Buying a laptop for gaming

[Cakeyface]

Hi. I'm deciding between two laptops and I want to be able to play Shogun 2 Total War on it. It's quite a demanding game graphics wise, so would it be better to go for a AMD A8-4500M, 8GB RAM and AMD Radeon HD 7640G graphics card or i5-3210M, 6GB, HP HD 4000 graphics card? They're both the same price.

I have the PC requirements for the game but I'm not sure if they would be the same for a laptop?

2nd Generation Intel Corei5 processor (or greater), or AMD equivalent
2GB RAM (XP), 4GB RAM (Vista / Windows7)
AMD Radeon HD 5000 and 6000 series graphics cards or equivalent DirectX 11 compatible graphics card
These are the two laptops:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-p [...] 9-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-p [...] 8-pdt.html

Thanks

 

[Computered]

Before I ever suggest a laptop for gaming there is a question I always ask. Do you NEED the portability? No matter how good of a laptop you buy you will never achieve the same gaming experience as a much less expensive desktop.

We have in house here for review an Alienware that uses a GTX 680M for graphics with an i7m processor, this thing rings the bell at around $2500 and yet a $1200 or half price PC build will beat it in gaming at the same settings every time. Plus it does it with a much larger screen and nicer game control from a mechanical keyboard and nice mouse.

Do not get me wrong if you a gamer that is always on the road then I understand but unless you NEED the portability, skip the laptop.

 

[rgd1101]

Unless you want to run an low detail, can't really run game on integrate graphic.

 

[game junky]

If you don't have a budget set for this, I would take a look at the Razer Blade and OriginPC's laptops.

The Razer Blade isn't what you would call portable (17.3" screen) but it definitely is a premium rig capable of tackling most of today's games. (http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade)

Personally, I would lean toward OriginPC's EON15-S: in terms of quality and customization they own the market in my opinion. You will have to know what you want to spend before you start adjusting parts because adjusting CPU/GPU and adding a SSD can increase cost rapidly. You may be able to save on RAM/SSD if those bays are easily accessible, but I haven't read up on whether they're easy to open.

Unless you need to be able to game on the go, the best bang for your buck is to build a beastly desktop. Half the price for better performance.

 

[Cakeyface]

Before I ever suggest a laptop for gaming there is a question I always ask. Do you NEED the portability? No matter how good of a laptop you buy you will never achieve the same gaming experience as a much less expensive desktop.

We have in house here for review an Alienware that uses a GTX 680M for graphics with an i7m processor, this thing rings the bell at around $2500 and yet a $1200 or half price PC build will beat it in gaming at the same settings every time. Plus it does it with a much larger screen and nicer game control from a mechanical keyboard and nice mouse.

Do not get me wrong if you a gamer that is always on the road then I understand but unless you NEED the portability, skip the laptop.

I'm going to Japan for half a year and then university after that (and I'll be taking it to lectures etc. so I need a portable laptop for that. I just want one good enough for gaming when I'm away from home).

I'm aiming for around £400 but I'd stretch to £500 max.

Unless you want to run an low detail, can't really run game on integrate graphic.

I don't really mind running on low detail; as long as the game isn't really slow. Is it possible to change the graphics card in a laptop? (I hope that question doesn't sound stupid...)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Your links don't work and just bring you to a home page. But I don't see a gaming laptop handling the most demanding games with a budget less than $1,000 (618 GBP)

You can buy a Clevo Gaming laptop for about 2/3 of the price that you'd pay to one of the boutique builders who most often use Clevo chassis). I have both an SLI i-7 desktop w/ a 23" 1920 x 1200 screen and a 17" 1920 x 1200 laptop and do 95% of my game playing simply for convenience and comfort.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html

CLEVO is a large Taiwanese computer company specializing in laptops. While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)… notably Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom, etc. They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs.

List of distributors here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html#uk

http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/?s=5

 

[electrontau]

I don't really mind running on low detail; as long as the game isn't really slow. Is it possible to change the graphics card in a laptop? (I hope that question doesn't sound stupid...)

No, you cannot upgrade CPU and graphics. Be able to customize parts during purchase does not mean able to upgrade parts few years later.

 

[06yfz450ridr]

dont get a laptop you will hate it , it will run super hot with any decent graphics card and processor which will eventually fry the gpu etc if you dont replace the thermal paste often and you will most likely not be able to play very gpu dependent games on it well. for the price you will spend on a gaming laptop you can build a desktop thats twice as fast. i carry my pc everywhere just get the carrying straps.

 

[06yfz450ridr]

No, you cannot upgrade CPU and graphics. Be able to customize parts during purchase does not mean able to upgrade parts few years later.

actually you can upgrade the cpu unless its the top one for your motherboard

 

[Ramazan007]

I would recommend medion akoya
http://www.medion.com/gb/prod/MEDION%C2%AE+AKOYA%C2%AE+P6631+15.6%22+Laptop+%28MD97828%29/30012577A1?recommendationId=48a7324a-ce76-4ee4-85a0-2f6892be2372&wt_mc=gb.intern.recomm.productDetail.on-ma&wt_cc1=5&wt_cc2=30012577A1&wt_cc3=30014924A1

Price=479


specs are:

MEDION® AKOYA® P6631 15.6" Laptop (MD97828)

Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor, Windows® 7 Home Premium, 640GB hard drive, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA® GeForce® GT540M DirectX® 11 graphics, NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology, USB 3.0, Bluetooth® 3.0, multimedia management, Blu-ray, 39.6 cm/15.6" full HD display

Its got a mid level gt540m wich is good enough for demanding games like crysis 2 on medium settings with 37 fps