Gaming Laptop ~€1200

Stevie_D_D

Hi All

Hoping to get a gaming laptop for about €1200 and wondering if there is an 'accepted best laptop' in this range?

From my research, I think it'd be something with an RTX 3060 and an AMD Ryzen 5 5600/7 5800 or Intel equivalent.

Seems like the RTX 3060 would future proof me for a while at 1080p at least so I don't want to go lower than that in graphics card terms.

I could stretch a bit further if it meant being more future proofed or if there was a big performance jump relative to adding a bit more to the budget for instance but ideally I'd keep it around this price point.

Cheers!

try to find a deal on a legion 5 with 5600h or better (avoid the 4-core intel i7's) and 3060

3060 performance also varies by what TDP power level it's running at - ideally 110W+

screen quality is another consideration - poor response times mean latency. colour accuracy is nice to have but not as vital for gaming but useful for photo-editing etc

e.g. the Acer Nitros are good value but the standard 144Hz screen is poor in terms of screen response times (not related to Hz value) and colour accuracy and the 3060 runs at under 100W TDP

The Legion 5 runs the 3060 at a good TDP and but the 120Hz screen is not that great in terms of response times either upon investigation.

actually this is as good a price as you'd get really at just under 1k sterling - with 3% extra Irish VAT will be just around your budget

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Legion-15ACH6H-GeForce-Windows/dp/B09B3XFBSS/ref%3Dsr_1_3?keywords=legion+5&qid=1638901939&sr=8-3

there is a 165Hz screen (brighter and more colour accurate) but you're not going to get it at that price I don't think. in some markets there is a 144Hz screen that's also decent.

in your budget range you're always going to be compromising really. that's just the reality of it.

it's £1300 for the 3070 card and the better screen (out-of-stock)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Legion-15ACH6H-GeForce-Windows/dp/B09B3V4N8H/ref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa?keywords=legion+5+165hz&qid=1638902120&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTUdUUjQ1SjJYVlRDJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzg5Mjg5MTZUVUFXNjYyTThPRyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTg2OTQyMldLNllDMVM3VThKTCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

this HP Omen spec is also good

but out of stock

buying from Holland is an option because the keyboard is 99% identical to the UK one

https://www.amazon.nl/HP-Gaming-GeForce-Windows-15-en1200nd/dp/B08WJNFBS6/ref%3Dsr_1_2?__mk_nl_NL=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=3060+laptop&qid=1638903497&sr=8-2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058221740/gaming-laptop-1200

here's the answer imo

€1167 for 5600h, 3060, 16gb ram, AND AN ACTUAL GOOD SCREEN - fast response times, bright colour-accurate

spare m.2 slot for another ssd if required.

easily the best balance in the budget range that I've seen

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hewlett-packard-hp-victus-ryzen-5-5600h-16gb-512gb-ssd-16-inch-rtx-3060-win-4q5s2ea/version.asp

Tuttlinghorn

Hi Glasso and OP - hope you don't mind me piggybacking on this thread but I'm trying to navigate laptop specs for a combo christmas and birthday prez for a 16 yr old... budget seems to be stretching as i look at specs and try to future proof a bit

Glasso, looking at your comments above - how does this Acer nitro look in terms of price for the specs vs the Legion 5 with 3060?

it is on amazon germany so would come with a german 'qwertz' keyboard - no idea how annoying that might be or how hard to get used to ??

Acer Nitro 5/ 17 Inch / FHD 144 Hz IPS / Ryzen 7 5800H, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, RTX 3070 - 8GB / EUR 1,500

https://www.amazon.de/Nitro-AN517-41-R4FJ-Gaming-Laptop-Windows/dp/B08R7LSYDZ?ref_=ast_sto_dp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287628#Comment_118287628

that 17 inch nitro has an ok screen - not great but ok response times - better than the 15 inch version 144Hz screen

it's a 3070 card so better than 3060

here's a comprehensive review

seems ok

keyboard difficult to sell in Ireland if reselling - could sell abroad tho

would annoy me personally - everyone is different in that regard

ask amazon chat if any chance of a uk keyboard or dutch keyboard version (dutch same as uk pretty much)

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Nitro-5-AN517-41-in-review-GeForce-RTX-3070-on-the-back-burner.553925.0.html

Tuttlinghorn

Thanks v much , i will take a look at the review . if there are any other models that i should look at for that price point or lower I would appreciate a steer !

