Comparison Gaming Laptops

Hello xoshua;

You can drop these two from your short list for having weak gaming GPUs:
ASUS B43 Core i7 640M(2.80GHz) /ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470
ThinkPad W510 Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz) / Quadro FX 880M (GT 330M equivalent)

Here is a gaming benchmark between the HD 5870 / GTX 460M / GTX 285M

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Great charts.  

My only concern is the RAM in the Asus is less than the MSI. I will be using the laptop for upcoming MMORPGs. Will I notice a huge improvement with the slightly better GPU and 2Gig more RAM?

Above 6GB more RAM is mostly overkill for most people (above 4GB, anyway). Keep in mind that most MMORPG's typically rely far more on the CPU than on the GPU (for obvious reasons). But you'll definitely want the best graphics card you can afford - once it's chosen, it's often difficult to upgrade. Their CPU's are mostly the same and should perform reasonably well in upcoming games (they should plow through your mmorpg's easily, I believe).

Remember: You can always add RAM- changing the CPU or GPU can be a pain later.
any i7 sandybridge with a Nvidia 460 or better should just about kill any game you would want to run on a notebook..

4GB should be plenty of RAM. But if you want extra RAM you don't need to spend an extra $225 to get it.
I don't believe the difference in graphics card will matter much either. You're better off with the less expensive option IMO.

Crucial 2GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model CT25664BC1339 $24.50
CORSAIR 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model CMSO4GX3M1A1333C9 $45.50

Great replies! One more quick question before I buy everything. I'm going with the Asus G53JW. So it comes with 4 GB of RAM and it has up to 16GB RAM. Do I purchase the 4GB and the 2GB or one or the other? I can only spend roughly 1600 or under so purchase the asus and 2GB+ 4GB of the RAM specified by WR2?

Or is there a better option for RAM? How does the Asus RAM slots work?

Keep the 4GB RAM and add the 6GB above or? I only need 6GB- 8GB for now until I save up more money.

EDIT: Should I purchase a new network adaptor as well? Looking through reviews it seems the wifi isn't the best from the start?

Like any other laptop RAM slot really, just open up the laptop, slide the laptop memory stick in the slot, and screw it back together.

I understand your concern about getting the right amount of RAM but once you exceed a certain capacity the increase in performance just doesn't justify the additional cost. And you can easily upgrade RAM when you feel you're falling behind by walking into any electronics shop, so I wouldn't find too much of a concern there.

For the network adapter... what do you mean by "best from the start"?

Your experience with Wifi could be a lot better than than those customer feedback comments might indicate depending on the quality of the network signal - and not the network adapter. Why buy something you might not need?

The same applies to RAM. 4GB isn't going to to limit you at all.

I ended up going with the Asus as well, waiting for delivery now. wint with the G73SW-A1 . spent a little more , but got a lot of bells and whistles. kept the ram low as I can add it- I think you will be happy with it out of the box- ( and unless you are running VM's on it I dont think you will see any advantage going over 4gb at first, and can add it when you see it go on sale..

Best answer selected by xoshua.

If I might make a suggestion look at the Dell XPS 15 you can get sandy bridge and a Nvidia gt555