Best gaming laptop around $600?

[nickguz]

So I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop, probably used, for around $600 give or take a little. I would want it to run modern games like black ops 2 etc. on high settings. What would you guys recommend?



Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

[Jodell88]

You're never going get a gaming laptop at that price.

Also, wrong forum.

[nickguz]

Originally Posted by Jodell88

You're never going get a gaming laptop at that price.

Also, wrong forum.

Theres plenty used on craigslist for that price, just dont know which ones are good. and sorry im new here

[nurturedhate]

Going to have a hard time meeting that requirement on a new laptop. Just a quick look, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834131394 , both will have a hard time running newer games on high settings.

[DaveSimmons]

You might find something refurbished at TigerDirect or Dell Outlet, or off-lease from http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/

"High settings" and $600 probably won't match, even for used.

The thing to pay most attention to is the graphics card. An i7 with HD4000 would be terrible compared to an i3 with nvidia GT650 mobile.

Also, the mobile graphics card numbers are nothing like the desktop graphics card numbers. If you see a Radeon or nivdia mobile part number, you need to find a benchmark of that mobile GPU. A 7700 mobile might be slower than a 6700 desktop, and a 680 m slower than a 670 desktop.

[nickguz]

Hmm, well I've found a few good looking deals used, this any good?: http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/sys/3502475536.html


This one also seems pretty good, but what do I know haha:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/sys/3507223506.html


OR, should I just drop the whole laptop thing and go for something like this:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/sys/3506237450.html


Thanks in advance for the help

[tential]

The think with buying a used laptop, especially if you don't know much about laptops, is you gotta be careful that you're actually getting what they say you are. Since you are saying you don't know much about PCs I dunno if you'd know where to look to make sure you're getting the right thing. You're going to have to look through the settings though. Someone may say "Oh ya this GPU" but when you look the config you actually see a different GPU is inside the laptop. And you'd probably need to reinstall the OS since most people selling laptops are selling them because they have slowed down beyond all belief. Usually due to taking poor care of them. So you'll need to know how to reinstall the OS and learn to make sure the parts are actually what they say they are. Finally you'll learn how to take apart the PC and clean it (since this is also a reason laptops slow down). If your PC is clogged up with dust, it'll be really slow, really hot, and downclock.

As for which of the ones you posted is the best? The first one is the best. It's a 250-350 discount from brand new though so factor that into your decision.

Good luck.

[nickguz]

Originally Posted by tential

The think with buying a used laptop, especially if you don't know much about laptops, is you gotta be careful that you're actually getting what they say you are. Since you are saying you don't know much about PCs I dunno if you'd know where to look to make sure you're getting the right thing. You're going to have to look through the settings though. Someone may say "Oh ya this GPU" but when you look the config you actually see a different GPU is inside the laptop. And you'd probably need to reinstall the OS since most people selling laptops are selling them because they have slowed down beyond all belief. Usually due to taking poor care of them. So you'll need to know how to reinstall the OS and learn to make sure the parts are actually what they say they are. Finally you'll learn how to take apart the PC and clean it (since this is also a reason laptops slow down). If your PC is clogged up with dust, it'll be really slow, really hot, and downclock.

As for which of the ones you posted is the best? The first one is the best. It's a 250-350 discount from brand new though so factor that into your decision.

Good luck.

I know a decent amount about pc's, like I would know how to see whats actually inside the computer, but I just don't know too much about gaming on laptops and whats a good laptop graphics card etc. And thanks

And would the toshiba be able to run modern games well? Or would I still need to spend more money for that?

[holden j caufield]

I'd think the toshiba would be better. The core2duo one is at least 3+ years old. IMO you can wait a bit and get a sager/clevo, asus, lenovo. All much better than a toshiba.

[Schadenfreude]

For that price range I'd steer you towards a (new) laptop with an AMD Fusion APU installed, like this Lenovo but don't expect it to run any new games on max settings - the difference between medium and max settings are minimal anyways. :/

If you look around I believe you can overclock them to run faster and get better gaming performance but it'll drain your battery pretty quick. If mobility isn't an issue you can get a lot more bang for your buck with a desktop.

Or if you've seen a few for sale laptops you can post them for critique and we can help too but your options are definitely limited at $600.

[Yukmouth]

Newegg i5s w/2gb dedicated graphics. You need to spend 700 to 800. Dont bother with amd apus the resolution limitations are terrible.

[lakedude]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...ist.844.0.html

This should give you an idea of which graphics cards can do what.

My $1300 i7-3630QM based laptop with a GTX 670MX can not play games on the highest settings. A $600 model might get you medium-low or low settings.

You might find a good deal on a used one but technology improves with time. That Dell on Craigslist is very old and not worth much these days.

A home system would be better for gaming. Do you have any home system parts already?

Please check back in before you buy. We might disagree on what is the best but we can at least tell you if something is bad (like that Dell, which was good at one time, not so much anymore).

[nature1ders]

He just needs to buy an FM2 AMD APU based laptop. The highest available would run games fine