Alternatives to Surface Pro are going to be just as pricey as a Surface Pro. You can try the Thinkpad X1 tablet or the HP Spectre X2, but their prices are similar to the Surface and none of them are made for games (including the Surface).
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Alternatives to Surface Pro are going to be just as pricey as a Surface Pro. You can try the Thinkpad X1 tablet or the HP Spectre X2, but their prices are similar to the Surface and none of them are made for games (including the Surface).
You two giving us the straight dope on this machine will definitely be much appreciated.
Will do - I'll definitely review it on my YouTube, but I never know if I'm supposed to post links to my own vids on here (self-promotion?) I'll post impressions here either way though.
No one will mind i you link your video. Please do.
I'm pretty sure you just can't start a thread on your own content.
I have the same laptop, but I can see why Dell didn't update it. The 13 R3 was designed to compete with the light/small gaming laptops. But compared to what the competition has to offer, it's not really not competitive when it comes to portability. In fact a friend of mine just got a 17 inch Asus laptop with more a powerful hardware that weighs the same as my 13 R3. The brick is heavy too. The upside is that the built quality is impressive. I had the Razer Blade 14 for a while, and the Alienware feels much higher in term of built quality. It feels very solid. It also not as loud as other thin and light gaming laptop.
MSI and Newegg are running another discount + rebate card promotion on 10-series laptops. I looked through it and saw a few that may be interesting for those looking for deals:
GL63 8RC-077 -- i5-8300H, GTX 1050, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD -- $699 ($549 after rebate card) <-- also comes with free $45 Fornite Counterattack Bundle and $150 MSI Gaming Headset S in cart
GL63 8RC-076 -- i7-8750H, GTX 1050, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD -- $749 ($599 after rebate card)
GV62 8RE-016 -- i5-8300H, GTX 1060 3GB, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, $829 ($679 after rebate card) <--- comes with the free Fortnite Bundle in cart
GL63 8RE-629 -- i7-8750H, GTX 1060 6GB, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, $999 ($879 after rebate card) <--- comes with the free Fortnite Bundle in cart
GP63 Leopard-428 -- i7-8750H, GTX 1070, 128GB SSD + 1TB, $1349, ($1269 after rebate card) <--- comes with the free Fortnite Bundle in cart
Now you have a super enthusiast 17" machine to compete with the MSI GT75/high-end Clevos/ASUS, but gutted the rest of the line for two models (M15 and M17) that are catering to the thin/light crowd with Max-Q GPUs? Who asked for such a shift? So if you don't want the Area 51m you have to go to a completely different brand.
And now what is the point of Dell G7 series? I mean that thing is $2100 with an RTX 2070 Max-Q and a 144Hz display versus the same M17 config at $2349 which is stuck with a 60Hz display. They are outdoing the AW branded laptop with the "value" brand.
GL63 8RC-077 -- i5-8300H, GTX 1050, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD -- $699 ($549 after rebate card) <-- also comes with free $45 Fornite Counterattack Bundle and $150 MSI Gaming Headset S in cart
GL63 8RC-076 -- i7-8750H, GTX 1050, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD -- $749 ($599 after rebate card)
GV62 8RE-016 -- i5-8300H, GTX 1060 3GB, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, $829 ($679 after rebate card) <--- comes with the free Fortnite Bundle in cart
GL63 8RE-629 -- i7-8750H, GTX 1060 6GB, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, $999 ($879 after rebate card) <--- comes with the free Fortnite Bundle in cart
GP63 Leopard-428 -- i7-8750H, GTX 1070, 128GB SSD + 1TB, $1349, ($1269 after rebate card) <--- comes with the free Fortnite Bundle in cart
Dell lost the plot with the entire line to me. Alienware is supposed to be the super enthusiast brand, where raw performance is the only factor.
Now you have a super enthusiast 17" machine to compete with the MSI GT75/high-end Clevos/ASUS, but gutted the rest of the line for two models (M15 and M17) that are catering to the thin/light crowd with Max-Q GPUs? Who asked for such a shift? So if you don't want the Area 51m you have to go to a completely different brand.
