Gaming laptop advice please

Biggilus

Biggilus

Biggilus

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Joined
14 Aug 2009
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197
So I've never ever owned a laptop, and have been out of the technology loop a few years and not up to speed with the specifics.
Anyhow I am after a laptop which will handle well at max settings, 1920x1080, games from about a year or two ago (Dragon Age and Witcher 3 come to mind) - ie, 90% of my Steam library I've never even downloaded in the first place.
Still intend to play with this desktop for real gaming sessions, just need something to keep me occupied with quiet on call times at work, and my Steam library should do that for about the next 20 years...

Looking at https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...z-intel-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-08r-gi.html atm, but I don't really play FPSs much and never taken advantage of my current 144mhz monitor either

Anyone's help is appreciated!
 
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...7-8750h-8gb-ddr4-gaming-laptop-lt-25n-as.html is decent value. I've been looking at laptops the last few days and that came up as an option, its main downside is it doesn't have a long battery life which may or may not matter to you; also speakers not very good (but same is true for many laptops). In the end I went for a different laptop for £50 less with better battery life, i5 rather than i7, 128Gb SSD rather than 256Gb SSD, other main specs the same. Was £1,000 when I looked at it a couple of days ago, at £900 its close to a tie between the one I got and that one, unless battery life isn't important and then its clearly got over £100 more value for the extra £50.
 
Biggilus said:
Looking at https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...z-intel-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-08r-gi.html atm, but I don't really play FPSs much and never taken advantage of my current 144mhz monitor either
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I am quickly approaching 2k games on Steam, while like yourself, have only played a few. That looks to be a great laptop. One which I thought of myself.

Do you have a budget? First thing, forget your budget ;) I spent (though not on here) £1500 on
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...-g-sync-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-254-as.html
  • GL703GS-E5011T
  • 17.3" G-Sync 144Hz
  • 3ms Response
  • G-Sync Technology
  • Intel Core I7 8750H
  • Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5
  • 256GB SSD
  • 1TB (SATA) Hybrid HDD
  • 16GB DDR4
  • Windows 10 (64bit)
  • 2yr Warranty
I then spent another £100 taking the RAM up to 32GB. Bit excessive, but like a few laptops, this comes with only 1 stick. Having two sticks enables dual channel mode and can increase the FPS by a decent amount - https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/single-channel-ram-in-a-gaming-laptop-why.18836320

G-Sync smooths out the refresh without needing V-Sync, while not adding much to the cost and also draining the battery. The 1070 appears to be the full blown version, not a cut down version or lesser MAX-Q. I felt that combination would allow me to cap the frame rates to reduce heat while still having an awesome experience.

TBH I won't game on it much if at all, it's more e-peen at the moment as you don't buy a laptop every day, but if I do, wuwu! It's more for on site development and support. The extra RAM comes in handy for a ramdrive, virtual machines and other equally boring stuff.

Only other thing you may want to consider is VR ready. I've read reviews where people are using this with a Rift which is the most picky with hardware that you can get.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Quite like the look of the Asus one for £900 - certainly would play my Steam list flawlessly and I gotta keep telling myself that was my original plan! Budget isn't an issue but I would rather spend more upgrading this desktop, and even that Asus one is comparable to what I have infront of me.

Again, never had a laptop in my life, but are they simple enough to upgrade components?
 
d_brennen said:
As time goes by, less and less can be upgraded with laptops. Think storage and RAM, that's about it.
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Almost how I treat my desktop. Buying all the components I always think of upgrading potential but usually I may get just one new video card before building an entire new rig.

Ta for the advice and links, that Asus for £900 is most likely the one I'll get, price is right, doubt it'll reduce over Cyber Monday either
 
If you can deal with the extra size and weight when moving it about, then 17" is fine. They do tend to be quite bulky and heavy though. I've been through half a dozen 17" laptops over the years (Dell , 2 x HP, Clevo, MSI, ASUS) but now use a 15" as it doesn't look ridiculous when used as my work laptop as well.
 
Man-In-A-Teapot said:
Lower price was Black Friday sale - you could try asking OCUK customer services if you could have it at the lower price if you've decided that's the one for you, they may be able to do it, depends if it was only a limited number that could be sold at £900.
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Aye just bummed out it went up during this American themed sales event at all. I may ask CS, if you don't ask you don't get
 
Angerer said:
Do these gaming laptops run hot? Interested in either the MSI or ASUS.
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YES! They all do, though I read some run cooler than others due to not supplying enough power in the first place (MSI).

It's a good idea to under volt both the CPU and GPU. I'd also suggest using a frame limiter when possible. Depending on warranty, you should also repaste both CPU and GPU with a decent TIM.
 
Wrinkly said:
YES! They all do, though I read some run cooler than others due to not supplying enough power in the first place (MSI).

It's a good idea to under volt both the CPU and GPU. I'd also suggest using a frame limiter when possible. Depending on warranty, you should also repaste both CPU and GPU with a decent TIM.
Click to expand...

Thanks Wrinkly,

That Gigabyte looks tasty but it's another 700 notes!

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...50h-gaming-laptop-lt-08s-gi.html?template=amp

Any idea the cooling on this badboy?
 
Never considered cooling as I never intended to fiddle and clock the laptop I get. Are cooling products/mats mandatory for gaming sessions? I'll predominantly be using it for gaming, but will keep main gaming to my desktop.

I also like the look of that Aero, but over £1.5k for a 1060 seems a bit off.
 
Reading gigabyte aero has a lot of design flaws, back light bleeding and keyboard keys coming loose after a few weeks.

hmmm dunno what to buy.
 
I know 100% I've overthought and over-read what to buy, always going to find flaws with anything. I also read the Aero has a few design flaws which made me look elsewhere. But it seems the ones I've been looking at either BSOD often or have design flaws. May just take the plunge and come back crying here should anything happen ;)
 
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