Advice on a new laptop - mostly gaming.

[SOliver1]

Hi,

I'm looking for advice on a new laptop. I have a PC at home however I want to get rid of this and switch to a laptop as I have moved into a smaller flat and it takes up too much room.

I want the 17.3" ones, and I do tend to be picky about wanting a high spec laptop simply because I do enjoy gaming at the maximum levels I can push it. So any chance of advice as to a spec that would run games at max settings? I plan on playing mass effect andromeda for example, and want to play witcher 3. Also Final Fantasy 15 if it comes out on the pc which I think it will and this is likely to be demanding. I would also be using it for internet surfing as well as needing to do work on it and using word/excel etc.

Oh and budget wise - I will be doing it on finance so I'm not overly tight on the budget but generally want to be sure I am spending what is a reasonable amount for what I aim to use it for if that makes sense.

Any advice or spec build examples would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Oussebon]

Well, it really does depend a bit on budget. Have you considered a small form factor PC? At least you'd have the option to upgrade GPUs unlike with a laptop.

If a laptop it must be then the kind of spec you're describing is the Defiance III or Proteus with either a GTX 1060 or GTX 1070. There's the Octane, which is a heavy desktop replacement that, while powerful, can sometimes need a bit of tweaking for thermal performance and is arguably excessive for gaming. But it certainly has its merits too.

If you want to get a rough sense of how powerful these GPUs are compared to desktop GPUs / whatever you had in the desktop you're getting rid of Futuremark's GPU scores will give you a rough indication.

You can also check laptop gpu benchmarks for games on notebookcheck: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.13849.0.html (it's got W3 in there somewhere)
http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu

The 1060 might struggle to really push some of the higher settings in some games, but is still a very powerful gaming GPU, a bit weaker than the GTX 970 but still in the same rough ballpark. But if you want to push things as far as they'll go then you may want to consider the 1070.

A GTX Defiance III build might look a bit like:

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 2.5" WD10JPLX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 200W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARD
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,542.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defianceIII-17/5QYgZqz7Jv/

 

[keynes]

Oh and budget wise - I will be doing it on finance so I'm not overly tight on the budget but generally want to be sure I am spending what is a reasonable amount for what I aim to use it for if that makes sense.

What is reasonable to some people may not be for others in terms of budget. It would be easier to indicate a maximum budget.
If you can push for around £1650 I would go with the gtx 1070 but for the gtx 1060 I personally wouldn't spend more than £1400 for a laptop with the gtx 1060. Thinks you could compromise and could be added later on are ram and the ssd if you wish to push your budget down.

 

[Oussebon]

These are pretty valid points.

Indeed the i7 7700HQ adds quite a lot to the price tag for not necessarily much performance, depending on the games you're playing (certain ones would benefit). And 8gb RAM is quite viable for gaming. The above was just a sketched out spec but it's hard to be more specific without a budget.

 

[jimllo]

the Proteus might maximise the bang for your buck

Chassis & Display
Proteus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 2.5" WD10JPLX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x Proteus Series 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Battery
Proteus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200mAh)
Keyboard Language
PROTEUS SERIES 17.3" BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,351.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/proteusIV-17/848bQY3nw7/

 

[SOliver1]

What is reasonable to some people may not be for others in terms of budget. It would be easier to indicate a maximum budget.
If you can push for around £1650 I would go with the gtx 1070 but for the gtx 1060 I personally wouldn't spend more than £1400 for a laptop with the gtx 1060. Thinks you could compromise and could be added later on are ram and the ssd if you wish to push your budget down.

Yeah fair enough,
I managed to get an idea of a budget based on the finance option of the example given, it would be about 1,700/1,750 to get a monthly payment of no more then 60 a month.

(This would need to include the office home and student software as an added requirement however!)

Does this change anything?

Thanks!

 

[keynes]

Yeah fair enough,
I managed to get an idea of a budget based on the finance option of the example given, it would be about 1,700/1,750 to get a monthly payment of no more then 60 a month.

(This would need to include the office home and student software as an added requirement however!)

Does this change anything?

Thanks!

You can go to the configurator and play with the spec posted by Oussebon. You should be able to fit a gtx 1070 for £1750

 

[Oussebon]

(This would need to include the office home and student software as an added requirement however!)

Have you tried Open Office: https://www.openoffice.org/

It's a fully featured, free and open source office package that includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and database software that is compatible (can read from and save to) popular MS Office formats such as .doc .xls etc. If you're only buying the Home and Student office you're not getting things like Outlook that you might need for working with MS Exchange etc, in which case Open Office might be an ideal alternative.

Since it's free you could check it out on your existing PC before buying.