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A Tale of Two Laptops

Dannar26

Dannar26

Senior member
I need a laptop that can play games like WoW, SC2, and Skyrim. I don't want to spend much as this will be a temporary tideover/backup while I'm in military training. The two laptops I'm looking at differ quite a bit in price and power. The HP is the affordable option at $530 after tax/discounts/shipping, and I'm primarily wondering if an A4-5000 with a 1GB Radeon HD 8670M is going to allow me to run the above games at low to mid settings at 1600x900. On the other hand, I'm wondering if the much more costly Lenovo is the better buy for the money at $820 after tax/discounts/shipping, as you get a haswell i7-4700MQ and a GeForce GT755M. I'm willing to spend the $800, but would prefer to work with a smaller budget if it cuts it for me. I'm also willing to hear any other options you guys might have heard about. What say you, AT?

Pavilion 17z-e100


  • Windows 8.1 64
  • AMD Quad -Core Processor A4-5000
  • 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M
  • 17.3-inch diagonal HD+ BrightView LED-backlit Display (1600 x 900)
  • 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
  • 500GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
  • $530

IdeaPad Y410


  • 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4700MQ Processor (2.40GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
  • Windows 8.1 64
  • 14.0" HD+ Glossy LED Backlit with integrated camera (1600x900)
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT755M GDDR5 2GB
  • 8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
  • 1TB 5400 RPM
  • $820
 
I have browsed a bit. Reading reviews for budget gaming laptops consistently puts me at some variant of the above models.

I want a discreet GPU and a screen that isn't 1366x768 if it can be helped.

Are there better/other options you've seen?
 
sorry bout that its a HP Pavilion 17-e171nr it has 8650M/8670M running in crossfire. $650.- after discounts.

Not sure it's worth the extra $120 just to get the additional gpu.
 
After looking at your two choices, it looks like apples vs oranges. Those two are WAY different.

Personally, I like a 15". 14" is too small for gaming, 17" is just too bulky and heavy to serve the purpose of being a portable machine.

Now, the graphics cards. The 17" would probably do OK on the Nvida card, and the Radeon with the 14", but you are going to be pretty limited with at AMD on a 17" screen for gaming IMO.

If you want something that will game, Newegg has a pretty good price on this right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834313583
 
Again it looks like lenovo is the way to go for affordable gaming solutions. That would be the one to get, though the price is too much. $850 pre tax...dunno if I can swing that. Understand that size is a non issue for me. Portability and battery life are at the bottom of my list. My last laptop was a 13 inch viao, and I never had an issue.

Does anybody actually game on these kabini A4/6/8/10's? Or are AMD's budget mobile offerings really that terrible that I'm better served moving along?
 
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That A4-5000 is a kabini chip, only 1.5 ghz with no turbo. I think gaming on it would be a very unsatisfactory experience, especially on CPU limited games like the ones you mentioned. It is actually pretty much a netbook processor just stuck into a full size laptop.

Of the two choices you mentioned the Lenovo is definitely the way to go for gaming. Personally, I think that Lenovo is about the best value you will find in a laptop that is powerful enough for moderate gaming.

If you really need to save 200 to 300 dollars, you might find an A10 laptop without a discrete card, that would play those games at moderate settings for around 500 to 600 dollars, but you will give up a lot of performance for that savings.
 
Dannar26 said:
Again it looks like lenovo is the way to go for affordable gaming solutions. That would be the one to get, though the price is too much. $850 pre tax...dunno if I can swing that. Understand that size is a non issue for me. Portability and battery life are at the bottom of my list. My last laptop was a 13 inch viao, and I never had an issue.

Does anybody actually game on these kabini A4/6/8/10's? Or are AMD's budget mobile offerings really that terrible that I'm better served moving along?
Click to expand...

$850 for the Y510 vs $820 for the Y410 seems like a no brainer to me.

I've not gamed on a Kabini but I do occasionally game on my GF's lappy. Its a toshiba Satellite C855-S5194. Its one of the few i3's with HD4000 and it plays oblivion at med settings. She's played mass effect 2, dragons age, and neverwinter on it too. We got it on sale for $300.-.
 
Dannar26 said:
Again it looks like lenovo is the way to go for affordable gaming solutions. That would be the one to get, though the price is too much. $850 pre tax...dunno if I can swing that. Understand that size is a non issue for me. Portability and battery life are at the bottom of my list. My last laptop was a 13 inch viao, and I never had an issue.

Does anybody actually game on these kabini A4/6/8/10's? Or are AMD's budget mobile offerings really that terrible that I'm better served moving along?
Click to expand...

I didn't notice that you were already aware the A4-5000 was kabini. In any case amds nomenclature is confusing at best. I believe the A6, A8, and A10 are Richland, which is a much faster chip and more suitable for gaming. I think 500.00 is way overpriced for a kabini laptop, as I have seen top of the line A10 models advertised at best buy for 600.00, and if you shop carefully you can probably get one for less.
 
When I google these AMD chips the richland chips seem to get compared to sandybridge Core i3-2330Ms. Sandy bridge is two generations ago.

Are AMD's chips really that bad? I know I have to make sacrifices to get a 500-600 laptop suitable for moderate gaming...But is the cpu really a good place to skimp?

I guess my goal would be to run WoW fluently, even when the new expansion comes out. I figure if I can do that, this laptop will satisfy for the forseeable future.

monkeydelmagico said:
$850 for the Y510 vs $820 for the Y410 seems like a no brainer to me.
Click to expand...

Agreed. However, the $820 is the final cost with taxes and shipping. Before all that it's like $770. The model you listed, sexy as it is, is $850 before all the fun and games.
 
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Dannar26 said:
When I google these AMD chips the richland chips seem to get compared to sandybridge Core i3-2330Ms. Sandy bridge is two generations ago.

Are AMD's chips really that bad?...
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Sandy Bridge is not much slower than current gen Intel chips, just bigger die size and uses more power. Considering that, and the fact that AMD still can't compete in single-threaded applications, doesn't really make me want to go with them for a laptop.
 
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