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287937#Comment_118287937

tbh this looks very very good value for 1160 euro or so and has a normal keyboard

lenovo own medion - laptops are good

decent cpu, nvidia 3060 card that runs at a good 115w and decent screen (probably better than the one in the nitro)

would play games for the next 5 years fine at 1080p / full hd

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/medion-defender-nh77epy-m-ryzen-5-5800h-16gb-512gb-ssd-rtx-3060-17.3-inch-w-30031892/version.asp

deegs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287506#Comment_118287506

My laptop died last night and I need a new laptop asap. Looks like this is a fab all rounder, Thanks for the recommendation! but do you know if there is anything similar in bricks and mortar that I can get this morning similar?

In Cork, harveynorman and curry's / PC world are still black fridaying... Is there anything there you could suggest?

Stevie_D_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287506#Comment_118287506

Ah great stuff thanks, I'd come across Legion 5, Victus, TUF and Nitro in my own searches for RTX 3060 laptops and it was confusing as to what was better. On the link above for Victus I see there's a Medion Deputy at the same price, the only difference being it's got the 7 5800h rather than the 5 5600h. Am I right in thinking I'd be compromising on screen if I choose the Medion, or processor/RTX TGP if I choose the Victus?

Thanks very much though, I'm learning a lot just browsing the boards the last few days. And I can add two more points of info to that now - Amazon UK is still fine for laptops, I would just factor in the extra 3% VAT, and point 2, can look at Dutch sites, never realised their keyboard was virtually the same, cheers!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118288624#Comment_118288624

Nothing offering a good balance of cpu, screen and GPU for the price.

Harvey Norman never have good value on laptops.

Occasionally curry's are ok but not for gaming laptops usually

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287937#Comment_118287937

Cheers for the coffee

Tuttlinghorn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289047#Comment_118289047

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118288080#Comment_118288080

I came across this site with reviews for Medion (from UK) https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/www.medion.co.uk

. looks like a large % of grumpy customers .. anyone got direct experience of dealing with Medion support ? have just had a crap experience with a UK supplier of a PC refurb and not keen to repeat it

i dont think any PC supplier will have 'amazing' service, but those comments don't look great

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118293629#Comment_118293629

if you go to trustpilot for any electronics company pretty much it's the same - only people with an issue go there to complain.

I personally wouldn't be worrying about it.

you'd be dealing with laptopsdirect I think anyways

most of medion's medium and higher end laptops are rebrands on Clevo and Tongfang laptops which are good quality

that one is a Clevo laptop

this one I think

https://clevo-computer.com/en/laptops-configurator/purpose/gaming-esport-ready/6031/clevo-nh79epy-17.3-fhd-ips-144hz-amd-ryzen-7-5800h-nvidia-rtx-3060

they rebrand cheap laptops also -issues more likely to be there

https://www.hagglezon.com/en/s/medion%20laptop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118293629#Comment_118293629

Here is a review in Dutch (will translate in Google chrome) for that laptop but with a less powerful intel i5 h cpu

the amd cpu in the version on laptopsdirect is a good bit more powerful so the comments about the cpu in that review are not relevant. 2.5kg weight not heavy for a 17 inch gaming laptop.

praised for good display and good gaming performance and good build quality. the battery life is a non-issue as gaming laptops will always be used plugged in due to the high power draw for the graphics cards.

excellent value for money for a 17 inch gaming laptop providing good cpu, good gpu and good display

https://tweakers-net.translate.goog/reviews/8700/medion-erazer-defender-p10-betaalbare-rtx-3060-gaminglaptop.html?_x_tr_sl=NL&_x_tr_tl=EN&_x_tr_hl=EN

Tuttlinghorn

thanks a lot for that Glasso. i am torn now between the medion and the HP you posted earlier ( https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hewlett-packard-hp-victus-ryzen-5-5600h-16gb-512gb-ssd-16-inch-rtx-3060-win-4q5s2ea/version.asp#specs )

slightly smaller screen on the HP which is not a big issue. apart from that the specs look (to me) identical as is price. looks like both can expand memory to 32mb.

while i havent been able to find an exact review for the same HP model, i think this is one which has the 5800h instead of 5600h above: https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Victus-16-gaming-laptop-review-Powerful-hardware-in-a-stylish-case.566732.0.html

the only concern i have with the review is the wireless card performance - but then i cannot find a review of how the Intel WiFi 6 AX200 802.11ax card performs in the medion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298770#Comment_118298770

the medion runs the 3060 card with more power - 115W vs 95W in the HP. will get more frames per second when running games

both screens are of similar quality but the Medion's is bigger obviously

WIFI 6 spec is the latest spec (assuming you have a WIFI 6 router of course)

Wifi performance on laptops is not usually mentioned much unless there is an issue found

Tuttlinghorn

I pulled the trigger and ordered the medion last night. Thanks again Glasso for the steer