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***FFXIV ARR, EQ Next, Archeage - Gaming Laptop
Hi guys!
I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop that will be able to play these 3 games (EQ Next, FFXIV ARR, and Archeage) on the highest settings within a budget of up to $1,500 dollars. Can someone provide me a laptop recommendation(s)? If you have time can you also throw in why (hope that's not too much to ask)
1. Budget and screen size (over 15 inches) are important, with being able to run those 3 games on highest settings equally as important
2. Weight and battery life are not.
Upgradeability would be cool (so this thing can stay cutting edge years down the road), but its not a necessity.
Please note: Lastly, please I don't want this to devolve into a war of desktops vs. laptops or "Why do you want to spend that much on a laptop, get a desktop!" or "Get a form factor instead!" or "If I had that budget of 1500 bucks I could build a super computer!!" or "Why do you want a laptop?". IF you absolutely have to answer this way, please at least provide me your laptop recommendation first and why, then you can go into schooling me on why I should get a desktop hehe.
If you absolutely feel that you must go to town on me and be really sarcastic because of something I've typed up above all the while NOT providing a laptop recommendation, please just close this window out and don't bother, because it won't help me. Apologies.
Best regards,
Timetrapper
Comments
I'll keep this simple. Find one from the following site you feel fits what you are looking for at the price range you have given then link it here and we'll let you know whether or not it's the "best deal" you can get for the money. This site sells some of the most popular top quality "gaming" laptops available and generally has decent prices. For example the laptop listed above is available here for about $50 less and you can further customize it.
http://www.xoticpc.com/
EDIT: Keep in mind the prices listed BEFORE you "Build Yours" does not include an OS so you will need to factor that into your budget. Personally I'd try and look for something in the $1300 range which should allow you enough to add the OS and SSD (though you'd probably want to just buy one on your own and install it to save some money, however this would require you to transfer you OS over from your HDD once you did).
How much do you travel? Is it by car or plane, or a mix of both? How long do you tend to stay in one spot?
If you rarely fly, a small form-factor PC can get you better performance than a laptop. If you stay at places for more than one week at a time, setting up and tearing down a desktop might be tolerable.
If you want to take your gaming on an airplane, it is best to just get a laptop. On your budget, something from a custom-built laptop manufacturer would be the best for performance that you can afford.
Hi, thanks for the reply. The laptops I was looking at buying were these (3 of them because they were on a list and within my price range and 2 that were recommended on this thread). The Battalion and Sager NP7352 are the front runners cuz of the screen size and are the cheapest and are high on the top 10 list. (I get though this list may be crap to most expert users on this site, so I'm willing to accept that opinion as valid if it comes up so let me know if you think these choices from the website's list aren't good)
tied for 1st: Battalion 101 W370ST http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/ibuypower-inc/battalion-101-review.html
tied for 1st: (stringboi's) Sager NP7352 http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7352-clevo-w350st-p-5842.html
Alienware 17 http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/dell/alienware-m17x-review.html
Sager NP 8290 http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/sager/sager-np-review.html
Asus G750JW-DB71 17.3 inch http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G750JW-DB71-17-3-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B00COQIKB4/ref=amtcd_B009M2XB3U_B00COQIKB4 (recommended on this thread)
I was using this website (might be a bit too simplistic but it kind of made things simple for me): http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/
I'm leaning on Stringboi's recommendation vs. the Battalion cuz he said that Sager model would run the new Final Fantasy fine. But is the Battalion better or worse?(and the fact those 2 are the cheapest helps, and I don't need to overkill or play first person shooters, just those 3 listed MMO's on max settings)
Small Form Factor Side question: How much of a cost savings does a Small form factor provide, assuming $150 bucks for a monitor for its equally/exact same laptop counterpart? For example if I built a form factor that was similar in power to the Sager NP7352, how much ballpark would that be?
