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Gaming Laptop Between $600-800
Truvidien88
Member UncommonPosts: 462
in Hardware
Greetings!
I’m looking to buy a laptop for my girlfriend and I’ve given myself a budget anywhere between $600-800 for it. I asked her what her requirements are for it and she just wants it for League of Legends and World of Warcraft. It doesn’t have to play on the highest settings but would prefer if she could hit at least medium.
Looking to order something from Amazon since I have prime for it.
Thanks!
I had someone recommend me this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Q54GSR/ref=psdc_13896615011_t4_B071JPYP1Z
I was wondering if I could get a second opinion for it? It's on sale right now so I'm debating if I should grab it now or wait til another time.
I’m looking to buy a laptop for my girlfriend and I’ve given myself a budget anywhere between $600-800 for it. I asked her what her requirements are for it and she just wants it for League of Legends and World of Warcraft. It doesn’t have to play on the highest settings but would prefer if she could hit at least medium.
Looking to order something from Amazon since I have prime for it.
Thanks!
I had someone recommend me this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Q54GSR/ref=psdc_13896615011_t4_B071JPYP1Z
I was wondering if I could get a second opinion for it? It's on sale right now so I'm debating if I should grab it now or wait til another time.
Comments
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000DM006/dp/B01IEKG402/ref=sr_1_14?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1520778556&sr=1-14&keywords=2.5+hard+drive+7200+rpm
Looks like it. In fact, looks like that model can accept a second drive (the SSD is probably a M2 or mSATA and installed on the motherboard).
If that isn't the case, I can understand needing more storage, but I couldn't fathom willingly downgrading from an SSD (which it appears to ship with) to a HDD. The performance difference will be staggering (maybe not in terms of FPS, but in terms of pretty much everything else). Instead I would look to add external storage to it.
Besides, you're not going to fit a 3.5" hard drive into a laptop. I realize that the link says you searched for 2.5" hard drives and Amazon gave you a 3.5" one, but Amazon's search function basically doesn't work.
Intel NVME form factor SSD and room for a 2.5" SSD/HDD. They offer a 1TB 5400 rpm HDD in the given model number.
The primary difference between the two models will probably be the keyboard layout and it's electronics and differences in RF interference and hazardous material use.
$6-800 is not gaming laptop budget. It's mid-range productivity laptop budget.
You aren't even in the market for a gaming laptop if that's all you can budget towards it - unless you're specifically looking for second-hand machines.
You're better off getting a desktop, instead.
A GTX 1050 (not Ti) runs WoW at almost max settings, with FPS to spare, on a laptop. I know people who play on those machines, and they actually cap their Foreground FPS to 60 to reduce heat and noise on their laptops. This is not an issue.
FFXIV will run on High Settings on a GTX 1050 (not Ti), and that game is considerably more demanding than WoW.
ESO will run at High Settings on a GTX 1050 (not Ti), and you're getting like 80-100 FPS outside of cities (open world, instances, etc.).
GW2 runs at High Settings on a GTX 1050 (not Ti).
BDO runs Medium-High Settings on a GTX 1050 (not Ti).
A GTX 1050 Ti will max half of those games easily, unless your CPU is underpowered.
I tested a lot of games on a Laptop specced with that GPU, and it was totally viable at 1080p for most MMORPG games. That being said, it was paired with an i7-7700HQ CPU, not an i5. It wasn't a $6-800 machine. It was a $1,2-300 machine.
The key to using a GPU like a 1050 or 1050 Ti, even a 1060, IMO, is to respect what they're designed for. They're designed for games being run at 1080p. No, you won't get great performance running at 2k and they aren't even usable at 4k. But at 1080p, they run very well.
Also, use GeForce Experience and let it optimize your games. Then, go into settings and turn the shadows down a bit.
