Buying a new laptop

I need a laptop for working and also playing away from home. My needs are limited to playing The Long Dark, games with low requirements, and Cities Skylines, World of Tanks and World of Warships.

This monster here would be my most expensive option

Asus GL552VW-DM149 (i5 version)

But I would like to cut some corners to get something that covers my need as cheap as possible. And if something costs 500 € or more, I'd rather buy that laptop for 700€.

Do you know a cheaper laptop good enough to play those games at high quality?

Also, this one costs the same, and has an i7 but a slightly worse graphic card

Asus R510VX-DM005D

Which one among those two should I pick as my best option?

I'd prefer to see the full specs, but whatev.
For gaming, a strong GPU is more important than CPU, but just about any i5 will do just fine for modern games. Most laptop i7s have been just slightly beefed up i5 variants up until recently, so there's not much to lose. Just make sure you got lots of RAM, 8GB minimum.

While Asus makes good shit, there would be other choices tho'. MSI and Lenovo make pretty damn good laptops fit for gaming too, some which cost below 1000 bucks brand new. You just recently missed this amazing deal here... but seeing you mentioned Euros, dunno if you could've even utilized it.

Better off with the first option, the i7 isn't worth the trade off for the lesser GPU.

Thanks, so I take the Asus GL552VW-DM149 is better regarding gaming.

I've seen that many laptops around 400€ have a graphic card 920M . I don't know if that graphic card along a decent CPU are enough to play the games I mentioned above.

>920M
it's pretty shit 2bh, but good enough to play a bit older games / at lower settings. I'd opt for 940 or better.

Do you think so? Mm, a 940 takes the price above 500 € almost certainly, so the leap towards 700 or 730 (RAM included) is not that big.

Shit, I wish i could know the performance before buying.

tl;dr rules of thumb:

Less than 4GB? Not worth it this day and age. Some games won't even start!

Slower than 2Ghz CPU? Not worth it this day and age!

Nvidia GPU marked GTX = good for gaming.
If it's below GT (x)40 = not good for gaming, but may get job done on older / less demanding titles, at 720p.

As an example, I got this now 4 years old PackardBell craptop with i3 @ 2.1Ghz (dualcore), 6GB DDR3 and Nvidia GT540M 1GB. It managed to run MGS5 at ~PS3 quality (720p, all low) at around 30fps, Talos Principle with roughly medium settings at locked 30fps no probs, and any Source-engine game has no problems running on it. STALKER games run fine on DX9 mode, med-high settings, with some mods on them as well.
The machine does have 1366x768 screen though, so playing at 720p ain't really a huge downgrade or anything, and helps performance further.

I tend to go to Youtube and type "(GPU here) gaming", and check example videos of people playing various titles on roughly similar specs as the machine you're planning to get. Should give a decent view of what to expect.

Also, while at it, you can customize your very own laptop on this site:
pcspecialist.co.uk

Drop the OS completely, pirate W7 Ultimate, and you instantly save 100€ !

>*Less than 4GB of RAM?
Fixed that, in case it wasn't obvious

Gaming laptops are always overpriced and look like piles of shit, however you should hold off for when the new ones start showing up with the new 10XX series GPUs from nvidia.

They're skipping mobile processors and just using the desktop GPUs now.

MSI is the fucking worst. Oddly enough, Razer is is the least egregious looking line of laptops right now.

also obligatory >your wasting your money, yadda yadda ya

Get a cooling tray to seperate the computer from your legs because that shit will burn you. There really isnt such a thing as a gaming laptop. It's a "notebook" because they get too hot to put on your lap.

Razer Blade

It's overpriced garbage, but it has a plain aluminum body a-la macbooks which means it's going to be a lot sturdier than most of the other garbage on the market. Actually it looks just like a macbook pro, but black.

>going for a prebuilt instead of a cheaper, better custom made laptop
Why, just why?
Buy from sites like www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ and not only will it be cheaper and better overall, you'll also be able to save £90 by not getting an OS and installing your own.
btw IPS screens are great

Buy the cheapest laptop for your ms office machine and buy a console. They will both be less expensive than a single "gaming" laptop and won't break in 6 months due to overheating. The cpu is irrelevant for gaming, both consoles uses some cheap AMD mobile shit cpu.

If I'm traveling, I can't take a console and something else and carry it in the backpack. Also, consoles for playing? Seriously?

I've been checking pcspecialist but for some reason the website doesn't load entirely, so I can't choose the components. And also it seems awefully difficult having to choose other components like network card and stuff like that. I don't have the slightlest idea.

So, heat is going to cause damage to the laptop eventually. Could I fix it with a cheap cooling tray? I don't want to spend too much overall.

So you plan to take a diesel generator in trips to power your gaming laptop? Buy 3ds

>Gaming laptops are always overpriced
Not if you know where to look from, like in case of .

>and look like piles of shit
subjective. I like even the most generic "gayming laptop" looks, but modern ones tend to be slim and light as hell, and almost indistinguishable from a typical consumer net- and powerbooks.