And now what is the point of Dell G7 series? I mean that thing is $2100 with an RTX 2070 Max-Q and a 144Hz display versus the same M17 config at $2349 which is stuck with a 60Hz display. They are outdoing the AW branded laptop with the "value" brand.
I agree on the weight. But the build quality is top notch.
I considered an Asus Zephyrus with the 1080 Max-Q too, but the build quality on those are eeeeehhhhh...
Yeah, the move to the m15 and m17 are quite a wtf, but people are pushing into thin and light. They could have discontinued the regular 15 Rs. As for the 17 R5s, the writing was on the wall once the A51m was announced.
Then again, I got a 17 R4 with a 1080 because I wanted power, and tried to make it work over a few months. Eventually it became too much to travel with it :(
As for the display, IIRC, the m17 has less of a bezel compared with the G7.
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I think Dell is just trying to adapt to the market. Thin and light gaming laptop are selling very well compared to the traditional gaming laptops. So they were disadvantaged in this regard hence the sudden move to thin and light design. But the design is definitely bad IMO. the keyboard doesn't have the iconic Alienware feel, and it feels flimsy compared to my 13 R3. I think that Dell should have still maintained their regular models for people who needed beefy hardware.
They are something I'd wait on a second gen/R2 version before considering.
Hey everyone I'm about to bite the bullet on a laptop here that I want to use for gaming and for audio recording. While I built a desktop PC myself to handle light gaming (amd 7890k apu) I really want a laptop that can hopefully perform a little better. I found the Acer Aspire 5 A517-51g-54L4 on sale at b and h photo for $599. This honestly is kind of over my budget but I'm willing to put it on credit. And I want to pick it up asap if it is suitable for my needs (detailed below).
Now a few things:
I'm looking for something than handle graphics along the lines of a PS4 (standard, not pro) at 1080p (4k not necessary for me). I need a large screen because mah eyes suck. As far as the type of games I'm looking at they're mostly fighting games. For example, I'm looking for a laptop that can run Mortal Kombat 11 when it releases. Any advice or suggestions? Thank you everyone!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1408914-REG/acer_nx_gsxaa_003_i5_8250u_8gb_256ssd_mx150.html
Edit: Just wanted to emphasize I'm not looking for the cutting edge, top of the line, 4k mind blowing laptop.
Now a few things:
I'm looking for something than handle graphics along the lines of a PS4 (standard, not pro) at 1080p (4k not necessary for me). I need a large screen because mah eyes suck. As far as the type of games I'm looking at they're mostly fighting games. For example, I'm looking for a laptop that can run Mortal Kombat 11 when it releases. Any advice or suggestions? Thank you everyone!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1408914-REG/acer_nx_gsxaa_003_i5_8250u_8gb_256ssd_mx150.html
Edit: Just wanted to emphasize I'm not looking for the cutting edge, top of the line, 4k mind blowing laptop.
Got a message my OP17+ is ready for pickup, but I completely forgot when I ordered it I'm painting my room this weekend so I'm likely gonna not gonna be able to do much more than set it up smh.
Anyways, is there a list of programs recommend to install for a fresh gaming pc? Other than when I briefly had a powerspec laptop last year I haven't owned a gaming pc in years.
Anyways, is there a list of programs recommend to install for a fresh gaming pc? Other than when I briefly had a powerspec laptop last year I haven't owned a gaming pc in years.
I def regret not getting the OLED model but at the same time I use the laptop a lot at work with tons of light and seeing my face reflected on the shiny screen would be so distracting hehehe.
I love this machine tho, it def feels like a brick, I have since updated it with a 1TB 970 evo and 32GB of Ram, my mind is kind of blown on how much stuff you can put in a 13" body (even tho its almost the same size as a 15" macbook pro hehe)
Now Im saving for the Alienware External GPU, ..one day.
Thankfully this is just my personal laptop for travel. Otherwise, yeah, work laptops with glossy screens are the worst.
