Gaming Laptop Discussion Thread

Yasamuu · Jun 26, 2019

Hey folks,

My laptop has recently died. Have had it for around 8 years! I'm a little out of the loop and looking for a new one which can handle games like outer wilds, Ori, Inside and Football Manager. Not interested in 4K visuals, just something that can run these type of games smoothly as I'll largely be using it for script writing and twine - but I like to have the option to pick up games I can't get on PS4. Budget is probably around £600 at the most.

Any recommendations would be appreciated, cheers!

Ozzie · Jun 27, 2019

K.Jack said:
What do you think of this MSI GP63? Specs are pretty crazy, and the cooling is good. The 120Hz screen I've seen, it's beautiful.

That's not bad but honestly speaking, I just dislike the way it looks lol. I think I may have the found the laptop I might be looking for: Lenovo Ideapad 720s-15kb https://www.alza.co.uk/lenovo-ideapad-720s-15kb?dq=5251042

Has a 4GB GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q Design
Intel Core i5 7300HQ Kaby Lake
8GB RAM (Upgrade-able with two slots)
256GB SSD (Upgrade-able with two slots)
Has average 9 hour battery on normal use such as browsing and watching YouTube
Hardly any throttling and great thermals
Looks nice and professional and most importantly for me, apparently the fans are not that loud even when on full load.

I mainly want to play Japanese developed games such as Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, Nioh, Nier, Monster Hunter World and other future titles such as Elden Ring and Tales of Arise. I am very satisfied at High/Medium settings at 1080p/60fps. Heck I'm even wiling to go to 720p/Low settings if I have to. However from what I have seen from reviews, it seems it can even run Witcher 3 on Ultra settings averaging 27-30 fps. My only issue left is that these laptops are very rare to find in the UK and the website I have linked has few of them at a decent price that I am willing to spend however, the keybaord layout is CZ, mainly the Letter Y and Z are swapped lol.

What do you guys think?

Deleted member 32563 · Jun 27, 2019

You folks running duals hard drives? Like and M.2 SSD and a 2.5 Sata SSD or just one large drive? Just curious.

Shuyun · Jun 28, 2019

Hey everyone…looking for some advice as I have just ruptured my Achilles and am looking to get a laptop for some computer gaming while I recover (I have been a console gamer for the last 2 generations). I am going to have significant travel for work during this period thus the laptop instead of a desktop.

Considerations:

Price maximum ~ 2k
Would prefer a 17" screen
Going to be used to game and as a travelling work computer so needs a useable battery life of 4+ hours
Prefer to not have to worry about heat issues when gaming
Would like to have a good size SSD + HHD or the ability to upgrade (haven't built a computer in 15+ years so I would get outside help)

I have seen the following suggested a few times in the thread but am worried about the mechanical keyboard in a business setting. Anything similar to this setup without the mechanical keyboard? Anyone who has this, how loud is it and can you replace the switches (assuming no)?

1.7k - Eluktronics MECH-17 G1Rx, RTX 2070 - Intel i7-9750H CPU 8GB GDDR6 VR Ready GPU 17.3" 144Hz Full HD IPS 512GB NVMe SSD + 16GB RAM

Ra · Jun 29, 2019

Ozzie said:
That's not bad but honestly speaking, I just dislike the way it looks lol. I think I may have the found the laptop I might be looking for: Lenovo Ideapad 720s-15kb https://www.alza.co.uk/lenovo-ideapad-720s-15kb?dq=5251042

Has a 4GB GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q Design
Intel Core i5 7300HQ Kaby Lake
8GB RAM (Upgrade-able with two slots)
256GB SSD (Upgrade-able with two slots)
Has average 9 hour battery on normal use such as browsing and watching YouTube
Hardly any throttling and great thermals
Looks nice and professional and most importantly for me, apparently the fans are not that loud even when on full load.

I mainly want to play Japanese developed games such as Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, Nioh, Nier, Monster Hunter World and other future titles such as Elden Ring and Tales of Arise. I am very satisfied at High/Medium settings at 1080p/60fps. Heck I'm even wiling to go to 720p/Low settings if I have to. However from what I have seen from reviews, it seems it can even run Witcher 3 on Ultra settings averaging 27-30 fps. My only issue left is that these laptops are very rare to find in the UK and the website I have linked has few of them at a decent price that I am willing to spend however, the keybaord layout is CZ, mainly the Letter Y and Z are swapped lol.

