Which Laptop for Gaming

[dankcik09]

I have a small budget for around 700 for a low end gaming laptop.
I've done some reading that Nvidia has better graphic cards for laptops.
I'm leaning more towards the Ienovo due to it seeming like a better deal.
Any input would be great.

Acer Aspire AS5553G-5881 AMD Turion II Dual-Core P540(2.4GHz) 15.0" 4GB Memory 320GB HDD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 NoteBook
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115888

or

lenovo IdeaPad Z560 (0914-4HU) Intel Core i3 380M(2.53GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce 310M NoteBook
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146985

 

[Andorhal]

I suggest the later. several friends use lenove. Low repair rate

 

[lostandwandering]

If you can spend up to $700, then I would go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115986

The Nvidia GT 540M in this one is a huge step up from either the GT 310 or the HD 5470. Neither of those two are really gaming capable cards and would leave you feeling disappointed.

 

[warren024]

I agree with Lostandwandering -- if you want to game, the GPU is all important.

 

[dankcik09]

Yes. Thanks! I will definitely consider the Acer. Honestly, I thought those gpus on the first to laptops i posted was the best I could get for that price.

Awesome find!

 

[dankcik09]

Best answer selected by dankcik09.

 

[cbrunnem]

try this. it has a better cpu and just a little more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115987

 

[dankcik09]

Thanks "cb" for that. guess I got 2 to choose from now.

 

[dankcik09]

try this. it has a better cpu and just a little more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115987

Someone typed this in the feedback.

Now for the surprise, this computer is advertised with only an NVIDIA Geforce 540M, however it comes with NVIDIA Optimus technology which means it also has an integrated card. This is actually a bane for many gamers as on paper this may actually be an attractive feature, however it doesn't fully deliver because the driver can't seem to decided what actually needs the GPU. This results in everything going to the Integrated Graphics chip. You have to actually have to go to the nvidia control center and tell it exactly what programs need to run with the GPU, otherwise you'll end up with slop. Also, you can't choose the default video card in the BIOS, so it can't be disabled.

Whats your take on the gpu issue?

 

[cbrunnem]

its a none issue. atleast not for me. i changed it to auto select and played gta 4 and got 30 fps and then changed it to nvidia 540m and got 30 fps.

 

[dankcik09]

Its easy to change?

 

[cbrunnem]

yeah its just a right click on the desktop then go into nvidia control panel. then from there you can set the whole computer to use the integrated or dedicated card or under the program settings you can tell it what programs to use what card.