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2016-05-14 17:41:41
7 votes, rating 4.9
7 votes, rating 4.9
Laptop Help 1
Please help me.
You probably know a lot more about computers then me. I'm probably stronger on Restoration theater.
My laptop is unwell, and needs replacing. I have done some research and have a budget. But am I on the right track?
I play games (and want at some stage to run XCOM 2 and TotalWarhammer on it), watch movies/sport, edit film and work all from the one laptop. i'd like it to be a little future proofed. 5 years?
Bugdet: £900. I might go £1000 for the right kit.
What I think it can get me:
Intel i7 6700HQ (skylake)
8 or 16 (ideally) MB RAM
Graphics - GeForce GTX 960M
SSD 128GB, but 256GB would be lovely
A Hard Drive 500GB enough, more OK. (or should i nix it and just get a 480GB ssd?)
15" display. It has to be portable and 17" is too big/heavy.
Nice to have but dont massively care:
Optical Drive - it isnt 2012, surely my external optical will do.
Backlit Keyboard - I do not often use it in the dark. But do sometimes.
Fingerprint reader - currently have one, and its cool but non essencial'
Dont Want:
Advice to get a desktop, just doesnt work with my lifestyle
Under consideration:
PCSpecialist Laptops
fun build a laptop site
They have a Defiance II 14" which comes with a GTX 970M
Also an Optimus VII Pro 15" with a GTX965M
Bespoke Uk maker I know little of, anyone had anything from them? Is it worth going outside major brands? Seems very affordable.
ASUS N552VW
Long link
This has everything I need (and an optical drive) for £850. Reviews better than their ROG brand, and I hear gfood things about ASUS machines in terms of build quality.
Dell Inspiron 15-7000 7559-8070
linky linky
Well, its a Dell. With their supposed great build quality and support. but it is running DDR3L RAM not DDR4. not a big deal maybe, i really don't know.
All and any thoughts welcomed.
You probably know a lot more about computers then me. I'm probably stronger on Restoration theater.
My laptop is unwell, and needs replacing. I have done some research and have a budget. But am I on the right track?
I play games (and want at some stage to run XCOM 2 and TotalWarhammer on it), watch movies/sport, edit film and work all from the one laptop. i'd like it to be a little future proofed. 5 years?
Bugdet: £900. I might go £1000 for the right kit.
What I think it can get me:
Intel i7 6700HQ (skylake)
8 or 16 (ideally) MB RAM
Graphics - GeForce GTX 960M
SSD 128GB, but 256GB would be lovely
A Hard Drive 500GB enough, more OK. (or should i nix it and just get a 480GB ssd?)
15" display. It has to be portable and 17" is too big/heavy.
Nice to have but dont massively care:
Optical Drive - it isnt 2012, surely my external optical will do.
Backlit Keyboard - I do not often use it in the dark. But do sometimes.
Fingerprint reader - currently have one, and its cool but non essencial'
Dont Want:
Advice to get a desktop, just doesnt work with my lifestyle
Under consideration:
PCSpecialist Laptops
fun build a laptop site
They have a Defiance II 14" which comes with a GTX 970M
Also an Optimus VII Pro 15" with a GTX965M
Bespoke Uk maker I know little of, anyone had anything from them? Is it worth going outside major brands? Seems very affordable.
ASUS N552VW
Long link
This has everything I need (and an optical drive) for £850. Reviews better than their ROG brand, and I hear gfood things about ASUS machines in terms of build quality.
Dell Inspiron 15-7000 7559-8070
linky linky
Well, its a Dell. With their supposed great build quality and support. but it is running DDR3L RAM not DDR4. not a big deal maybe, i really don't know.
All and any thoughts welcomed.
Comments
Posted by asteflix on 2016-05-14 17:52:01
The laptop you wish to build is a monster of a computer. Are you sure that you need all that ? :P
Posted by xnoelx on 2016-05-14 17:54:42
I know people who buy stuff from PCSpecialist and rate them highly. And the major brands are usually the ones you should avoid.
Posted by thoralf on 2016-05-14 17:57:01
I play correspondence Chess and I went for an Asus Republic of Gamer -
https://rog.asus.com/
You don't need to go for the high end models unless you play really big games. There are more portable models than others (I seldom carry mine around) but unless you want a slim one, you'll love it.