What do you guys think?

I think the 1050 Ti has a short shelf life headed into the next generation.

Dynomutt said:
You folks running duals hard drives? Like and M.2 SSD and a 2.5 Sata SSD or just one large drive? Just curious.

I haven't used an HDD in 5+ years. I currently have a 128GB NVMw, 1TB NVMe and a 2.5" 1TB SSD. Once my money is right the 2.5" SSD turns into a 2TB model. I've had it for 6 years and that's kinda pushing it.

Shuyun said:
Hey everyone…looking for some advice as I have just ruptured my Achilles and am looking to get a laptop for some computer gaming while I recover (I have been a console gamer for the last 2 generations). I am going to have significant travel for work during this period thus the laptop instead of a desktop.

Considerations:

Price maximum ~ 2k

Would prefer a 17" screen

Going to be used to game and as a travelling work computer so needs a useable battery life of 4+ hours

Prefer to not have to worry about heat issues when gaming

Would like to have a good size SSD + HHD or the ability to upgrade (haven't built a computer in 15+ years so I would get outside help)

I have seen the following suggested a few times in the thread but am worried about the mechanical keyboard in a business setting. Anything similar to this setup without the mechanical keyboard? Anyone who has this, how loud is it and can you replace the switches (assuming no)?

1.7k - Eluktronics MECH-17 G1Rx, RTX 2070 - Intel i7-9750H CPU 8GB GDDR6 VR Ready GPU 17.3" 144Hz Full HD IPS 512GB NVMe SSD + 16GB RAM

You may want to try it out, it is going to be louder than a standard keyboard.

Other options:

MSI GE75 Raider

ASUS ROG Strix Scar II

Stoof · Jun 29, 2019

Anyone here have the Legion Y740? I was looking at getting one with these specs:

Processor : Intel Core i7-9750H (2.60GHz, up to 4.50GHz with Turbo Boost, 6 Cores, 12MB Cache)
Operating System : Windows 10 Home 64
Microsoft Office : None
Total Memory : 16GB (8GB + 8GB) DDR4 2666MHz
Hard Drive : 512GB Solid State Drive, M.2, PCIe-NVMe
Display : 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) NVIDIA® G-SYNC, 144 Hz, 500 nits, software enabled Dolby Vision HDR400
Graphic Card : NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 2070 with Max-Q 8 GB

and with different discounts it would be a little under $1800. Does this look pretty good/is this a good deal? Thanks for any replies!

Cloud-Hidden · Jun 29, 2019

https://www.costco.com/Lenovo-LEGIO...rce-GTX-1660Ti---1080p.product.100492301.html

For anyone who has a Costco membership, I just picked this up last week and I could not be happier. For the price, there wasn't anything comparable that came with an SSD *and* a 1TB HDD.

I've been running everything maxed out well above 60 fps. High refresh 1080p gaming, for me, has trumped what I can achieve on my Xbox One X. 4K / HDR is wonderful, but for the time being, I'm in love with playing games like AC:Odyssey, Rocket League, and Dark Souls 3 with cranked up effects and crazy high frame rates.

I also recently dove into The Division 2, Anno 1800, and Final Fantasy 14. Everything runs so well. I've been missing out for so long 😭

TheDestructiveSquirrel · Jun 29, 2019

Stoof said:
Anyone here have the Legion Y740? I was looking at getting one with these specs:

Processor : Intel Core i7-9750H (2.60GHz, up to 4.50GHz with Turbo Boost, 6 Cores, 12MB Cache)

Operating System : Windows 10 Home 64

Microsoft Office : None

Total Memory : 16GB (8GB + 8GB) DDR4 2666MHz

Hard Drive : 512GB Solid State Drive, M.2, PCIe-NVMe

Display : 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) NVIDIA® G-SYNC, 144 Hz, 500 nits, software enabled Dolby Vision HDR400

Graphic Card : NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 2070 with Max-Q 8 GB

and with different discounts it would be a little under $1800. Does this look pretty good/is this a good deal? Thanks for any replies!

I have the y540, I like it, 740 should be even better with the metal instead of plastic

Stoof · Jun 29, 2019

TheDestructiveSquirrel said:
I have the y540, I like it, 740 should be even better with the metal instead of plastic

Thank you! And I actually saw that I can get the same specs with the 17" for $50 less than the 15" so maybe I'll go with that. Lenovo's sales are weird sometimes.

