As an Amazon associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!                               
×

Best PC Game Deals


Best PC Game Deals, See All the Deals »
Top deals | New deals  
 All countries United States United Kingdom Canada Germany France Spain Italy Australia Netherlands Japan Mexico
Spore (PC)
$19.99
 
Dishonored (PC)
$10.08
 
The Baby-sitters Club: 3rd Grade Learning Adventures (PC)
$23.90
 
Prey 2 (PC)
$19.11
 
The Sims 3: Master Suite Stuff (PC)
$17.39
 
Sid Meier's Civilization V (PC)
$29.99
 
Ghostwire (PC)
$20.74
 
Redfall (PC)
$69.99
 
Persona 5 Royal (PC)
$39.99
 
What's your next favorite movie?
Join our movie community to find out


Image from: Life of Pi (2012)

Go Back   Blu-ray Forum > Gaming > Gaming General Discussion > PC Gaming
Register FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-16-2018, 07:18 PM   #1
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default Looking for a Gaming Laptop

I won't have space for a proper PC for about 2-3 years so I thought I would go the gaming laptop route since my current laptop is about 5 years old running on an old i3-3217 CPU which is just not cutting it anymore, it's time for an upgrade.

99% of my gaming is done on Console given the lack of PC. So I'm probably not going to be using the Laptop for my AAA gaming needs every day. It will sort of be a stepping stone for me to access PC gaming for the first time in pretty much 15 years!

Based on budget I'm looking at around £1000 I could go up a couple hundred if the cost to benefit ratio was worth it.

I know I'm going to be looking at the lower end of the gaming laptop market at that price, but I have seen a few with the GTX1060 for around the £1000 mark.

I'm wondering though if the advantage of a 1060 is worth the extra couple hundred over the 1050ti when you consider I'll be playing on a 15-17" screen. Looking at banchmarks, the 1050 ti was able to hit around 44fps in BF1 1080p Max Settings, vs 73fps with the 1060.

On such a small screen couldn't I just drop the graphics settings to achieve a better framerate whilst not really noticing much of a drop in graphics in part to the small screen?

As for CPU I'm leaning towards the i5 more so than the i7 which I think for my needs at the moment will be pretty much overkill, and I'm guessing jumping from a 5 year old i3 to an i5 will be a pretty noticeable difference anyway?

I've also noticed that one of the laptops have a G-Sync displays. I take it that the 1050 ti and the 1060 both support this? Looking at specs most of the laptops don't seem to mention anything about G-Sync so would I be better off with it or without it?

Lots of questions I know but any advice would be appreciated.

Here are a some of the options I have available to me https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming...-criteria.html

I was leaning towards this one https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...82908-pdt.html
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-16-2018, 07:37 PM   #2
dyne dyne is offline
Blu-ray Baron
 
dyne's Avatar
 
Feb 2011
77
508
7
Default

G-Sync negates the need to use V-Sync during gaming, which can give a performance boost. Basically it syncs the refresh of the monitor to the gpu so there's no screen tearing. I have a G-Sync monitor for my PC and it's really great.
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
Mavrick (08-16-2018), Wingman1977 (12-11-2018)
Old 08-20-2018, 07:03 AM   #3
Suntory_Times Suntory_Times is offline
Blu-ray Champion
 
Suntory_Times's Avatar
 
Mar 2008
The Grid
16
23
Default

I'd wait a little longer for the new gpu's to be out.
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2018, 10:31 AM   #4
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dyne View Post
Personally I would get the bigger screen and smaller drive. You could always get an external for games you’ve already finished but don’t want to delete.
I decided on the bigger screen. But when I went to order it had already sold out. Which might be a stroke of good luck.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Suntory_Times View Post
I'd wait a little longer for the new gpu's to be out.
As I just saw after it had sold out some new GPUs were getting ready to be revealed this week.

