halp me plz

[Higuy]

Hey guys, for christmas time i've decided one thing i do truly wish I had again was a laptop. Now you could say "get a desktop" yadada but I already have one thats pretty powerful, and now that im going to be spending alot more time at college next semester, especially on game design, I'd like something to use while there.

I'd like not to go over a 1000 dollars on this, 600 - 800 is my sweet spot...

Specifically, here are some specs I know should be good for me:

at least 500gb HDD
4gb RAM mininum.
i5 - i7 core processor.

I've been looking at some refurbished asus models that all have good reviews - but I need to know, what will run something like UDK or cryengine at decent settings and be able to do stuff like photoshop/3ds as well, and also be able to play those kind of games. what kind of graphics card should I be looking at for within that kind of range? Nvidia seems to have some nice mobile graphics, correct me if im wrong.

For example, here is two I found that I liked.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230791

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231238

I personally like the second one a bit more, although it isn't as powerful.

Any help on this, considering I have nearly 0 experience with laptops (my last two were HP pieces of shit that I sold) would be awesome.

[ODX]

Ah laptop time. Of course, and you remember this probably, you can always scan through my thread from a few months ago (http://www.modacity.net/forums/showthread.php?25213-I-m-Going-to-College!-Laptop-Time!-(HAAAAAAAALP)) as my price range was the same really and the criteria relatively near what you wish for as well. Given, I wanted 14-15 and you've listed a 17 there.

Lenovo always runs great deals on their superb laptops, take a look at these few. I thought about them but the battery life just wasn't there for me personally for some (or the battery life was, but the model [u410] had wifi issues).
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y410p/

O (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y410p/)therwise, they look exceptionally good and if you don't like the options then perhaps sharing your opinions why would help us all further.

In terms of graphics, I'm on an i5-4200 (HD 4400) and it...runs games, somewhat. I can play RAGE very well, Dishonored runs decently [barely] with settings cranked low and the res dropped. I haven't tried any other Unreal games so I can't say for sure. I've yet to try, and I probably won't, in putting Crysis on this computer.
So what you'd want to do is look for probably anything with an HD 5000 (higher cost normally), or something like a GT 720 and up? I'm sure paired with an i7 things should work relatively well also.

[Dwood]

I know that you want one for christmas, etc etc.... but perhaps with the advent of DDR4 (http://www.crucial.com/promo/DDR4.aspx) you may wish to wait.

[Zeph]

I've shut down plenty of Mac users demanding Cryengine SDK support for OSX.
That 660M is about as strong as a 9800 GTX or 450 GTS.
Cryengine minimum requirement is an 8800GTX, but that's pretty out of date and will give you bare minimum quality and choppy fps on their current sample level. The only reason they haven't changed the min spec is because you can still make a game on that spec that just wont look like anything new.

I'm with ODX. Pick up a Lenovo while it's on sale. That one within your price range with a 1600x900 screen would be alright.
I wouldn't bother waiting for DDR4 on laptops. The new spec will only really shine with a quality GPU and mobile GPUs are horribly behind compared to desktop solutions.

[Patrickssj6]

RAM speed is overrated, capacity and less energy is interesting though.

[Warsaw]

I also vote Lenovo.

ODX, I find it amusing that you can play RAGE very well. It tells me that the game is heavily CPU and HDD-bound. Does it look any good at the settings you are playing with?

[ODX]

RAGE is just really well optimized, perhaps it is heavily CPU though. I've experienced no issues with the game at all playing it at 720p or so (though it looks perfectly sharp). Beautiful game. Temps go up to maybe 60-65C when playing, compared to 70C for AC2 or 55C for Bastion. Just throwing out random games I can think about. Temps normally run around 46-48C.

