Question Best gaming laptop around $625 or less?

[NightHawkRMX]

Hello, I am looking for a good windows laptop for a relative going into college.

Uses: Games like warthunder, wot, and fallout 4 + general web browsing and youtube playback. Typing word documents aswell.

Budget: $625 ish.

He wants a dedicated gpu, and it would be nice if it was better than his current 960 2gb.

Cpu should be a quad core at minimum and would be nice to be better than his current fx6300.

He would want an SSD with room to expand. (Brownie points for a free 2.5 in bay)

An optical drive is needed for his classes, although he could use an external drive.

I have been looking at this: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-n...ate-drive-shale-black/6212602.p?skuId=6212602
I already have purchased this for a different relative and love its performance, but im not sure if a better deal can be had.
This laptop has:
I5 8300h
GTX 1050ti
Intel 660p NVMe 256gb
1080p ips panel.
Backlit keyboard.
No optical drive, but a free 2.5in bay.
$580.

Got it for $600 for black friday last year for another relative.

 

[Lutfij]

Cross referencing the model number with the www, the unit you're looking at although it comes with an SSD that is PCIe based, you can add a 2.5" form factor drive which means your relative has the option of adding a mechanical drive down the road.

Further reading, here and a video:

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Yes indeed it does have a 660p m.2 drive. I have used that 2.5in bay in the other laptop before when my ssd needed reformatted. That laptop also has a spare ram slot to expand up to 16gb.

He was thinking about throwing his current ssd in the system along with the NVMe boot drive.
I believe he has a 250gb Crucial MX300 or something.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Just wandering if you know of any better performance for that budget.

 

[Sagar_20]

I don't think there is anything better for that budget. May be Asus FX504, with 4 GB GTX 1050 Ti

Relatively lighter, anti dust cooling for extended lifespan and 20 M keys durability.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I have heard about throttling and quality issues with the fx504. Are these anything to worry about.

 

[Sagar_20]

I'm not so sure, people have had mixed kind of experiences.

Not very long ago, it's 6 GB GTX 1060 model was ~700$ on amazon.

 

[reppin]

I have heard about throttling and quality issues with the fx504. Are these anything to worry about.

The Nitro 5 throttles as well.
Take a look at the Dell G3 and Asus TUF FX505, if any of these two suit your bill, bag 'em.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Some nitro 5s have had issues with an insufficient tim.
However, the identical i5+1050ti one i got for my relative doesnt throttle at all. Cinebench run after run the cpu doesnt get above high 70s and still turbos to 4ghz. Even in forza it doesnt throttle.

 

[reppin]

Some nitro 5s have had issues with an insufficient tim.
However, the identical i5+1050ti one i got for my relative doesnt throttle at all. Cinebench run after run the cpu doesnt get above high 70s and still turbos to 4ghz. Even in forza it doesnt throttle.

Interesting, can I see benchmarks? AIDA and Heaven?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Nope. The laptop is hours away right now.
Ill test it the next time that relative has it.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Update!

Ended up buying an ASUS FX505 for $599 from best buy.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-f...lid-state-drive-black/6338249.p?skuId=6338249
Ryzen 5 3550H 4c8T
Vega 8
GTX 1050 2gb
8gb DDR4
256gb NVME (660p?)
15.6 in1080p ips

GTX 1050 is on the weaker side, but he really wanted an ssd and good quality. I think he also wanted a Ryzen CPU since i keep nagging him about having an fx desktop since i have Ryzen, even though the competiting i5 8300h is very simmilar if not better than the Ryzen 5 3550H.

Im wandering what chipset the motherboard is. Some sort of mobile b450 perhaps? Also i wander how the vega igpu will affect battery life.
Might not have a 2.5in bay.
I didnt see the ram speed on this laptop either, and i know that matters a lot for the igpu and ryzen cpu.