Gonna test it today, see the temps and repaste/repad based on what I get. Maybe it is an Unicorn one.
The latest graphics drivers.
Possibly Steam or your favorite game store.
I got mine and I'm just setting it up. Pretty great so far, may be the most minimal bleed/glow of any gaming laptop IPS panel I've seen.
OK, managed this temps on the 17 R4. 4 core turbo is 3.8 Ghz, so mind that, and the 1080 has the OC BIOS
7820HK 3.8 Ghz 4 cores, 1080 OC, Repaste, Repad with Gelid pads, Modded Heatsink off eBay
Throttlestop settings (cache was --90mv):
Tested the 13 OLED as it came from Dell
R3 Quick Throttlestop settings I put to start, cache was -50mV:
7820HK 3.8 Ghz 4 cores, 1080 OC, Repaste, Repad with Gelid pads, Modded Heatsink off eBay
Throttlestop settings (cache was --90mv):
Tested the 13 OLED as it came from Dell
R3 Quick Throttlestop settings I put to start, cache was -50mV:
I've just been messing around so far but I installed Throttlestop and did a -0.75 undervolt on the core and -0.50 on the cache. Then I installed msi afterburner and overclocked the GPU +160 on the core and +300 on the vram. Broke 10k in firestrike, not bad for a 1060 laptop 👍
Ugh you are making me jealous. My laptop is sitting downstairs in its box until I can finish painting.
How were the temps with that? That is my biggest concern.
Granted, I didn't loop CB15 for like an hour, but during that and some Far Cry 5 it was in the mid 70s with peaks in the mid 80s.
I then used Throttlestop to limit the 5 and 6 core boost clocks to 3.6ghz, which made temp max out closer to 75 and doesn't ramp up the fans as loud.
Intel 9th Gen Laptop CPU Models Leaked - Buy Now Or Wait?
Well the thing to know is that MX150 is literally a desktop GT 1030. This video does a good job of showcasing 12 assorted games and the settings it can handle.
I am confident in saying that it is not going to give you a PS4 level experience. That is the realm of the GTX 1050. Fake Edit: I actually just looked up the MKXI system requirements, and the minimum recommended GPU is a GTX 1050.
You may also want to look at the GL63 8RC-077 I posted up in #1,757. It's on sale for $699 plus has a $150 mail in rebate on top, plus comes with $45 in Fortnite content and a $150 MSI headset. Its i5-8300H and GTX 1050 would cover your needs as far as fighting games. It's a 15" machine though.
I guess point to get across is that the MX150 is not even the base Xbox one experience. I don't consider the card in the video above that is paired with an i3-8350K, running games at 1080p on Very Low and still not hitting 60fps an X1/PS4 level GPU.
What's the deal with some of the benchmarks between the RTX 2060 mobile and the RTX 2070 Max q?
Seems that the 2060 outperforms the 2070 in some tests and matches it in others. Is this just an anomaly or is there just no point in going for the 2070 Max q if it is barely outperforming the 2060? The 2070 has an extra 2GB ram, would that be reason enough to chose that over the 2060?
I know the clock speeds are way down on the max q design, but surely it's not so bad as to be worse than the bottom of the range card.
Seems that the 2060 outperforms the 2070 in some tests and matches it in others. Is this just an anomaly or is there just no point in going for the 2070 Max q if it is barely outperforming the 2060? The 2070 has an extra 2GB ram, would that be reason enough to chose that over the 2060?
I know the clock speeds are way down on the max q design, but surely it's not so bad as to be worse than the bottom of the range card.
Finally got time to mess with it and put together a video! I'm really impressed with it, especially for the $999 price tag.
Here it is in case anyone is interested in checking it out:
With the 20-series, I don't think there's as much standardization, and I had heard that not all Max Qs were being branded as Max Q. It also just seems like there is more variability between systems with the same GPU than there was with Pascal to me, at least from the few reviews we've seen so far.
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Did a repaste/repad of the 13 R3. So far, CPU temps are a bit lower, GPU temps are the same.