Edit: Judge for yourself.
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245279405/49D775E3E1BD278788730B0BB46C6D55B8EE4C56/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245291277/879D93C130FF408B9601536B63FC7ACFA097A164/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245288442/CBE67DE396B5B2D426DC02D80E706DCAA0BA5D0D/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245287670/242A1F551F41FA54BA184AA4962700E79FA6F9A2/
http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245287045/0F205A9B4CD5647B1F8C87611B88C21B2FB69378/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245286337/40F5BBFB5D8D4CEEF84D554A18F259A55B802DE0/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245285350/05278400E4815F9E9CFB3BB2C9A3A7519C012991/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245283489/6A5A4FB0AF90C8406AFF8EF8C46D614DE969F1A7/
http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245282274/F55B1F6B46823018C88B804A87B9AF5B5E284596/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245280926/A8057F3EEAA66F64A47092661E357CD7AD3754E2/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245284422/BAD6C12274B59D5E7DD2AB68468F6F94FB28CEAF/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245276872/A1FD113928E43062114848EB3B65181FCD47F78C/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245275451/8E4CCD0F00D879F4593CE833964989420E4DE6DB/
http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245274783/6E3DD518D48375803B8B5FEF7A02B557A4462B71/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245273981/FF82F0EF943392021BE9E45E0DE779D7D4E4FA0F/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245273221/4E0CE94E5F1AC9D6BE31D5CBD09D6A4D8E9E6AB3/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245272485/D972CF742C0788DF182A61DBB26E88E0F33AA410/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245271708/AD27925B5A4157AE2E27EAA65B9AD05AED9EE7AF/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245270944/BFD0B4D93CFB17CE89EE54E5467E224A74644753/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245269911/4876789878132456946941344B1264012317AA92/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245270427/F90C6F6DAC60B24744221BC9C42B8C439D369956/
http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245268373/9DEEE8363D4E419576BFB5221B8B5DA18534F814/
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/705107300245269238/814176A1C9434E81806CCDAC5CF2D4C945871FB6/
In reality I could bump up the textures since some are muddy, but I like to keep my CPU as cool as possible and in motion everything still looks amazing. Remember it's running at a very high frame rate too, 30+ or so.

[Btcc22]

Remember it's running at a very high frame rate too, 30+ or so.

What's your idea of low FPS? :p

[Warsaw]

Damn, looks fantastic for running on integrated. I'd wager that's because most of RAGE's detail is in textures and performed by some cheap tricks, but it kind of reminds us why John Carmack is so lauded as an engine programmer.

[Higuy]

Yeah, I've looked at some stuff on RAGE's design also, its extremely well optimized. Alot of the exterior areas look immensely detailed but only happen to be about a couple textures and some modular assets. Quite amazing stuff.

ODX, the 800$ Lenovo laptop you linked is absolutely fantastic, I'm really considering getting that one. Great price, great specs, how long would that deal last though?

[ODX]

I remember Lenovo had those "weekly deals" for a few weeks or so back when I was buying a laptop, and with Black Friday coming up soon I'm sure they will last or other ones will show up as well.


What's your idea of low FPS? :pGuess I should've just said higher FPS, instead of very high. Although my estimate of 30+ is probably lowballing it even, I've yet to actually run FRAPS or something to show me an FPS. Low to me is 20 and below where you notice it. 30 and above is general high for me.

[Warsaw]

Yeah, I've looked at some stuff on RAGE's design also, its extremely well optimized. Alot of the exterior areas look immensely detailed but only happen to be about a couple textures and some modular assets. Quite amazing stuff.

ODX, the 800$ Lenovo laptop you linked is absolutely fantastic, I'm really considering getting that one. Great price, great specs, how long would that deal last though?

That deal has been on all year, essentially. Also consider its bigger brother, the Y510p. You get even more bang for your buck with that one. If you go with the Y410p, I would consider it worth the extra $50 to get the model sporting the 1600x900 display.

[Higuy]

Yes, I also agree on the extra 50 dollars :). I will probably be getting that model (as long as its the same price around/after Christmas), as I don't really want to spend much else, and those specs are also very nice.

[chrisk123999]

I bought a refurbished Asus laptop off Newegg, been working great and runs any game I throw at it. It's similar to the first link you have in the first post.

Edit: This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230454)is the one I got, specs are about the same, but the one you linked looks better.

[Ki11a_FTW]

I remember Lenovo had those "weekly deals" for a few weeks or so back when I was buying a laptop, and with Black Friday coming up soon I'm sure they will last or other ones will show up as well.