What would you recommend ST?
  Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2018, 02:47 PM   #5
Suntory_Times Suntory_Times is offline
Blu-ray Champion
 
Suntory_Times's Avatar
 
Mar 2008
The Grid
16
23
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavrick View Post
I decided on the bigger screen. But when I went to order it had already sold out. Which might be a stroke of good luck.



As I just saw after it had sold out some new GPUs were getting ready to be revealed this week.

What would you recommend ST?
We really don't know enough about the new cards yet, so i'd just patiently wait for them to come out. But if your looking at a 17" screen, i'd just aim for 1080p (unless you intend to connect it to a uhd/4k tv), i'd be inclined to likely say the 2060/more mid range laptop will probably be more then enough for the next few years. This is speculation as we don't have all the details on the new gpu's yet (and in the next 2ish years we may see a large jump in system requirements for games as new consoles likely release), so ultimately I feel it is best to wait it out for a little longer and see where all the cards fall. Then when the new gpu's are out, decide

Also even with gysnc/freesync you still don't want your frame rates dipping into the 40's. In terms of current cards and with the reality that some games are poorly optimised games I really think the 1060 is the minimum gpu to go for, if you want a quality experience. 30fps is all fine and well on consoles or when playing with a controller, but I can't stand it with a m+k, which you will need to use in competitive shooters like bf4. With that said the 2060 will likely closely match the 1070 though, and I would wait even if it is a few months for the new gpus to release and then start looking into what is a good fit for you.

As for the games you mentioned that are free, they either all go for very little, or aren't exactly great. Good cheap games are easy to be had on pc, especially if you don't need them day 1. More exactly, prioritise the machine itself over any packaged in games as being happy with the laptop is more important then a game or two (or even more when talking about older releases).
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
Mavrick (08-20-2018)
Old 02-20-2019, 11:10 AM   #6
KcMsterpce KcMsterpce is online now
Blu-ray Samurai
 
KcMsterpce's Avatar
 
May 2011
Germany
168
700
Default

Congrats on a great gaming laptop choice!
Maybe get Anthem as your free game.
I have played every BF game and spent thousands of hours on them. BFV was free for me, and I still only put 4 hours into it. Played another 30+ hours on BF1 since I got it, too.
*Shrug* Maybe just ask yourself which game style you prefer, and choose that game. Both will certainly give you plenty of eye candy with the RTX 2070!

I don't think I'll be upgrading my laptop with the current-gen GPUs and might wait about another year, but the MSI that you have is one of my top three options. What gets me most is the THREE M.2 PCIe slots. I have so many NVme drives laying around now, that I could easily fill those up with my own drives, and have a lot of storage space haha

I love G-Sync. My current MSI that I am typing with right now is 144Hz but no G-Sync. There is a difference, especially with wide dips in fps. I personally don't consider battery life to be an OPTION with a gaming laptop. That's a kind of silly concept for me. When reviews make it a "con" that a super powerful performer has bad battery life, I don't get why it should even be considered a negative. I would put in "pro" if it happened to be significantly MORE long-lasting than other gaming laptops with the same specs. Otherwise, it would not factor into my review.

But I digress... if I really think battery life is something I want to extend, then I force disable G-Sync and make the laptop run entirely on the CPU graphics. Boom.
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2019, 11:23 AM   #7
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by KcMsterpce View Post
Congrats on a great gaming laptop choice!
Maybe get Anthem as your free game.
I have played every BF game and spent thousands of hours on them. BFV was free for me, and I still only put 4 hours into it. Played another 30+ hours on BF1 since I got it, too.
*Shrug* Maybe just ask yourself which game style you prefer, and choose that game. Both will certainly give you plenty of eye candy with the RTX 2070!