TheDestructiveSquirrel · Jun 29, 2019

Stoof said:
Thank you! And I actually saw that I can get the same specs with the 17" for $50 less than the 15" so maybe I'll go with that. Lenovo's sales are weird sometimes.

I got the 2060 17" 144hz version of the y540 for 1300ish Canadian after tax and discounts

WillyFive · Jun 29, 2019

Cloud-Hidden said:
https://www.costco.com/Lenovo-LEGIO...rce-GTX-1660Ti---1080p.product.100492301.html

For anyone who has a Costco membership, I just picked this up last week and I could not be happier. For the price, there wasn't anything comparable that came with an SSD *and* a 1TB HDD.

I've been running everything maxed out well above 60 fps. High refresh 1080p gaming, for me, has trumped what I can achieve on my Xbox One X. 4K / HDR is wonderful, but for the time being, I'm in love with playing games like AC:Odyssey, Rocket League, and Dark Souls 3 with cranked up effects and crazy high frame rates.

I also recently dove into The Division 2, Anno 1800, and Final Fantasy 14. Everything runs so well. I've been missing out for so long 😭

I've been eyeing this one for a while.

How's the battery life and weight? Are the colors on the screen all right?

Cloud-Hidden · Jun 29, 2019

WillyFive said:
I've been eyeing this one for a while.

How's the battery life and weight? Are the colors on the screen all right?

I've only ever used it portably to browse the web, so I can't really speak to battery life. I keep it plugged in.

As for colors, I'm really sorry to say that I have no idea. If there's a really common way that people check this when they get new monitors or laptops, I'm unaware of it. All I can tell you is that, subjectively, everything looks great to me.

Ra · Jun 29, 2019

WillyFive said:
I've been eyeing this one for a while.

How's the battery life and weight? Are the colors on the screen all right?

The display covers 92% of sRBG according to the Notebookcheck review. That should be more than vivid enough for most of us regular people.

Argyle · Jun 29, 2019

Stoof said:
Anyone here have the Legion Y740? I was looking at getting one with these specs:

Processor : Intel Core i7-9750H (2.60GHz, up to 4.50GHz with Turbo Boost, 6 Cores, 12MB Cache)

Operating System : Windows 10 Home 64

Microsoft Office : None

Total Memory : 16GB (8GB + 8GB) DDR4 2666MHz

Hard Drive : 512GB Solid State Drive, M.2, PCIe-NVMe

Display : 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) NVIDIA® G-SYNC, 144 Hz, 500 nits, software enabled Dolby Vision HDR400

Graphic Card : NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 2070 with Max-Q 8 GB

and with different discounts it would be a little under $1800. Does this look pretty good/is this a good deal? Thanks for any replies!

I posted my impressions a few weeks ago: https://www.resetera.com/threads/gaming-laptop-discussion-thread.13860/post-21013895

I like mine but just make sure you can live with its shortcomings, too.

White Glint · Jun 30, 2019

Morning. I got a pretty beefy Thinkpad T490.
Core i7 8565U
16gb of ram
nvidia mx250 (should be the full power one, not the nerfed low wattage version)

Despite not being a gaming laptop I figured it would do well with some occasional FFXIV. Trying it out plugged in I was getting really satisfying performance last weekend. 1080p, generally medium settings and looked like I could easily set them higher because I wasn't noticing any drops even in the more CPU heavy areas.

However I can't replicate the results I got last week at all. I've tried maxing all performance settings from both the laptop's power management settings and nvidia control panel. I've set the game to 720p with low settings and it throttles between 20-40fps. It almost feels like it's running on the intel graphics chip but the game shows it's using the mx250 when looking under the settings.

Any way I can find out whether there's some cpu throttling problem or if it's using the intel gpu?

Edit: It runs at 60fps for like 10 seconds when I switch the power mode to performance and then it tanks again. This is strange.

Stoof · Jun 30, 2019

Argyle said:
I posted my impressions a few weeks ago: https://www.resetera.com/threads/gaming-laptop-discussion-thread.13860/post-21013895

I like mine but just make sure you can live with its shortcomings, too.