For casual or budget gamers, 1050/1050 Ti is totally fine. Most people understand that if they pay a cheaper price for a machine, they will get lower performance. If they are buying to play specifically certain games, then they can go to YouTube and simply see how that CPU/GPU combination performs. People have uploaded videos of almost every combination, and I did a lot of this before buying a gaming laptop.
You probably should shoot for replacing a gaming laptop at least every 2 years, due to the fact that you cannot upgrade the CPU or GPU in it, so by the time it really becomes an issue, you'll likely be replacing it, anyways.
A bigger issue is not the 1050 or 1050Ti.
It's the fact that you're not going to get nearly as good a CPU in a $6-800 machine as you would in a $1,200-1,400 machine. That weaker CPU is likely to bottleneck you a lot more than the 1050[Ti].
The OP wants something to play LoL and WoW. Discussions about "what kind of performance" you will get out of something lilke a 1050 are completely out of place in this thread. The 1050 almost maxes out WoW, and plays LoL on Ultra-Everything without breaking a sweat. The 1050 Ti is probably 15% more powerful than the 1050, so it isn't even something that should be discussed.
The biggest issue with a laptop that cheap isn't the GPU, but likely the CPU and definitely the hardware quality.
You aren't going to get those nice Matte 1080p 300+ nit IPS screens with ridiculous viewing angles you get on ASUS' Budget (but more expensive) gaming laptops on a machine this cheap. You're going to get a fugly TN panel. The KB/Touch Pad, Speakers, Port Selection is likely to be worse. You may not get a really good WiFi/Ethernet Card in it. You may not get extra slots for RAM, NVMe SSD, etc. in it. You also want something that's usable for productivity (not gaming) > 6 hours off the charger.
All of this is a big deal, since you can't just upgrade this stuff in a laptop. You really have to spec a gaming laptop for something you'll feel "very comfortable" playing on for 2 years. On a PC, you can skimp and upgrade over those 2 years. This is impossible on a laptop.
If more storage is needed consider a) an external hard drive b) network attached storage c) cloud storage.
Aloha Mr Hand !
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
@Quizzical ; Someone told me I should get it so she can browse around all the videos she wants of animals that's why I was considering it. But if it comes already with enough space I won't look into it.
@Darksworm Trust me I've pitched the desktop multiple times but she wants a laptop.
A link to the article: https://img.purch.com/r/700x450/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmJlc3RvZm1pY3JvLmNvbS9ILzEvNjIyNjkzL29yaWdpbmFsL2Rvb20tZnIucG5n
***ADDED AS AN EDIT***
This laptop is a bit out of your price range, but not too bad at $849, but it is a pretty good machine.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834316295
***ANOTHER EDIT***
Damn, it looks like they already sold out...
The world is going to the dogs, which is just how I planned it!
There are tons of decent options in that price range from ASUS (ROG), Dell, HP (Omen), etc.
You can probably save some money by getting something with an AMD CPU and RX 460. That won't perform as well as the Intel CPU/Nvidia GPU combo (notably: once you get out of Vulcan and get to DirectX), but it will still be more than adequate (but it is going to run a bit warmer).
For what she wants to do, she really is looking for a budget gaming PC. She is in the market for cheap entry-level gaming laptops with budget dGPUs.
You really shouldn't even be worrying about anything better than a 1050 or 1050Ti for her, IMO.
Secondly, why do you and other people always respond like this? He is looking for a laptop, if he wanted a suggestion on a desktop he would of added that. If I ask advice on buying a car are you going to try to convince me to buy a motorcycle or boat?
I got a ROG "republic of gamer's laptop a couple years ago,it is a pretty good one.having said that ,your laptop there is not great but at that price it is a very good buy.
Geesh a quality gpu in Canada is up around that price alone.Now that i5 is sort of weak,the TI is sort of weak,there is no longevity out of that machine other than playing low end games like FFXI or Wow or moba's/arpg's/TCG's but not happening for FFXIV,at least not without a struggle.
Going back and reading again,you say LOL and WOW,so yeah it will work fine.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.