I don't think I'll be upgrading my laptop with the current-gen GPUs and might wait about another year, but the MSI that you have is one of my top three options. What gets me most is the THREE M.2 PCIe slots. I have so many NVme drives laying around now, that I could easily fill those up with my own drives, and have a lot of storage space haha

I love G-Sync. My current MSI that I am typing with right now is 144Hz but no G-Sync. There is a difference, especially with wide dips in fps. I personally don't consider battery life to be an OPTION with a gaming laptop. That's a kind of silly concept for me. When reviews make it a "con" that a super powerful performer has bad battery life, I don't get why it should even be considered a negative. I would put in "pro" if it happened to be significantly MORE long-lasting than other gaming laptops with the same specs.
But I digress... if I really think battery life is something I want to extend, then I force disable G-Sync and make the laptop run entirely on the CPU graphics. Boom.
If I had already had a GTX laptop I certainly wouldn't have bothered with the RTX lines thus year. It's only because I'm a first time adopter that I went for the RTX.

It certainly is great having 3 M.2 slots. I'm tempted to get a 1tb 970 evo but I feel like there could be a price drop on them below £200 In the next few months. So I'll make what I have last for now.

As for the battery life it wasn't really a concern for me, I was all set on having a laptop with it, but it just turns out that it's not an option for the GS75, at least not yet. Maybe in a few months we will see some more options but having a laptop last upwards of 6 hours on battery for everyday use is a nice bonus. Obviously when gaming I'd be plugged in anyway.

I think for the first generation these Mobile rtx cards are ok. Based on the benchmark results it was putting it around 1070ti and 1080. How accurate those results are I'm not sure but it is what it is.

I just need to finish setting it up today, spent hours yesterday installing steam and origin etc as well as finilding all my favourite programs I use and reinstalling them all. It's my first time with Win 10 as well coming from win 8.1 so it's a bit of a learning curve but it's not too bad.
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2019, 01:17 PM   #8
KcMsterpce KcMsterpce is online now
Blu-ray Samurai
 
KcMsterpce's Avatar
 
May 2011
Germany
168
700
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavrick View Post
As for the battery life it wasn't really a concern for me, I was all set on having a laptop with it, but it just turns out that it's not an option for the GS75, at least not yet. Maybe in a few months we will see some more options but having a laptop last upwards of 6 hours on battery for everyday use is a nice bonus. Obviously when gaming I'd be plugged in anyway.
What I was implying is:
- Reviews account for battery life with the dedicated GPU enabled, and G-Sync turned on. Then, they say "battery life is terrible compared to the 20+ hours life of this [laptop that is basically the same power draw and performance/requirement of a cell phone]" and proclaim it to be a "con".
- Second, it would be great if they did two things that takes five minutes: Disable G-Sync in Nvidia Control Panel. In Win10 Power Options, force integrated GPU on battery.
That would be a more fair comparison, and something worth discussing in laptop reviews if you really think people care enough about gaming/POWER laptops' battery life.

Because, like you said, if you want battery longevity, you would not be expected to realistically be gaming on it. You would be using the same way as the low power draw, lower performance laptop that has the super-long battery life. A more fair comparison.
Heck, to even further extend the life, make Power Option settings that limit CPU performance to 40%, and so on...
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2019, 01:46 PM   #9
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by KcMsterpce View Post
What I was implying is:
- Reviews account for battery life with the dedicated GPU enabled, and G-Sync turned on. Then, they say "battery life is terrible compared to the 20+ hours life of this [laptop that is basically the same power draw and performance/requirement of a cell phone]" and proclaim it to be a "con".
- Second, it would be great if they did two things that takes five minutes: Disable G-Sync in Nvidia Control Panel. In Win10 Power Options, force integrated GPU on battery.
That would be a more fair comparison, and something worth discussing in laptop reviews if you really think people care enough about gaming/POWER laptops' battery life.

Because, like you said, if you want battery longevity, you would not be expected to realistically be gaming on it. You would be using the same way as the low power draw, lower performance laptop that has the super-long battery life. A more fair comparison.
Heck, to even further extend the life, make Power Option settings that limit CPU performance to 40%, and so on...
Indeed, they could go in to more detail in their battery tests. I've read a lot of laptop reviews over the past 6 months or so and it's one area that they hardly go in to in any detail. They usually just tell you what video file they are using and what screen brightness they set it to and if they have put it in to airplane mode then they tell you how long the battery lasted whilst it was on loop.

