Haswell gaming and multimedia laptop, budget = 1300 - 1500 EUR

[Deleted]

My current laptop is nearly 4 years old and I'm looking to buy a new one. Since Intel released their new Haswell processors, which are much more efficient than the previous generation, I'd think it'd be foolish to not take one of those.

To be clear: I already have a desktop PC, but I'd like something I can use mobile as well. I'm going to buy a new laptop this year and a new desktop in 2 years.

I have a 1300-1500 EUR budget (my previous laptop cost 1300, and my mother wants to buy my current laptop for 200). I'm looking for a midrange system, something that can run newer games at 60 FPS with settings set to high or very high. I'll be using my PC mouse and my current headset, so I dont need any peripherals. My country is Belgium.

edit:

I'm not really that interested in gaming on the laptop without power. I'm mainly going to game plugged in, in hotel rooms and apartments. However, I might want to watch a DVD or a on-disk video which I downloaded from YouTube on battery power, which I understand will not be as taxing for my battery.

[Deleted]

The problem with gaming laptops is that most of them have a very poor mobility due to extremely low battery life.

Also I am pretty sure that it will take up to half a year minimum till there ia range of haswell laptops that match your needs.
For now I'd suggest you to stick with an ivy bridge cpu since you won't be able to cap that cpu anyway.

So in short a laptop that runs newer games on full graphics with 60 fps will have such a low battery life that you always need a power source near (30 mins battery life, no joke)

[vesseblah]

There's only a handful of Haswell laptops out yet, no full ranges. Come back in few months and there might be actually some options to choose from.

For example a local store here in Finland has Haswell-based ROG laptop available, but Asus websites don't list any Haswell laptops yet.

So in short a laptop that runs newer games on full graphics with 60 fps will have such a low battery life that you always need a power source near (30 mins battery life, no joke)

60-90min closer to truth, but yes, battery life is shitty with high end gaming laptops.

[Deleted]

Since it's a laptop, I'd just recommend to keep an eye out on advertising papers and wait till there is a good offer with rebate and then go for a brand like Asus, Lenovo, MSI, maybe HP as well... if you already new what processor you'll be looking for you can discriminate easier between them... some of those big chains that buy them home sell them at almost no profit just to get customers into the store... wait till you can get like 20-25% off the price and buy from a generally good brand and then you'll probably get the best bang for your buck... since you'll be using it for gaming, get one with the best GFX card u can get... u might have to wait 1-2 months till some of the big stores in your country offers one... but I'd say that would get you the best laptop for your money as en end-consumer...

Since most laptops are finished out of the production phase and little will be changed or upgraded in them, you wont get much benefit from trying to select special parts imo online f.ex. at some manufacturer or even from buying a laptop for it's "normal" price. Best to wait for the big chains to buy a load home that they advertise as a good offer and buy one there with the best GFX card u can get (and the specific CPU u want) from a brand you feel like you can trust somewhat. The stores won't be making much off you compared to other situations like tailor-making something or selling it at normal price. . Can't compete with a big chain store buying a load of laptops home and advertising it as something to draw customers in and attention to the shop . If the laptop breaks, the laptop will be send to the manufacturer anyways and all major brands have their own support system and own technicians. So you won't get much support benefit from buying it directly from a manufacturer or at some local shop (where you'll pay over-price) imo.

Laptops are really more of an assembly line product and is designed, shipped, advertised and sold and then the same for the next laptop, which is also why it's often almost pointless to buy a repair for a cheap laptop if you break it out of warranty, because it will be a little outdated and it will cost a ton to repair often, because many of the parts are integrated or need a specific type of product (can't just go cheap on something to save money). One should really see a laptop as a finished product and as one that will be the same in 2-3 years. Also why it's so beneficial to buy one that is designed, shipped and advertised right off... ensures you get the newest technology with hopefully the best effectiveness.

[Deleted]

The problem with gaming laptops is that most of them have a very poor mobility due to extremely low battery life.

Also I am pretty sure that it will take up to half a year minimum till there ia range of haswell laptops that match your needs.
For now I'd suggest you to stick with an ivy bridge cpu since you won't be able to cap that cpu anyway.

So in short a laptop that runs newer games on full graphics with 60 fps will have such a low battery life that you always need a power source near (30 mins battery life, no joke)

I'm not really that interested in gaming on the laptop without power. I'm mainly going to game plugged in, in hotel rooms and apartments. However, I might want to watch a DVD or a on-disk video which I downloaded from YouTube on battery power, which I understand will not be as taxing for my battery.

I'll add this info to the OP.

[Fluorescent0]

Look at MSI GT60-2OC (or GT70-2OC, same specs but 17,3'' instead of 15,6''). Don't know where you're from so I can't really link you to a website I know you can order from. If you want to get a 780M instead of a 770M there's also the GT60-2OD at 2k$, which is about 1525€.

[Majesticii]

Battery life on multimedia tasks might be a tad bit better with a Nvidia optimus (intel HD-series) laptop?

[vesseblah]

at 2k$, which is about 1525€.

Sadly it doesn't work that way. After all taxes and shit $2000 in computer parts from Newegg or Amazon equals to roughly 2200€.

Battery life on multimedia tasks might be a tad bit better with a Nvidia optimus (intel HD-series) laptop?

Sure is. And Haswell should help even more with lower power use for the CPU.

