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Resolved Question

Low-end gaming laptop tips

by Feb 20, 2015 3:36AM PST

Hi everyone. I'm more of a software geek than a hardware geek, so I need some tips. I'm looking to buy a low(ish)-end gaming laptop just for around the house and I'd like some quick tips on things that I might want to look for or avoid in a machine. Things like types of system or video ram to avoid, good and bad brands, that sort of thing. Thanks!

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RobinHood701 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
7 Posts
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Best Answer

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There are three options available according to the budget
by Mar 31, 2015 1:21PM PDT

I am not sure that how much you intend to take to order an machine, but for good cheap gaming laptops, I would like to offer three options which I think with great budget and performance.
1. MSI Computer Corp. GP70
Processor: Core i5-4200M OS: Windows 8.1
Graphics Card: NVIDIA Geforce GT840M RAM: 8 GB DDR3L
Hard Drive: 1 TB 5400RPM SATA ODD: DVD SuperMulti
Card Reader: SD card reader WIFI: 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN
Ports: 2-USB 3.0, 2-USB 2.0, 1-HDMI Screen Size: 17.3 Inch
It costs about 800 dollars.

2. Acer Aspire V3-572G-543S
Processor: Core i5 5200U 2.2 GHz OS: Windows 8.1
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 840M RAM: 8 GB DDR3L
Hard Drive: 1 TB 5400RPM SATA Graphics Ram: 2 GB
Card Reader: SD card reader WIFI: 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN
Ports: 1-USB 3.0, 2-USB 2.0, 1-HDMI Battery Life: Up to 7 Hours
Screen Size: 15.6 Inch
It costs about 600 dollars.

3. Dell Inspiron i3542-6666BK
Processor: Core i5 4210M 2.7 GHz OS: Windows 8.1
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics RAM: 8 GB DDR3 Memory
Hard Drive: 1000 GB 5400RPM SATA ODD: SuperMulti DVD burner
Card Reader: SD card reader WIFI: 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN
Audio: Wave MaxxAudio Ports: 1-USB 3.0, 2-USB 2.0, 1-HDMI
Battery Life: Up to 5 Hours Screen Size: 15.6 Inch
It costs no more than 500 dollars.

Just hope it is a little helpful.

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Thanks
by RobinHood701 Apr 1, 2015 2:38AM PDT

Thanks for the suggestions, but as I said above, I wasn't looking for specific recommendations, I was looking for general tips. Things like "you really want to go for an i7 instead of an i5" or "don't worry about an i7 as the performance isn't that much better than an i5".

In any event, it's too late now, as I'm typing this on the new laptop. Grin

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Answer
There are two thoughts on this.
by Forum moderator Feb 20, 2015 3:41AM PST
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Thanks
by RobinHood701 Feb 20, 2015 3:47AM PST

Thanks, but I'm not necessarily looking for specific recommendations and just things to look for/look out for when buying.

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It's low end so you would have to tell what matters to you.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 20, 2015 3:50AM PST

How low will you go? For my son I got an AMD A10 for cheap and while it games, the settings are usually set to low to medium..

Once in a while you find someone that expects play on Ultra settings on a 250 buck laptop.
Bob

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Good question
by RobinHood701 Feb 20, 2015 4:08AM PST

I don't know what's realistic, as the only laptops I've ever used before have been business laptops. For comparison, my desktop is an 8GB i5 with a 1GB GeForce 550 Ti, and I find that perfectly acceptable. As far as what I want to actually play, I'm looking at things like Skyrim, Diablo III, and Civilization 5. I'm not super picky about detail levels, so medium settings should be fine, I would think.

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Now that we can wrap some meat on it.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 20, 2015 4:17AM PST

Try this google search.

Notebookcheck 550m

You can get basic ideas about game performance from your laptop's GPU with this. So if you have one laptop with the 550 and a new one with the 710 you can get an idea if you are moving up or down.
Bob

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