I think the main people that would really care about battery life are students who are going to be stuck in class and are using the laptop for work as well as play.

There was one brand this year, I forget which one it was but they were using AI to switch G-Sync off when it wasn't needed to extend battery life which seems like a pretty simple solution that I'm surprised hasn't really been made a standard across the board already.
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2019, 05:16 PM   #10
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Just found out I got a free copy of Black Ops IIII, I just registered the laptop on the MSI site and it was there under Relative Promotions next to my product. It was an Intel offer, I hadn't even seen anything advertising it but I'm glad I saw it.

Had to go through hoops uploading pictures of invoice and barcodes, then it sent me to Intel, where I had to answer a survey then it sent me to log in to Call of Duty site, then I had to link my Battle.net account.

Pretty great that you get two free AAA games.

There is also an off for $15 free Steam credit for leaving reviews on Websites. I don't think I can be bothered with that, can I even use $ on my UK£ steam account?
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2019, 05:54 PM   #11
KcMsterpce KcMsterpce is online now
Blu-ray Samurai
 
KcMsterpce's Avatar
 
May 2011
Germany
168
700
Default

Congrats on the free swag as well!
I don't know how review credits for Steam works at all. I registered my MSI when I got it last February (wow, a year already?!), but I didn't look at anything after MSI said "congratulations you are registered!" I do remember I had to scan my receipt, put in a couple different barcodes, and jump through a few more hoops to get it done.

As for using $ (I think you mean US dollars) on a UKE Steam account (UK based)... I think it wouldn't be a problem at all. You'll just get what Steam's transfer rate is from their bank the day you deposit it. I think Steam is one of the better websites for adjusting to people in locations not related to their account location/affiliation.
However, it can be confusing setting up the user options/preferences to get it all to work.

Either way... USD deposits are most likely transferable.
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2019, 11:01 PM   #12
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Seem to have hit a bit of a snag with Geforce Experience, it started an update and it ended up with a BSOD...



When it restarted Gerforce Experience tries to open but all I get is a blank page with index.html at the top...



It automatically reopens every time I close it. The icon in my tray says there is an update available but I'm not able to fetch it since something screwed up during the previous attempt. Any ideas?
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2019, 10:58 AM   #13
KcMsterpce KcMsterpce is online now
Blu-ray Samurai
 
KcMsterpce's Avatar
 
May 2011
Germany
168
700
Default

Before I go investigating into the BSoD codes and checking other methods of fixing it, I would just roll back to a previous driver version, and do a completely new/fresh install:

First, disable Geforce Experience from opening on startup. You can do this by opening Task Manager, (CTRL+ALT+DEL then select "Task Manager", or right-click on the bottom windows menu bar on desktop in an empty area, then select "Task Manager", OR press Windows Key+X and select it in the shortcut menu), click "More Details".
On the "Startup" tab, look for GeForce Experience, left-click it and select "Disable" on the bottom right of the window.
Reboot

Now, continue to this:

Download the previous Nvidia driver, or even one before that.
Uninstall GeForce Experience in Win10 Applications (Windows Key+X, "Apps and Features").
Reboot.
Install ver 418.81 or whatever it is (I know the current one is 418.91 and it came out within the past week. Use any update before that one), and choose the complete install, not the update/shorter version.

Maybe that will help.

Sometimes, a new driver update can be wonky with specific hardware combinations.

Last edited by KcMsterpce; 02-22-2019 at 11:09 AM.
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
Mavrick (02-22-2019)
Old 02-22-2019, 03:16 PM   #14
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Thanks for that.

I had to uninstall Geforce Experience completely and do a fresh install of v3.17.0.126. That sorted out the issue of it not opening.

