Looking for a new gaming laptop

[KisaValkyrie]

Hey, I'm currently playing FFXIV on my PS4 due to the to not being able to afford a gaming laptop that could run FFXIV even at minimal graphics (trust me I tried). Well, I am starting to save up for a gaming laptop and I know they are more expensive but I do not have room for a full tower set up.

Here is what I'm asking- what would you guys recommend as a good gaming laptop that I really don't need to replace for a long time. I'm not going to get it right away but I do want to know what options would be the best.

[Sebazy]

As long as you get something with a 10 series GPU (1050 or above essentially), you'll be good to go.

Cooling is the arch nemesis of high performance laptops though as they tend to run exceptionally hot compared to more typical machines with integrated graphics.

The best recommendation I can offer is to pick something with an easily accessible cooling system that is straight forward to dust out and clean. A well looked after 1060 based laptop is likely going to run problem free for a good long time, whereas a faster but also hotter 1080 laptop may not survive as long as you would like if it is neglected and allowed to overheat for extended periods at a time.

[duvvvv]

if you're thinking long-term, a good advice from tech sites like Digital Foundry, and many other PC-gaming focused YT channels: get a PC with a minimum VRAM of 4gb, min RAM of 8gb, 4-core CPU, at least 500gb of HD space (if it has SSD, min of 250gb), and resolution of at least 1080p;

reason being minimum requirements of AAA games within the next 2-3 years would probably be min VRAM of 2gb, min RAM of 4gb, 4-core CPU, ave space of 50gb, and resolution of 720p but, the recommended requirements would probably be double (except for CPU, maybe), perhaps 4k may still not be common, and 1080p is most likely the default.


this prediction is based on the system requirements of PC games in the current market, provided that many that sells can still run on a potato.

FFXIV as an MMO doesn't really need a high-end system, as it also supports PS4 (but it must look so awesome on a 1080ti with 4k). so basically, if you can afford it, get the best laptop, or look for something mid-range, that would last you at least 2 more years.

right now Razer is a favored brand, but I know more gamers who play on ASUS or Acer (and I'm in SEA so those are more accessible to me).

[Hasrat]

I opted for an MSI. A brand touted as being designed for gamers in mind. This model has two fans, with copper tubing running over some of the bits; the cooling system takes up basically a third of the under carriage. Fans run a little loud, but kinda to be expected.

The fans do require some compromise, though. For instance, the speakers are positioned right up front, aiming down, not the most ideal position. The power cable is also shoved off to the side rather than being conveniently on the back, again, because the cooling system is taking up all the room.

But, overall, it handles the game at pretty good settings with no FPS loss. Maxing out drops the frames a little bit still.

[radhaz]

I just bought one of these:
http://www.eluktronics.com/N870HP6-5P16R
Clevo is the ODM of the chassis. It is plenty fast.

[KisaiTenshi]

Hey, I'm currently playing FFXIV on my PS4 due to the to not being able to afford a gaming laptop that could run FFXIV even at minimal graphics (trust me I tried). Well, I am starting to save up for a gaming laptop and I know they are more expensive but I do not have room for a full tower set up.

Here is what I'm asking- what would you guys recommend as a good gaming laptop that I really don't need to replace for a long time. I'm not going to get it right away but I do want to know what options would be the best.

If you specifically want a gaming laptop, Sager (Clevo), No "alienware" junk, no MSI's notorious unreliability, no under-cooled systems from "tiny form factors".

Just warning you in advance that actual gaming laptops are heavy, where as laptops designed for using at college or as portable office machines are designed to be cheap and light.

You can get anything from a nVidia 1050Ti to a nVidia 1080 in laptop form from Sager. I would recommend not going below a model with less than a nVidia 1050Ti/1060, so you're looking at about $1050USD minimum.