Those impressions work for me! The battery life sucks but my current laptop has maybe an hour even just surfing the web so I'm at least used to it. I ended up getting the 15 inch version, and I was looking around for impressions of the 500 nit screen since all the ones I found are of the 300 nits model, but from what I can tell this must be a new addition? I guess I ordered at the right time!

GAFChuck · Jul 1, 2019

Hopefully you guys can help me out.

My girlfriend is looking to purchase a new laptop, and I'm not too knowledgeable in non-gaming laptops.

We are in Canada (Quebec more specifically)
Budget is around 800$ CAD
Size needs to be as light as possible, around 15 inches
Usage will be mostly for work via VPN, Office, browsing the internet, watching movies and using Skype, DVD player would be a plus.

Thanks for the help!

Ra · Jul 1, 2019

Arta said:
How are these for gaming laptops? Amazon is offering 5 monthly payments on it (for me).
I actually just want a laptop for music production and video editing, but once in a while I might just want to boot up Steam or buy a modern game and play on it.

Dell G7 Gaming Laptop

https://www.amazon.com/Newest-Generation-Dell-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07R7XCZD7/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Dell XPS9570-5632SLV-PUS 15.6

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MH94QF...olid=2FLTM4RFMH2SR&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Microsoft Surface Laptop 2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HZK3SL...olid=2FLTM4RFMH2SR&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

$1200 for a GTX 1650 is terrible value. That's entry level 1660 Ti machine pricing.

White Glint said:
Morning. I got a pretty beefy Thinkpad T490.
Core i7 8565U
16gb of ram
nvidia mx250 (should be the full power one, not the nerfed low wattage version)

Despite not being a gaming laptop I figured it would do well with some occasional FFXIV. Trying it out plugged in I was getting really satisfying performance last weekend. 1080p, generally medium settings and looked like I could easily set them higher because I wasn't noticing any drops even in the more CPU heavy areas.

However I can't replicate the results I got last week at all. I've tried maxing all performance settings from both the laptop's power management settings and nvidia control panel. I've set the game to 720p with low settings and it throttles between 20-40fps. It almost feels like it's running on the intel graphics chip but the game shows it's using the mx250 when looking under the settings.

Any way I can find out whether there's some cpu throttling problem or if it's using the intel gpu?

Have you made any other changes, like updating the drivers?

I am reading correctly and all of this gaming is plugged into power, right?

Edit: It runs at 60fps for like 10 seconds when I switch the power mode to performance and then it tanks again. This is strange.

First thing to check is the temps. A program like HWMonitor running while gaming can handle that.

GAFChuck said:
Hopefully you guys can help me out.

My girlfriend is looking to purchase a new laptop, and I'm not too knowledgeable in non-gaming laptops.

We are in Canada (Quebec more specifically)
Budget is around 800$ CAD
Size needs to be as light as possible, around 15 inches
Usage will be mostly for work via VPN, Office, browsing the internet, watching movies and using Skype, DVD player would be a plus.

Thanks for the help!

How does this look?

Arta · Jul 1, 2019

K.Jack said:
$1200 for a GTX 1650 is terrible value. That's entry level 1660 Ti machine pricing.

Thanks for responding. What about the other two?

Ra · Jul 2, 2019

Arta said:
Thanks for responding. What about the other two?

Well I'd 100% buy the G7 over either of those. The XPS is even weaker and the Surface doesn't even have a GPU.

Ra · Jul 2, 2019

Arta said:
Thanks for responding. What about the other two?

I'm looking at the 16-series laptops on Newegg, seeing much better deals. This for instance.

Newegg offers 12 month no interest on laptops over $499.

If you have to go with Amazon, take the Dell.

Deleted member 29249 · Jul 2, 2019

Picked up one of them GA502DU with a Ryzen 7 and a 1660ti for $950 that was on sale this week at Best Buy's. What a spiffy laptop, good build quality runs games super well and is less then $1000. It's my Destiny 2 machine now. Might add a 2nd SSD for my bday.

Argyle · Jul 2, 2019

Stoof said:
Those impressions work for me! The battery life sucks but my current laptop has maybe an hour even just surfing the web so I'm at least used to it. I ended up getting the 15 inch version, and I was looking around for impressions of the 500 nit screen since all the ones I found are of the 300 nits model, but from what I can tell this must be a new addition? I guess I ordered at the right time!