Guess I should've just said higher FPS, instead of very high. Although my estimate of 30+ is probably lowballing it even, I've yet to actually run FRAPS or something to show me an FPS. Low to me is 20 and below where you notice it. 30 and above is general high for me.

Agreed, after having some terrible PC's, 300 FPS on some games fucks with my controls so i lock most of my games at 30 or 60. I have Halo and a few others locked at 30.

[Higuy]

Well guys my laptop is on its way! I ended up getting the smaller screen res just becuase I waited too long... kinda kicking myself (that one went up almost 250$!! just for the screen res), but its not that big of a deal to me. The pc specs is till pretty awesome (Thinkpad y410p).

Lenovo is pretty wierd with shipping though honestly. When I first ordered it yesterday, it said it wouldn't ship until December 20th... but then it shipped today and now UPS is saying it shipped via 2-day air. I was complaining at first, now im loving it, but also a bit confused considering I did free standard shipping lol... Anyways, thanks for the recommendation ODX, this looks like a really awesome laptop and I can't wait to start using it.

[ODX]

It's $250 more because it was also packing a Haswell i7-4700.
Feel free to kick yourself more for not getting it earlier, haha. Glad I could help though, hope the laptop turns out to be as good as it looked.

Wait jk which one did you get? The first one that's showing up for $730? Cause that one's got the i7+8GB RAM+1TB HDD, which I'm hoping is the one you bought then and only didn't get that 1600x900 res is all.

Gosh that's really shitty organization there.

[Higuy]

Yeah thats the one I got. Suprised they charged tax as well, almost 800 dollars. And yeah, the organization is really shitty. For example, the one thats like 750~ or so costs less normally than the 730 and also has worse hardware/stuff in it (500gb harddrive, 6gb ram, etc), yet they charge more for it in this sale... okay lenovo lol.

[ODX]

Alright good, glad you didn't screw that up. Tell us how it is once it arrives and all that.

[Higuy]

Got my laptop yesterday, writing currently from it... This thing is a really sexy beast. I did have a few issues with it though that I have managed to take care of.

Picture of it:

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2830/4lv4.jpg
(When I was installing Windows 7 last night)

First and foremost, it all really started with Windows 8.

So, soon as I got it, I set it all up for Win 8 and quickly realized how terrible the OS really is and soon as I got some time last night I pulled out the Windows 7 disk I have and attempted to reinstall, but alas, no luck. It took a couple hours messing around in Bios until I was finally able to get it to boot into the disk and manage to get past the "Windows Starting" (Actually getting to this step in the first place was a challenge). Once I finally managed to get Win 7 finally installed I also had trouble with the graphics card being detected properly, but I managed to fix it by disabling and re-enabling the onboard Intel graphics.

Needless to say, I was able to keep the LENOVO backup partition on the drive without having to fully wipe the HDD during the whole process, so installing all the drivers was pretty easy and quite nice.

Once I finally got everything working this morning, I installed both the Haven benchmark and Skyrim on it, both of which I was able to run on Ultra High Quality settings that seems to run around 30 fps locked, which quite honestly, is quite nice, and very suprsing for a laptop. They have come a very long way since my last one it seems, lol. The computer really is a beast, and I really am still so surprised since it's a laptop. Its perfect for what I want it for and was well worth the money it seems.

The keyboard is also one of the best things about it too I find. Besides from the obvious awesomeness from glowy red keys, the keyboard is really comfortable to use and type with, something I'll be doing quite often. The only thing is now some of the Fn keys do not work since I am not running windows 8, but the essential ones like brightness/volume etc work, just not the silly tile ones for Win8.

The heatsink on this thing is massive too, btw. Great for warming up cookies. But no actually, the laptop stays quite cool. While benchmarking on Haven, the gpu temp seemed to stay quite low in the 60 range and didnt pick up until 70 until the end.

I also got the model with a 1366 x 768 display, but tbh it looks quite fine and nice. Not really anything to complain about honestly.

