laptop gaming help.

epicdoomkin · 23 Aug 2013 at 02:41

Hi, i seem to be stuck on which laptop to purchase for online gaming.
I basically want to only play 2 mmorpgs, and 2 fps. Im looking for a laptop (17.3 ") that is able to play say GW2 on high settings (60fps minimum on high under any condition) and battlefield 3 and COD same settings. Now im looking at spending around 1600 usd or 1100 pounds. An SSD would be ideal but am willing to add one later on. I know people will say just build a desktop but i dont have the space for a desktop system. Is there such system or do i need to increase my price range? Any help greatly appreciated.

oweneades · 23 Aug 2013 at 07:58

Do you want 60FPS minimum in BF3 @ "High"(Ultra?) as well?

I have no idea how GW runs on graphics hardware (I don't play it) but for your budget of £1100 you are loooking at either 4700MQ/HD8970M or 4700MQ/GTX770M based laptops (with Clevo chassis).

The 8970M is the faster GPU but as I say I have no idea how GW2 would run on it. You may find the 770M is faster for your purposes.

8970M - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-021-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828

GTX770M - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-027-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828

or GTX770M (MSI GT70) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-104-MS

JamesM · 23 Aug 2013 at 10:45

I've always been of the opinion that you buy the best GPU on a gaming laptop purely because they are non upgradeable. You can always add a different CPU at a later date if needs be.

I have this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-022-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828

It runs BF3 at 1080 with everything set to high at least although most settings are set to ultra and I get a solid 60fps on 64 player servers.

I was like you, worrying about what performance hit I'd have coming from a 4770k and 670GTX but in actual fact this laptop is actually quicker. Ok the CPU is running at a slower speed but the 780M is essentially a 680.

I ordered it without a HDD so I could supply my own SSD which I had lying around.

oweneades · 23 Aug 2013 at 11:07

JamesM said:
I've always been of the opinion that you buy the best GPU on a gaming laptop purely because they are non upgradeable. You can always add a different CPU at a later date if needs be.

I have this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-022-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828

It runs BF3 at 1080 with everything set to high at least although most settings are set to ultra and I get a solid 60fps on 64 player servers.

I was like you, worrying about what performance hit I'd have coming from a 4770k and 670GTX but in actual fact this laptop is actually quicker. Ok the CPU is running at a slower speed but the 780M is essentially a 680.

I ordered it without a HDD so I could supply my own SSD which I had lying around.

Laptop GPU's are upgradable as long as they are based on the MXM standard (770/8970/780 all are). Generally speaking though the cost is prohibitive.

(I agree with your point though - get the best GPU you can afford)

The 780M is certainly a beast, roughly stock 670 performance in a laptop chassis.

JamesM · 23 Aug 2013 at 11:27

Spec wise its identical to a 680, just with lower clocks.

Afterburner has limits so I run mine at +135 and +250 memory which seems fine for daily use, temps still stay within the limits quite happily.

I have managed to find a BIOS editor for the mobile cards which allows me to unlock the core limit, to increase voltages to the maximum of 1.21v and to mess about with the Power Limit settings. With that I managed 170 core and 300 memory - http://www.3dmark.com/fs/784440

But I still need to mess around with that a bit as if you push the clocks too far the card just throttles back and so you actually loose performance.

Just waiting for the mainboard BIOS mod and then i'll have a look at CPU clocking

http://biosmods.wordpress.com/p-sm/

scrlk · 23 Aug 2013 at 11:47

oweneades said:
Laptop GPU's are upgradable as long as they are based on the MXM standard (770/8970/780 all are). Generally speaking though the cost is prohibitive.

(I agree with your point though - get the best GPU you can afford)

The 780M is certainly a beast, roughly stock 670 performance in a laptop chassis.

The main problem with MXM cards is the component layout changes from card to card, so each one needs a specific heatsink unless you want to start modding stuff.

A real pain.