Enjoy, but watch out for recent firmware updates, I blindly updated and now I have this problem:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Gaming...ow-at-startup-and-shutdown/m-p/4465825#M28610

It's mildly annoying because now I need to run iCue in the background all the time if I don't want everything on the laptop constantly strobing rainbow colors. I can only imagine what kind of an idiot thought that would be a suitable default...

Mr.Beep · Jul 3, 2019

What GPU should I be targeting for external monitor 1440p, 60 frames for future AAA games?

I understand the laptop versions of the cards are similar to their desktop but just lower clockrates? The Max-Q are even weaker but small so the laptop is less bulky correct?

2060 RTX?
2060 RTX Max- Q?
2070 RTX?
2070 RTX Max- Q?
2080 RTX

Or older model cards? I just want the sweet between performance and price.

Ra · Jul 3, 2019

Warnen said:
Picked up one of them GA502DU with a Ryzen 7 and a 1660ti for $950 that was on sale this week at Best Buy's. What a spiffy laptop, good build quality runs games super well and is less then $1000. It's my Destiny 2 machine now. Might add a 2nd SSD for my bday.

Good valued machine with a 1600 Ti, though my only want would be a 6+ core CPU for future proofing.

Argyle said:
Enjoy, but watch out for recent firmware updates, I blindly updated and now I have this problem:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Gaming...ow-at-startup-and-shutdown/m-p/4465825#M28610

It's mildly annoying because now I need to run iCue in the background all the time if I don't want everything on the laptop constantly strobing rainbow colors. I can only imagine what kind of an idiot thought that would be a suitable default...

Stuff like this is why I haven't flashed my BIOS or firmware since I got my laptop 2.5 years ago.

Mr.Beep said:
What GPU should I be targeting for external monitor 1440p, 60 frames for future AAA games?

I understand the laptop versions of the cards are similar to their desktop but just lower clockrates? The Max-Q are even weaker but small so the laptop is less bulky correct?

2060 RTX?
2060 RTX Max- Q?
2070 RTX?
2070 RTX Max- Q?
2080 RTX

Or older model cards? I just want the sweet between performance and price.

1440p/60fps, future, AAA

With new consoles looming only the non-Max-Q RTX 2070 and 2080 have any hope of fulfilling that dream. Outside of waiting for the RTX 3000 series, of course.

Mr.Beep · Jul 3, 2019

K.Jack said:
1440p/60fps, future, AAA

With new consoles looming only the non-Max-Q RTX 2070 and 2080 have any hope of fulfilling that dream. Outside of waiting for the RTX 3000 series, of course.

Hmm thanks. Will the new consoles really match RTX 2060+ ? Damn, they are going to be beastly on release.

Laptops with a 2080 seem pretty exy and I' m sure are pretty damn bulky. RTX 3000 is only be worse I suppose.

Maybe it's just better to stick with a desktop, but I really need a laptop I can take to work / client meetings.

neoak · Jul 4, 2019

Mr.Beep said:
Hmm thanks. Will the new consoles really match RTX 2060+ ? Damn, they are going to be beastly on release.

Laptops with a 2080 seem pretty exy and I' m sure are pretty damn bulky. RTX 3000 is only be worse I suppose.

Maybe it's just better to stick with a desktop, but I really need a laptop I can take to work / client meetings.

You're better off buying a desktop and a cheap slim laptop than a gaming laptop for both things, unless you need the power in said meetings.

Nere · Jul 4, 2019

Did we hear anything about the super cards on laptops?

Mr.Beep · Jul 4, 2019

As an Aussie opinions on the lappy /cost?

neoak said:
You're better off buying a desktop and a cheap slim laptop than a gaming laptop for both things, unless you need the power in said meetings.

I get that, but just having both is so so. I always feel like I'd game with my laptop more cause I can do it on my couch.

Mr.Beep · Jul 4, 2019

About 2000USD - opinion on this one

neoak · Jul 4, 2019

Nere said:
Did we hear anything about the super cards on laptops?

Unlikely, since current ones are already power and TDP constrained

Kei- · Jul 4, 2019

Opinions on this for $700?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-G5-...-1TB-Storage-16GB-RAM-G5587-5559RED/236195635

Prime day is coming up and AMD is releasing new chips, with that in mind, do you think I am I going to get anything better at $700 (which is my upper limit) in the next 2 weeks?

