laptop for 3d work & gaming ?

xXxsephirothxXx · 25 Sep 2011 at 17:19

im looking for a laptop that can do a little 3d editing and photo editing but also play some games in my spare time .

iv got a couple laptops in mind but unsure what would be better.

MSI GX660R-646UK
Processor : Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core i7-740QM

Screen : 15.6" (MSI, 1920x1080 FULL HD Resolution)

Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit

RAM : 6GB (DDR3 1066MHZ)

Hard Drive : 1000GB ( 2 x 500gb raid 0 )

Graphics : (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB Dedicated DDR RAM)

OR

Alienware M17x
CPU : Intel Core 2 Extreme Q9300 2.53GHz

ram : 4 gb 1333mhz

graphics : Dual 512mb ATi Radeon HD4870

screen : 17" Wide Ultra XGA TrueLife Screen (1920 x 1200)

OR

Dell XPS 17
CPU : Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM

screen : 17.3" FHD 3D WLED TL (1920x1080)

graphics : 3GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M

6144MB : 1333MHz DDR3

If you can think of a better laptop for £1000 let me know please

Rroff · 25 Sep 2011 at 17:26

For 3D work and photo editing obviously the most important bit is the screen, then CPU and then GPU... I don't know enough about the screen specs I've got a sneaky suspicion the Alienware may have the better panel and obviously a bit more screen estate however the Dell XPS 17 looks to have the most solid all around spec.

xXxsephirothxXx · 25 Sep 2011 at 20:19

is there a big performance difference between the Intel Core 2 Extreme Q9300 and the i7 ?

i know the i7 uses HT but does really make that much of a differance in laptops ?

ThomBassmonkey · 25 Sep 2011 at 22:22

Any kind of editing work relies on the processor, so if you're doing 3D editing, then having a good processor is important.

HT is HT, it doesn't matter what system it's on, it's no more or less powerful in a laptop than a desktop (assuming everything else is the same). How useful it'll be will depend on what programs you use. I believe (but can't say for certain as I only really game and browse the net) that editing programs are the most likely to use it. You should check with the software that you're going to use. I don't know which is the better performing GPU though apart from the memory.

I don't know a lot about laptops, but unless you want a smaller one that looks like a bit of a no-brainer. The Dell has the best processor, best memory (more than the Alienware and faster than the MSI), the biggest screen (at 120Hz for 3D, I assume the other two will be 60Hz at a guess unless it says different anywhere), the most GPU memory (which may or may not be helpful for 3D rendering).

Scrutinize · 26 Sep 2011 at 08:48

the MSI is the better laptop on the list for 3 reasons. 1) it has the best graphics card, best standard warranty (it will cost between 200-300 to get 3 years out of the dells and no way would i spend that much on a lappy or a dell for it to come with a 1 year warranty), 2) it comes from OcUK which means you will get it next day and have awesome aftersales...3) pick either alienware or dell and you are at their mercy (unless you are prepared to pay for the 3 year next day on site warranty).

the dell xps L702 makes perfect sense if you are going for one of the lower end i3/i5 systems which comes in around the £600 mark (after the copious amount of offer codes you can find are applied) you probably get best bang for buck for an average gaming / decent number crunching rig.

once you start spending more money and certainly around the £900-£1100 mark, dells loose their vfm imo. alienware are just overpriced.

cubepusher · 26 Sep 2011 at 11:34

Django x2 · 26 Sep 2011 at 14:59

Agreed, mrk1@1 has missed the point here. We can almost rule out the gfx being important if you are 3d editing, thew gpu will do next to nothing, so CPU is important. The Dell offers the best all round package and there are plenty of cheap warranty packs on ebay if you wanted to buy aftersales support on the cheap/.

Scrutinize · 26 Sep 2011 at 15:08

Lucero said:
Agreed, mrk1@1 has missed the point here. We can almost rule out the gfx being important if you are 3d editing, thew gpu will do next to nothing, so CPU is important. The Dell offers the best all round package and there are plenty of cheap warranty packs on ebay if you wanted to buy aftersales support on the cheap/.

as he said a 'little 3d editing and photo editing' in the OP i had assumed he will be limited to using something like CS5 et al. if he was doing serious 3d work i figured he would have mentioned it.

therefore my emphasis focused on the gaming and overall package which lends itself to the MSI out of these

Django x2 · 26 Sep 2011 at 15:29

then we have to ask, " a little 3d editing" and "playing games in his spare time". What does he really want the laptop for?

xXxsephirothxXx · 27 Sep 2011 at 07:38

cheers for all your replys, when i mean 'little 3d work' all i need it for is to get me thought my collage course. i will be useing free 3d modeling sorftware for games design . nothing heavy i dont think.

but the need for it to play games is pretty important.

i was looking on dell refurb outlet and they have some good laptops for cheap there , but i have a question about the warranty. if i went for the standerd 1 years warranty could i expand that warranty later down the year ?

iv asked on the dell forums but have had no replys so do any of you guys know ?

Scrutinize · 27 Sep 2011 at 07:51

worth you asking in the dell outlet thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18283977

but it will depend on whether dell change their policies or not i.e. if they do now they may not at the end of the year.

cubepusher · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:01