Best time to buy a gaming laptop? What's a worthy upgrade?

sgoaty

sgoaty

sgoaty

Soldato
Joined
30 Jan 2005
Posts
3,116
Location
Inverness
I bought my Zephyrus G15 5800hx 3080 laptop off Facebook marketplace around 3 Years ago when it was only a few months old it's still performing well but I've got an upgrade itch.

Ive got a reasonably high end desktop at home but I've realised lately that it sees less use than my laptop.

I work away from home for 2 weeks at a time and recently I've been managing a couple of hours gaming most days so I feel like I can justify the upgrade.

Just wondering when a the best time to buy new or used is? Also would a 4080 be a worthwhile upgrade or do I need to go higher?
Thanks
Scott
 
IMO the best time is when you can get a good deal, this can vary throughout the year. I noticed several deals around Christmas that were more expensive than back in Oct/Nov. I bought a new Asus Scar 17 just after Christmas when a decent deal appeared. I'd been looking on and off for a while and prices had been steady. I wanted to avoid Intel and their issues, so this limited my choices to AMD. When the Scar with the 7945HX3D came up, it seemed like the right choice.

I went for the 4080 model as the 4090 was another £700-800 more and I didn't think it was worth it for a potential ~15-20% improvement at most, plus increased temps. My desktop has a 4090 if I need the grunt, but currently I'm happy with the perfomance I'm getting at 1440p on the laptop. I hardly notice the difference between the two systems, the obvious benefit of the laptop is its portability and so I'm fine to lose a few frames for that.
 
That's good advice, I'm not desperate to upgrade so probably best just keeping an eye on deals. I thought the intel issues were limited to their desktop CPU's?
 
sgoaty said:
I thought the intel issues were limited to their desktop CPU's?
Click to expand...

Yeah I’ve read that too, there are also those that don’t believe it. I couldn’t decide either way, so i figured I wouldn’t take the risk. I’ve had intel chips for decades, not had any AMD CPUs since my Athlon Xp. Will see how this one goes.
 
Not being limited to a CPU opens up your choices; you should checkout the Lenovo Legion series as I hear good things about them.

If sticking with a Scar 16, I’ve seen a new 14900HX 32GB 4080 2TB discounted for the same price as the 13980HX you mention. That would be worth a look.
 
I've also been looking at the legion 7i pro with a 14900hx. I think their customer service is better in the event of any issues. Can't find any very good deals though.

Need to decide between the two.
 
I don't think either are bad options and should give you a decent boost over your old laptop. A good deal if found can be the icing on the cake, but it's still a nice decision to have :cool:
 
I've ordered a the scar 16, couple of comprises 4800mhz memory and apparently there's a high chance of performance regression when updating the bios as the 13980hx is one of the affected cpus.

It's brand new boxed from a VAT registered seller for £1925 and I may be able to claim the Vat back.
 
sgoaty said:
I've ordered a the scar 16, couple of comprises 4800mhz memory and apparently there's a high chance of performance regression when updating the bios as the 13980hx is one of the affected cpus.

It's brand new boxed from a VAT registered seller for £1925 and I may be able to claim the Vat back.
Click to expand...
I would make sure you can claim the vat back. That's a massive difference in price if you can't.
 
There's a fair amount of 4090 equipped laptops appearing in 2nd hand markets. Obviously needs some care/attention with WHERE you're buying but...

I picked up my sig rig back around March time for about half the price of new/retail/modern. It's a '23 model with Intel 13th Gen but an example of what can be had. I'd think 1.5k should be achievable for similar now.
Considering it'll hold it's own with a most "high end" desktop rigs (say... 5800x/4070, maybe Ti), it's solved a similar issue for me with desktop/laptop co-existence.

Single TB4 plug to a decent TB4 hub, downstream to a USB3 hub and all my old desktop stuff (inc 2x4k 120hz screens) hooks up to it.

With 50xx release about to spear some big laptop users, I'd expect to see supply of 40xx stuff on the 2nd hand market tick up quite a bit.
 
Last edited:
I'm normally all about used bargains but with the Intel CPU issue and AMD gaming laptops being a bit scarcer I ended up buying a new 2023 scar 16 for £1925 from eBay. I've got a 4080, 13980hx ( with immediate bios update) and 2 years warranty. I'm pretty happy with it so far.
 
I'm still in the market for one but 2024 model prices have risen. 2025 model prices look to be even higher than that and second hand seems to be more expensive than new a lot of the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom