Gaming Laptop for University.

[DubiousDel]

Hi,

I am a student looking to take a laptop to university next year.

My budget is between £800-£900.

I can push £1k if I have to but would really rather not.

Games I play BF3, Skyrim, League of Legends, WoW & Diablo 3 - Will also be looking to play the new BF4 that comes out.

Please could you let me know if this spec is okay?

Thanks in advance!

Chassis & Display

Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)

8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk

500GB SEAGATE HYBRID SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
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
Bluetooth & Wireless

GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + 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

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software

NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus

NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Carry Case

Tech Air 15.6" Classic Toploading Case (£18)
Keyboard Language

INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse

INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad

SteelSeries QcK Mini Gaming Mouse Pad (£7)
Webcam

INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology

FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Insurance

1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery

STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time

Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

The specification you have there seem not bad at all however i would opt for a 7200RPM hard Drive to reduce your loading times for gaming and operation system.

Also to get an idea of the performace you will get with the GTX660m click here, should be ok on skyrim for Medium to high settings

hope this helps

 

[DubiousDel]

The specification you have there seem not bad at all however i would opt for a 7200RPM hard Drive to reduce your loading times for gaming and operation system.

Also to get an idea of the performace you will get with the GTX660m click here, should be ok on skyrim for Medium to high settings

hope this helps

Hi

Thanks for your fast reply!

What sort of price am I looking at to make these demanding games such as skyrim/BF3 run on ultra smoothly?

 

[kruppsy]

The 'SEAGATE HYBRID SSHD Drive' is a good option if you want SSD esque performance combined with large storage. This latest model only spins at 5400rpm (the previous MOMENTUS XT version was 7200rpm) but uses its wizardry to boot windows and applications close to SSD speeds.

Its basically aimed at people on a budget that can't afford an actual SSD but want similar performance.

Worth a ganders...

http://techreport.com/review/24561/seagate-laptop-thin-sshd-500gb-hybrid-drive-reviewed/3

 

[kruppsy]

What sort of price am I looking at to make these demanding games such as skyrim/BF3 run on ultra smoothly?

Probably about £1100-1200. You'd need a spec with the 675mx or ideally the 7970m. The 680m is also a great card but would be another couple of hundred on top of those two.

 

[Keithg]

I have the optimus and run skyrim with virtually everything on and with texture mods at 30fps+

I dont have bf3 so cant comment.

 

[DubiousDel]

I have a couple more questions if I may.

Is the general consensus that I should not go with the Hybrid SSD HD and change to standard one - if so which one would be most appropriate?

Furthermore, should I bother sticking in a better wireless port or am I just worrying too much?

Will this I be able to plug and use my current monitor with this laptop?

And finally if I opt for the laptop to come with Windows 7, will PCS install all the drivers for me being shipping it?

I am so sorry for all the questions, but obviously I want everything to be perfect when making such a large purchase! Thanks

 

[kruppsy]

The Hybrid offers you great boot up speeds of Windows and programs but its then general performance is similar to the cheaper WD Scorpio Black. It all depends what you want to put your budget in to. With a gaming rig in mind, you want to put as much into the graphics card as possible so if this means dropping to the Scorpio Black then I'd suggest that. However, if you have a bit more money to play with, not enough for a fully feldged SSD however, the Hybrid offers a good compromise. The extra boot speed the Hybrid and SSDs offer wont directly affect in-game performance, just the speed which the game loads and subsequent levels. A game like Skyrim or WoW which has a lot of load screens would benefit from a Hybrid or SSD whereas other games won't. It wouldn't be a huge difference in times, we're talking a few seconds quicker. All this boils down to how patient/impatient you are!

The link in my earlier post has some comparative tables for different HDDs & SSDs performance including the Scorpio Black and the SEAGATE SSHD

The other things you mention. The 150Mbps Wireless would be fine and should cope with gaming wirelessly if needed, although I'd always suggest a wired connection for gaming. Your monitor will connect to the laptop to act as an alternate or second screen. PCS will install all the critical drivers, some optional drivers you will have to install manually either from the disc PCS provide or the manufacturers websites.

 

[DubiousDel]

The Hybrid offers you great boot up speeds of Windows and programs but its then general performance is similar to the cheaper WD Scorpio Black. It all depends what you want to put your budget in to. With a gaming rig in mind, you want to put as much into the graphics card as possible so if this means dropping to the Scorpio Black then I'd suggest that. However, if you have a bit more money to play with, not enough for a fully feldged SSD however, the Hybrid offers a good compromise. The extra boot speed the Hybrid and SSDs offer wont directly affect in-game performance, just the speed which the game loads and subsequent levels. A game like Skyrim or WoW which has a lot of load screens would benefit from a Hybrid or SSD whereas other games won't. It wouldn't be a huge difference in times, we're talking a few seconds quicker. All this boils down to how patient/impatient you are!

The link in my earlier post has some comparative tables for different HDDs & SSDs performance including the Scorpio Black and the SEAGATE SSHD

The other things you mention. The 150Mbps Wireless would be fine and should cope with gaming wirelessly if needed, although I'd always suggest a wired connection for gaming. Your monitor will connect to the laptop to act as an alternate or second screen. PCS will install all the critical drivers, some optional drivers you will have to install manually either from the disc PCS provide or the manufacturers websites.

Bro - you are a legend. Thank you!

I am going to go for this laptop. As there are no other cards available for the Optimus and the vortex is just too expensive for my budget, I will stick with this GPU.

I am happy to turn the graphics down to high and medium on games such as BF3 and Skyrim should they not reach the 60 FPS mark.

Wish me luck - will order it tonight when I get home from work.

 

[kruppsy]

No worries.

oh i should have mentioned, dead pixel cover if you can afford it. I needed it, got a dead pixel but thanks to the cover, PCS sorted it straight away. Depends if you're a gambling man and/or if a dead pixel would bother you.

Anyway, enjoy...it looks great

 

[micmcc]

Probably about £1100-1200. You'd need a spec with the 675mx or ideally the 7970m. The 680m is also a great card but would be another couple of hundred on top of those two.

Yeah, I have a laptop with 680m in SLi. One card is sufficient for most games. I can play Crysis 3 at 20-30fps on Ultra settings with both in SLi and most lesser games at 40ish.