Hi. Possibly looking at new gaming laptop (Civ VI etc). Help needed before I waste my money!

stripeyfox · Oct 17, 2016

Hi. New user here, so hopefully I have posted in the correct place

I am currently considering a new laptop purchase. Primarily for gaming but I don’t have a mega budget, so needs to be something in the region of £ 700 - £ 800 (UK).

I currently have a Lenovo Z300 (6GB, 2.5Ghz, GT540 I think) which copes pretty well with Civ V, but I recently learned that Civ VI will be more demanding!

Now, I’m not too fussy about having everything maxed out but playing on 1920 x 1080 would be nice, at reasonable settings.

When I started looking for a new laptop I got very confused by the different specs etc.

I had looked at the Lenovo 700:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/80RU00EFUK-Lenovo-Ideapad-700_1958413.html

i5-6300
12GB
GTC 950M 4GB

Do you think this would run Civ VI to a reasonable standard?

Alternatively, there is the Lenovo Y700

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/80NV001QUK-Lenovo-Ideapad-Y700-15_2023688.html

i7-6700
16GB
GTX960M 4GB

But this one is £150 more.

Any advice on these machines, or anything else which may be appropriate would be much appreciated.

Also, general advice on how much RAM is needed and processor types (i5 or i7) would be very helpful too.

The specs for Civ VI are as follows:

Minimum
i3 2.5Ghz
4GB RAM
Nvidia 450

Recommended
I5 2.5 Ghz
8GB
Nvidia 770

Thanks in advance

SammChisnall · Oct 17, 2016

Just curious is there a particular reason you're going with a Laptop rather than a Desktop? From my experience you can get much more bang for your buck out of a Desktop. With your budget you could get a fairly high spec PC.

In terms of the two Laptops you listed the Y700 would run Civ VI with ease and probably chew through most other modern games. The 700 would also run Civ easily but not be as effective at other, intensive games that you may want to play.

All in all both of the Laptops you listed will run Civ and most other modern games, out of the two i would say get the Y700 if you have the cash.

EDIT: Quick RAM/CPU run down

RAM is quick access memory that provides temporary storage for rapid access and modification by the CPU. (Higher the better, 8-16GB recommended)
CPU is the control centre of the PC, i5's (4690/6600) are easily powerful enough for gaming, i7's (4790/6700) are excellent for gaming and rendering programs such as Vegas.

stripeyfox · Oct 17, 2016

Thanks for the quick response. I wasn't sure if this had ended up in the right sub forum!

A laptop works for me as I travel a bit with work and also useful for taking on weekends away in the caravan, although I am aware that I'd get a better machine with a desktop but the portability is kind of a deal breaker really!

SammChisnall · Oct 17, 2016

stripeyfox :

It would have probably been better listed in the 'Systems' sub forum but we're all helpful here

In terms of the two laptops you listed i would say the standard 700 for Civ VI and the Y700 for Civ VI / VII / VIII etc.. it will last you a lot longer

stripeyfox · Oct 17, 2016

Thank you. I have some thinking to do before making a choice. Appearences shouldn't come into it but I actually prefer the look of the 700 to the Y700. A lot of the "gaming" laptops seems to be quite sporty in appearance, wheras I'd prefer something a bit more, well, "refined".

bystander · Oct 17, 2016

I might add that if you are completely happy with your current laptop with Civ V, you probably should wait to see what will happen with Civ VI before you buy a laptop. When a sequel promises to be "more demanding", it's usually talking about adding higher graphical settings, which a few lowered settings (something you said you are ok with) should solve. Even if it's also more demanding with the CPU, you still may be good with your current system.

It's always best to wait for the game before planning an upgrade. You might not need it, and you might need to up the CPU instead of the GPU.

stripeyfox · Oct 17, 2016

Thanks @bystander - yes that makes sense. perhaps wise to wait until the game is out first!

stripeyfox · Oct 17, 2016

Actually I'm encouraged that you guys seem confident that the 700 or Y700 would run it. Who knows, maybe even my existing laptop will be ok!

Here's hoping!

stripeyfox · Oct 17, 2016

Hi - what about this one :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-Y700-15-6-Full-HD-Gaming-Laptop-AMD-FX-8800P-3-4GHz-8GB-RAM-1TB-HDD-/191905892393?hash=item2cae7b8829:g:8ngAAOSwLnBX8iEG

It's a Lenovo Y700 but with AMD CPU and GPU. Not sure how they stack up against the "other" Lenovo?

bystander · Oct 17, 2016

stripeyfox :

Until we see what happens with Zen, stick with Intel when looking at i5/i7's. AMD doesn't compare in that department.

stripeyfox · Oct 18, 2016

Thanks bystander. I think I'll hang fire for a bit. I tell you what though, it is bloody confusing. How the average consumer is supposed to understand all this I'll never know!

James Mason · Oct 18, 2016

I'm just going to echo what bystander said, if you're happy with your current laptops civ 5 performance, wait until civ 6 is actually out before deciding you need a new one. Civ 6 actually looks a bit simpler and more refined, so it may run better than civ 5 did.

If you had to pick one, I'd go with the 2nd one from your 1st post.

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