I need something for work, but I wanted to spend a bit more for some gaming capability as I will be without a desktop for another 6 months or so.

Edit: I may just order and hold on to it for the next 2 weeks to see if something better pops up, the price is only available for a few more days.

derFeef · Jul 5, 2019

Warnen said:
Picked up one of them GA502DU with a Ryzen 7 and a 1660ti for $950 that was on sale this week at Best Buy's. What a spiffy laptop, good build quality runs games super well and is less then $1000. It's my Destiny 2 machine now. Might add a 2nd SSD for my bday.

Aw man that is a great price, how are the noise levels and the heat?

DiceHands · Jul 5, 2019

Decided to splurge on a Dell G3 with an i5 and 1660ti Max q. It was on sale at Best Buy. I am not thrilled with the performance what so ever. Destiny 2 is all over the place with FPS, ranging from 30-60 at any time. My temps during a stress test were in the 90-100 range.

I am tempted to take it back and exchange it for something new, but might try undervolting first. I just cant believe that its 2019 and a 1660TI out of the box couldnt handle Destiny freaking 2.

Dascu · Jul 8, 2019

Hey all - looking for a new laptop, primarily for video game development work (Unity, Maya/3DSmax, video editing with Adobe Premiere), as well as being a useful gaming machine in itself. I highly value portability and a nice, professional look as well. Price range around 1500 euro. Could go higher if it's really worth it. I'm based in Belgium, so anything I can feasibly buy or order from a Belgian or Dutch store (for the QWERTY keyboard) would be best.

Currently looking at either this Dell XPS 15 9570 or MSI P65 8RD: https://www.coolblue.nl/en/compare/817559/819467

Between these two, the MSI one is better on paper and on the tech specs. But I've read some mixed things on screen quality, cooling noise, battery life, etc. Whereas, everyone seems to love the Dell XPS line. So would it be worth going for the latter, even though it's a notch weaker and tiny bit more pricey?

I also see news articles that a new 2019 version of the Dell XPS laptops are inbound. When should that be expected in European stores? Or are they already available? What's the model number I should be looking for?

Supreme Leader · Jul 8, 2019

Looking to get a Huawei Matebook 13 or Razer Blade Stealth for school work, coding, gaming(pretty much just DOTA 2). Would there be a better option other than these 2 for a 13inch laptop?

Huawei MateBook X Pro is also on my short list.

LTWheels · Jul 8, 2019

I'm looking at a 15inch 1660 ti laptop. They seem to be at a good sweet spot for price and performance.

Any recommendations?

Opinions on the 1660 ti versions of 2019 helios 300 v the aero 15 classic?

manchego obfuscator · Jul 9, 2019

LTWheels said:
I'm looking at a 15inch 1660 ti laptop. They seem to be at a good sweet spot for price and performance.

can't speak to the specific models you mention, but fwiw, I got the $800 ASUS FX505DU with a 1660ti a week and a half ago, and even with a Ryzen 5 and 8GB of RAM, I've been pretty satisfied with the performance on every game I've tested out so far. a few minor stutters in Sunset Overdrive, and AC Odyssey took some tinkering with the settings, but it's been pretty great overall; I don't expect to run Cyberpunk 2077 at 60fps and max settings, but I feel confident that it's at least a lot more future-proof than the GTX 860M laptop I got in 2015 was

Shuyun · Jul 10, 2019

Any opinions on Prostar? I have continued to look in the 1.5 range and found PROSTAR Clevo NH70RDQ 17.3" Full HD 144Hz WVA Matte Display Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-9750H, NVIDIA RTX 2060, 32GB 2666Mhz DDR4, 500GB NVMe SSD, 1TB Firecuda SSHD

Seemed to be a pretty good value for and i7-9750 with 32GB and a 2060. Wasn't able to find much out about the manufacturer or if the computer runs hot (if I would need to replace thermals).

Thanks for any info or similar options

Deleted member 7082 · Jul 11, 2019

I went from an Alienware m17 (which I returned due to thermals) to a Razer Blade Advanced. Wow! It almost feels too nice to be real.

And after all that drama trying to get thermals under control, this thing just crushes it staying around 80 without being elevated or anything. I am so happy!

