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Help me theoretically choose between two laptops...

Flitterkill

By Flitterkill, GC Board Member
in Tech Reviews, Support and PC Builds

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Lenovo Y70

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Y70-TOUCH-Laptop-80DU000NUS/dp/B00MYR9EEA

 

ASUS ROG G751J1

http://www.amazon.com/G751JL-17-Inch-Gaming-Laptop-model/dp/B00T7EXKLG

 

So here's the deal. My HP DV7-6135DX which has been gloriously awesome lo these 4+ years (2011 model) has two "problems" (not really but...). The dedicated video card within can't hack Fallout 4 or Unreal Tournament 4 (flawless with Mass Effect 2/3, Skyrim, etc.) so the future has arrived and I can't play it and about a week ago the internal CPU/Video fan has probably thrown a bearing (or the brushless equivalent). I could (and probably will) replace that fan but I'm looking at better notebook options now...

 

Unless you can confidently drop approx $1200 or more you aren't aren't getting a new "gaming" notebook/laptop.  And after cancers and Leslie kinda sorta getting side-swiped by a distracted driver back in October resulting in broken things and more bills that ain't happenin. Yes, you want to buy me a fancy new Razer? By all means I'll PM my address ASAP. Otherwise... :( (Oh those Razers look so good...)

 

So, much like my DV7 which I nabbed for $420 6 months after it was released (yes, that was a nice), I'm targeting something good but about a year out from release. I can hustle up a Cowboom/Ebay/Etc. deal and get back up to speed without dropping a grand and have something that isn't total crap.

 

Right now the best inexpensive gaming notebook, new even, is a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series. 15.6" screen, i5, GTX 960m 4 gig, $750-ish. It's an option but it's also not 17". Also it's all plastic. Great reviews re: power and cooling though.

 

My requirements? 17" screen. I care not whether the Intel chip is i5 or i7, or if it is 4th gen or 5th gen. I will not get an AMD chip in a laptop. Dedicated video of course (duh) and it should be equal to an GTX 950m or better. I do not need to run games at ultra settings to be happy. 8 gigs of ram or more. Don't care about the HD/SSD as I can work around or change that easily enough if I need to. I rarely travel enough to be concerned about weight or battery life. This guy will spend its' life in the living room plugged in 24/7 with occasional trips to the upstairs office.

 

HP appears to be out right now. Most of what they carry now or over the last year just doesn't get the job done (they used lower end ATI/AMD mobile video in recent models - just doesn't cut it at all). 

 

I've targeted two decent options - linked up top.

 

The Lenovo rocks an GTX 860m which is kinda sorta last gen but is still effectively equivalent to the current GTX 950m. The ASUS carries the GTX 965m which is a tad better. 

 

Lenovo is 4 gigs dedicated, the ASUS just 2.

 

I'm leaning Lenovo since it is lighter and thinner. There's a lot more going on there are well features wise (click the links). The ASUS gets equally good reviews but is also 10 pounds and has fewer features.

 

Might pull the trigger, might not. Thoughts? Other options I'm missing? Eventually I'll get that 2007 desktop C2D gaming Death Star back up to spec...

 

 

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Having owned an ASUS ROG laptop before, I can vouch for them.  The build quality on those things is fantastic as well as it pretty much lasted 2 years of constantly being powered on with no issues arising from it at all before I resold it last year to buy a much lighter laptop because...well, I didn't need a gaming laptop since I already own a gaming desktop.  They are just an all-around beast of a machine...and with that, HEAVY AS F**K, but not so much so that you still can't carry it like a book under your arm.  The Lenovo one is slimmer in size and a little lighter.  I think both models are showcased at Best Buy (or at least similar models) so I got to see both in person (since I work at one) which I would recommend seeing in person before pulling the trigger (call if they have a gaming series Lenovo/ASUS ROG beforehand though.  Not all I think would have shelf-displays of laptops across the company).  The keyboard on the ROG is superior to the Lenovo in my opinion.  It just felt...perfect.  Not mechanical keyboard perfect, but as good as a laptop can get.

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Surprising, especially in a predominantly PC gaming community. Who'd a thunk it :)

 

And no, it doesn't, those two just appeared to be in the sweet spot sub-1000 (the more sub the better). For example, there is an HP 17" Envy recent release (6 months to a year) but it carries only the 940m or less (920m Is that even a thing - forget...)

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Another option is to, perhaps, push forward with the notebook as my primary from now on. Relegate the old 2007 gaming system as a headless fileserver and use the new notebook as 24/7 main machine - plugging in a full size wireless keyboard and kicking the vid out to the 24" panel for desktop work and then just unplugging that stuff for couch time. In that case I might justify splurging more.

 

Or I could just not game on a notebook and spend x-amount on a motherboard, memory, cpu, and vid card. Which would be what? Let's ballpark 125 mb, 250 card, 200 cpu (i5), and 75 memory. $650 to upgrade the desktop and $15 for a new fan for the 4 year old notebook? Ugh... Mind you, that would be without an SSD upgrade for the desktop.

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Well, I think I might have swung myself over to the HP Omen and will start to turn ye'olde 2007 build over to headless unit.

 

Had about two months away from the desktop system to do things and stuff. With me now having D3 Reaper of Souls (and needing to clean the office) I installed and ran a round or two on it. I forgot how utterly nice the old 24" Dell 1900x1200 panels circa 2005 are. Ten years old now and still gorgeous. Matte! Matte I say! Your eyes just fall into them vs. the glossies. I know the backlighting bulbs will one day (sooner than later) fail out but for now - yeah, this will work - again.

 

Now the question is will I find an 860m version cheap enough to sway me away from dropping more dime for a 960m version. Sole drawback is they both carry only 2gig of ram on the cards but given the premium nature of these guys I can probably flip it a year and half down the line and still keep a good amount of equity out of the deal.

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Seems the 960m is well and truly just a marketing rebadge of the 860m. They lock it down so no overclocking and there is a slight boost in freq and stuff so it evals as slightly better than the 860m but this makes my decidering much easier as the 960m versions on the used market seem to be pulling at least $175 more. So not worth it. Especially if I can push more out of the 860m with a little work.

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Mine was..... NOT!

 

Just got it up to room temperature and booted.

 

Also came with a bonus 16 gig micro sd card (for an Android phone containing three mostly good Star Wars films and three not at all good Star Wars films... :) )

 

$765 shipped and I suspect well spent.

 

I shall, as it should be around these parts, produce pictures and such. Marvin has me beat though. He's building a new rig and the video card is $500 at least...

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