Use it with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/IKEA-601-501-76-Laptop-Support-Black/dp/B00BT394MC
https://rog.asus.com/
You don't need to go for the high end models unless you play really big games. There are more portable models than others (I seldom carry mine around) but unless you want a slim one, you'll love it.
Use it with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/IKEA-601-501-76-Laptop-Support-Black/dp/B00BT394MC
Posted by awambawamb on 2016-05-14 17:58:45
Dell all the way.
Posted by Wreckage on 2016-05-14 18:12:53
I don't think 128 SDD is gonna be enough to run any games on it. I have a 250 SDD and I have perhaps 30 GB unused (which well.. you shouldn't really cluster your system drive full so...) it's basically just the system and X-Com2 at this time.
Posted by PurpleChest on 2016-05-14 18:17:31
i was thinking the ssd for OS alone really.
Posted by garyt1 on 2016-05-14 18:56:06
The specs look good. You can always get a 2tb disk external to copy or backup things to. Total Warhammer will probably be worthy of a good system if you want high graphics etc. Personally I always find laptops and pcs get problems after 3 to 4 years even if the specs are good.
Posted by Dominik on 2016-05-14 18:57:47
Why do people buy Laptops which are cost inefficient and use them only or mostly at home? A tower PC is usually the better choice.
Posted by Throweck on 2016-05-14 19:03:01
PC doesn't want a PC due to his lifestyle though Dom. :)
Also, for example, I have a laptop as I do not have spare room for a PC with 4 children.
Also, for example, I have a laptop as I do not have spare room for a PC with 4 children.
Posted by Throweck on 2016-05-14 19:03:51
You can't put a PC on your groin to make it warm either :D
(Personal Computer not Purplechest btw)
(Personal Computer not Purplechest btw)
Posted by Dominik on 2016-05-14 20:04:36
But then if you buy a Laptop to play games you need a mouse and a table. Im not informed about the living environment of PC but a lcd and a mouse are not that bulky to leave it on a table in the family room. A mini tower can be located under the table.
Posted by licker on 2016-05-14 20:15:39
I bought an Alienware 17r3 around xmas time and have enjoyed it greatly. I built a custom tray that I can rest it on to use mouse and what not while I'm luxuriating in the lazy-boy, or I can just use it on a table. Wireless mice are cheap and easy to work with.
I play mostly xcom2 and BB2 and assorted older games which run very smoothly.
So I think something like that should work for you, but if you want to go the custom built method I understand.
I think my system might be slightly over your price range, but I don't know the conversion between us and uk atm.
I play mostly xcom2 and BB2 and assorted older games which run very smoothly.
So I think something like that should work for you, but if you want to go the custom built method I understand.
I think my system might be slightly over your price range, but I don't know the conversion between us and uk atm.
Posted by PurpleChest on 2016-05-14 20:25:24
licker= I'd love alienware, but out of my price range.
Dom - learn to read. i dont want a desktop. Sometime i need to be on the road for days/weeks/months. i need a laptop.
throweck, put me on your lap, and i will warm you, i swear.
Dom - learn to read. i dont want a desktop. Sometime i need to be on the road for days/weeks/months. i need a laptop.
throweck, put me on your lap, and i will warm you, i swear.
Posted by spock on 2016-05-14 20:25:28
that's a pretty big ask for not a huge budget. the laptops you've got listed should be great for ~3 years, but by the 3 year mark you probably be squeaking by on lowest visual options for modern (of the time) games to maintain a decent frame rate.
depending on how much you want to keep installed at a time, and how much 'electronic baggage' you carry 500Gb is not a ton of space anymore. I've got 2Tb filled on my tower, 500+gb in games and a well over 1tb of 'baggage' (music, movies, ISOs of old programs, etc). as editing films is part of your list of things you want to do I'd recommend a 1tb or larger HD for your non-os drive.
if you can get the 16GB of system ram you'll definitely want it to play modern games as long as possible.
depending on how much you want to keep installed at a time, and how much 'electronic baggage' you carry 500Gb is not a ton of space anymore. I've got 2Tb filled on my tower, 500+gb in games and a well over 1tb of 'baggage' (music, movies, ISOs of old programs, etc). as editing films is part of your list of things you want to do I'd recommend a 1tb or larger HD for your non-os drive.
if you can get the 16GB of system ram you'll definitely want it to play modern games as long as possible.
