my head is wrecked choosing a laptop

El Kabong!

Hi,

Trying to choose a (windows) laptop for my son and my head is wrecked, specifically as he wants to use it for gaming too.... but I'm finding it hard to figure out the best one with the best gaming card, without pushing the price up too much!

I am doing intensive research and just getting bogged down in it.

The baseline is our current iMac (late 2009). This gets a speed rating of 2007 (cpubenchmark.net), 2GB RAM, 500GB, and an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with a benchmark of 115 (videocardbenchmark.net), which seems quite low TBH.

I am filtering based CPU and graphics card benchmark.

I find I am commonly picking out i5-3230M CPU's, which get a speed rating of 4021.

They all seem to have 8GB, and 500-1TB which is fine. 500 would still be fine.

The problem is the graphics cards!

Lots of them have Intel HD4000, rated at 465, with is 4 times what he is used to. But lots of web reports say they are no good for gaming.

I can see others that rate about 600-800, but I have no idea if these will feel genuinely 6-8 times faster than what he is used to or if these numbers are meaningless.

I would like to spend 500-600 really but now I don't think this is possible.



For instance I can see:
Lenovo G580 for EUR530 but it has the Intel HD4000,
http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_G580_Metal_Laptop_-_i5_3230_8GB_1Tb_dvdrw_MBB4HUK/version.asp

or this Lenovo IdeaPad for ~EUR495, but it is slightly slower but the AMD Radeon rates 627
http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_IdeaPad_Z585_8GB_1TB_Windows_8_Laptop__MAD6BUK/version.asp

and finally this Dell Inspiron has CPU 3200 and graphics at ~850?????
I can't really work out the acrual rating.

Please help before my head explodes!

I had settled on one of them, and then I found out about 5400rpm drives! Will they ruin it all anyway?

Torqay

Since Intel is integrating their graphics into the CPU they have done a major step forward indeed. Common mid-range dedicated GPUs like the GT 630M or GD7650M are only marginally better and not worth the investment. A real improvement comes with Kepler GPUs like the GT 640M or better.

As for graphics benchmarks, I suppose you're lookup the passmark scores. I suggest looking at norebookcheck.net. They run comprehensive tests and actual gaming benchmarks.

TerrorFirmer

The 9400M is ancient, the HD4000 would be a much stronger option, the 7640G isn't really much better than the HD4000, overall neither are up to much beyond very casual gaming. It very much depends on what sort of games you've looking to play, huge difference between individual titles in terms of hardware demands.

At a mimimum, I would go for an Nvidia GT640 or AMD 7670M class video card, both will suffice for very casual gaming on nearly all new titles, but don't expect miracles either.

Torqay

I see you linked to an AMD A8 laptop, I would not recommend it. The only competitive AMD laptop processor is the A10 which compares to an Ivy Bridge Core i3 processor with a GT 630M graphics card.

AMD A10 laptops cost around 500 yoyos these days but I'd rather buy a Core i5 with HD 4000 for that money.

El Kabong!

so what do you all think of this Dell?
Dell Inspiron
i5-3337U
8GB
1000GB
17"
AMD Radeon™ HD 8730M 2G DDR3

seems to be 640 which is pushing the budget a bit.

He is a casual gamer. He had Assassins Creed on the iMac and is playing it OK, also Prince of Persia. I mean, he keeps saying he has to drop the settings and sometimes they are a little jerky but he gets on fine.

Surely this DELL would be much better than the iMac we already have? even if it is a laptop setup?

Torqay

Decent specs... though I don't see a reason for an ULV processor in a 17" "desktop replacement". A regular Core i5 processor is cheaper and has more steam.

El Kabong!

ULV? underclocked?

Would it be possible to safely speed it up?

Torqay

Meaning Ultra Low Voltage, these chips consume less power. Not really an issue with 17" laptops.