I had to use a 1mm thermal pad on a spot there was a 0.5mm to get it to make contact on those circuits, so probably gotta wait until that settles. Gelid thermal pads take a bit to settle.
I had to use a 1mm thermal pad on a spot there was a 0.5mm to get it to make contact on those circuits, so probably gotta wait until that settles. Gelid thermal pads take a bit to settle.
Are you new to Max-Q GPUs? They are so power limited that they perform about a tier and a half down from their names.
They should be avoided unless you are okay with that.
Really good review. Went ahead and subbed to you as well. What is the program that shows those overlays while gaming?
Is this a SSD that would work? Was browsing through slickdeals and saw it the other day- https://slickdeals.net/f/12843121-1tb-hp-ex920-m-2-pcie-3-0-x4-nvme-ssd-150-newegg?src=catpagev2
Hey man thank you so much for your help. I didn't even see the laptop up there lol. I almost bought this one below but before I bite I wanted to ask you what you thought of the difference between the two:
https://flash.newegg.com/product/34-155-024
In the end it's $50 more and with no headset but it has 4gb opposed to the 2gb GPU from the earlier link. Do you think the extra 2gb in the GPU is enough to make a huge difference? Thanks!
It's not just the memory, the GTX 1050 eats the MX 150 for breakfast.
So get that MSI.
Oh it's also an MSI lol. Click that new link in the post you quoted. That one I mentioned the first time is out of the question since it's shit lol.
I did. The one you mentioned earlier was an Asus.
Edit: OHHHH now I see it.
Yeah, get the 4 GB one like K.Jack says.
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Yeah I can see the extra 2GB being a reason to take this one. I actually did see this model when I was looking at the list in the rebate form, but didn't post it since it lacked an SSD. I didn't notice the 1050 had extra VRAM.
I would buy this SKU with plans to add an SSD later. The 4GB VRAM is very attractive to me, especially with a new console generation lurking.
Nice job on the vid sir.
This thing has 32GB of RAM? What the fuck?
I guess my only personal beef with the machine, which I have with many, would be the lack of dedicated mouse buttons on the touchpad. That's just my own thing as I use the buttons extensively and I've never met a ttouchpad with embedded buttons that wasn't trash.
Overall it seems like a laptop worth buying for anyone who needs a well spec'd laptop before the RTX machines take over.
Thank you! The overlay is MSI afterburner, once you install it you go into the options and tick off the things you want displayed on screen (it has tons of stuff in there)
I think that should work fine for the SSD 👍
Thanks! I went fancy on this one and had an outline instead of just rambling to the camera lol
Yeah some of the specs are crazy on this thing, you usually don't even see 32gb ram and 2TB HDDs on even more high end systems. Even after the 1060 has been outdated, I bet it will be a capable office/video/design machine for a while.
No buttons isn't as bad for me though, 90% of the time I just tap on the surface of the pad to click instead of pushing it all the way in or using a button.
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Not new to Max Q but I don't recall the GTX max Q cards performing worse than the mobile 1060, Looking at the GTX 1070 Max Q benchmarks vs the GTX 1060 mobile card and the Max Q outperforms it in all the benchmarks. This is why I'm confused that the RTX 2070 Max Q is being outperformed by the mobile RTX 2060 in the benchmarks that are online so far.
The naming scheme for the laptop parts are skewed. The "full" 2060, 2070 and 2080 laptops parts perform worse than the 10-series cards did to their counterparts. I've seen some videos that suggest the "full" cards should be renamed Max-Q, and the Max-Q cards should be a different category. It seems Nvidia has severely limited these cards. The gap between "full" cards and desktop cards has widened, the Max-Q cards are even more power starved this time. The 2060 seems to be the least affected which would explain why it's hanging tough with the 2070 Max-Q.
So unless you are going for the 2080 max q, there really isn't any point getting the 2070 max q over the 2060? I take it the 2gb ram difference doesn't really make a difference then?
EDIT:
Looking at the benchmarks, they were using two different laptops, the 2070 Max Q was tested using the Gigabyte Aero 15 X9 (Dual Channel) with an Intel Core i7-8750H 2.2GHz.