Ra · Jul 11, 2019

Dascu said:
Hey all - looking for a new laptop, primarily for video game development work (Unity, Maya/3DSmax, video editing with Adobe Premiere), as well as being a useful gaming machine in itself. I highly value portability and a nice, professional look as well. Price range around 1500 euro. Could go higher if it's really worth it. I'm based in Belgium, so anything I can feasibly buy or order from a Belgian or Dutch store (for the QWERTY keyboard) would be best.

Currently looking at either this Dell XPS 15 9570 or MSI P65 8RD: https://www.coolblue.nl/en/compare/817559/819467

Between these two, the MSI one is better on paper and on the tech specs. But I've read some mixed things on screen quality, cooling noise, battery life, etc. Whereas, everyone seems to love the Dell XPS line. So would it be worth going for the latter, even though it's a notch weaker and tiny bit more pricey?

I also see news articles that a new 2019 version of the Dell XPS laptops are inbound. When should that be expected in European stores? Or are they already available? What's the model number I should be looking for?

There will probably be GTX 1650 refreshes for both, but I don't know when they hit Euroland.

I do know there is no way the XPS has better cooling or quieter fans than the MSI.

Supreme Leader said:
Looking to get a Huawei Matebook 13 or Razer Blade Stealth for school work, coding, gaming(pretty much just DOTA 2). Would there be a better option other than these 2 for a 13inch laptop?

Huawei MateBook X Pro is also on my short list.

The ASUS Zenbooks w/ MX150 are always worth adding to contention.

LTWheels said:
I'm looking at a 15inch 1660 ti laptop. They seem to be at a good sweet spot for price and performance.

Any recommendations?

Opinions on the 1660 ti versions of 2019 helios 300 v the aero 15 classic?

What is your budget?

Shuyun said:
Any opinions on Prostar? I have continued to look in the 1.5 range and found PROSTAR Clevo NH70RDQ 17.3" Full HD 144Hz WVA Matte Display Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-9750H, NVIDIA RTX 2060, 32GB 2666Mhz DDR4, 500GB NVMe SSD, 1TB Firecuda SSHD

Seemed to be a pretty good value for and i7-9750 with 32GB and a 2060. Wasn't able to find much out about the manufacturer or if the computer runs hot (if I would need to replace thermals).

Thanks for any info or similar options

Prostar rebrands Clevo barebones, so they are selling the same machines as companies like Cyberpower, Origin, Sager, XoticPC, etc.

As far as the machine itself, it is nice, but I feel at around $1500 this Eluktronics is the better value. For $99 more you are gaining a full power RTX 2070 and a per-RGB mechanical keyboard. The 9750H and 8750H perform within 5% of each other so you aren't losing anything there, but gain significantly in GPU longevity, which is paramount in gaming laptop purchases.

Shuyun · Jul 11, 2019

K.Jack said:
Prostar rebrands Clevo barebones, so they are selling the same machines as companies like Cyberpower, Origin, Sager, XoticPC, etc.

As far as the machine itself, it is nice, but I feel at around $1500 this Eluktronics is the better value. For $99 more you are gaining a full power RTX 2070 and a per-RGB mechanical keyboard. The 9750H and 8750H perform within 5% of each other so you aren't losing anything there, but gain significantly in GPU longevity, which is paramount in gaming laptop purchases.

Thanks for the input. Does the change from 32GB to 16GB of Ram offset the change from a 2060 to 2070 in terms of gaming? I really like the 500 SSD + 1TB SSHD of the Prostar as this is also going to be a work computer. Why does the 9750H to 8750H gain significantly in GPU longevity? Sorry, has been a decade + since I have thought about a laptop for gaming so pretty clueless here.

At this point is it worth waiting on Prime Day to see if there are any crazy savings? Are there any systems in the $2000 range that if they got large discounts hit the following:
1. Good out of the box airflow/lower heat
2. 2-4 Years of high graphics for AAA games
3. SSD + SSHD for work files

thanks

neoak · Jul 12, 2019

Shuyun said:
Thanks for the input. Does the change from 32GB to 16GB of Ram offset the change from a 2060 to 2070 in terms of gaming? I really like the 500 SSD + 1TB SSHD of the Prostar as this is also going to be a work computer. Why does the 9750H to 8750H gain significantly in GPU longevity? Sorry, has been a decade + since I have thought about a laptop for gaming so pretty clueless here.

