Looking at New Laptops...

[Simmins]

I've been looking to buy a new laptop for a while now, as my current one is a hand-me-down from a few years ago and has slowed down considerably. My problem is 3-fold...

1) I'm looking for a decently powerful machine with enough RAM for music production programs as well as decent graphics capabilities for lag-free gaming.
2) I'm still a student, and as a result I am not looking to spend crazy amounts of money on this.
3) I don't know enough about computers to know what components / computers are best for my situation.

My only real concerns are graphical ability (enough for most Steam games), RAM, storage (nothing insane; 1TB is probably the absolute max), and price (preferably less than $1,000.)

Any and all help or answers are appreciated!

Thanks

 

[rockie_]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317538&cm_re=gtx_860m-_-34-317-538-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68620D4881&cm_re=gtx_860m-_-34-317-539-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231960&cm_re=840m-_-34-231-960-_-Product

 

[Simmins]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317538&cm_re=gtx_860m-_-34-317-538-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68620D4881&cm_re=gtx_860m-_-34-317-539-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231960&cm_re=840m-_-34-231-960-_-Product

All good suggestions... the first two are a little out of my price range though. And sadly the third one (which appealed to me a lot) isn't available for Canadian residents like myself... but now I have some ideas as to what I should be looking for, so thanks anyway!

 

[rockie_]

Geforce 840M has 384 cores and is capable of running every game on HD resolution . Of course , the more the better GTX series are for gaming .

 

[Simmins]

Geforce 840M has 384 cores and is capable of running every game on HD resolution . Of course , the more the better GTX series are for gaming .

Yea, I've been told the Nvidia cards are the ones you want for gaming. Any idea how something like and Intel HD Graphics 4400 might perform? I've been looking at other models of computers with those graphics and I'm curious as to how they stack up against others.

 

[rockie_]

Intel HF Graphics 4400 has 20 shaders . Geforce 820M has 96 shaders , 840M -384 . You see the difference . on HD 4400 will run mainly old games and some new titles . But a lot of new titles wont and if you dont get a good dedicated card , you ll regret it . i would say 840M at least and 820M at very last .

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

[rockie_]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231932
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152570
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152586

 

[Simmins]

Intel HF Graphics 4400 has 20 shaders . Geforce 820M has 96 shaders , 840M -384 . You see the difference . on HD 4400 will run mainly old games and some new titles . But a lot of new titles wont and if you dont get a good dedicated card , you ll regret it . i would say 840M at least and 820M at very last .

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Ahhh, ok. Thanks, that's very helpful!