Laptop for BF3

iv-tecman · 20 Apr 2012 at 16:20

Frapple said:
That's stupid money! Could never spend that much, would feel guilty haha.

Thought I was insane looking at: XPS 17

The 555M any good? What about 540M?

If you're still thinking about the XPS 17 702x then -

$KJ5ZGQ3V?4SMN

will get you 10% off until 26th April.... TBH that should bring you into sub £700 for a 1080p GT555M 8GB 1TB laptop from dell... Which i'll be honest, would take some beating and the XPS despite the GPU (which isn't bad don't get me wrong) maybe not hacking top end PC game titles..

ivan165 · 22 Apr 2012 at 22:18

I just bought this for my Son last week and its great for gaming ..
spec is
Intel® Core™ i5-2430M Dual Core Processor, 15.6" HD+ Screen, Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit, 6GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB HDD, Blu-Ray, Dedicated GT 635M 2GB Graphics, Integrated Bang & Olufsen Speakers, Bluetooth 3, USB 3, HDMI,
ASUS N55SL-S2012V

was 599 on easter deal from a competitor now back to 699 .It fast well specced and can handle games real well !

Frapple · 23 Apr 2012 at 11:01

Decided I'm going to spend some money, can always sell it for a bit of a loss on the MM!

But can't seem to find a 15" laptop with a card that'll play BF3 (even if it's on low at 40+ FPS)

There's a the Samsung Series 7 Chrono but it's only got a HD 6750M 1GB GDDR5 in, which is a shame because the rest of it looks great!

iv-tecman · 23 Apr 2012 at 11:26

The Samsung Series 7 Chronos is a beautiful looking and fabulously reviewed and rated laptop, sadly the AMD 6750M is not much better then the GT 555M according to notebookreview benchmarking..

Maybe someone else with better knowledge can provide better information, however doesn’t appear getting a Chronos is much better then getting a XPS17 or 15z for battlefield 3.

It’s so tricky to find a decent spec laptop within £1000 to play BF3 at 50+fps at high details at the laptops native res.

Thing is, the Dell XPS 17 702x, 15z, Chronos are actually very powerful laptops and can run many recent games from benchmarks I’ve seen at fantastic details at the laptops native res, its only when you look at bf3, Witcher 2, Metro 2033 you then need GPU’s like AMD 6970M, GXT 580M etc… But these titles are showcase PC games, and med range laptops just don’t cut it…

This is where Alienware and the Samsung 7 series gaming laptops come into their own, sure they cost best part of £1400 (Samsung 700G7a has VAT back at the moment) upwards, but then they are true gaming laptops …

It’s a tricky choice; I ended up getting a Samsung 700G7a which has just arrived today. Only just unpacked it, its actually not as heavy as I thought it would be, and the screen looks very nice indeed..

I’m actually not all that impressed with its looks though, very square and blocky, or its build quality or at least its feel of quality, it feels cheaper then my Dell Studio 1749, but I’m sure its performance will be blistering comparable to the 1749..

Hoping for good performance with Metro 2033 from it.. : - )

Frapple · 23 Apr 2012 at 12:16

Yeah it's a bummer, with desktops you have a mid range cards which don't cost a bomb but have good performance in high-end games. Someone really needs to invent away of getting desktop cards attached to laptops (removable) I've looked at a few but they all require an external monitor, which sort of defeats the point!

From your comments about the 700G7a it seems a bit rubbish that for over a grand you aren't getting awesome build quality. How much did you get it for in the end? (Trust)

If I bought one I suppose I could sell the glasses & HDD to get a £100 or so back as I've got the SSD from my PC to put it in.

Grantymc · 23 Apr 2012 at 12:40

theres plenty of laptops under 1k with gtx 460m / 560m, new to forum not sure if im allowed to post manufacturer names, but they are medions & PCS mainly.

iv-tecman · 23 Apr 2012 at 13:27

Frapple said:
Yeah it's a bummer, with desktops you have a mid range cards which don't cost a bomb but have good performance in high-end games. Someone really needs to invent away of getting desktop cards attached to laptops (removable) I've looked at a few but they all require an external monitor, which sort of defeats the point!

From your comments about the 700G7a it seems a bit rubbish that for over a grand you aren't getting awesome build quality. How much did you get it for in the end? (Trust)

If I bought one I suppose I could sell the glasses & HDD to get a £100 or so back as I've got the SSD from my PC to put it in.

There was the vid dock system for external GPU, but as you say, it needs external display and a power supply so not really all that great, better to get a laptop with a good GPU.

The samsung is meant to be the best gaming laptop for its price, I can see they have crammed as much as they can into this for what you pay, but I'm not overly sold on its looks or build... Guess I've been used to the Dell and its good quality build, however its screen is amazingly good...

I've only just powered it on, the blue lights look nice lol and it boots quick even without an SSD - which i'm about to install..

I paid £1100 after VAT back, which I have to claim using samsungs website. Do a google search, its easy to find a place that sells for this price.

Once I've got the SSD installed, i'll install metro 2033 and see how it handles a DX11 GPU killer lol

Frapple · 23 Apr 2012 at 14:01

What's Samsung like for warranty on issues with internal wear and tear, worth buying any extended stuff?

Found it for £1,091.63, that correct?

iv-tecman · 23 Apr 2012 at 14:30

Frapple said:
What's Samsung like for warranty on issues with internal wear and tear, worth buying any extended stuff?

Found it for £1,091.63, that correct?

Thats actually £20 cheaper then I paid after VAT back. I had to fork out the full cost, but i've filled out a form to claim the VAT back... They pay it back into your bank account.

I'm at work at the moment, but i've got the laptop on my desk and the keyboard is nice, the display is really nice.. no anti glare though, but its reported as 120hz, which is a heck of a refresh rate for a laptop screen.

To be honest, as its got a 120hz screen and AMD 6970M GPU, its about the best you'll got for smooth bf3 gameplay at native res, I had a (still got in fact) a Dell 1749 and this has a 1080 screen, and knocking games down to 720p such as bf3, you noticed it as you sit so close the screen..

I'll fire up bf3 and Metro 2033 once i'm at home, got the SSD installed, Steam up and running and see how it performs....

I was just like you a few weeks back - what do I go for? I wasn't too happy with forking out £1100+ for a laptop, but i've lost my desktop due to room issues, and like you play bf3 - so needed a wicked gpu, Samsung 700G7a fitted the bill perfectly, hence why I took the gamble and purchased one.

no idea on samsung warranty... You can buy extra from samsung within 90 days of purchase.. I might get 2 addtional years with the VAT back TBH.

Selling my dell 1749 and desktop rig now to recover some of the outlay for my samsung.. I don't think you'll regret getting one - although the first impressions are its a bit cheap looking.. I know that sounds really snobby.. But its the performance that really counts for gaming laptops, and this does look a heck of lot better then the MSI or alienware laptops IMO.

Not as nice as the Dell xps or studios though in looks..