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New laptop for sub $500

Gabby-airGabby-air Member UncommonPosts: 3,440

Hi, just looking for some advice on a a new laptop that will be used mainly for small tasks but if possible can play some low end games if my main rig isn't available. I was able to find this laptop for the price I'm willing to spend and it has a nice resolution plus a dedicated graphics card. 

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-17-laptop-featuring-intel-core-i3-370m-as7739g-6647-grey-as7739g-6647/10180303.aspx?path=763225ec75b0f78d49ab58eed9c57d57en02

If that one isn't a good deal, please link some other laptops for me to look at. 

Comments

  • RedcorRedcor Member Posts: 426

    craigslist might be a good idea if you got 500 cash. Allot of people are seling cheap around xmas. you can get a nicer setup for sure.

    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can
    be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
    -Robert E. Howard

  • Gabby-airGabby-air Member UncommonPosts: 3,440

    I usually prefer not buying electronics used, never know what's wrong with them until you've had them for awhile. 

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    An aging Arrandale processor with a low end discrete card is not a sensible configuration.

    I guess this goes over your budget slightly, but you could get this:

    http://www.amazon.ca/Hewlett-G6-1C60CA-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Charcoal/dp/B005ODBDOK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1324330502&sr=8-5

    That's slightly slower processor cores, but four cores rather than two.  It's integrated graphics, but still significantly faster than a GeForce GT 520M.  No really: the discrete card in the laptop you picked is actually slower than Llano integrated graphics.

    The reason it goes over your stated budget is that you have to add a second memory module, such as this:

    http://ncix.com/products/?sku=47186&vpn=CMSO4GX3M1A1333C9&manufacture=Corsair

    Still, that will end up getting you a system with a better processor for many purposes (huge advantage in well-threaded programs, slight disadvantage in single-threaded), significantly faster graphics, more memory, and lower power consumption (Llano's energy efficiency is extremely good)--and hence probably a longer battery life, both at idle and at load.

    You might be able to find a laptop with an A6-3400M for cheaper elsewhere.  That was the cheapest I saw in a cursory check of some Canadian sites.

  • Gabby-airGabby-air Member UncommonPosts: 3,440

    Originally posted by Quizzical

    An aging Arrandale processor with a low end discrete card is not a sensible configuration.

    I guess this goes over your budget slightly, but you could get this:

    http://www.amazon.ca/Hewlett-G6-1C60CA-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Charcoal/dp/B005ODBDOK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1324330502&sr=8-5

    That's slightly slower processor cores, but four cores rather than two.  It's integrated graphics, but still significantly faster than a GeForce GT 520M.  No really: the discrete card in the laptop you picked is actually slower than Llano integrated graphics.

    The reason it goes over your stated budget is that you have to add a second memory module, such as this:

    http://ncix.com/products/?sku=47186&vpn=CMSO4GX3M1A1333C9&manufacture=Corsair

    Still, that will end up getting you a system with a better processor for many purposes (huge advantage in well-threaded programs, slight disadvantage in single-threaded), significantly faster graphics, more memory, and lower power consumption (Llano's energy efficiency is extremely good)--and hence probably a longer battery life, both at idle and at load.

    You might be able to find a laptop with an A6-3400M for cheaper elsewhere.  That was the cheapest I saw in a cursory check of some Canadian sites.

    Ye initially I was looking for Llano but I didn't think they would really make that big of a difference in terms of performance plus I wasn't able to find one that had a nice resolution on the screen. I did find this laptop:

     http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/gateway-gateway-17-3-amd-a6-3400m-quad-core-laptop-nv75s05h-black-nv75s05h/10181395.aspx?path=e293b649057339c4354114bc1a59ddd3en02

    How much of a perfromance gain am I looking at from the original laptop I linked with the i3 to this? Do bare in mind, gaming is really a very rare thing on that laptop it will be used just for browsing the intrnet 95% of the time.

    Also, since the one you linked and this gateway are around the same prize, which one would you prefer?

  • NMStudioNMStudio Member Posts: 376

    If you're hoping to play games, your best bet would be the Dell Outlet, i've purchased several there for myself and for others.  You can save a couple hundred bucks by putting up with a scratched lid.  (The screens are guaranteed to be in NEW condition)

    image

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    Originally posted by NMStudio

    If you're hoping to play games, your best bet would be the Dell Outlet, i've purchased several there for myself and for others.  You can save a couple hundred bucks by putting up with a scratched lid.  (The screens are guaranteed to be in NEW condition)

    One problem with that is that Dell does not sell and has never sold the class of laptop that would be ideal for the original poster.  Dell goes exclusively with Intel processors in their laptops, and Intel graphics are a complete disaster, while having a discrete card brings problems of its own.

    -----

    Ah, so you're after a larger monitor and a higher resolution.  Fair enough.  You may need to turn the resolution back down for some games, but the extra pixels and inches will be nice for everything else except for carrying the laptop around.

    The Gateway laptop that you link is an interesting option, though you probably don't realize what it is.  It has Radeon HD 6540G2 graphics.  That means it has both Radeon HD 6520G integrated graphics and also a Radeon HD 6470M discrete card.  You should realize that the discrete card is actually slower than the integrated graphics, and offers perhaps 80% of the performance of the integrated graphics.

    For everything except gaming, you'll want to leave the discrete card off, and just use the integrated graphics.  The integrated graphics will have plenty of performance for everything else, and be the lowest power option available.