Occasionally you can find a laptop from Lenovo that has identical specs that still looks like a business machine. But in general MSI hardware is just notorious for breaking and poor support. Alienware is owned by Dell, and with that comes along with every downside of owning a Dell (proprietary bits that you can't fix or replace) with the added ugly designs.

Though keep in mind that all laptops are bad gaming experiences due to small keyboards, so if you are intentionally buying something for gaming, get the physically larger laptop, or switch to a gamepad.

[KisaValkyrie]

Thanks for all the advise. I greatly appreciate it everyone!

[Sebazy]

<snip>

Whilst there's some good nuggets in there and I agree that Clevo rebrands are always a great budget option to look out for, there's a few things I feel the need to correct given your track record of hyperbole.

First up, the whole Dell/Alienware proprietary parts/junk thing. The last significant proprietary and closed off standard I'm aware of on an Alienware was the Graphics Amplifier connecter, and frankly, given that the enclosure for it was less than half the price of a TB3 unit and it avoided the nasty overheads those enclosures suffered, I'm going to say that it was actually a highlight of the laptops that offered it. The last major faux pas that Dell/Alienware made that I can think of would be the lighting controller on Core 2 era laptops that could easily be bricked by installing an external keyboard driver that Dell still lists on the page for those machines to this day.

Beyond those two fairly significant cases, I'm struggling to think of any significant parts in the laptop that are proprietary in a manner that you wouldn't also see in a similar tier Asus, Gigabyte, MSI or such. The chassis, motherboard and cooling system are all going to be fairly unique to a particular model regardless of the brand. Displays are often surprisingly standardised especially in the 17" space where there's actually very few options for manufacturers to chose from. The whole is it soldered or socketed thing is just a roulette for GPU/CPU/Ram with odds that get worse as you go thinner (Do your homework here) and again, that most certainly isn't a Dell specific thing. Supporting components have long been standardised with HDDs, SSDs and Wifi cards rarely being any issue at all to replace (Lenovo arguably being the worst offenders here with their Centrino whitelisting).

Clevo are the exception rather than the norm here due to their functionality over form approach of keeping the same chassis across considerably more hardware iterations thus making it easier to source parts such as keyboards, hinges and even entire screen assemblies from a much greater pool of used parts down the line. They did have a habit of under speccing the cooling system past mid range offerings, but the more recent Clevos I've seen have gotten ontop of this.

This leads neatly onto the MSI's unreliability comment.

In short, I've simply not seen this.

From my experience (My work has me handling a significant variety of PC hardware), outside of a number of special cases such as the nForce saga years back, a powerful laptop's reliability directly correlates to the cooling system's ability to handle the heat vs the amount of neglect and misuse the machine has endured over the years.

Any brand of laptop can be equally reliable if you look after it, whereas any brand of laptop can be equally unreliable if you sit there playing it for hours at a time on your bed with the laptop sat on a pillow. Singling out individual brands when they all pull from the same limited pool of components is just daft.

TLDR: Don't base your purchasing decision on the brand. Rather, focus on features, value, cooling and bulk. And for the love of god, if you want it to last, look after it.

[Caitlinzulu]

Everyone tells to get something from the 10 series geforce, well you may not be able to get it anymore but i'm using an asus laptop (a few years old) with a geforce 980M chipset and it runs ffxiv on max settings easily. So you definately dont need the latest cards.

[Sebazy]

Everyone tells to get something from the 10 series geforce, well you may not be able to get it anymore but i'm using an asus laptop (a few years old) with a geforce 980M chipset and it runs ffxiv on max settings easily. So you definately dont need the latest cards.

Hiya, whilst the 980M is still a capable card, the reason why people put so much stock in the 10 series line is because it was such a substantial step forward in performance per watt as well as being a bigger leap in raw performance than you would normally expect. A very significant detail in a laptop where both heat and power are big concerns.

To put it into perspective. The 980M has a 120w TDP whereas a 1060M is a little bit quicker across the board yet has a TDP of 80w.

This is a big deal both in terms of portability and long term reliability.