In conjunction with the PC Gaming Threads archive and that there's no Laptop gaming discussion thread on this forum yet, I would like to start it.
Let's use this thread to share news, comments about our gaming laptops, upcoming advances in laptop gaming technology and other helpful information.
I'll start with my recent haul. Having dropped water on my old laptop I was in the market for one anyway, so thought why not get something gaming/VR capable. Costco had the Dell Inspiron 7577 Gaming Laptop for a discount at the start of December for just $699. For reference, the same laptop officially retails for $899.
Here are the specs:
Intel Core i5-7300HQ 2.5 GHz CPU
15.6" 1920x1080 IPS Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
8GB DDR4 Memory
256GB M.2 SATA SSD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 Graphics with Max Q Technology
2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 Type-C GEN 2 /w Thunderbolt 3, 1x HDMI 2.0
802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth 4.2
Backlit Keyboard
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
Added another 8GB 2400mhz stick for dual channel and a 1TB SSHD for mass storage w/ benefits for frequently used games and am super happy with the package. Sure it's not a 4K/60 machine .. but it does 1080/60 on pretty much every game on the highest settings and with some tweaking you can even get it higher. Case and point, I was playing Ryse at 1800p/30 FPS with all settings on High just earlier today without any issues at all. I could unlock the frame rate but it was hovering in the 40's so locking it was a better option.
Other then that, games like Quantum Break, Elex etc run at most settings highest at 1080p/60 (QB with Upscaling turned on because without it .. that game is a ridiculous performance hog) without any problem.
Being the Max Q design, these laptops are also quieter than the full phat 1060 laptops with a much lesser TDP and based on benchmarks from Digital Foundry and other sources, the Max Q 1060 is only ~8% lesser in performance than the full phat laptop 1060 .. unlike the Max Q 1080 which is more closer to a Desktop 1070.
Now. I have a question for the experts too. I have been reading and it's recommended that I do a clean install to remove all of Dell's bloatware. It's not been a huge issue so far but I do love a completely barebones version of Windows 10. I wouldn't mind removing as much bloatware even if it just saves a few gigs of HDD and even 1% of CPU usage by background tasks.
What's the most efficient way to go about it ? I know Win 10 has a built in "clean install" feature in it's recovery settings .. is that as good as using a recovery media to format and do a fresh install ?
So .. what are y'all rocking ?
Here is Digital Foundry's break down of 1060 Max Q laptops for anyone interested. Real fascinating stuff which helps in form factor and noise level while retaining as much performance as possible.
Let's use this thread to share news, comments about our gaming laptops, upcoming advances in laptop gaming technology and other helpful information.
I'll start with my recent haul. Having dropped water on my old laptop I was in the market for one anyway, so thought why not get something gaming/VR capable. Costco had the Dell Inspiron 7577 Gaming Laptop for a discount at the start of December for just $699. For reference, the same laptop officially retails for $899.
Here are the specs:
Intel Core i5-7300HQ 2.5 GHz CPU
15.6" 1920x1080 IPS Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
8GB DDR4 Memory
256GB M.2 SATA SSD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 Graphics with Max Q Technology
2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 Type-C GEN 2 /w Thunderbolt 3, 1x HDMI 2.0
802.11ac WiFi + Bluetooth 4.2
Backlit Keyboard
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
Added another 8GB 2400mhz stick for dual channel and a 1TB SSHD for mass storage w/ benefits for frequently used games and am super happy with the package. Sure it's not a 4K/60 machine .. but it does 1080/60 on pretty much every game on the highest settings and with some tweaking you can even get it higher. Case and point, I was playing Ryse at 1800p/30 FPS with all settings on High just earlier today without any issues at all. I could unlock the frame rate but it was hovering in the 40's so locking it was a better option.
Other then that, games like Quantum Break, Elex etc run at most settings highest at 1080p/60 (QB with Upscaling turned on because without it .. that game is a ridiculous performance hog) without any problem.
Being the Max Q design, these laptops are also quieter than the full phat 1060 laptops with a much lesser TDP and based on benchmarks from Digital Foundry and other sources, the Max Q 1060 is only ~8% lesser in performance than the full phat laptop 1060 .. unlike the Max Q 1080 which is more closer to a Desktop 1070.
Now. I have a question for the experts too. I have been reading and it's recommended that I do a clean install to remove all of Dell's bloatware. It's not been a huge issue so far but I do love a completely barebones version of Windows 10. I wouldn't mind removing as much bloatware even if it just saves a few gigs of HDD and even 1% of CPU usage by background tasks.
What's the most efficient way to go about it ? I know Win 10 has a built in "clean install" feature in it's recovery settings .. is that as good as using a recovery media to format and do a fresh install ?
So .. what are y'all rocking ?
Here is Digital Foundry's break down of 1060 Max Q laptops for anyone interested. Real fascinating stuff which helps in form factor and noise level while retaining as much performance as possible.