Gaming Laptop Advice Please

S

stannard97

Member
First of all I'd like to say I am a complete noob when it comes to PC specs. I have never owned a computer capable of real gaming so I haven't really cared about their specs. Now I'm planning on buying a laptop for gaming and I will most likely be playing Dirt 3, Fallout 3 and Arma 2, and, when it comes out, Arma 3. Before now I have just used this website (http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri) to decide whether or not to get a game but my current laptop is nowhere near capable of running modern games like these.

For this reason I want to upgrade to a good enough laptop to play high end games on high settings. Now I don't really care about texture quality etc. but it is important on a game like Arma to have a far viewing distance and high grass density and so on. I'd just like to know what people think of my configuration and what is excessive (I reckon 12GB of RAM is a little overboard but who knows?).


Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
12GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (3 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £729.00 including VAT and delivery.

Thanks in advance!
 
samwil

samwil

Enthusiast
I know this isn't what your post really wanted to focus on, but if you have room for a desktop, I would get a desktop, easy upgrades, generally more for your money, if its your first gaming rig then it's something to consider, I always had my head focused on gaming laptops, then realised how much more you can get in a desktop.

Anyway, your laptop seems good, 12Gbs of ram isn't needed for gaming however, 8gb is sufficient, unless you plan on video editing.
I'd try and get a caviar black HD or equivalent, is it scorpion black or something I believe, you will notice a difference in loading times.
Also get the silver warranty, for £5 extra you get 1 year collect & return.
As I play arma 2, you should manage a nice view distance, you need a good processor for arma 2 however, yours seems decent, but like i've said prior to this, a desktop will get you more.
But yea, dependant on how far you are prepared to reduce the rest of the graphics options, that seems ok to have large view distances
 
S

stannard97

Member
samwil said:
if you have room for a desktop, I would get a desktop, easy upgrades, generally more for your money
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input samwil. I just went for a laptop for the convenience of moving from room to room in the house. Is there a significant difference in the value for money? Also, there seem to be more parts you have to choose for a desktop, like motherboards etc. where I would have no idea where to start with...
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
stannard97 said:
Thanks for your input samwil. I just went for a laptop for the convenience of moving from room to room in the house. Is there a significant difference in the value for money? Also, there seem to be more parts you have to choose for a desktop, like motherboards etc. where I would have no idea where to start with...
Click to expand...

You generally get better stuff cheaper in a desktop over what you get in a laptop.

It really does depend on if you want/need the mobility of a laptop though, since with a desktop and monitor and speakers you can't just decide you want to go sit somewhere else today to use it.
If it's always going to be in the same place, go for desktop, if you want to move it frequently, laptop it is.
 
samwil

samwil

Enthusiast
What rakk said, also with £800 on a desktop you could get a nice balance of say, 3000M view distance if you invested in a GTX 650 or 660, with medium graphics, just remember with arma, you need a good CPU.
 
S

stannard97

Member
samwil said:
you need a good CPU.
Click to expand...

But I have no idea what a good CPU is. The only thing there seems to be to compare them is GHz but from the googling I've done that is apparently a less important aspect. If that's true then what am I supposed to decide from?
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
S

stannard97

Member
I haven't decided yet but if it's better value then probably. I have no need to move it around. What is important in processors? Is 4 cores of 2.4GHz effectively 9.6GHz? I read that originally games didn't support multi-threading - whatever that is - and therefore 2 cores wasn't much of a benefit, is 4 cores limited by a similar thing (like games only being able to use 2 or 3 cores)?
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
stannard97 said:
I haven't decided yet but if it's better value then probably. I have no need to move it around. What is important in processors? Is 4 cores of 2.4GHz effectively 9.6GHz? I read that originally games didn't support multi-threading - whatever that is - and therefore 2 cores wasn't much of a benefit, is 4 cores limited by a similar thing (like games only being able to use 2 or 3 cores)?
Click to expand...

Most games are more gpu intensive and use 4 or less cores.
 
S

stannard97

Member
So if the processor you recommended is okay, what GPU would you recommend? Again, I can't see what you can compare with, just Video RAM.
 
S

stannard97

Member
If I went for a desktop I would need a monitor too, yes. I'm hoping to spend about £700, preferably less. This is why I'm asking, to see if it's realistic to expect good performance for that kind of money.
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
stannard97 said:
If I went for a desktop I would need a monitor too, yes. I'm hoping to spend about £700, preferably less. This is why I'm asking, to see if it's realistic to expect good performance for that kind of money.
Click to expand...

You could consider an AMD cpu:
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 430 BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-4170 Quad Core CPU (4.20GHz/4MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A78L-M/USB3 (M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, 3Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (1 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7850 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE FARCRY3 & 20% OFF MEDAL OF HONOUR with AMD 7770/7850/7870 GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5003AZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE AMD CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2010 Professional Edition
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
AOC 21.5" WIDESCREEN LED TFT - 1920 x 1080, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D (£89)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £695.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/amd-bulldozer-top-spec-pc/eXmrkau3Ra/

or an intel spec:

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 430 BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-MX USB3/SI: uATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (1 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7850 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE FARCRY3 & 20% OFF MEDAL OF HONOUR with AMD 7770/7850/7870 GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2010 Professional Edition
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
AOC 21.5" WIDESCREEN LED TFT - 1920 x 1080, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D (£89)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £705.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/G8y4AM8D6e/
 
S

stannard97

Member
Do you do that just for me? ;)

Which would you go for purely on gaming performance?
Also the OS isn't necessary so it'd be even cheaper than that.
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
stannard97 said:
Do you do that just for me? ;)

Which would you go for purely on gaming performance?
Also the OS isn't necessary so it'd be even cheaper than that.
Click to expand...

If an OS is not needed I'd go with the spec below since you are planning to play Arma II:
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 430 BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H77-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7850 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE FARCRY3 & 20% OFF MEDAL OF HONOUR with AMD 7770/7850/7870 GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5003AZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
AOC 21.5" WIDESCREEN LED TFT - 1920 x 1080, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D (£89)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £697.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/97cUBM9f9R/
 
S

stannard97

Member
So this is good enough to run modern games on very high settings?

Thanks for all your help mate. I hope I wasn't breaking the rules by giving you 3 reps...
 
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