At this point is it worth waiting on Prime Day to see if there are any crazy savings? Are there any systems in the $2000 range that if they got large discounts hit the following:
1. Good out of the box airflow/lower heat
2. 2-4 Years of high graphics for AAA games
3. SSD + SSHD for work files

thanks

The 2070 is quite the upgrade. The RAM is whatever, you can always upgrade it. 8750 and 9750 are literally the same, with just a higher speed on the 9750.

LTWheels · Jul 12, 2019

K.Jack said:
What is your budget?

Around £1k to £1.5k at a max. Ideally closer to £1k.

Supreme Leader · Jul 13, 2019

K.Jack said:
The ASUS Zenbooks w/ MX150 are always worth adding to contention.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's $899 at Costco for the weekend

Ra · Jul 13, 2019

Shuyun said:
Thanks for the input. Does the change from 32GB to 16GB of Ram offset the change from a 2060 to 2070 in terms of gaming? I really like the 500 SSD + 1TB SSHD of the Prostar as this is also going to be a work computer. Why does the 9750H to 8750H gain significantly in GPU longevity? Sorry, has been a decade + since I have thought about a laptop for gaming so pretty clueless here.

At this point is it worth waiting on Prime Day to see if there are any crazy savings? Are there any systems in the $2000 range that if they got large discounts hit the following:
1. Good out of the box airflow/lower heat
2. 2-4 Years of high graphics for AAA games
3. SSD + SSHD for work files

thanks

With laptops the GPU is what matters. RAM and drives can be upgraded later, but you get one chance to take the best GPU possible and to upgrade that takes a whole new machine. Priorities are GPU > CPU > Storage > RAM. 16GB RAM is still massive overkill for gaming anyway.

The 9750H is the same CPU as the 8750H with a slight frequency bump, but it can't hold the clocks so it's just a wash.

Prime Day we never know. If neither laptop is on sale now it doesn't hurt to wait and see.

LTWheels said:
Around £1k to £1.5k at a max. Ideally closer to £1k.

Well cruising this Amazon UK search for 1660 Ti machines, a 6-core Intel + 1660 Ti is going to run £1400, where an AMD quad core is closer to £1200. I personally wouldn't get caught without 6+ cores when the new consoles launch next year.

I'd also check out PC Specialist, a UK based custom laptop builder.

Supreme Leader said:
Thanks for the suggestion. It's $899 at Costco for the weekend

That seems a good price. Check out some reviews.

Keywork · Jul 13, 2019

Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my budget laptop I got last fall for programming. I was just starting out in my college program for programming and was doing rudimentary python coding, starting out with Access/MS SQL and VB, and other low level introductory work. My current laptop is running an 8th Gen i3 processor/8 gig RAM/720P screen. I want something that will last me through the program as I get into more intense coding and then going on from there as I get into the programming/IT field for actual work. I also might want to do some casual gaming, but nothing too big or graphically intense (I have a PS4 and Switch). I would like to stay in the 1000 - 1500 USD range if possible. I also would like to stay with Windows just in case I end up getting a job where I need Visual Basic or Access/MS SQL.

Ra · Jul 13, 2019

Keywork said:
Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my budget laptop I got last fall for programming. I was just starting out in my college program for programming and was doing rudimentary python coding, starting out with Access/MS SQL and VB, and other low level introductory work. My current laptop is running an 8th Gen i3 processor/8 gig RAM/720P screen. I want something that will last me through the program as I get into more intense coding and then going on from there as I get into the programming/IT field for actual work. I also might want to do some casual gaming, but nothing too big or graphically intense (I have a PS4 and Switch). I would like to stay in the 1000 - 1500 USD range if possible. I also would like to stay with Windows just in case I end up getting a job where I need Visual Basic or Access/MS SQL.

The Lenovo Legion Y540 is a very popular choice right now. Good specs and maintains an office aesthetic.

Click 'Shop Now' and you can choose from prebuilt specs or customize your own from a base model. Configuration page.

Keywork · Jul 15, 2019

EDIT: It's dead, Jim!

The deal ended about 2 hours after I posted this. Maybe there will be another sale on Black Friday.

neoak · Jul 15, 2019

Keywork said:
I saw the 2019 Helios 300 is on sale for Prime Day at $999 USD, down $200 from the regular price.

Amazon link

That died faster than free drinks at a bar

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