The 2060 was tested using the Schenker XMG Ultra 15 with an Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz.
Wouldn't the fact the 2060 was paired with a 9700K at a higher clock rate skew the results a bit? That is if the 2060 was paired with the same 8750H as the 2070 max q then the the 2060 would likely perform slightly less than the 2070 max q?
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It skews them for anything less than 4K.
So look at 4K results since that's where it is heavily GPU limited.
2080 Max-Q is quite expensive.. If you can get a 1080 for under $2000. I would go that route.
The 2070 Max-Q is only 13% gain over the 1070 Max-Q, and 7% faster than 1070.
The 2060 is about 20%+ gain over the 1060. Which makes it the best price per performance.
2GB, 8GB down to 6GB, doesn't make a huge difference in today's games outside of a few games like RE2: Remake.
8GB is future proof so that's something to consider.
The 2060 vs 2070 Max-Q benchmarks with similar configured laptops show two cards that trade blows depending on the game you're playing. The winner is usually 3-6% in favor of either card. Some times the 2060 is as much as 8% better; keep in mind the 2060 has a higher base clock speed. On average the 2070 Max-Q is $100 to $150 more than a 2060 laptop.
If you must go 20-series. Get a 2060 or a 2070 (full) laptop. The Asus Scar 2 2070 (full) is $1699 at Microcenter here in NYC, that's what you would expect to pay for the Max-Q variant from most online retailers.
Thanks for the replies.
I'm pretty sure I'm just going to go with the 2060. I'm after the GS75, the 2080max q is way too over priced and there's £200 between the 2060 and 2070max q. Based on the current banchmarks available online there seems to be nothing but 2-5 fps between them in favour of the 2060 mostly.
I think I would be better off saving the £200 and buying a 1tb 970 EVO to add some extra storage. It's only a hold me over until we get our new house, so probably looking at 3-4 years until I will have space/funds for a new gaming PC. And if all else fails I will always be able to use an eGPU over Thunderbolt 3.
I'm pretty sure I'm just going to go with the 2060. I'm after the GS75, the 2080max q is way too over priced and there's £200 between the 2060 and 2070max q. Based on the current banchmarks available online there seems to be nothing but 2-5 fps between them in favour of the 2060 mostly.
I think I would be better off saving the £200 and buying a 1tb 970 EVO to add some extra storage. It's only a hold me over until we get our new house, so probably looking at 3-4 years until I will have space/funds for a new gaming PC. And if all else fails I will always be able to use an eGPU over Thunderbolt 3.
My 2060 Alienware M15 will finally be here tomorrow or the next day. The 25 day wait was pretty annoying considering that I could just go down the street to get a different Rtx laptop. If you guys order from Dell be prepared to wait a while
Let us know what you think of it. What spec did you order?
I've just been watching a few videos and one brought up a really good point. Almost all of the benchmarked RTX laptops have been running single channel RAM. So they tested with dual channel and obviously they was a noticeable improvement. Framerates at 1080p Ultra were seeing a bump upwards of 25-30fps.
So I think the first thing I'd be doing is throwing in another 16gb RAM, I know 32gb is overkill but I want dual channel.
EDIT:
I ordered the GS75 Stealth, it's being delivered tomorrow. Will see what it's like for myself, can always return it if it's no good.
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I'm in the same boat — Right now between the MSI GE75 and the GS75 myself.
Pretty sure the value ratio is leaning me towards the GE75 since it has
- full mobile RTX 2060/70/80 cards (I'm looking at the 2080)
- better heat/thermals
Downside is about 1 lb. heavier and less battery life.
The Microcente near me has the GE75 in stock so I'm going to look and see if the size is an issue to me.
I was leaning towards that too. But the form factor of the Stealth is the key selling point for me. I need something small that's not going to be a pain to carry around, and I'm not really looking for a massive power house of a machine. The GS75 can blend in to an office or public space without screaming "gaming laptop".
But if the form factor proves to be too much of an issue thermal wise then I will be sending it back.