It did start to download the latest driver you mentioned I paused it though since it was about 1am by that point. So I'll try it again later.

If it does it again I guess I'll just quit using it and manually download new drivers.

It was interesting though that there seems to be quite a few people with the RTX laptops that have had the same error in the past couple days...

https://forums.geforce.com/default/t...blue-screen/2/
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
KcMsterpce (02-23-2019)
Old 02-23-2019, 01:43 AM   #15
KcMsterpce KcMsterpce is online now
Blu-ray Samurai
 
KcMsterpce's Avatar
 
May 2011
Germany
168
700
Default

It makes sense that the new RTX laptops are having common issues. Most likely due to Nvidia's need to troubleshoot fixes after gathering glitches/conflicts from a wide release.

A brand new driver just got released (419.17). I would recommend giving it a go.

Also, if there's no reason for you to USE GeForce, why not just keep it uninstalled?
For me, the only reason I keep mine is because I use ShadowPlay. Otherwise, I'd be happier not having it installed at all.
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
Mavrick (02-23-2019)
Old 02-23-2019, 10:36 AM   #16
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by KcMsterpce View Post
It makes sense that the new RTX laptops are having common issues. Most likely due to Nvidia's need to troubleshoot fixes after gathering glitches/conflicts from a wide release.

A brand new driver just got released (419.17). I would recommend giving it a go.

Also, if there's no reason for you to USE GeForce, why not just keep it uninstalled?
For me, the only reason I keep mine is because I use ShadowPlay. Otherwise, I'd be happier not having it installed at all.
Good point, I'll take another look at it and see if there is anything that I do actually have a use for, if not I might just keep it uninstalled.

I'll take a look at the new driver update too, I read that the previous driver as causing game crashes in Apex Legends so I wonder if they fixed that with this release.
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
KcMsterpce (02-23-2019)
Old 02-24-2019, 11:09 PM   #17
Mavrick Mavrick is offline
Gaming Moderator
 
Mavrick's Avatar
 
Dec 2008
Wales
121
62
813
1
5
1
Default

Started up GeForce Experience again and got another BSOD. This time though it loaded up correctly after restarting and installed the latest driver update and haven't had any issues since.

  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
KcMsterpce (02-25-2019)
Old 06-18-2020, 04:09 PM   #18
Batman90 Batman90 is offline
Blu-ray Ninja
 
Batman90's Avatar
 
Aug 2017
Gotham City
850
1619
13
20
1
Default

I need help finding a very good gaming laptop that will play games like Age of Empires 2 definitive edition at max settings with no issues and other games like that. And has at least 1TB hard drive.

Last edited by Batman90; 06-18-2020 at 04:25 PM.
  Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2020, 04:29 PM   #19
Bigdog Bigdog is offline
Blu-ray Ninja
 
Bigdog's Avatar
 
Aug 2007
14
1
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Batman90 View Post
I need help finding a very good gaming laptop that will play games like Age of Empires 2 definitive edition at max settings with no issues and other games like that. And has at least 1TB hard drive.
Depends on what your looking to spend, but imo the most important piece other then the processor is it having a nicer stand alone graphics card.
  Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2020, 02:59 PM   #20
LexInHD LexInHD is offline
Blu-ray Samurai
 
Oct 2010
226
Default

It will be 6-10 years before RT becomes a normalized thing in the game industry. Implementing it across the board on all GPUs is simply too expensive and difficult with today's hardware and software limitations. Once we have systems with GPUs using the next-gen semi-conductor processes that increase efficiency and large amounts of HBM and full PCIe NVME storage, backed by high-density high-speed DDR5/DDR6, the raw bandwidth will be there for 4K gaming with RT and HDR, on stunning microLED gaming monitors and UHDTVs.
  Reply With Quote
Reply
Go Back   Blu-ray Forum > Gaming > Gaming General Discussion > PC Gaming



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:10 AM.