Can't decide which laptop to get (if any)...

Spike_UK

Spike_UK

Spike_UK

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I currently do most of my gaming on a desktop with a overclocked i5 2500k and a GTX970 which works perfectly well. However, since I've moved into a house, this is now setup in my office rather than in the front room as was the case in my flat.

When we lived in the flat I was able to watch TV with my partner at the same time as playing on the PC. They would usually be on their laptop at the same time as watching TV, so it's not that I was on the PC and they were sat their on their own :D

In the house though I can only do one or the other (usually the telly watching because I get nagged less...). If I choose to watch TV, they'll be on their laptop still but I can no longer play on the PC because it's in another room entirely!

Recently I've started using Steam In-Home Streaming to various laptops, most recently a i7 Surface Book with 940m dGPU, in an attempt to find the ideal solution to the problem which did't involve buying a dedicated gaming laptop. While this worked, it's not even close to actually playing on my desktop. Small screen size, inconsistent performance and no 144hz G-Sync monitor for starters!

With the release of Pascal I'm starting to wonder if a dedicated gaming laptop might not be a terrible idea, even more so, if I get the right one it might actually be an upgrade to the desktop.

A few weeks back I ended up making an impulse purchase of a MSI GT62VR which I thought would fit my needs. Sadly it didn't live up to my expectations and I ended up returning it. I wasn't keen on the build of the chassis which felt quite plastic considering the price point. After many months with a 144hz 1440p monitor I found the refresh rate of the screen was uncomfortable(despite being G-Sync) and I could still see tearing (although not much).

I mainly play World of Warcraft and Diablo 3(sorry, Blizzard fanboy here!) but can often dabble with other titles. I'm not a interested in 4k Ultra settings, and have settled for 1440p Ultra/Good settings.

I'm still in two minds if it's a good idea, but I've narrowed my choices down to either the following two laptops.

The Asus ROG G752VS with a GTX 1070 and a 1080p 120hz screen.
This will give me fantastic performance at the native 1080p on the laptop, as well as potentially giving me the option to ditch the desktop and run my 1440p display off the laptop when I want dedicated gaming sessions.
The only downside I can see with this one is the price, size and weight. It wont leave the house often so I don't know if this'll even be an issue.

The other option is the MSI GS73VR with a GTX 1060 and a 1080p 120hz screen.
This one should still trump my current desktop rig, but might not last quite as long and may start to struggle with my 1440p sooner than something with a 1070 and more RAM will (thinking long term). Also, the 1TB drive is only 5400rpm, which I'm not too keen on.

Which would be the wiser choice? (Even if that chose is to not do anything)
Obviously my Surface Book will be sold to offset some of the cost of whatever I buy, if I choose to do so.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

P.S - Apologies for the wall of text, I'm trying to get my thought process across which is far more complex than I'd expected!
 
PurplePhoenix said:
Gaming laptops never live up to the hype, Stick with the surface book and stream games to it ?
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That's what I'm doing currently but it doesn't work that well. Steam wont use the 940m dGPU for hardware decoding so you're limited to the iGPU on the i7. It leads to lots of dropped frames and poor framerate on the video (even though the desktop is pumping out +100fps).
 
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Being an owner of an Asus G751 and therefore somewhat biased, I'd urge you to go for the G752VS every minute of every day of every month of the year. The reason? I've been really impressed with my Asus ROG laptop - the build quality and ability to stay cool while running quiet (and not sounding like a constantly-running hairdryer - an important factor to consider when sitting in a room with someone else) are second to none and of course it plays the latest games with no problems.

I'm in a pretty similar situation to you, to be honest - I had a gaming rig but found myself being griped at for sitting at the desk playing games in another room while my partner was in another. The solution was to get a gaming laptop and she's much happier now - I can sit on the couch with her in gaming bliss while she watches tripe on the telly. I still get grumped though, at but it's for having headphones on now. Sometimes us gamers can never win. :p
 
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I'm going for the GS752 at the end of next month, reading far to many ppl having trouble with MSI. As much as I want an mis laptop I just can't see why unless they sort out their problems
 
Ciqala said:
I'm going for the GS752 at the end of next month, reading far to many ppl having trouble with MSI. As much as I want an mis laptop I just can't see why unless they sort out their problems
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Other people may have a different experience but I didn't feel the MSI I tried felt like a £2k machine. The bottom chassis was very bendy plastic that flexed when you picked it up. The OS had a lot of preinstalled software too which seemed to slow down the OS start up too.

Considering it had a GTX 1070 I was a little surprised/disappointed that in the games I tested I was getting lower FPS at 1080p than I do at 1440p on a GTX 970. That goes completely against what the benchmarks/reviews suggest should happen.

I didn't feel it was right to have to jump through hoops to get it running well so I returned it, regrettably, as it's not something I do very often.
 
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