Reccommend me a high performance Laptop

Mr. Tezza

Hey all,
I'm looking to upgrade to a newer laptop but to be honest when it comes to computer stuff I know next to nothing so I thought I'd ask on here for advice on what I should be looking for.

I do a bit of mechanical design so would need something with a fairly high processor I would think to be able to handle those sorts of software and a big screen so I can see what I'm doing.

I like gaming too, have a ps3 and a lot of games for that but if I had a decent enough laptop I'd be tempted to do a bit of gaming on that too.

I was looking on the website www.elara.ie earlier but to be honest I don't know what I want/need.

Can someone help?

Torqay

Consider around €1,000 for a Haswell Core i7 laptop with a decent gaming graphics. Have a look at the new Skyfire III and Optimus V at pcspecialist.co.uk

Mr. Tezza

Torqay wrote: »

Consider around €1,000 for a Haswell Core i7 laptop with a decent gaming graphics. Have a look at the new Skyfire III and Optimus V at pcspecialist.co.uk

I was hoping to get something for around the €600 mark if possible, as with everyone these days money is tight!

Torqay

Mr. Tezza wrote: »

I was hoping to get something for around the €600 mark if possible, as with everyone these days money is tight!

saveonlaptops.co.uk selling an Acer laptop with a quad Core i73632QM processor for just under €600. Probably the best performance you can get for your money. No dedicated graphics, just the on-chip Intel HD 4000 (which is OK for most games in low detail settings).

boobar

Torqay wrote: »

saveonlaptops.co.uk selling an Acer laptop with a quad Core i73632QM processor for just under €600. Probably the best performance you can get for your money. No dedicated graphics, just the on-chip Intel HD 4000 (which is OK for most games in low detail settings).

Is it possible to increase the ram on this? If so is it easy to do?

Torqay

boobar wrote: »

Is it possible to increase the ram on this?

Crucial says, it can take up to 8 GB RAM. Speicherbauer says 16 GB. So upgrade is definitely possible.

boobar wrote: »

If so is it easy to do?

Yes, there is a removable service hatch at the bottom giving access to the two memory slots.

boobar

Torqay wrote: »

Crucial says, it can take up to 8 GB RAM. Speicherbauer says 16 GB. So upgrade is definitely possible.



Yes, there is a removable service hatch at the bottom giving access to the two memory slots.

That's great Torqay....thanks for the reply.

I was looking for something myself for doing some light programming and maybe get started on learning a bit about photo editing.

This seems to fit the bill..will have to start saving now.

Torqay

Can't go wrong with a quad core processor and plenty memory for image editing.

Mr. Tezza

Thanks for the help, but what kind of technical info would I be looking for, as in Processor type/RAM/Graphics card? Also would I be better off getting a windows 7 version, as I haven't heard great things about windows 8?

Torqay

With a budget of €600 forget about a dedicated graphics card, you'll hardly get anything worth the money. Intel's on-chip HD 4000 and even more so the new Intel HD 4600 (Haswell) are pretty much equal to any dedicated GPU you would find in this price range. Yes, you might get a GT 630M or HD 7670M which are slighly faster but not particularly great gaming GPUs either. If you're serious about gaming on a laptop you'll want to invest at least into a GT 650M or better. Unless you can stretch your budget quite significantly, I'd say stick to Intel graphics and invest in processing power instead.

As for the processor, a quad Core i7 is far superior to anything else on the market. RAM shouldn't be too much of a concern when you purchase a laptop as long as it is easy to upgrade (which is usually the case)

You would be hard pressed to find Windows 7 laptops these days. Mainstream dealers only offer Windows 8 these days with a few exceptions: stock clearance sales for older models, business laptops with Windows 8 Pro can be downgraded for free, PC builders like PC Specialist still offer a choice between Windows 7 and 8.

Mr. Tezza

Thanks for the info, my budget is flexible... kinda. It could stetch to €800 or even €900 if I see something that I like, where would be the best value walk in or online?

Torqay

800-900 yoyos? Now we're talking!

The new Cosmos II at PC Specialist costs €866 in the following configuration:



If you prefer more storage, change the SSD for a HDD and save a few quid. A full HD display is also available but the GT 750M should play nicely with 1366x768.