    For gaming, however, you'll have three options.  You could leave the discrete card off and use the integrated graphics.  You could shut down the integrated graphics and use the discrete card.  Or you could use both the integrated graphics and the discrete card simultaneously in "asynchronous crossfire".  Which of the three options will give you the best gaming performance will vary from one game to the next, and any of the three could easily be the best, for complicated reasons.  (Sometimes asyncrhonous crossfire simply doesn't work right, and if you're processor-bound, then shifting the graphics load entirely to a discrete card can allow for a aggressive CPU clocks and increase system performance that way.)

    AMD has Crossfire Application Profiles coming in Catalyst 12.1 (the version of drivers that will launch in January), which will probably let you tell the drivers to use the discrete card for this game, but not that game.  That will give you options that will sometimes increase your graphics performance substantially as compared to just the integrated graphics.

    It will require a bit of tinkering with each new game to find the optimal settings, however.  I'd probably try running any new game on the integrated graphics first, and then only trying other options if I think the game needs more performance.  If they all let you turn settings as high as you like (e.g., for older games), then the integrated graphics will be the lowest power option.  Still, updating drivers should get cleaner than the Acer you linked in the first post, since it's all AMD, rather than having to mix Intel and Nvidia drivers and hoping that they play nicely together.

    What I'd really prefer is an A8-3500M APU, no discrete card, and 1600 MHz DDR3 memory.  That would tend to get you better performance and probably not cost Gateway anything more to build.  But you can't get that, as laptop vendors are goofy in their configurations.

    For what it's worth, Acer and Gateway are actually the same company.  If you're willing to spend $550 , I'd probably go with the Gateway laptop you linked.

  • Gabby-airGabby-air Member UncommonPosts: 3,440

    Originally posted by Quizzical

    Originally posted by NMStudio

    If you're hoping to play games, your best bet would be the Dell Outlet, i've purchased several there for myself and for others.  You can save a couple hundred bucks by putting up with a scratched lid.  (The screens are guaranteed to be in NEW condition)

    One problem with that is that Dell does not sell and has never sold the class of laptop that would be ideal for the original poster.  Dell goes exclusively with Intel processors in their laptops, and Intel graphics are a complete disaster, while having a discrete card brings problems of its own.

    -----

    Ah, so you're after a larger monitor and a higher resolution.  Fair enough.  You may need to turn the resolution back down for some games, but the extra pixels and inches will be nice for everything else except for carrying the laptop around.

    The Gateway laptop that you link is an interesting option, though you probably don't realize what it is.  It has Radeon HD 6540G2 graphics.  That means it has both Radeon HD 6520G integrated graphics and also a Radeon HD 6470M discrete card.  You should realize that the discrete card is actually slower than the integrated graphics, and offers perhaps 80% of the performance of the integrated graphics.

    For everything except gaming, you'll want to leave the discrete card off, and just use the integrated graphics.  The integrated graphics will have plenty of performance for everything else, and be the lowest power option available.

    For gaming, however, you'll have three options.  You could leave the discrete card off and use the integrated graphics.  You could shut down the integrated graphics and use the discrete card.  Or you could use both the integrated graphics and the discrete card simultaneously in "asynchronous crossfire".  Which of the three options will give you the best gaming performance will vary from one game to the next, and any of the three could easily be the best, for complicated reasons.  (Sometimes asyncrhonous crossfire simply doesn't work right, and if you're processor-bound, then shifting the graphics load entirely to a discrete card can allow for a aggressive CPU clocks and increase system performance that way.)

    AMD has Crossfire Application Profiles coming in Catalyst 12.1 (the version of drivers that will launch in January), which will probably let you tell the drivers to use the discrete card for this game, but not that game.  That will give you options that will sometimes increase your graphics performance substantially as compared to just the integrated graphics.

    It will require a bit of tinkering with each new game to find the optimal settings, however.  I'd probably try running any new game on the integrated graphics first, and then only trying other options if I think the game needs more performance.  If they all let you turn settings as high as you like (e.g., for older games), then the integrated graphics will be the lowest power option.  Still, updating drivers should get cleaner than the Acer you linked in the first post, since it's all AMD, rather than having to mix Intel and Nvidia drivers and hoping that they play nicely together.

    What I'd really prefer is an A8-3500M APU, no discrete card, and 1600 MHz DDR3 memory.  That would tend to get you better performance and probably not cost Gateway anything more to build.  But you can't get that, as laptop vendors are goofy in their configurations.

    For what it's worth, Acer and Gateway are actually the same company.  If you're willing to spend $550 , I'd probably go with the Gateway laptop you linked.

    Yeh didn't notice there was a discrete card in there as well, and if the new catalyst drivers take care of any problems I'm good. Will try to pick it up in the coming days. 

    Thanks for the help guys!

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    Right now, you'll probably already be able to turn the discrete card on and off as you like.  What the new feature will do is to let you tell it to use integrated graphics for this game, the discrete card for that game, and so forth.  Every time you run a game, the drivers will know what hardware configuration you want for that particular game, without you having to adjust it manually.

  • ClassicstarClassicstar Member UncommonPosts: 2,697


    Originally posted by Gabby-air
    Hi, just looking for some advice on a a new laptop that will be used mainly for small tasks but if possible can play some low end games if my main rig isn't available. I was able to find this laptop for the price I'm willing to spend and it has a nice resolution plus a dedicated graphics card. 
    http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-17-laptop-featuring-intel-core-i3-370m-as7739g-6647-grey-as7739g-6647/10180303.aspx?path=763225ec75b0f78d49ab58eed9c57d57en02
    If that one isn't a good deal, please link some other laptops for me to look at. 

    More and more webbrowser games are avaible(cloud) so dont worry about playing games on a crappy laptop not that im saying yours is but you know what i mean:)

    Onlive maybe?

    Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!

    MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
    CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
    GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
    MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
    PSU:Corsair AX1200i
    OS:Windows 10 64bit

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