It's seems there's always a lot of people asking "Will this laptop run wow?" or "What's a good laptop for WoW under X dollars?" so I figured I'd take the time to come up with a list of laptops from various price ranges and screen sizes that should give the best performance-price ratio.
First of all, I'll say right now that I do whatever I can to stay away from HP and Dell computers and will not recommend either of them. I work with both on a daily basis they're constantly having hardware problems.
All prices for the US. Sorry, I don't know retailers in other countries very well =/
$1500-1300
17" Listing: ASUS G73JW
$1,449
Arguably the best performing laptop on the list. ASUS has a great record for reliability too. Very good cooling for a laptop and a 1920x1080 screen.
-Screen size: 17" at 1920x1080
-RAM: 8GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 500GB at 7200 RPM
-CPU: Core I7 740QM 1.7Ghz (Quad core)
-GPU: NVIDIA GTX 460M W/ 1.5GB GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220834
15" Listing: MSI GX660R
$1,399
I've always had good experiences with MSI products, so I'm giving the 15" suggestion in this price range to them
-Screen size: 15"
-RAM: 6GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 640GB at 7200 RPM
-CPU: Core I7 740QM 1.7Ghz (Quad core)
-GPU: ATI HD5870M W/ 1GB GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152211
$1299-1000
17" Listing: MSI GX740
$1,199
This one is out of stock at Newegg at the moment, so I'll include an entry for an alternative too.
-Screen size: 17" at 1680x1050
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 320GB at 7200 RPM
-CPU: Core I5 450M 2.4Ghz (Dual core)
-GPU: ATI HD5870M W/ 1GB GDDR5
This is the laptop that I own currently and I've been rather impressed with it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152206
Alternative 17": ASUS N71JQ
$1,249
While it doesn't have quite as good a video card as the GX740, it has a bit stronger CPU and is still a solid option
-Screen size: 17" at 1600x900
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 640GB at 5400 RPM
-CPU: Core I7 720QM 1.6Ghz (Quad core)
-GPU: ATI HD5730 W/ 1GB GDDR3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220889
15" Listing: ASUS G53JW
$1,199
-Screen size: 15" at 1920x1080
1920x1080 is a bit cramped on a 15" screen in my opinion, but it's still the best 15" in the price range
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 500GB at 7200 RPM
-CPU: Core I7 740QM at 1.73Ghz
-GPU: NVIDIA GTX 460M W/ 1.5 GB GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220921
$999-750
17" Listing: ASUS N73JQ
$999
-Screen size: 17" at 1600x900
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 500GB at 7200RPM
-CPU: Core I7 740QM 1.7Ghz (Quad core)
-GPU: NVIDIA GT 425M
Not the strongest GPU around, but it's plenty for WoW http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220870
15" Listing: Lenovo IdeaPad Y560
$924
-Screen size: 15" at 1366x768
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 320GB at 5400 RPM
-CPU: Core I5 450M 2.4Ghz (Dual core)
-GPU: ATI HD5730M W/ 1GB GDDR3
I dislike this one because of it's low resolution, but it has decent hardware. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146779
$749-500
This is where performance really starts to dive
-Screen size: 14" at 1366x768
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Hard Drive: 500GB at 5400 RPM
-CPU: Phenom II N850 2.2Ghz (Triple core)
-GPU: ATI HD4250M IGP
Easily the weakest option here, but that's to be expected given the price and size. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214032
$499 and below
No matter what, you're not going to get decent performance in this price range unless you get extremely lucky on a refurbished or used laptop. Above all else, I would recommend saving up for something worthwhile, but if you absolutely cannot wait I'll provide one suggestion.
Recent Blue Posts
Dragonflight Season 4 Content Update Notes
Dragonflight Season 4 Content Update Notes
Best Villain in the History of WoW
MMO-Champion
Recent Forum Posts
Reply With Quote
