Hi all
I’m looking at upgrading my current laptop (a Dell Inspiron 15R 5520) which I bought about 4 ½ years ago. Basic specs are i5-3210 processor, 4gb ram, 1gb AMD Radeon HD 7670M gcard. Standard HDD, ie. no SSD. I’d say the heaviest thing it is used for is light gaming - I go through patches of gaming and then go off it, but don’t play the latest games any more – currently I play WoW, and would like to try TW: Warhammer if possible. WoW struggles a bit – it’s just about OK for solo content, raids are a no go. I’ve not tried TW:W as I am pretty sure it couldn’t handle it.
That said I’d obviously like to future proof my new laptop as much as possible.
I’m trying to hold myself to a budget of £500ish, could stretch to £600ish if it will really future proof, and have been doing some reading up on various other posts along similar lines on here as to what I could expect (doesn’t sound like much, even second hand!). Also keeping an eye on the member’s market, as well as a couple of the main other sites often used. Spec wise therefore looking for a gaming oriented laptop, probably my only specific preference is to try to keep it to 15.6” laptop, for portability purposes.
My queries are thus:
Obviously graphics card is the primary thing your eye goes to when you’re trying to spec for gaming – how much of a markup is there between a Nvidia 950m, 960m, 970m, 980m? And how do the newer ones compare, the 1050 and 1050ti – both to the 950-980 and to each other? I’ve seen one or two with a 970m card that are possibly in range, but they are a bit over budget, just wondering if that is a significant markup on say the 950 or 960.
I’ve seen recently floating around a couple of affordable deals to buy a laptop with a 1050 gcard (the ti version is a bit too expensive) – but it would be imported from America off the bay – does anyone know if you generally get stung for import charges buying from there, or is it pot luck and you take your chances, or generally get away with it? It references import costs adding on another c. £125 to the total, which would take them well out of reach.
I’m aware that an SSD is often referenced to significantly improve computer performance – would it actually improve my WoW experience or is that more being throttled by the gcard / processor? My basic knowledge suggests it would just help things load quicker, not improve my computer’s processing ability during gaming – but I am no expert. Just thinking though that if I don’t see an appealing laptop that may be something else to try (not done it before simply because of the hell of setting up my laptop again!).
Finally, I’m aware the 1050 and 1050 ti have recently come out, would I be better off waiting a month for those to settle in and bring prices of other laptops down? (and possibly trying the SSD route as above)
Thanks a lot for your advice!
I’m looking at upgrading my current laptop (a Dell Inspiron 15R 5520) which I bought about 4 ½ years ago. Basic specs are i5-3210 processor, 4gb ram, 1gb AMD Radeon HD 7670M gcard. Standard HDD, ie. no SSD. I’d say the heaviest thing it is used for is light gaming - I go through patches of gaming and then go off it, but don’t play the latest games any more – currently I play WoW, and would like to try TW: Warhammer if possible. WoW struggles a bit – it’s just about OK for solo content, raids are a no go. I’ve not tried TW:W as I am pretty sure it couldn’t handle it.
That said I’d obviously like to future proof my new laptop as much as possible.
I’m trying to hold myself to a budget of £500ish, could stretch to £600ish if it will really future proof, and have been doing some reading up on various other posts along similar lines on here as to what I could expect (doesn’t sound like much, even second hand!). Also keeping an eye on the member’s market, as well as a couple of the main other sites often used. Spec wise therefore looking for a gaming oriented laptop, probably my only specific preference is to try to keep it to 15.6” laptop, for portability purposes.
My queries are thus:
Obviously graphics card is the primary thing your eye goes to when you’re trying to spec for gaming – how much of a markup is there between a Nvidia 950m, 960m, 970m, 980m? And how do the newer ones compare, the 1050 and 1050ti – both to the 950-980 and to each other? I’ve seen one or two with a 970m card that are possibly in range, but they are a bit over budget, just wondering if that is a significant markup on say the 950 or 960.
I’ve seen recently floating around a couple of affordable deals to buy a laptop with a 1050 gcard (the ti version is a bit too expensive) – but it would be imported from America off the bay – does anyone know if you generally get stung for import charges buying from there, or is it pot luck and you take your chances, or generally get away with it? It references import costs adding on another c. £125 to the total, which would take them well out of reach.
I’m aware that an SSD is often referenced to significantly improve computer performance – would it actually improve my WoW experience or is that more being throttled by the gcard / processor? My basic knowledge suggests it would just help things load quicker, not improve my computer’s processing ability during gaming – but I am no expert. Just thinking though that if I don’t see an appealing laptop that may be something else to try (not done it before simply because of the hell of setting up my laptop again!).
Finally, I’m aware the 1050 and 1050 ti have recently come out, would I be better off waiting a month for those to settle in and bring prices of other laptops down? (and possibly trying the SSD route as above)
Thanks a lot for your advice!