1. #1

    Getting new laptop for WoW, specs needed?

    I have forever been a desktop user and will stay a desktop user for life but my job requires me to travel around a bit during the day and would like to hop in the library during my break and get some serious WoW hours in.

    MY QUESTION, what specs do I need in for a good gaming laptop? Brand / model? I imagine i7 and 8-16GB ram, but what graphics card should I be looking into? And clock speed for the i7? And any other things that I am overlooking plz help!

    I most likely will be buying off Newegg so any links would be a great help, just not sure what I am looking for here. Thanks!

    Budget is $1,000-1600.

    I am pretty PC savvy as for what is needed for good "WoWing", and looking for a comparable experience to when I WoW on my PC. Running all setting at Ultra, and my PC setup is currently:
    - Phenom II x4 965BE
    - Corsair H60
    - 16GB Ripjaw ram
    - ASUS M5A97
    - Samsung 256 SSD
    - ATI Radeon HD 5770

    Thanks!
    Last edited by Auberdeen; 2013-02-11 at 05:02 PM.

  2. #2
    i5 or i7 3xxx, 8GB RAM, HD 78xxm or GTX 660m or higher.

  3. #3
    XOTICPC might be a better place to look for a gaming notebook. You have a good a mount of notebooks to choose from and you can customize them as well. Look at the MSI GT60, SAGER NP9150/9130.

    As a reference, a GTX 660M would offer similar performance to a 5770.
    Last edited by stalkerzzzz; 2013-02-11 at 05:20 PM.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152368 should work.
    making a custom one is also an option to get a dedicated ssd + hdd storage solution.
    where from in order to check what custom builder site we can use. (if you find the msi one lacking with a ssd)

  5. #5
    Don't get a Macbook Pro Retina, whatever you do... odd performance

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by risingforce View Post
    Don't get a Macbook Pro Retina, whatever you do... odd performance
    My gf uses her retina macbook to play WoW and it looks amazing and so flawless. What is happening that is odd?

  7. #7
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by risingforce View Post
    Don't get a Macbook Pro Retina, whatever you do... odd performance
    don't tell me you found out the hard way?

  8. #8
    If you're going to have the money to pay the premium, go get the Razor Blade, I'm sure that posting this here will get an amazing amount of flame and razor hate, but for a truly portable gaming solution, you really can't beat it (as in, weight + power + battery life) pretty pricey but the old model will run wow perfectly and isn't that pricey anymore

    Specs for the old one are a 17.3" 1080p screen, a 3.5ghz i7 dual core with hyper-threading, 550m (weakest part) and 8gb ram for $2k
    As I said, not a great price for the parts, but for the portability you really can't beat it, its pretty much the same as a macbook
    Last edited by Xs; 2013-02-11 at 06:44 PM.

  9. #9
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Xs View Post
    If you're going to have the money to pay the premium, go get the Razor Blade, I'm sure that posting this here will get an amazing amount of flame and razor hate, but for a truly portable gaming solution, you really can't beat it (as in, weight + power + battery life) pretty pricey but the old model will run wow perfectly and isn't that pricey anymore

    Specs for the old one are a 17.3" 1080p screen, a 3.5ghz i7 dual core with hyper-threading, 550m (weakest part) and 8gb ram for $2k
    As I said, not a great price for the parts, but for the portability you really can't beat it, its pretty much the same as a macbook
    by stating that your whole post actually became a paradox......
    dropping 2 grand on entry level hardware from a full generation ago makes no sense. (if money to burn get the meanest zenbook out there which are the ux51 series currently, still ultrabooks aren't for gaming and nor is a razer blade a lightweight laptop either with 2.3 Kg iirc)

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by shroudster View Post
    by stating that your whole post actually became a paradox......
    dropping 2 grand on entry level hardware from a full generation ago makes no sense. (if money to burn get the meanest zenbook out there which are the ux51 series currently, still ultrabooks aren't for gaming and nor is a razer blade a lightweight laptop either with 2.3 Kg iirc)
    like I said in original post, budget is around $1000-$1600.

  11. #11
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Auberdeen View Post
    like I said in original post, budget is around $1000-$1600.
    found a good one few posts back for 1299 so nice in the middle of the budget, the 2 grand figure was in regards to the above mentioned razer blade. (which is pretty much insanity in how to invest money in good hardware)

  12. #12
    Check out the higher end Lenovo Y580... They're only 15.6" (17" isn't very portable anyway, from experience).