[Deleted]

Look, here's the deal, I know I won't be able to game on my battery. but just watching a dvd should not cost too much GPU power right? I think that could even be handled by the CPU alone, but not sure about that. Are there yet Haswell laptops which support dynamic underclocking or even disabling of the GPU based on the load?

[yurano]

Look, here's the deal, I know I won't be able to game on my battery. but just watching a dvd should not cost too much GPU power right? I think that could even be handled by the CPU alone, but not sure about that. Are there yet Haswell laptops which support dynamic underclocking or even disabling of the GPU based on the load?

Maybe.

Video decompression usually takes place on the GPU. On my 5 year old laptop with a dedicated graphics card, the system load while watching a .avi or .mkv on MPC-HC is about 10-15% CPU and 5% GPU.

[Deleted]

Well, all laptops throttle up and down in CPU use in relation to what the comp is doing... GPU is only gonna require power for what it's being used for and viewing a movie wouldn't be all that much. On any GPU, integrated or not, but it of course cost more power (gpu use) than browsing websites.

Your adapter will have some limit as to what it will be delivering to the laptop and no matter what your laptop will never use more than that... if you're just browsing, your comp throttles CPU usage down, so it doesn't use much... ofc, there might be some higher general power usage from components that use more power idk... but like the c2d generation lowered the power usage just because of the technology (I think it was c2d hehe ).

Also just to reiterate what I wrote earlier, it's almost pointless to go for a specific laptop other than if one wants a specific brand or specific utilities or features of the core components and their technology, because even if some setup might be 5-10% better performance for your exact setup, it could be blown out of the water by something on a sale where you save 20-25% (which in theory would buy you a laptop that would be 20-25% more expensive otherwise and therefore perhaps translate into some similar performance increase).

Like, if there's a bunch of gaming laptop for sale for 1K USD (they can't be much gaming at that point, but anyways), and a laptop that comes up with a normal price of 1200 USD for sale for 1K that has a good graphics card and it is new technology, you can almost bet that its performance it will at least be among the few top performers of the "1K" price group, just because you're getting better (and regurlarly more expensive) hardware at a cheaper cost. Just today I saw a laptop that was slashed 35% (okay, they don't come very often, but if you got time to wait, it's much better cost/benefit wise) where normal price was 967 USD converted and rebate price was 703 USD... nothing at the 703 USD price range without rebate had any chance of beating it... only something on rebate could compete. Irregardless of what specific, similar hardware configurations, you just can't buy 35% (ie.) more performance by choosing a different GPU or CPU combination at the same price range... the biggest rebate with the newest technology wins... of course if you're going for gaming, the conventional wisdom is get a good GFX card and if you like a good finish on a laptop and want some credibility of a brand, then go with one of those who has been around for a long time and is well-respected for making good laptops.

F.ex. the laptop that was slashed 35% (they don't come every month, but if you keep looking, they will very likely come in the big chain stores, electronic or not) was a Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 I think it was called... it's specs was i5, GT635M 2GB, 8GB Ram IIrc... for 703 USD dollars... nothing at that price range will compare because the chain of production all the way to selling it can't make a similar performance at that price range... unless some part takes a profit hit... and that's where it is good to buy a laptop imo.

That's also what I think about your price range and a part about selecting something specific to go for and buying a laptop at a regular price... well.. you can... but you won't be getting more performance for that reason compared to other options... if one can wait there's much more reward to be rept in the laptop sortiment...

Like imo, you should just decide some brands you will buy from (ie. leave those out you won't choose from), keep checking the advertisement papers and whenever something pops up with a good rebate, a good gaming card and a brand you will buy from, then buy that.

Also at that price range, you will be at the very high end of laptops (don't know how much it converts to in buying power in Belgium, but all the laptops will have a good CPU and good GPU and so on, just because the hardware costs associated with such an expensive laptop don't allow for low range stuff and rarely mid range stuff). Really at 1300-1500 EUR, at least where I live, you can't even buy a mid-range laptop fresh off the shelves, because mid-range will be cheaper than that. If you spend 1300-1500 EUR, you will certainly walk home with a high-range machine. For brands, Lenovo, Dell, MSI, Asus has pretty good reputation, I think, for general and gaming use... Acer, HP, don't know, I think HP is ok, but not so much a fan... Toshiba, I won't buy but it's just individual... really, at that price point, you should either just pick some specific components you're going for (haswell is a start whatever that is ) and see what else you can get for the price and select a few brands you'd like or wait for rebate on some machine.

You can't buy a mid-range laptop that isn't outdated, overpriced or sold used for 1300-1500 EUR in my country at least... any shop that sell that will be competed right out of selling them... don't know how it is in your country... but you will regardless be maneuvering in the higher range of performance, utilities, finish and so on... also, just to re-iterate, there isn't much point in buying a laptop in any case from a specific store in general, because all warranty service on it go directly to the manufacturer and their local departments in your country, so no matter where you buy it, it will get the same service and support. Always out of shop.


In general, you should expect higher power usage from the high-end machines (that more often also has a 17" screen instead of 15", which also costs more power in normal usage), it's not really something you can avoid if you're using it for gaming and you have a high-end machines. All power usage though is capped by whatever the AC adapter is able to deliver and that is pretty standard and pretty similar fo the different brands. It won't be using its max all the time though, as they throttle up and down in usage and associated power cost, so not much you can do there, except get a screen that doesn't use as much power (don't know which use more or less) and get a battery with more capacity.

You will always be doing a trade-off in things, so you'll probably be more interested in getting things that are good in what you're gonna use it for and weak in what you're not gonna use it for.