Gaming Laptop Advice

Marki3 · 19 Apr 2013 at 08:26

Hi all,

After a rather long break from PC gaming (xbox 360 took over since 2006), my last computer was a watercooled P4 beast with a 6800 ultra. So yeah, it's been a while and I'm a little out of the loop.

With the next gen of consoles coming out later this year, which I have no intention of investing in, and my house having no room for a desktop PC I'm in need of a gaming platform in laptop form.

I've done a fairly huge amount of research but have questions I can't find answers to. So I turn to you guys with the hope of answers.

General Questions:
Is 680m worth the extra cost over 7970m for better driver support and piece of mind?

What's the release schedule like for upcoming mobile graphics? i.e. will 680mx be coming to none apple devices, are the 780m just around the corner? (think I've heard rumours of august time?). Is there typically a price drop in current tech when new tech is about to be released? I've got an adequate for my needs laptop so I'm in no rush to purchase.

Clevo:
Have the 7970m Enduro issues been fixed once and for all? I know some games suffer from low frame rates, but I can cope so long as the games are playable.

How big are the 370em an the 170em? I've read the power brick for the 370em is the size and weight of a breeze block.

Is the sound quality that bad from the normal 170em system? I've heard that both the soundbar and the headphone output is awful. I've also heard bad things about the keyboards.

MSI/Alienware:
Are these worth the premium? Is the cooling and build *that* much better than Clevo laptops?

I've no real set budget, other than what I deem to be value for money. So for example i'd be willing to pay extra for a single 680m to avoid the rumoured nightmare of enduros, or if it's not the size and weight of an elephant a CF 370EM but the SLI 680m is out of budget.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Super-Spy · 19 Apr 2013 at 09:39

Hi Marki,

A few responses to your questions:

- The casing of the 370EM is bulkier and a lot deeper height wise, than the P170EM. This shouldn't matter if it will sit on a desk most of its life though

- I believe that the 7970M Enduro issue has improved but it is not completely fixed. If I were buying a Clevo, I would buy a 680M. On the Alienware it is not an issue as it has manual switching so you can just run on the 7970M

- The build quality on the Clevo is decent but the keyboard and touchpad are no where near as good as the Alienware. Also, the P170EM and 370EM Clevos do not have a full-size UK style ENter/Return key. The Alienware does. This can be annoying for some people but not others.

- Sound quality from the Clevo speakers is pretty tinny like many laptops. The headphone output is poor and most people use an external DAC/Amplifier like the FiiO E10. The Alienware comes with a SoundBlaster sound card and the sound quality is much better, even from the built-in speakers.

- Having seen and used both (and opted for the Alienware), the Clevo is good and is on a par with main stream notebooks in terms of quality, look and feel. The Alienware on the other hand, feels a little more special and appears to be a higher quality and well built piece of kit.

I would say that if the price difference is not great, say around £100 to £200 (5% to 8%), opt for the Alienware. Remember, there are always 10% to 11% off codes floating around in addition to the usual special pricing on their website (look under Gaming Deals).

TommyV · 19 Apr 2013 at 12:05

Without having used a Clevo. I've used MSI and currently own an Alienware.

MSI build quality is good, I never had any issues with the laptop at all.

But it has to be said (without trying to be biased), the build quality of my AW is fantastic, and surpasses any laptop I've owned in the past.

Space Monkey · 19 Apr 2013 at 12:58

I agree with both of the above, I too recently bought an Alienware and its a cut above any other laptop I've used.

The sound is excellent from the built in speakers and sound card, though I've just set up an external Creative SB XFI HD sound card and Creative T40 IIs and it smokes any PC sound I've ever used or heard

The Alienware has an option to run just off the 7970m which is what I'm doing and I've no problems at all, and it also allows you to use the latest drivers and not be tied to Dells never seen updates!

kogunniyi · 19 Apr 2013 at 14:32

If you buy a Clevo besides the P370EM, get the 680m.

If you buy an Alienware, the choice of graphics card is much harder: the 680m is still better, but Dell charges $400/£270 more for the 680m than for the 7970m (Clevo charges $200/£135 more) and the Dell 680m throttles at a "low" temperature, which makes little sense. My 7970m has never gone above 75C (Furmark), and the 680m should run cooler. Also, turning off the HD 4000 removes most of the 7970m's problems.

MSI would be my second choice (after Alienware), but I don't know how much their laptops cost in the UK. If you get an MSI, you might want to buy it with the GTX 675mx or get a third-party PSU: the 180W one that comes with it will not suffice for heavy CPU and 680m overclocking. I have read that the GT60/70 with 680m throttle even at stock.

Jaffar · 20 Apr 2013 at 09:30

A lot of the 7970m driver and Enduro problems have been improved or resolved now. I'd check out this review before you make your decision: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Update-Radeon-HD-7970M-vs-GeForce-GTX-680M.87744.0.html

Edit: oh, and with regards to the P150EM/P170EM audio problems; from what I've read the sound from the onboard speakers is "OK". Not as good as MSI or Alienware speakers. Sound from the headphone socket is supposed to be truly awful due to some design defect which means the onboard soundcard just can't provide enough power through the headphone jack. There are a couple of workarounds for this such as using a USB soundcard or 5.1 / 7.1 headphones (apparently the problem is only with sound through the single stereo jack).