Best laptop for gaming?

[Jcor50]

I decided a laptop would be nice and I need to know the best one for the price. I want to be able to play any game that comes out on it on max settings. I can save up for this when I get a job. Is alienware good? I have a gaming desktop but It's not that powerful. I want a laptop that I don't have to worry..... Then one more thing... are they hard to use without the usb mouse? Thanks

P.S I don't want to build
So pretty much the most powerful laptop. Not over 2000 dollars

 

[frank the tank]

Just thought I'd ask but if you plan on gaming it's much better to do it on a desktop you can get much better hardware for the money. Although if you are getting a gaming laptop for the reason of it being portable then there are toms of choices. Alienware makes nice laptops although they are quite pricey. I'd look into the ASUS ROG laptops and the MSI GT series for starters. Also check out Maingear. Digital Storm, and Sagar. From my experience gaming without a mouse using a trackpad is very frustrating but for day to day use (web browsing and office work) the trackpad is fine.

 

[Jcor50]

You see I have a desktop it's just that I can't even play gta 4, far cry 3, blood dragon, Battlefield 4 and pretty much every game. I can list the specs if you want. I might just get an xbox one in october. I just know that pc gaming is superior it just is too much money. Each game that comes out just I can't play it. I want a computer to be able to play on max settings on every game..... I just think I don't have the money for it. What do you think

 

[frank the tank]

Getting a desktop will be your best bet for PC gaming as you can get much better hardware for the price. If you don't want to build one I'd recommend getting a system from a boutique builder over getting one at a "big box" store. 2000 gets you a heck of a lot of desktop

 

[Tom Tancredi]

A) the costs for laptops is 2x that of Desktops for gaming so they
1) don't eat battery in 15 min
2) literally catch fire from the heat generated
3) dont' way 12-20lbs. Bad enough when one weighs 7lbs
B) There is NO way to 'FutureProof' "play any game that comes out on it on max settings". IF you want that get a CONSOLE. PCs are always pushed by each new generation of games.
C) There are plenty of Laptops out there for Gaming, but i would stick to the 'game makers' like those reviewed or advertised in CPU Magazine (http://www.computerpoweruser.com/DigitalEditions/Default.aspx or go to your logcal grocery store for a hard copy edition).

What I tell you today can be TOTALLY different 10 months from now when you 'have the money'. But if you get some idea on the 'parts inside' for one cost, as compared to another system you can weigh the values and find the best bang for the buck.

 

[Jcor50]

would it be easier for all of us if I just asked for a link to a desktop I can save up for for 2000$? To be honest I just realized how stupid of a question this is knowing that I don't have money yet. Not even close by the way. Do you think I should ask this question when I have the money? If so this question was my bad. I just want to play every game on the market with max settings no sweat at all. Thanks

 

[frank the tank]

I'd recommend you save up first. By October there might be releases of better components and our recommendations might change. It's ok some people are just curious. Better you ask now then make a decision you might regret.

 

[Tom Tancredi]

would it be easier for all of us if I just asked for a link to a desktop I can save up for for 2000$? To be honest I just realized how stupid of a question this is knowing that I don't have money yet. Not even close by the way. Do you think I should ask this question when I have the money? If so this question was my bad. I just want to play every game on the market with max settings no sweat at all. Thanks

Seriously, when you have the money for a system and go to purchase, the cost will still be staggering for the demand you want (Max settings for EVERY game on the market - aka futureproof) but still in 24 months you will be looking to replace the 'expensive parts' you bought because they won't be 'Max every game out there'. Numerous systems were 'Max' before Crysis came out, then they all fell to their knees, now we have BF4 doing the samething to systems with their demands, so people have to throttle back.

For a PRO GAMER level hardware, check CPU Magazine on the store shelf or their website for the PDF version. You will be more likely to hit that level your talking serious hardware and dedicated to that performance level. For example iBuyPower was the provider for all the systems for the Professional Gaming League http://blog.ibuypower.com/mlg/ . A Rig to meet your demand today could be this beast http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Erebus-XL-V3
It has all the memory, CPU, dual GPU, water cooling etc. that a Pro Gamer would put down for today to keep playing for the next 24 months of 'play every game on the market with max settings no sweat at all', starting at $5,829

Intel Core i7-4960X Processor
30% PowerDrive Overclocking
ASUS Sabertooth X79 MB
Custom Liquid Cooling (CPU + 2GPU)
2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3GB SLI
32GB DDR3-1600 Memory
120GB SSD + 2TB HDD
24X Dual Format DVDRW Combo
Wndows 8.1 + Office 365 Trial

 

[amalager]

I only have 2 brands for you to choose from: Alienware and ROG (Republic of Gamers). Both of them has good reviews so just pick whatever you like.

 

[cats_Paw]

I think the answers so far have carried little info:

First, I dont recommend Alienware. Ever. They are notorious for their issues.

ROG was the benchmark standard (ASUS in general was) but this was about 2-3 years ago. Now their systems are plagued by minor issues, most comonly overheating and hardware failure (thou the hardware failure is usually focused on fans, keyboard backlight and similar, not the expsneive parts like CPU, GPU or Display).

Anyone who tells you that "Laptops dont overheat" will 95% of the time quote a site that did some tests, totally forgeting that the tests are done in "lab" conditions. A fixed ambient temperature (usually 21 C), a brand new laptop that had no dust build up on its cooling system yet, and a relativly fresh thermal paste.

In "normal" conditions, I use a cooling pad, change the thermal paste every 6 months and in summer my laptop still bearly stays under 90 degrees C, sometimes peaking at 93.

So unless you are a Computer freak that loves toying with your electronics, Gaming laptops are a dissaster waiting to happen (funny enought, since gaming laptops have better coling, office laptops seem to die sooner).


Second, There is no such thing as future proof:

Future proof would have been to buy a i5-2500k when it came out, as the 3xxx and 4xxx intel generations were almost equal in performance, but dosent mean that in 3 months there wont be a new CPU or GPU that will smoke previous ones out of the water.

If there is one thing that does look promising as future proof goes is the fact that the next gen Consoles are not so powerfull, and many studios develop games first for consoles then port to PC. It would sugest that a good PC should give you a few years of good games.
This however also means that there will be less games developed with "best of the best" graphics and engines that are PCs strong point.

Third, If youdo decide to buy a laptop, dont go for the best you can for 2000 Euros, go for the best price to performance ratio considering your minimal expectations of the laptop itself.

Its far more probable that a 1500 Dollar laptop will last you 2 years than a 2000 dollar laptop lasting you 3 years.

This is because the amount of frames increased by the higher end GPUs and CPUs is proportionally small compared to how much more they cost.


http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-880M-SLI.109044.0.html

At this site you can check every GPU in a laptop and its performance in different games.
You will see that even behemonts like dual 780 in SLI cant play Company of heros 2 in ultra, and if you compare it to a 770M, you will see that only some games need to be lowered to High details to be playable.
Is it worth around 1200 dollars more?

Well, your call.

But if you really want ultra settings, and full HD, unfortunatelly its either overpay or going desktop.