Posted by spock on 2016-05-14 20:27:00
also, unless you really know how to care for the battery right, buy a spare if it's removable or get the extended warrantee that lets you have them replace the battery at about the 2 year mark.
Posted by licker on 2016-05-14 21:04:54
re: Batteries...
Do you ever actually run it from the battery? If so how frequently and for what duration. As spock said, this is potentially a big issue for the higher end 'gaming' machines.
With mine I basically never have it on the battery, other than when the kids are using it for homework related stuff.
Do you ever actually run it from the battery? If so how frequently and for what duration. As spock said, this is potentially a big issue for the higher end 'gaming' machines.
With mine I basically never have it on the battery, other than when the kids are using it for homework related stuff.
Posted by PurpleChest on 2016-05-14 21:10:20
rarely. It's mostly plugged in. sometimes for half an hour or so.
Posted by ianuk77 on 2016-05-14 22:02:12
Id always err on the side of RAM and GPU over other considerations like SSD.
16Gb Ram and the best Graphics card you can get would be my starting point, 128Gb SSD will run your OS nice and fast but its arguable how much performance you get in games other than loading screens being faster (once its loaded into your 16Gb RAM you arent going to be reading disk much).
16Gb Ram and the best Graphics card you can get would be my starting point, 128Gb SSD will run your OS nice and fast but its arguable how much performance you get in games other than loading screens being faster (once its loaded into your 16Gb RAM you arent going to be reading disk much).
Posted by Wreckage on 2016-05-14 22:17:51
...Gotta love my short loading times :P.
Posted by thoralf on 2016-05-14 22:56:45
Unless you need to access information real fast, say to read chess endgame bases or hashed scientific calculations, you don't need an SSD.
OTOH, if you enjoy silence, it's a must.
OTOH, if you enjoy silence, it's a must.
Posted by Beanchilla on 2016-05-14 23:40:25
Just want to say go with that Asus! I use a ROG asus that I got on sale a couple years back and it works great.
I edit film as well. I use Adobe Premiere, Resolve and After Effects. Each program has run great especially when incorporating an affordable external SSD just for these programs.
I also play XCOM2 and Stellaris on Medium-High while maintaining just about 60fps. That's all on a GTX760.
Asus is great man. Definitely go with them. Newegg has some random sales on their laptops as well so if you can wait I'd keep an eye out. If not, that price isn't so bad either.
I know most people say get a desktop but it's definitely great for editing film on the go. I don't think I'll ever be able to comfortably go back to desktop again honestly.
I edit film as well. I use Adobe Premiere, Resolve and After Effects. Each program has run great especially when incorporating an affordable external SSD just for these programs.
I also play XCOM2 and Stellaris on Medium-High while maintaining just about 60fps. That's all on a GTX760.
Asus is great man. Definitely go with them. Newegg has some random sales on their laptops as well so if you can wait I'd keep an eye out. If not, that price isn't so bad either.
I know most people say get a desktop but it's definitely great for editing film on the go. I don't think I'll ever be able to comfortably go back to desktop again honestly.
Posted by The_Murker on 2016-05-15 03:11:39
Dammit.. am I missing something? What is this bloody XCOM2 you are all babbling about? It good?
Posted by licker on 2016-05-15 04:07:14
XCOM2? Are you really unaware of what it is?
It's good, but I found that after one playthrough it lacked what the first one had in terms of replay, though to some extent that's the fault of the long war mod. When/if XCOM2 gets longwarred I'm sure I'll play it again.
It's good, but I found that after one playthrough it lacked what the first one had in terms of replay, though to some extent that's the fault of the long war mod. When/if XCOM2 gets longwarred I'm sure I'll play it again.
Posted by PurpleChest on 2016-05-15 11:45:15
Went with the Dell.
Now we await delivery and help blog 2, what to add/remove.
Now we await delivery and help blog 2, what to add/remove.
Posted by Wreckage on 2016-05-18 06:13:20
The original xcom was equally short. Although the addons made it super action packed and thrilling. Xcom2 felt a little empty in comparison.
But after Long War I felt like the difficulty level was really ridiculusly low.
Try Legend with Bronze Man and it's quite fun tho because the building times for everything are so much extended that it makes for a longer game where you really have to manage ressources very carefully.
But after Long War I felt like the difficulty level was really ridiculusly low.
Try Legend with Bronze Man and it's quite fun tho because the building times for everything are so much extended that it makes for a longer game where you really have to manage ressources very carefully.