Best Inexpensive Gaming Laptop

[DasFox]

Who would say makes the best gaming laptop at the lowest price?

I'm looking for the least expensive.

So far my understanding is this might be the 'Gateway P-7805u FX'

THANKS

 

[reallyscrued]

Is a desktop computer for gaming out the question? $500 goes a long way if you can build your own computer these days.

http://www.maximumpc.com/artic...0_pc_play_crysis_40fps

You could probably even do better than that.

 

[DasFox]

Well I'm looking to move in the near future and I want a laptop for the mobility, otherwise I'd most certainly get a desktop, because desktops are all I've ever used for gaming in the past but then I'd build my own. I always build my desktops...

THANKS

 

[geokilla]

Best Buy America has some ASUS laptops for under $1000. They're pretty decent gaming laptops imo.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...skuid&usc=abcat0500000

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: DasFox
Well I'm looking to move in the near future and I want a laptop for the mobility, otherwise I'd most certainly get a desktop, because desktops are all I've ever used for gaming in the past but then I'd build my own. I always build my desktops...

THANKS

I'm in the same boat.

Are you technically minded? Have you built your own computer before? If so you may want to check out 'mranderson09' in the FS/FT forum, he's selling barebone laptops with 9600GT's. I think someone stated that it came out to about $650 after adding the CPU, HDD and such.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...268376&highlight_key=y

Good deal, looking into it myself.

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: DasFox
Well I'm looking to move in the near future and I want a laptop for the mobility, otherwise I'd most certainly get a desktop, because desktops are all I've ever used for gaming in the past but then I'd build my own. I always build my desktops...

THANKS

I'm in the same boat.

Are you technically minded? Have you built your own computer before? If so you may want to check out 'mranderson09' in the FS/FT forum, he's selling barebone laptops with 9600GT's. I think someone stated that it came out to about $650 after adding the CPU, HDD and such.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...268376&highlight_key=y

Good deal, looking into it myself.

I should have my specs in that thread. Mine was $700 but it was pretty loaded.

 

[Liberator21]

I just picked up a refurbished P-7811FX from eBay for $900 <-- Better than the newer versions to me, at least with the 1900x1200 screen.

For the games I play it is fine - Sins of a Solar Empire, BF2, Grid, C&C 3 - but you have to remember that the 9800M is a derivative of the desktop 9600GT card. Hope that gives you an idea of the performance. Not great, but passable - The story of all gaming laptops.

 

[spire303]

ASUS G50VT-X5

I just bought one of these bad boys and I'm 100% satisfied. This thing keeps up with my i7 gaming wise. HL2, CS:S, TF2, and QL all run perfectly. Haven't installed any newer games like Crysis or FC2, but I've heard that it can run them at max quality no prob. As far as any older games like Oblivion or WoW, you'll be set.

If you can afford the $900 price tag, I promise you won't be disappointed.

 

[DasFox]

Thanks guys, now you got me thinking PC Surgeon, get that barebone MSI MS-1651 ID 3 and build it up, or something else.

Sucks that Asus only has a 1 year warranty on it.

A bunch of the manufacturers are now giving 2 year warranties.

 

[DasFox]

Well anyone else?

Been wondering if the 9800 laptops are coming down in price yet?

THANKS

 

[IlllI]

G50Vt-X5 is the cheapest on you'll find. unless you look for something used

 

[smoothvirus]

I'd go with the 7805u or the G50Vt-X5, depending on which screen size you'd prefer.

 

[hans030390]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834152108

That's actually probably the best you can do for the money. I believe I remember reading benchmarks showing the mobile 4670 being about the same as a 8800m, which the 9800 is just an optimized version of.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: smoothvirus
I'd go with the 7805u or the G50Vt-X5, depending on which screen size you'd prefer.

You mean the Gateway P-7805u FX Edition? That's $1299...

Originally posted by: hans030390
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834152108

That's actually probably the best you can do for the money. I believe I remember reading benchmarks showing the mobile 4670 being about the same as a 8800m, which the 9800 is just an optimized version of.

I'm not really a fan of ATI, would rather stick to Nvidia.

 

[IlllI]

hmm actually 699 is pretty good price for the ati one. 200 less than the asus, but the 9800 gpu in the msi would be better than the ati one. on the other hand looks like the 9800 consumes 60w while the 4670 only 35w. so maybe have to consider if its worth the extra 200 or not. 9800m gs , 4670

 

[SickBeast]

Very soon there will be netbooks based on the Ion platform that will be decent for gaming and will be very cheap.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Very soon there will be netbooks based on the Ion platform that will be decent for gaming and will be very cheap.

