Laptop for WoW and Skyrim

A Dell deal to look at:

Dell XPS 17 Core i5 / GT 550M graphics $$693. See what the upgrade to Core i7 CPU and GT 555M would end up costing with the coupon.

Compare the XPS 17 with:
Sager NP8130 15" custom gaming notebook @ XoticPC ~$1150
Configured with Core i7-2670QM CPU and 1920x1080 LCD w/ GTX 560M graphics card.

Comparison of GT 555M and GTX 560M in a couple games (Skyrim missing GTX 560M benchmark)

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I appreciate the feedback  

I'm not too knowledgeable about where the best place to customize a laptop is. Is the i7, 2nd generation or not, that much more powerful than the i5? I cant find i7s with speeds of more than 2.0 or 2.2GHz, although that Sager is pretty epic.

The i7 quad core is the better CPU, no doubt about it.
But the i5 dual core is also 2nd Gen (Sandy Bridge) and a pretty good match for games like WoW and Skyrim. You could get around the same mid-range gaming performance for a lower price.
The 'rule of thumb' is to get the best GPU you can and get enough CPU to support the games you play.

It's hard to beat a custom gaming laptop on the specialized Sager/Clevo chassis.

I bought a Lenovo Ideapad Y570 for $950 a few months ago, and I absolutely love it. It plays skyrim on max detail, (Shadows on low) output to a 1080p HDTV at about 42fps.

It has a GT555m graphics, and a Physical switch for using the HD3000 if you're just browsing the web or using it for home media.

Choosing the model with the I5 instead of I3 allows a small speed boost due to hyperthreading and a 200mhz boost.

The looks are fantastic, the quality is great along with USB3.0.

And the best of all, it is currently on sale for $280 off. That is $720 for this laptop, no point blowing an extra $400 to get another 4 frames/sec.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/Len...

This chart is showing desktop CPUs but it does point out the small performance drop off going from 4 cores to 2 cores on the AMD CPUs.

Thank you for the advice. Against my better judgement, I bought a Toshiba. I've got nothing against the company but the specs aren't quite as good as I hoped, but Best Buy has a two week bring it back no questions asked policy, so Im giving it a try. i7-2670QM quad core, 6GB RAM, 750GB HDD, integrated graphics that suck. I installed and played MW3 and its kind of sketchy and slow. So now Im thinking I should go all out and customize a gaming laptop. Any ideas on best sites/companies to do that from?

Thank you for the advice. Against my better judgement, I bought a Toshiba. I've got nothing against the company but the specs aren't quite as good as I hoped, but Best Buy has a two week bring it back no questions asked policy, so Im giving it a try. i7-2670QM quad core, 6GB RAM, 750GB HDD, integrated graphics that suck. I installed and played MW3 and its kind of sketchy and slow. So now Im thinking I should go all out and customize a gaming laptop. Any ideas on best sites/companies to do that from?

Thanks for the advice guys. Against my better judgement and your advice,(sorry  ) I bought a Toshiba with less-than-desirable specs. Best Buy offers two week, bring it back for any reason policy so Im taking them up on it. i7 quad core, 6gb ram, 750gb hdd, integrated graphics. I also bought MW3 and played it. The computer is slow and sometimes not just in-game. So Im thinking customized laptop. Do you guys know of the best sites/companies to do that from? My personally wanted specs: i7 quad core, 8gb ram, 750gb hdd (at least), at least 1gb dedicated graphics, but more is good because Im running Skyrim, MW3, and WoW, and a 17.3 inch screen. I appreciate all the advice.

I'm looking for a good mid-range gaming laptop now too. Biggest debate for me is how much better will the i7-2630 or 2670 outperform the i5-2410 or 2430? Best bang for the buck laptops based on video cards seem to be either customizing one with either 560M or 570M from exoticpc.com around $950 to $1150...or a couple online deals: Best Buy has some refurbished Asus' w/ 560M around $950. The cheapest but decent option seems to be on Lenovo...the Y570 with 555M and i5-2410...only $660 with their first sign up 10% discount. Since laptops CPU and GPU's aren't as upgradable, assumign you keep one for 4 years...can it still play new games at even low settings in 3-4 years?

Looks like we're both looking for the same laptop. I should've also mentioned I've looked at A LOT of sites over the last couple weeks...xoticpc really has the best deals for a good machine. (a close 2nd is cyberpowerpc...which has been good and i've used them for my previous 2 builds over the last 6 years.)

Ive just recently come across Xoticpc, they seem to have very good deals. Also I came across ibuypower, are they any good? I customized a build for around $1400ish. But then I think maybe I should get a desktop...too many decisions, not enough time  

I also read the i5-2500k was the epitome of processor needed for gaming, anything more was a waste. Is this true?

Best answer selected by kennywiggles.

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