Looking for a desktop gaming replacement

Rokeldog

Rokeldog

Rokeldog

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17 Dec 2011
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6
Recently became a father for the 2nd time and looks like i'll be giving up my "office" for my sons new bedroom in the next few weeks.

I currently have a overclockers desktop system from about 1.5 yrs ago. It's a i7 920 @4.2ghz, 6gigs ram and Nvidia 5870 card all inside a fractal midi case playing though a nice 24 inch Benq LED monitor.

I'm looking for advice for a new gaming laptop system that I can setup and pack away on my kitchen breakfast bar. I will mainly be playing online shooters & Diablo 3 for games. I also watch streaming football/sports and movies quite a bit.

My budget is variable between 900.00 - 1500.00 would prefer nearer to a grand if possible. I have been checking out the thread on the dell outlet, which I didn't know about and would consider refurbs or brand new.

I've seen a system advertised elsewhere on the web and stats look quite good for my budget (I have a inkling to also tryout a SSD drive if its possible) the specs are


CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM processor

Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 Bit (OEM Version)
Clock Frequency: 2.2 GHz
Memory size: 8 GB
Total RAM slots: 4
Used RAM slots: 2
Hard disk capacity: 640 GB
SSD Capacity: 80 GB
Screen size: 43,9 cm (17,3")
Resolution: 1920x1080 pixels
Screen Type: non-glare display
LED Backlight: Yes

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX570M DirectX® 11 graphics card featuring 1536 MB GDDR5 RAM and digital HDMI audio/video output

Blu-ray drive/multi-standard DVD/CD writer* featuring DVD-RAM and dual layer support

High-definition audio with 2 loudspeakers and 1 subwoofer –
Dolby Home Theater® v4-certified

Keyboard optimised for gaming with a coloured W-A-S-D block
Integrated 3.0 MP webcam with microphone
USB 3.0 and eSATA connection
Multi-card reader for SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, MS & MS-Pro memory cards (memory cards not supplied)

for 1139.00

has anyone got something better to suggest for me?
 
I'll hazard a guess and assume that's the Medion Erazer X7815 you've been looking at. From what I gather, they use an MSI chassis which isn't exactly robust, but there's no denying the value for money factor.

I'd be inclined to pay a bit more for better support and reliability myself. An M17x R3 on the Dell Outlet would be a suitable alternative.
 
Unless you find an alienware, the above machine will trash anything Dell makes.

The MSI casing is not that bad actually, not on the lines of the tough book, but so long as you don't throw it around it's not going to fall apart either.

By the way, it's very easy to volt mod and OC the 570M to beyond 580M performance.
 
Get yourself a XPS 17 with a quad core sandybridge i7 and a GT555m 3gb.

Probably will cost you around £700 inc VAT and shipping from the Dell outlet.

You're not going to find a better deal than that, and it will replace your desktop nicely - I myself just got a weaker XPS 15 and even that kicks ass and plays all games (though not tried BF3 yet)- I'm keeping my desktop too, but honestly even that little beast could potentially replace it.




.
 
You pay £700 and get less than half the performance:

GTX570M = 336 shaders, 192bit GDDR5
GT555M = 144 shaders, 192bit DDR3

Add to that the MSI has a replacable graphics card so can be upgraded.....

Especially if you intend to game at 1080p.

The GT555M is BARE MINIMUM for today, if you want it to last into the next gen then the MSI is going to last much longer.
 
Meaker said:
You pay £700 and get less than half the performance:

.
Click to expand...


and are paying half the price too.

looking at youtube vids shows the 555 to be quite capable for most things

depends on budget really, obviously if you have more to spend you will get more for you money, but for £700 the 555 is still a great buy
 
GT555m is good for general gaming, but it wont be running games such as BF3 at high. I think the 570gtx is a good start, either that or take a look at some of the 17/18" alienware over at the dell outlet. You could grab yourself a 580 for around 1k last time I checked.
 
700

vs

1130

You are paying 38% less for less than 50% of the graphics performance. The performance per pound is much worse.

To put this in desktop terms, you are saying there is little point in buying a faster card than the HD6670.
 
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no doubting you get more , but depends if you have 700 or 1100 nuggets

if you got the mullah, for sure go for a higher spec

but i would still look in the dell outlet

for 1100 you will get an awesome spec
 
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Meaker said:
You pay £700 and get less than half the performance:

GTX570M = 336 shaders, 192bit GDDR5
GT555M = 144 shaders, 192bit DDR3

Add to that the MSI has a replacable graphics card so can be upgraded.....

