Help Needed! Questions on AMD v Intel, Prices, and a "Which on is better" question!

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Jun 22, 2014
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Hello all! This is my first post, and I have a few questions relating to gaming laptops. I'm currently looking at Costco (yes, I know, but seriously, their prices blew me away). My two choices are the HP ENVY 15z and the HP ENVY 15t (links below). Costco's entire selection will also be available below.

The 15t features an Intel i7, 12 GBs RAM, and Intel HD Graphics 4600 as its graphics card (I believe it's an integrated graphics card). The 15z features a AMD A10, 16 GBs RAM, and AMD Radeon HD Graphics 8570 (not too sure about the exact specs). Really, my question is this-which one is better? I don't care about the 4 GB RAM difference (God knows what I'm going to be doing with 12). It seems to me that the 15z is significantly cheaper-I'm guessing that's because it uses AMD instead of Intel. How are their graphics card? I'm not a heavy gamer, but I'd like to be able to play games like Skyrim smoothly.

Thanks for your help guys. I look forward to your replies.

Entire Costco laptop selection (refined by removing touchscreen laptops and those that don't meet my requirements)-http://www.costco.com/laptops.html?refine=30113%2b63

The HP ENVY 15t- http://www.costco.com/HP-ENVY-15t-Laptop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-Backlit-Keyboard.product.100120239.html [Priced at $700]

The HP ENVY15z- http://www.costco.com/HP-ENVY-15z-Quad-Laptop-%7c-AMD-A10-%7c-1080p-%7c-Backlit-Keyboard.product.100103603.html [Priced at $624]
 
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It is a bit unfair to measure a gaming laptop's gaming capability versus a gaming desktop with a powerful dedicated graphics card. You can't fit a large graphics card into a laptop so you make due with what's available. Also, cooling on a laptop is not as good as on a desktop. There's less airflow and naturally, your laptop will get very hot.

So like I said, unless you plan on gaming a lot, the Intel build is the better route. But if gaming is your high priority, the the AMD build definitely. You cannot get decent fps on Skyrim with either build at 1080p. At 720p, the AMD one can get about 40-50 fps. The Intel one will suffer and be at most mid 20s in fps even at 720p. And if you play with a lot of mods, you will want to play at low...

biflash

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hi, neither is a good gaming laptop, try finding something with an i5 and an 740m/840m somewhere, it will probably cost the same and be better balanced.
the amd is better for gaming but much worse on cpu, like half the power.
 
Jun 22, 2014
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To respond to biflash -why would neither be a good gaming PC? Could you possibly recommend one from the 'Entire Costco Selection? It would be much appreciated. Also, are you saying neither laptops can run a relatively easy game at all (say WoW on medium settings)

To respond to ksham You say that the Intel would be better. However, the user below you (biflash) stated that neither laptop would be able to handle games. Do you agree with that statement? Thanks for the input on the Intel chip, I'll see what other feedback I can gather from this thread.
 
It is a bit unfair to measure a gaming laptop's gaming capability versus a gaming desktop with a powerful dedicated graphics card. You can't fit a large graphics card into a laptop so you make due with what's available. Also, cooling on a laptop is not as good as on a desktop. There's less airflow and naturally, your laptop will get very hot.

So like I said, unless you plan on gaming a lot, the Intel build is the better route. But if gaming is your high priority, the the AMD build definitely. You cannot get decent fps on Skyrim with either build at 1080p. At 720p, the AMD one can get about 40-50 fps. The Intel one will suffer and be at most mid 20s in fps even at 720p. And if you play with a lot of mods, you will want to play at low settings for decent fps in both builds.

While the A10 does much better than Intel in gaming because the graphics chip is much better on it, it is inferior performing every other task.
 
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biflash

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The reason i said neither was a good gaming pc is that neither can play actual games with acceptable performance, the Intel has a good cpu but bad graphic and the amd has a just good enough gpu to play at 720p but poor cpu perfomance, critical on recent games and mmo like wow.
a good pc from your site would be this
http://www.costco.com/HP-ENVY-15t-Laptop-|-Intel-Core-i7-|-Backlit-Keyboard-|-2GB-Graphics-|-Windows-7-Professional.product.100120250.html
that should allow you to play recent games at medium and should last a couple years for games and much more for work on cpu front.
if you can find the i5 version 100$ cheaper that would be great.
 
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