Need a gaming laptop about 1K

[Sohaltang]

Must be 1920X1080. Play World of Tanks, new FFXIV, GTA, Skyrim etc. For my kid and he plays a lot of PS3. Would like 15+ inch. Bigger the better as long as screen quality is equal.

I know lots about desktop but not much about laptop. I play too and my rig is listed below. Something that comes close to this would be great. If not thats cool too. Money is a big factor since its a gift for a 13 year old.

 

[TheStu]

Why does it have to be a laptop? Why not build a desktop with him? Unless your 13 year old is SUPER responsible... laptops are significantly more fragile than desktop just by virtue of the fact that you haul them around.

Anyway, if you're sticking to a laptop, and are in the US, the Lenovo y510p just came out, it should fit the bill if you can get the dual 750ms. Or you can get the y500 from last generation which has dual 650ms.

 

[Sohaltang]

A couple reasons for a laptop. His room is already packed full with a 55 panny and all his console gaming stuff. My wife might use it some while Im on my desktop. And I may even use it while in the family room to get in a couple games very occasionally. He is very responsible and it will not leave the house unless I am the one taking it on a business trip.

Is Lenvo anygood? Is MSI better? Off to do some research.. Thanks for the ideas. All are appreciated

 

[fralexandr]

you could build a small desktop (mitx/matx) and hook it up to his TV.
he could use the TV as a computer monitor 😀.

there are a lot of nice smaller cases out nowadays that can fit high end graphics cards (10.5-11") and use standard 140mm and in many cases 160mm PSUs.

you could build in something in a coolermaster elite 120
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6110/...vanced-case-review-little-in-almost-every-way
or the bitfenix prodigy if you don't mind something bigger with handles to carry it around.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5867/bitfenix-prodigy-review-the-affordable-performable-miniitx

or a lian li/cube shaped case if you happen to need a small table to put a printer or game console on 😀
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112300

this would obviously provide better performance than a similarly priced notebook (you probably know that $1k buys a really nice gaming desktop)

the stickied 1k build thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192841

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if you still want a notebook, ASUS makes some nice gaming ones (though they haven't refreshed to haswell/nvidia 7 series yet)

if you don't want the notebook to look like an obvious gaming laptop, the lenovo y series looks clean/normal and not too bulky, so wouldn't look out of place on a business trip
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops...ies/index.html

since you're on a 1k budget, you might want to look into clevo/sager/cyberpower notebooks, since you can usually get a faster gpu (in this case, the 765m) though usually at the cost of worse customer support
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X6-6000_Gaming_Notebook
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=category_browse&selected_cat=3

performance for 2 of the GPUs you should probably look at (nvidia 750m vs 765m)
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-750M.90245.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-765M.92907.0.html

if you get a gaming notebook, you still might want to buy a wireless/wired keyboard/mouse and HDMI cable so he can game on the 55" screen, instead of the 15-17" one 😀 😉
longer distances are a bit easier on the eyes 😉 if that's any concern

 

[AustinInDallas]

Anyway, if you're sticking to a laptop, and are in the US, the Lenovo y510p just came out, it should fit the bill if you can get the dual 750ms. Or you can get the y500 from last generation which has dual 650ms.

came to say this

 

[Saffron]

... His room is already packed full with a 55 panny and all his console gaming stuff...

I had to re-read that a couple times to get what you meant lol

The Lenovo Y5xx is the best bang for the buck, though, keep in mind their SLi notebooks don't come with an optical drive. You will need to purchase an external one in case you need one.

MSI makes excellent notebooks, I purchased a GT70-059 about a month ago and absolutely love it. I'm writing this post on it actually.

 

[aigomorla]

A couple reasons for a laptop. His room is already packed full with a 55 panny and all his console gaming stuff. My wife might use it some while Im on my desktop. And I may even use it while in the family room to get in a couple games very occasionally. He is very responsible and it will not leave the house unless I am the one taking it on a business trip.

Is Lenvo anygood? Is MSI better? Off to do some research.. Thanks for the ideas. All are appreciated

why not make him a HTPC and plug it on the 55.
You can throw in monster cards on a HTPC also, and not have to worry about it overheating during long gaming sessions.
And it will upgrade friendly incase u want more power in certain areas.

Seeing how the laptop is also for you...
Gaming grade laptops are at least 2-3x the price of a desktop.
Personally i wouldnt mix the two together.
Gaming on a tiny screen is a PAIN most of the time.. especially when ur used to a large class monitor.

My advice...
Split up what normally would cost you 1100 dollars in to 550 dollars for the HTPC.. and 450 for the latop you need to take with work.
You want a long lasting laptop anyhow, which gaming laptops have the WORST power efficiency when looking at same battery class.

I tell all my friends this when they say they want a gaming laptop.
They dont listen to me and 2 months later, they bearly use it for gaming.
Then they whine about how there laptops can only go 2 hours tops, while mine is doing 7-9hours on a extended battery pack.

 

[Sohaltang]

Ok. Maybe I'm interested in a HTPC build since y'all twisting my arm. Where should I post a tank build advice thread. I built my below rig myself but no clue where to start with a HTPC. Don't you have to get mini versions of GPU's? I honestly had to do some serious reconfiguration to get my sapphire 7970 OC into my full size case. Maybe that card is an exception.

 

[fralexandr]

there are many small form factor computers that can fit full size graphics cards and power supplies, one of the cheaper ones is the coolermaster elite 120 i linked to before. It typically goes for ~$50.
the anandtech review also has some tips on assembling in small cases.

it can get tricky building in small cases.
m-atx/m-itx typically have 2 ram slots, which should not be a problem since 2x4gb and 2x8gb kits are not that expensive anymore

do NOT buy ram with large heatspreaders. THEY might conflict with the CPU HSF. If overclocking, you might be better off getting a contained liquid cpu cooler (corsair h, antec kuhler, etc) since they save space around the cpu and the radiator can be mounted elsewhere.
there are some thermal constraints with smaller cases, so you might not even want to overclock.
I suggested a lian-li pc354 (link in previous post) if you do. They are rather large cases, so you can use them as small tables to put stuff on (no drinks though, since there are fan openings 😉 and nothing too dense since the case isn't too sturdy) the older versions such as the pc351 tend to go on sale every once and a while and are a bit wider and not as deep and don't have top fan openings

a lot of m-itx/m-atx boards come with built in wifi. they also might come with m-sata slots which can fit m-sata SSDs. They can help reduce cables/clutter and allow you to mount other drives if you need them.

otherwise, it's like building in a small cramped case. Small fingers may be helpful 😛 when sticking stuff into it, you might want to get your son to help you 😀.

 

[Zodiark1593]

I tell all my friends this when they say they want a gaming laptop.
They dont listen to me and 2 months later, they bearly use it for gaming.
Then they whine about how there laptops can only go 2 hours tops, while mine is doing 7-9hours on a extended battery pack.

Were you're friends trying to game on the battery? 😵

So long as I didn't push the CPU, and kept the GPUs off, I've been able to eke out an excess of 5+ hours on a friend's Alienware M18x, enough to not need to bring the charger for college.

If they were using those hexa-core CPUs in what is essentially a portable workstation, then I can easily see sub-two hours even with light use.