Especially if you intend to game at 1080p.

The GT555M is BARE MINIMUM for today, if you want it to last into the next gen then the MSI is going to last much longer.
Click to expand...

Think Meaker is anti GT555M :p

Still think the Dell XPS 17 is great value , you will not get a better 1080p screen display
 
I've been very happy with my M18x as a desktop replacement. I got it for the same reason as you i.e. the room with my desktop PC in is now my son's bedroom.

You can get an M18x from about £1200 on the Dell Outlet which is about half the retail price.
 
Thanks for the advice. I can see both sides, spend 700.00 odd or push further up spec. I've tended to prefer the better spec than saving money in the past. I'll probably be the same this time.

I came home from work to find a letter from the tax man waiting for me today. Happily for me it seems I overpaid 310.00 on my taxes in 2008-2009 so I've got a bit more cash to play with now :)

I think i'll sit tight for the time being an wait for a deal, don't need to lose my desktop for a few more weeks.
 
The only downside of the Medion is the warranty and support which still seems like a bit of an unknown unless you buy from their highstreet supplier.

If spending this much on a laptop I would not want to be at the mercy of a 12 month C&R Medion Warranty when ordering directly from them and if the laptop breaks after that the hassle of trying to get it repaired. Whilst SOGA still applies after 12 months, I imagine it could be a bigger headache than dealing with the ball busting retail park electronic shops.

This spec lappy does generate a lot of heat.

Dell Alienware MX18 off the outlet will be pure win though
 
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If you buy a laptop from the dell outlet then you're not getting a new machine. Ok, I'll qualify that a little, you run a very slim chance of getting a new laptop. Chances are you're getting something someone else returned. It might be in perfect condition, it might have numerous scratches and scuffs or it might have the same hardware issues that were the reason it got sent back in the first place. So long as you're happy to take that chance with your money and wait an indefinite amount of time for the 'right' spec to appear and hope you're quick enough to nab it then the outlet can be a source for great bargains.

Personally, I doubt that I'd buy another outlet laptop.
The MSI that's been referred to is very good value. Just a shame it doesn't have the backlit keyboard that the US version has.
 
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I've gone and ordered a new Alienware system from Dell tonight. I was messing about looking for voucher codes and i got 2x codes to stack giving me a decent discount on this system.

Not sure if they will honour it yet as the saving was over 650.00.

Product
Unit Price
Quantity
Price
Alienware 17x R3
Alienware M17x Stealth Black, English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)

£ 1,333.01 before tax £ 1599 after.

Alienware M17x Stealth Black

8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]
2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 6990M
256GB SSD + 750GB 7,200rpm SATA Dual Drives
Microsoft Operating System
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - EUR
Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Card - EUR
Alienware M17x R3 Order - UK
Primary Battery
Primary 9 cell Li-Ion Default Base Battery
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2760QM (2.40Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
17.3" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD

Has anyone any experience of using saving codes?
 
That's a nice laptop you've ordered there.

I used a 15% off code for my Alienware laptop and am also due 10% cashback (of the Ex VAT amount) as well, that's tracked OK in quidco.
 
That does look a good spec. I would rather buy my own SSD than buy it from Dell though, since they don't use sata3 drives and they usually cost more than if you buy and fit one yourself. Same thing goes for memory.
 
Rokeldog said:
I've gone and ordered a new Alienware system from Dell tonight. I was messing about looking for voucher codes and i got 2x codes to stack giving me a decent discount on this system.

Not sure if they will honour it yet as the saving was over 650.00.
Click to expand...

As long as you ordered from their normal channels and not via their employee / partner company purchase scheme which you can actually order through but they will check and verify, you will be fine, unless of course your company is a member in which case you can get even greater discounts.

Dell massively over price their base spec models so they can be seen to discount, then always show them as discounted i.e. £150 savings, Free upgrade to 750gb HD, Free upgrade to 4GB memory. They usually have 10-20% offer codes to use at checkout some stack.

They make their real money on upgrades for memory and hard drives etc as well as the extended warranty which on the Alienwares is close to 20% of purchase price. They are charging £130 to upgrade 4 to 8GB memory on your system and it costs £20 a skick for 4BG from elsewhere. They are also charging £400 to upgrade to your SSD option which you could do yourself for £100 ish assuming you take a smaller SSD.
 
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