LOL decent for gaming?

LOL

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: IlllI
hmm actually 699 is pretty good price for the ati one. 200 less than the msi, but the 9800 gpu in the msi would be better than the ati one. on the other hand looks like the 9800 consumes 60w while the 4670 only 35w. so maybe have to consider if its worth the extra 200 or not. 9800m gs , 4670

9800 in which MSI one? Don't know which two you are comparing this $200 over?

35w vs 60w, what are we talking here, just higher electric bill, but not by much and a tad more heat...

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: DasFox
I'm not really a fan of ATI, would rather stick to Nvidia.

That's a really silly reason, to be honest. It performs pretty well, especially for the low price. You asked for the best inexpensive laptop...this is probably one of the best bang-for-buck laptops you can get.

 

[DasFox]

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: DasFox
I'm not really a fan of ATI, would rather stick to Nvidia.

That's a really silly reason, to be honest. It performs pretty well, especially for the low price. You asked for the best inexpensive laptop...this is probably one of the best bang-for-buck laptops you can get.

I never gave any reasons, I said I'm not a fan is all.

In the past 10-12 years Nvidia is all I've ever used, better at understanding and learned more about. Nvidia has always been great to me, so I've stuck with it.

Also all the gaming I've ever done in the past has been on desktops, so my favorite card maker is EVGA, I would never game with a card made from anyone else, their cards and support is top notch.

Also because I was a heavy Linux user in the past at that time Nvidia had better support and even to this day they still have better driver support.

And as far as Nvidia driver support is concerned with gaming performance and stability, I've never had a problem with gaming in 10 years and when I've looked around and seen so many people out there trying to game and having problems on the PC platform I knew I was doing it right, because when you can game on the PC for 10 years and never have problems, that's a hell of a track record. Like they say, if it ain't broke, no need to fix it!

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: DasFox

35w vs 60w, what are we talking here, just higher electric bill, but not by much and a tad more heat...

battery life.

9800 in which MSI one? Don't know which two you are comparing this $200 over?

/facepalm.. well that was a typo. i meant the asus one that spire303 posted, vs. the msi one that hans030390 posted (with the 4670). 899 vs 699

Also because I was a heavy Linux user in the past at that time Nvidia had better support and even to this day they still have better driver support.

thats true about driver support for linux.. but you cant play as many games using linux though.. can you? seems like if you install linux on it then that would kind of defeat the purpose of getting a gaming notebook. you could find a much cheaper notebook if thats the case.

as far as Nvidia driver support is concerned with gaming performance and stability, I've never had a problem with gaming in 10 years

ha same here. but in my case with ati. been using ati cards since the original radeon.. which was 2001 i think. theres always success stories (and horror stories) on either side.

that asus one will be better for gaming, but the question still remains.. is it worth the extra 200 (compared to the ati one). only you can decide that. its hard to find something cheap and good, unless you get lucky and find it on clearance

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: DasFox
I never gave any reasons, I said I'm not a fan is all.

In the past 10-12 years Nvidia is all I've ever used, better at understanding and learned more about. Nvidia has always been great to me, so I've stuck with it.

You're saying you'd rather not because you're a fan of Nvidia. And I'm saying that shouldn't be much of a reason for NOT thinking about this laptop in any shape or form.

ATI's generally made very good video cards and is pretty reputable/reliable. They've just stopped working much with the real high-end stuff, so it seems.

Also, the Radeon 9xxx series was way better than the FX 5xxx line. That should fall in your 10-12 year usage timeline.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Very soon there will be netbooks based on the Ion platform that will be decent for gaming and will be very cheap.

LOL decent for gaming?

LOL

An 8600M will beat out 95% of notebooks out there and will run most games so long as they're not too advanced.

 

[fatpat268]

Yes, but the Ion platform will still be crap for games. The gpu is better than your average IGP, but it's no miracle worker.

Pair that up with the atom, and you won't be able to play most new games. Should be decently fine for some older games though.

 

[7earitup]

I am going to try and pick up a Gateway P-7805u within the next couple of weeks. Personally, I think its the most powerful and inexpensive laptop you can get, and I also like the looks. I find it to be fairly future proof, due to the fact that it can support up to 8GB of ram (which is DDR3) and the CPU can be swapped out for a faster one. I like something I can modify or upgrade in the future and get more life out of it.