There seems to be some thermal throttling here
There's also the question of what free game to get too, Anthem or BFV.
Got the Alienware M15 with the i7-8750H and a 2060 and 16gb of ram. I was gonna get the 2070mq but the performance didn't seem too good.
Mine is gonna be here today too. I forgot about presidents day slowing down shipping.
I got my GS75 this morning. I ended up getting the 2070Maxq as I'm inpatient and it was in stock ready to go.
First gaming laptop for me as well, any tips or things I should look out for when setting up/using for the first time?
Just a quick update.
Had a lot of time to get to know the GS75 this week. Aside from GeForce Experience deciding to throw up BSOD errors everything has been perfect. The build quality seems excellent to me. The brushed steel effect body feels excellent and the thing looks as expensive as it cost.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't believe they managed to get it in to a shell that is only just bigger than me old 15" laptop, not to mention that this is actually thinner than that old laptop too which is amazing considering.
I haven't had any issues at all with thermals. Sat on my laptop desk browsing the web do every day non gaming tasks I have it in ECO mode, the CPU and GPU both sit around the 40° and the fans don't even kick in so it's quieter than my old non gaming laptop in that regard.
During gaming in WOW for example if you leave it in ECO mode then you barely even hear the fans. Pushing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on max settings saw the CPU/GPU temps rise to around 78° but I haven't seen the temps reach any higher than that. I haven't heard the fans kick in at their loudest yet either unless I go in and manually set it there.
All in all I'm more than happy with it. I'm just waiting on my redemption code for the free copy of Anthem.
Had a lot of time to get to know the GS75 this week. Aside from GeForce Experience deciding to throw up BSOD errors everything has been perfect. The build quality seems excellent to me. The brushed steel effect body feels excellent and the thing looks as expensive as it cost.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't believe they managed to get it in to a shell that is only just bigger than me old 15" laptop, not to mention that this is actually thinner than that old laptop too which is amazing considering.
I haven't had any issues at all with thermals. Sat on my laptop desk browsing the web do every day non gaming tasks I have it in ECO mode, the CPU and GPU both sit around the 40° and the fans don't even kick in so it's quieter than my old non gaming laptop in that regard.
During gaming in WOW for example if you leave it in ECO mode then you barely even hear the fans. Pushing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on max settings saw the CPU/GPU temps rise to around 78° but I haven't seen the temps reach any higher than that. I haven't heard the fans kick in at their loudest yet either unless I go in and manually set it there.
All in all I'm more than happy with it. I'm just waiting on my redemption code for the free copy of Anthem.
Did you end up with the GE75? I'd love to get your opinion and maybe some pics if so.
Does your version of Dragon Center allow you to adjust custom fan profiles?Just a quick update.
Had a lot of time to get to know the GS75 this week. Aside from GeForce Experience deciding to throw up BSOD errors everything has been perfect. The build quality seems excellent to me. The brushed steel effect body feels excellent and the thing looks as expensive as it cost.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't believe they managed to get it in to a shell that is only just bigger than me old 15" laptop, not to mention that this is actually thinner than that old laptop too which is amazing considering.
I haven't had any issues at all with thermals. Sat on my laptop desk browsing the web do every day non gaming tasks I have it in ECO mode, the CPU and GPU both sit around the 40° and the fans don't even kick in so it's quieter than my old non gaming laptop in that regard.
During gaming in WOW for example if you leave it in ECO mode then you barely even hear the fans. Pushing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on max settings saw the CPU/GPU temps rise to around 78° but I haven't seen the temps reach any higher than that. I haven't heard the fans kick in at their loudest yet either unless I go in and manually set it there.
All in all I'm more than happy with it. I'm just waiting on my redemption code for the free copy of Anthem.
These are the options available:
I just leave it on Auto. It's silent whilst doing pretty much anything other than gaming. Basic just lets you choose from slow to fast,
Then advanced has the option to set different fan speeds at different temps. Cooler boost just sets the fans to max and when you put that on the temps drop massively and the actually laptop becomes cold to the touch.
