Choosing an Ultrabook that can game

[severinsen70]

1. What is your budget?
$1500 CAD roughly.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13-14" no bigger

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1080p+ anything higher

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable, I currently have a 17.3" laptop which isn't good for the amount of travel I do during and outside work.

5. How much battery life do you need?
8+ Hours, the more the better

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Yes, Light gaming. As for settings I'm not too picky and am fine playing on medium or low for some more intensive games. Some titles I have on steam are; Batman Arkham City, COD AW, CS:GO and Source, Dying Light, Killing Floor 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Shadow of Mordor, Mad Max, Rocket League, League of Legends. I just want to be able to play as many of those as possible.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Some video editing (with GoPro footage), general use, media, while travelling etc.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
250gb+ I have a 2TB external drive so HDD capacity isn't a must for the time being, upgradeability would be a big plus.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Amazon.ca, Newegg.ca, TigerDirect.ca, Canadacomputers.ca
Not worried about the website too much as long as they ship to Canada and it works out to a reasonable price.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
I've had this one for 4 years now and it still works fine, so 5+ years void of breaking through personal fault.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Don't need one.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
ASUS - Offer good specs for the price of their laptops
Dell - Nice build quality, more pricey for their specs as opposed to other brands

Dislike Apple - Just not for me, and I don't use any other Apple devices so would prefer to have a windows PC.

13. What country do you live in?
Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Because of the games I would like to play I know many probably aren't possible with an integrated Intel HD 620 which most ultrabooks seem to have. Although I've found a few alternative GPU options and am trying to decide between them:
ASUS Zenbook 430UQ (https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Laptops/ASUS-ZenBook-UX430UQ/) - with a NVIDIA 940MX for $1375CAD before taxes

Also found a couple open box XPS 13's for a good price
Dell XPS 13 9350 - i7, 512GB ssd, 16gb ram, Iris 540 graphics - $1250 before taxes
Dell XPS 13 9360 - i7. 512GB ssd, 16gb ram, Iris 640 Plus graphics $1400 before taxes
Xiaomi Notebook Air 13.3 - i5, 250gb ssd, 8gb ram, MX150 - $1100.

But I'm open to other options as well. I do like the metal chassis type build and like the slim profile like the Dell and Asus.

I've also been contemplating springing and dropping the extra $500 for a Gigabyte Aero 14 with a 1050Ti or 1060, although if I can keep the cost lower the better.

 

[jaguarskx]

Excluding the Gigabyte Aero 14, the Xiaomi Notebook Air is your best option when it comes to game performance. I am going to guess the Xiaomi needs to be imported though.

The Intel Iris Pro 540 / Intel Iris Pro Plus 640 are ranked pretty close to each other by Notebookcheck.net based on some actual game benchmarks. However, both of them are ranked slightly below the nVidia 920mx.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Iris-Plus-Graphics-640.190371.0.html


On the other hand, the mx150 in the Xiaomi is basically ranked between a GTX 950m and GTX 960m. However, I think in a few games the GTX 950m performs slightly better.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-MX150-Benchmark-and-Specs-of-the-GT-1030-for-Laptops.223530.0.html



Obviously, the Gigabyte Aero 14 is going to have the best game performance. The GTX 1050Ti is slightly better than the GTX 970m while the GTX 1060 is more powerful than the GTX 980m.