(Gaming) Laptop Recommendations Please

Post by **SPYDOR** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:11 pm

Had some food, done a bit more searching and I've managed to find an absolute beast!

Acer Aspire E1-571 <- link to one of the best prices on eBuyer.com
Core i7 3632QM (7,084) - 4GB RAM (upto 8GB) - Intel HD4000

This would definitely be my first choice, the CPU is MILES more powerful than the other ones available, which is always handy for gaming (and bragging rights too!) As mentioned above, these Aspire laptops come highly rated.

(added this to my original post for comparison)

Shiny · Post by **Shiny** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:22 pm

So how would the Acer with the i7 and integrated GPU realistically compare to the HP i5 with a dedicated GPU, gaming wise?

Post by **indigolemon** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:26 pm

It's the processor that takes up the slack if the graphics can't hack it, so having an i7 (top end processor) in there should make it comparable if not better!

Post by **SPYDOR** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:30 pm

The Core i7 will be much faster for running Minecraft and most strategy games for example, as they do more number-crunching, whereas a dedicated GPU allows higher fidelity graphics in games like Skyrim and a lot of the 1st person shooters.

The CPU still runs the games and audio (unless using a dedicated card again), the better GPUs will be able to deal with more effects. To be honest, you wouldn't see the full benefit of a powerful GPU on these laptops unless you have a higher resolution screen anyway (1600x900 or 1920x1080 for example) or if he plays on a full-HD screen TV using an HDMI cable. As he is limited to 1366x768 he will be able to notch up some of the other graphical niceties in Skyrim without too much of a hit on performance.

Shiny · Post by **Shiny** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:38 pm

Right then, he's going on about the i5 2.6 (to 3.2 turbo boost thingy) being better for gaming than an i7 with a 2.2 as the processor can calculate faster. The i7 2.2 is better for multitasking because it can do a larger number of calculations at any one time, but can't calculate as quickly as the i5. Is that right?

He pretty much likes the HP spec, but i'm a little worried now about the reliability issues.

Post by **SPYDOR** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:51 pm

In terms of the processors, the i7 is FAR more powerful and faster. The clock speed is higher on the i5 but its doing less work per cycle if that makes sense. The i7 also has turbo boost but don't worry about that, its basically better in every single way (apart from power consumption!)

You can show your son this great comparison site if he wants to see for himself: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-3 ... e-i5-3230M

I agree the HP has more balanced specs and I know of a few people using them without any problems, just wouldn't go for one myself. At the end of the day, let him see them in somewhere like PC World and choose what he likes best after weighing up all the advice. If he prefers to have a dedicated GPU then you can lean more towards that in your decisions.

Post by **SPYDOR** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:59 pm

PS. I custom built my own laptop recently and it has a Core i7 3630QM @ 2.4Ghz CPU. I can testify it is VERY fast at everything I do, including some pretty demanding games and a spot of Minecraft now and then!

Basically the more cores you have the easier you system can run several programs at once, like virus scanning, browsing the Internet, listening to music and playing games at the same time as most of the youngsters seem to do nowadays!

Post by **Donald** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:25 pm

Let's not forget that multi video tab & Facebook holiday pic pépé touching sessions.

Shiny · Post by **Shiny** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 10:13 am

Can i bung these two on pcworld refurb in to the pot for comments and consideration...

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-n ... 2-pdt.html

Bigger screen but white (probably not wise for a 13 years old boy!)

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-n ... 5-pdt.html

Post by **SPYDOR** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 10:50 am

Both of these are really good options. Sony Vaio's are a great make. Solid processors, good graphics cards (scores 728 on the PassMark benchmarks) and plenty of RAM. I would opt for the 17in model if he doesn't mind the extra weight, as the screen resolution is also higher so it will be much better for gaming.

If he is going to be carrying it about an awful lot then perhaps the 15in would be a better choice but ultimately they are both a very good balance of power in the CPU/GPU balancing act.