Looking to get a gaming laptop.

[Zazey]

Hi guys and girls, I'm looking to get a new laptop for gaming while I don't have access to my desktop and I need some help. That being said, here's my situation:

Budget: $700-950 (I am willing to sacrifice minor upgrades to save a couple bucks.)
Games I play: WoW, Hearthstone, Dota2, Path of Exile

Size doesn't necessarily matter to me. I'm hoping to be able to get something with an i7, for almost no particular reason other than "I want it", if not it isn't going to kill me. I do however want at least 8gb ram. My wish is to try and see where I can get a deal on a good GPU i7 combo, but I know that's a big stretch. As I said above, I have a desktop that's solid so this is more for when I'm away.

Look forward to seeing what some of you think/suggest, and thanks in advance!!

[shaw0050]

One with an i5 and stronger GPU (I'd recommend this): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834317539

And one with an i7 and a weaker GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-668-_-Product

[Zazey]

One with an i5 and stronger GPU (I'd recommend this): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834317539

And one with an i7 and a weaker GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-668-_-Product

What kind of difference would I be seeing performance wise between the higher gpu + i5 or the weaker gpu + i7? Marginal? if so can I get an example? Only reason I ask is because I haven't used an i7 before so Im not actually sure what changes.

[shaw0050]

According to this article (http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/i5...-test-gt-850m/), the difference between the i5 and i7 does not come into play when you reach the inevitable GPU bottleneck that comes with mid range laptop GPUs. However, it's said that WoW is more CPU dependent, so in WoW alone the i7 might run faster, but I believe the difference would be pretty marginal. In everything else though, the i5 + stronger GPU would actually perform better.

[Zazey]

Thanks, I appreciate the quick and knowledgeable response, I will most likely go with the i5.

[Vermicious]

No such thing.

Very constructive comment. Thanks for your valuable insight.

[Denpepe]

Most mobile i5's are dual core like the one you linked while the i7's are quad cores (unlike their desktop counterparts) so for laptops you may want to go for an i7 and something with an GTXx60M (800 or 900 series of GPU) or higher nvidia GPU or amd equivalent if you want decent performance.

I think if you are in the states you may look at Sager laptops as they seem to be good price/quality wise or ASUS and MSI are good too but they tend to be more expensive

[Saxtorph]

What kind of difference would I be seeing performance wise between the higher gpu + i5 or the weaker gpu + i7? Marginal? if so can I get an example? Only reason I ask is because I haven't used an i7 before so Im not actually sure what changes.

Do you want a gaming laptop or a laptop that you can play a few games on? If it's the former you want the highest end discreet GPU that you can afford. Just about any modern CPU is not going to end up being a bottleneck for any modern game.

Asus makes some very competitive models and are well regarded.

[Deleted]

More often than not the GPU will be your bottle neck on a budget gaming laptop. Personally I would go for an i5 with a better GPU than an i7 with a weaker GPU. That said MSI do some very reasonably priced laptops that have can potentially tick both boxes: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NNQDZRI/..._t3_B00IQ4G8U8

Ideally you would want a 860 GPU but that is probably slightly out of your price range.

[Zazey]

Do you want a gaming laptop or a laptop that you can play a few games on? If it's the former you want the highest end discreet GPU that you can afford. Just about any modern CPU is not going to end up being a bottleneck for any modern game.

Asus makes some very competitive models and are well regarded.

More of a laptop you CAN play games on. The only games I would play on my laptop were the ones listed, and that would be occasionally. Im upgrading from my Alienware Mx14 that I got a couple years ago that's been terrible since the start, it can barely play any games on low with more than 15 fps.

[Vermicious]

Im upgrading from my Alienware Mx14 that I got a couple years ago that's been terrible since the start, it can barely play any games on low with more than 15 fps.

Why is that? It seems like it should be adequate? Does it need to be reformatted?