>And also it seems awefully difficult having to choose other components like network card and stuff like that
You won't be needing to choose most of that. The default option is usually more than enough for basic use, and the motherboards do come with good enough net- and audiocards. The extras are for some fancier use.

>So, heat is going to cause damage to the laptop eventually. Could I fix it with a cheap cooling tray?
Those help a bit, but the most important thing is to keep the air vents clean of dust and shit. Every once in a while it might be a good idea to pop open the bottom case, and check if there's any crap gathered inside.

You can also greatly improve temperatures and performance with in-game settings. In short, the less the machine has to render or process, the cooler it stays. That is one reason I played MGS5 on my 1080p laptop at 1600x900; I got steady 60fps, my temps stayed at around 70 Celsius instead of 80+, and you really can't tell the difference that easily on such a small screen with so high pixel density.

>le buy a console may may
You shills never cease to amaze me.
Do you seriously think people game on a battery? Not to mention you can play technically ALL games, and do so much more with a powerful laptop, than you can with any console toy.

>Prime savings twice
Eh?

I have a ROG ASUS but with 970M (3 GB)

I wouldn't consider anything below that, even if you are planning to play less demanding games. If you are going to spent some cash, at least get some performance to test newer titles.

Or this
>however you should hold off for when the new ones start showing up with the new 10XX series GPUs from nvidia.

>They're skipping mobile processors and just using the desktop GPUs now

wait until laptops with nvidia 10 series come out

Probably, nvidia 10 series will be expensive as fuck. I don't expect them to cost less than 800 €. Aside of making other laptops cheaper (but also more difficult to find, since providers tend to sell only the latest generation) I don't see any advantages in waiting.

Thank you for the advice though.

Pretty much. Cheapest one in the States right now is 1195€ with a GTX 1060. We probably won't see below 1000 until they make the 1050.

You will be able to find some laptops with 980M and they WILL be cheaper.

Honestly, don't go lower if you are not going to buy 10xx series. I'm already regretting 970M, as it's shits itlself with new games.

>I'm already regretting 970M, as it's shits itlself with new games.
What games and settings would those be?
Hell, my desktop still has mere 560ti 1GB, and I've yet to find a single reason to replace it.

Keep in mind I'm not going to play GTA 5 or anything like that on my laptop. To me, a 970M looks excessive and I'm already choosing between a 940M and this laptop of 700 € since anything in between is so close in price that it's not worthy.

I own a Lenovo Y50 with the 960m and an i7 OP, honestly don't go for anything lower graphic card wise if you can. Im able to play pretty much all new games at medium settings at 1080p, well optimized games like GTA I can even do medium high @ 60fps. It's basically a slightly more powerful ps4.

The laptop itself is nice and sleek looking, however the hard drive was shit so I swapped it out for an SSD and it runs like butter now.

>well optimized games
>like GTA
Does not compute.
Also, give Talos Principle a shot, and come back reporting.

Do you play the game with those settings in a laptop? If so, which one?

>Mfw I bought a new laptop a week before the announcement of the upcoming 10xx series

I fucking regret my purchase sometimes but oh well, I still have my desktop PC so it's all good.

Being that said, what's the regular price tag for a laptop with a 970M? I recall reading somewhere that the new 10xx line would start at the price point of a 970M (which was roughly 1400 dollars if my memory serves right.) and considering that the 1060 is slightly above a 980M, it's a pretty sweet deal.

970m from what I saw are still the same price new. The only place I see 970m going cheap now is on ebay because every one wants to get on the 1060 train.

I would love to pick up a 970m but not for the price of a 1060.

Just a heads up. I bought a 2015 Lenuvo G50 (i7, Intel HD whatever, 8 GB RAM) and it chugs hard on Skyline. I didn't buy the laptop for gaming per se, but I've managed to sneak some older (2004-2006) PC games and emulation on it with no problems.

If you have $1400

To me, 700€ is expensive. Especially taking into account that I upgrade (forcibly) my graphic card to a GTX950 Windforce for my desktop PC.

That's why I have trouble deciding

>Expensive laptop -> Bad, i already have a desktop PC

>However, I need a laptop to work and travel

>I would like to play low demanding games with high quality. The Long Dark is ok, and cities Skylines would be nice too.

> And the in-between option, something around 500€ is so close to 700€ that the leap in quality seems to compensate the price.

Just pick something up with either a 4gb 950m or 960m and a i7

To my understanding games like cities Skylines relies more on CPU to calculate shit that's going on, and The Long Dark isn't that demanding so either one of those cards will work.

You don't have to but if you could I'd suggest picking up a refurb 965m on ebay since that will last you longer and it's normally only 50-100 buckaroos more than 960m with a 20% boost in performance.

>Do you play the game with those settings in a laptop?
No. My craptop is 4 years old PackardBell that costed me 399€ brand new. It runs the game just fine at 720p, mixture of ~low and medium-ish settings (high textures), FXAA, with 30fps lock.