The reason why I ask, cuz it leads me to deeper thoughts like, if I bought a laptop for $1100, but had the potential to build a small form factor for $700 and throw in a monitor for a total of $850, well the question is, is the $250 dollar savings worth it? Once I get that figure, I can decide if it's worth the savings. (I get though you can upgrade a SFF for years down the road etc so that should play into it as well, as the laptop will be more obsolete faster as its harder to upgrade for games that will come out in 2-3 years) So I get a SFF will outlast its laptop counterpart (in terms of becoming obsolete due to lack of upgrade options over time).
The Battalion looks like the exact same specs as the Sager, but with a 17" screen. It has the same resolution though....I personally like the biggest resolution on the smallest screen, as to not see pixels....but I doubt you'd even see them on that small of a difference unless you looked up close.
The screen on the Sager is beautiful....the reason I didnt go bigger was because I was going to be carrying it back n fourth to work in my backpack and I didnt want to have to also have a huge backpack to carry it in (17" laptop bags can get big). And I do prefer more pixels packed into a smaller screen....not a bigger screen with a lower resolution....just my preference.
I'd say go with the Sager, get an SSD with the extra cash and you'll be golden
If your staying in Hotels while on the road you can just use an HDMI cable and use the TV in the room instead of hauling around a monitor.
I carry a laptop with me to do some light gaming on, I am on the road 2-4 nights a week usually. If I want to play something with a controller I just hook the laptop up to the LCD TV in the room with HDMI and play that way. If I play a game needing a KB/Mouse I just use the laptop monitor of course.
Personally I would just go with a laptop instead of a SFF. But a laptop just fits my situation better.
A SFF will be able to be upgraded and should in general last longer. As for cheaper that depends on what you build.
I would just weigh the pro's/cons of a laptop or carrying around a SFF and a monitor. And decide what fits you best.
Just my opinion.
Regarding small form factor (SFF) PC vs Laptop, assuming you won't be moving it too often, it really boils down to what you are comfortable transporting. There is ZERO question you can easily build a more powerful and easily maintainable/upgradeable SFF PC for less than the cost of a similar equipped laptop. However within current technology there is also ZERO question it will be much bulkier and obviously will be limited to plugin use only (though most gaming laptops can't really be used for gaming purposes for more than hour on battery anyway).
If transporting a more powerful system in a large backpack (think shoebox size for the PC plus screen/keyboard/mouse) doesn't sound terrible then you may be better off considering a SFF PC. You will also have the advantage of choosing a desktop monitor vs the average screens that typically accompany cheaper laptops.
Laptops are a great option for those who travel often enough to need them and/or simply can't lug around a large enough bag for a SFF system but in almost all other cases they are less than ideal. Heat and dust eventually kill laptops long before they would any SFF system simply because the latter is MUCH easier to clean out and dissipate heat. Plus even if something was to die in a SFF system it's fairly simple to replace. While some parts in laptops can claim the same thing the major parts that generate the most heat and thus tend to die first are not one of them.
You can check the following link just to get an idea of the type of systems you can get in SFF:
http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=102
So it appears you are checking out possible builds on the forum I linked. Might I suggest you check out Silverstones SG09 or the recently released SG10 (basically a refresh of the SG09). While they are slightly larger than the case you have mentioned on the other forums I believe they still fall within your requested specs and will offer a lot more upgrade options, not to mention much better cooling.
Just to give you and idea of what can be done in these cases if you have the extra cash later for upgrades:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1356389/sg09-sg10-owners-thread
Yep, I'm sold on SFF. I checked out the case listed below at Microcenter and its money!! It's something I think I could even carry on in its boxing on the plane. Check out this build recommended to me on the SFF forum on that link and let me know what you think.
Processor - Intel Core i7-4770K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.5 GHZ 8 MB Cache
Motherboard - H87M-ITX LGA 1150 mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Case - Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced or 130 (waiting for release this month maybe)
CPU Cooler -
Video Card - Asus GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 760 Or similar card
Memory - G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 Or Something Similar
PSU - Corsair CX500M 500W Modular Power Supply
SSD - Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SSD
Optical - Any OEM DVD-Burner such as Asus, Lite-On, or Samsung
OS - Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit (Full Version) - OEM
Let me know what you think.