Lastly, overall the laptop has pretty slick looking design. Besides from the already talked about keyboard, the touchpad is pretty nice, it comes with an HD camera for things like skype, usb 3.0 (and a usb that is always on, great for charging phones and stuff!), hdmi and VGA input, ethernet, mic/headphone jacks, and an ultrabay. I'm not totally sure about this but I believe you can take the ultrabay out and put another compatible graphics card in, which could be quite handy in the future. The top and bottom are covered in this cool carbon fiber looking plastic design that is also nice and smooth, and the bottom has these quite large rubber feet to keep it from sliding. The laptops screen however, has nothing really keeping it from hitting the keyboard area, although the keyboard is kind of lowered down in so it wont hit. Dunno if that will be a problem or not, but I don't think it will be. The speakers are also Dolby speakers it seems and they are quite nice as well for what I'll ever use them for.

Verdict: Awesome/10. Definitely a great buy, and seems it will last quite a while. Can't wait to really start using this sweet piece of machinery.

[Warsaw]

Nobody beats Lenovo for laptop keyboards. That's a tradition they inherited from IBM when they purchased their PC-manufacturing business. The Thinkpads are even better, and they have that awesome trackpoint nub.

[Donut]

I'm surprised the drivers worked for win7. Maybe I've just had bad luck, but I've had trouble with drivers the couple of times I have tried to wipe a laptop that comes with win8 and put win7 on it. I imagine that would only get harder as time goes on and newer hardware is produced with only drivers for win8. I guess it's worth noting that every time I've wiped a win8 laptop it's been for virus related reasons. Because of that I wipe out everything entirely, so I lose any drivers included on a separate partition. Moving it down to win7 is usually the owner being like "Oh and fuck that tile thing. Give me 7 pls"

[Higuy]

Yeah, Iwas a bit worried about that too, I made sure that the drivers on the computer had win7 versions (they did), and that others were able to do it as well.

[ODX]

Whelp, glad I was able to help.

Kinda angry I didn't get that one, it was probably on sale for around the same price back when I was getting my laptop. Oh well, my Acer is fairing me well. I especially like the battery life I've been getting. I never take my charger with me anywhere, even to the library for 4 hours or so I'm fine.

How's the Lenovo battery doing?

[Warsaw]

*Cue Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail*
I warned you!

[Cortexian]

Protip: Don't sit laptops on fluffly floors/beds/chairs. No ventiliation on the bottom means heat.

I know a girl that brought her laptop in for repair twice while I was working customer service at my workplace (about 3 1/2 month span). We determined it's because she kept it turned on sitting on her bed 24/7 and it kept over heating.

[Warsaw]

Some laptops don't have vents on the bottom. The Y410p appears to be one such notebook.

[ODX]

My personal setup is to use a cooling pad, mainly when I'm charging though and at my desk playing a game or just doing whatever. I never leave the charger in when it's fully charged and not in use either since that can heat it up. It killed my brother's motherboard once even a few years ago, albeit he also had a Vista laptop.

Otherwise, out and about I lift it up a bit to let air flow under when working (using a notebook or something). So far my laptop has been working just fine.

[Higuy]

Actually the y410p does have 2 vents on the bottom of them. But the main one is really on the side where that huge heatsink is at. I've been using it alot while sitting in bed and it stays pretty cool, even when playing games.

[ODX]

Could you tell us some temps? CPU, GPU, motherboard, etc.

Mine at idle are normally 48-50 or so, I'm wondering how other laptops run. Especially one like yours. I use some program called Speccy to see my stuff, it's a relatively simple program. I pin it to my taskbar even to always watch my temps. Sometimes iTunes is a bitch and runs 3 background processes for the iPhone which runs the CPU up to 75% and I need to close that shit.

Edit: Speak of the fucking devil it's doing it again. "Disnoted, device helper, mobile helper" were all running and run my temps up 10 fucking degrees. Closing that shit, yo. Terminated.

[Higuy]

I'll have to dl it and run it and see. Same with the battery life like you were talking about... although I think I can get upwards of 5 hours on "high performance" when using it.

[Warsaw]

Actually the y410p does have 2 vents on the bottom of them. But the main one is really on the side where that huge heatsink is at. I've been using it alot while sitting in bed and it stays pretty cool, even when playing games.

It was really hard to tell from Lenovo's pictures. Just looked like a styling thing.