Mr. Tezza

So I was trying to hold out as long as I could to try and build up funds to get a really high spec laptop but I think the time has come, my current laptop shut down 4 times the last night when I was watching a movie I downloaded (Olympus Has Fallen, good movie).

I was looking about on different sites today and these are the ones that caught my eye:

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/LENOVO-G700-173andquot-Laptop/315353/104.10

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/TOSHIBA-Satellite-L95510M-156andrdquo-Laptop-Metal/314726/104.10

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_Z500_Core_i5_Touchscreen_Laptop_59367136/version.asp

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=WCENXV7FEK002

Opinions?

Torqay

Mr. Tezza wrote: »

Opinions?

All I see is a couple of Core i5 laptops with integrated graphics. I thought you're looking for a high performance laptop?

Mr. Tezza

Does it need to be the i7? All the i7 ones with the screen size I wanted were big enuf money

Torqay

I posted a laptop with the same screen size your latest selections have but with a Core i7, decent GPU and solid state drive for €866. Why would you buy a Core i5 laptop with integrated graphics and platter hard disk for 820?

Mr. Tezza

I didn't realise there was a big difference sorry I was concentrating on price, I'll go back and have a look again, do you reckon that site is the best. Value for money?

Torqay

Mr. Tezza wrote: »

do you reckon that site is the best. Value for money?

If you're looking for performance at a reasonable price, yes.

You'd be hard pressed to find a similar laptop for less than 900 yoyos anywhere else.

For example, here's a MSI laptop with a Quad Core i7, GT 740M and full HD for €950 @ Komplett. You can order a full HD display at PC Speialist and it will still be cheaper... and it has a GT 750M which a good bit faster.

Mr. Tezza

Never realised there would be such a difference! thanks! I am hoping to get something tonight, my sister knows a bit about computers so she's gonna help me out when she comes home! So is an i7 a quad core then? thats the one I want isn't it?

Torqay

Mr. Tezza wrote: »

So is an i7 a quad core then? thats the one I want isn't it?

The quad Core i7 rules in terms of computing power, there is nothing even remotely close. But for gaming you also need a decent graphics card. With a budget of 800-900 Euro a GT 750M is the best you can hope for.

Mr. Tezza

Cool, just looking on that website now, I was toying with the idea of a bigger screen put my laptop at the moment is 15.4 I think and thats fine, they're big money too by the looks of things and if your looking for a decent laptop with that size screen you'd pay well for it I'd say!


I'm gonna play around with the different custom things you can do I think til I get one at a decent price, or what would be the best kind of customisation in your view, I don't need masses or HDD space as I have an 1TB external HDD just sitting at home unused!

Torqay

If you prefer a 17" full HD display, there is the Optimus IV, the following configuration costs €1,039



This one's got a GTX 765M and also a 2nd HDD bay, if you want to add a solid state drive later.

Mr. Tezza

A bit over my budget! I think I'll stick to the other one with the smaller screen!

Just looking at it again there now, I put in what I think I want but this message comes up then:

Unfortunately the Nvidia GeForce GT 750M can only be ordered with a full HD or full HD IPS screen. Please either change your graphics card selection or select a full HD/full HD IPS screen instead.

Is there much of a difference between the GT 740M and the GT 750M, or am I better off going for a better screen?

Torqay

It would be €911 with a i7-4700MQ, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, GT 750M and full HD display... not too bad but if you can stretch your budget by another €100 you should definitely consider the 17" model with that GTX 765M.

In our tests the average performance of the GTX 765M was above the older GTX 670MX. Demanding games like Metro: Last Light, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3 or even SimCity were playable in 1366x768 pixels and high detail settings at fluent frame rates. Older and less demanding games like Star Craft 2 however were playable in Full HD with all settings set to max.

Mr. Tezza

To be honest with you €900 is already over my max so I'll be sticking with a 15.6" screen I think, my budget is already streched. I told myself €800 max!

Torqay

If you can manage with 120 GB disk space, definitely get the Kingston SSD.

Mr. Tezza

Bought one of these in the end

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/inspiron-15-7537/pd.aspx?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn#overrides=

just have to wait for it to be delivered now! I'm sure I'll find some faults with it but overall I think its a good purchase!