Yeah I'd heard that SG07 case was popular and mentioned it in the hard SFF form, and the guy said this:
"As for the SG07 its a nice, small case but its also very expensive because of the included 600w psu. The major downsides are price and the PSU is not modular(can't remove the cables you don't need)."
Plus I got to actually view the Elite 120 with my own eyes today at microcenter, so I fell for it cuz the size is so portable. Those SG07's aren't in stock at the Microcenter or Fry's near my house. I read the build I posted has a 500w power source, so would that gimp me in terms of video cards or anything?
The Silverstone SG08 is designed around a goal of sticking a high powered gaming desktop into as small of a case as is practical, and everything is designed around that. The Cooler Master Elite 120 is built around the assumption that the user wants a small, cheap desktop that won't put out a ton of heat, and won't handle a high powered gaming rig that well.
On a $1500 budget, I don't see any need to go cheap on the case. Getting adequate airflow in a small form factor is not a trivial matter, and it's important if you don't want things to overheat. The Silverstone SG08 is also less than 3/4 of the volume of the Cooler Master Elite 120.
Also, you can skip the "K" on the processor. Overclocking in a small form factor case is a bad idea. That greatly increases heat output, and mini ITX motherboards tend not to be built for overclocking.
Regardless of which case you go with, an external exhaust card like this will help quite a bit with airflow:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130938
You can only get so much airflow in such a small case, and dumping much of the video card heat directly out of the case helps a lot.
Hah!!!!, your right, I checked the airline dimensions, it just fits! I PM'd the guy about the SG08, I'll put on my big boy pants and order the SG08 probably now haha. Unless the hard forum guy helping me says hells no because of XYZ etc of course. But I doubt he will. Here's the link to the hard forum thread I'm talking about:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1775700
Someone on that forum mentioned that the built-in power supply in the Silverstone SG08 isn't modular. The reason it isn't modular is that it doesn't have to be. Some power supplies will give you 4 PCI-E connectors, 10 SATA connectors, 10 Molex connectors, and so forth, because they have no clue what you're going to use and want to make sure that you have the connectors that you need.
In designing the SG08, Silverstone observed that there is only space for one video card, one case fan, one CPU, 3 or so SATA devices, and so forth, and gave the power supply exactly the connectors that you might possibly use. So there aren't going to be a ton of power supply cables that go unused; at most, you might have a spare SATA connector or two, but nothing like the 15 left over that you might have from some other power supply. Thus, there aren't a bunch of extra cables that you'd want modularity to get rid of.
For ordinary power supplies, having so few cables would be a major defect. If you wanted to add more case fans or hard drives or whatever later, you wouldn't be able to for lack of power connectors. But in the Silverstone SG08, you already wouldn't be able to because of a lack of physical space, so not having spare power connectors doesn't matter. The power supply is actually built specifically for the SG08 (and its predecessor, the SG07). It's a custom form factor with an odd shape to allow the case to be smaller and still fit everything that you need.
Hey Quizzical,
If I switched to the SG08 case, would any of the build specs I pasted earlier need to be changed/upgraded or would those parts still be optimal in your opinion? (I saw the drop the K part & external exhaust card link, so I've noted that in my parts checklist)
Thanks!
Timetrapper
The Silverstone SG08 comes with a power supply, so you don't need to buy another power supply separately. It also uses a half height optical drive to save space. For example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151261
Just to give you an idea of how powerful a system can fit in that small of a space if done by someone with experience check this link:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1698889&page=2
Ok, thanks to everyone!
The build list is complete! SFF gaming here I come! (now the hard part, buying and building heheh)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1qmMS
I have to say that was pretty awesome lol.
You can build a great SFF PC if you have the patience.
Again, I'd save some money by getting an ordinary 4770, not a 4770K. You can't overclock on that motherboard and shouldn't overclock in that form factor, anyway.
While the K means you can overclock it, it also disables TSX instructions and maybe some other stuff. So the K is actually worse than the non-K unless you overclock it. And the motherboard won't let you overclock.