    Believe it's Full HD, 3rd Gen i7, GTX 660 and a beautifully designed case.

  13. #13
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Sphexy View Post
    Check out the higher end Lenovo Y580... They're only 15.6" (17" isn't very portable anyway, from experience).

    Believe it's Full HD, 3rd Gen i7, GTX 660 and a beautifully designed case.
    best ones i can currently find are Y500's with a GT650M as the best card? care to link or are they from lenovo's official site?

  14. #14
    one main question to ask is how soon do you need it. Haswell chips are starting production, from what I understand, and that should change the face of laptop graphical performance and ultrabook type computers.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by shroudster View Post
    by stating that your whole post actually became a paradox......
    dropping 2 grand on entry level hardware from a full generation ago makes no sense. (if money to burn get the meanest zenbook out there which are the ux51 series currently, still ultrabooks aren't for gaming and nor is a razer blade a lightweight laptop either with 2.3 Kg iirc)
    Reference to the Macbook was merely for how well its optimized for portability, its by far the thinnest laptop you'll get in its class with the best battery life, and if you've ever had experience with a proper gaming laptop and a Macbook, the difference in portability is huge, which you're understandably paying for, but I already prefaced my post with that

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by shroudster View Post
    best ones i can currently find are Y500's with a GT650M as the best card? care to link or are they from lenovo's official site?
    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...4F5F5622D1AC7A

    All their Y580 models

  17. #17
    There is an excellent deal on the Lenovo Y500 now - you get a dual GPU configuration of GT 650M cards and an I5 + 1080p screen for 900$ (before tax and shipping). Usually I don't recommend a dual GPU solution, but according to benchmarks, it seems that the performance is quite good and reaches the GTX 670MX to 675MX levels in games that make a good use in SLI which are most of the new ones. I guess WoW will be too.

    Currently, I think this is the most cost effective laptop, along with the MSI GX60, but I'd go with the Y500 and buy some nice SSD.

    One thing though - battery performance is not good with 3-4 hours tops for even very low work loads

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by junky View Post
    There is an excellent deal on the Lenovo Y500 now - you get a dual GPU configuration of GT 650M cards and an I5 + 1080p screen for 900$ (before tax and shipping). Usually I don't recommend a dual GPU solution, but according to benchmarks, it seems that the performance is quite good and reaches the GTX 670MX to 675MX levels in games that make a good use in SLI which are most of the new ones. I guess WoW will be too.

    Currently, I think this is the most cost effective laptop, along with the MSI GX60, but I'd go with the Y500 and buy some nice SSD.

    One thing though - battery performance is not good with 3-4 hours tops for even very low work loads
    I actually just ordered a Y500, it's actually a 3rd Gen i7 now .

  19. #19
    You did the right thing! Some friend who just got it said that the cooling system was improved and the temps are actually very reasonable

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Xs View Post
    If you're going to have the money to pay the premium, go get the Razor Blade, I'm sure that posting this here will get an amazing amount of flame and razor hate, but for a truly portable gaming solution, you really can't beat it (as in, weight + power + battery life) pretty pricey but the old model will run wow perfectly and isn't that pricey anymore

    Specs for the old one are a 17.3" 1080p screen, a 3.5ghz i7 dual core with hyper-threading, 550m (weakest part) and 8gb ram for $2k
    As I said, not a great price for the parts, but for the portability you really can't beat it, its pretty much the same as a macbook
    oh thats bullshit. For the same money a blade is you could get a Sager or an MSI 15 inch laptop with an even higher end quad core i7, more than double the ram, a GTX680m (3-4 times as powerful as the 660m in the razer blade, and able to play BF3 at 30+ FPS on full ultra settings, 60 at high settings, its essentially a down clocked desktop 670), a longer warranty, better speakers, BETTER battery life, a larger hard drive (including way more SSD space) and coming in at about the same weight. Oh, and both those computers have optical drives. The blade, despite being 17 inches, doesn't lol.

    The only thing the Blade has to its advantage is an admittedly nice aluminum chassis, and thinness, but the fact its a 17 inch across machine knid of defeats the purpose of its supposed portability. with the other 2 laptops for the same price you triple the performance, around double the thickness, and shave 2 inches off the edges. A worthy tradeoff imo.
    Last edited by Defengar; 2013-02-15 at 12:42 AM.

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