tremendously on how you'll use it. The needs of a business traveler who will only ever use the laptop to play games from a hotel room are wildly different from the needs of a student who wants to do light work on the laptop in class but will only play games from his dorm room.
If all you want is most games to run smoothly at low settings but not necessarily at high settings, a lot of budget AMD laptops running integrated graphics can do that. If you want high settings for a game to look nice, but don't need max settings, you can find some options in the $1000 range with a decent enough discrete card. If you're a max settings sort of guy, then the Clevo P150EM mentioned earlier is probably what you're after--if you configure it properly.
No, it's not. That's an old Fermi card, and hopefully off the market by now. That much heat doesn't belong anywhere near a laptop, and especially not inside the laptop.
You're absolutely right. I thought the 675M was Kepler.
From what I've just read, the 675M is basically a 580M. The huge leap I was referring to earlier started with the Kepler 680M and the 7970M.
I have 2 Sagers (one is mine, one is my wifes). We both love them and no matter what game I throw at it, we barely even hear the fan running lol. The laptop is high quality, made in the US.
http://www.sagernotebook.com/
Give it a look!
Sager == Clevo == PCSpecialist
There is also a GTX 675MX, which is Kepler. Now, though, Nvidia has rebranded their Kepler laptop cards into a GTX 700 series, and the GTX 760 and up are nice laptop cards.