is this good for for mild gaming

yes, that should be a decent gaming lappy

the i5 will be dual core/four thread, while the i7 is 4 actual cores

The specs are good, but I'm not quite sure as to what your definition of mild gaming is. Could you tell us a bit more about that?

If you're into gaming, I would definitely keep that i7 processor, that specific i5 model may fall short sometimes.

Also, keep in mind that, while most games are GPU-limited, there's a few that actually benefit from a good processor more than they do from a good graphics card. Do you care about actual and future game releases, or would you rather play your good old classics? If you're not really into modern gaming, this computer may be overkill.

If you do not really intend to watch blu-ray movies, you could skip the blu-ray reader and save some more money, but I wouldn't do that if it means you'll lose the i7.

Anyway, with that card and the i7 processor, I think you should get excellent performance at that monitor resolution. Now, while the colors should be very bright and clear, you may not exactly find the definition to your liking if you're accustomed to 1080p screens (and displaying actual 1080p content on them, of course). If that's not the case, however, then there shouldn't be a problem. That said, this screen is still better than the one from the Asus you mentioned.

no such thing as future proof in computers until we reach the end of Moore's Law

Screwy is right about future proof.

The closest you can get to actual future-proofing, is dishing out large amounts of money that'll afford you top of the line hardware. Even then, you'll likely find that when the next generation of hardware is launched, it'll clearly outperform your previous generation hardware, at a fraction of the cost.

Take a look at what NVidia does with their laptop graphics cards line, it's something of a rebranding process. Their top of the line product is the one that pushes the performance forward (680m), while those that follow it, are expected to match or approach the performance of previous generation, higher tier parts (such as the 560m turning to a 650m, for instance).

What can you do then? The only thing I can say, is to get something beyond the specs of what you currently need. Not much more you can do. Though, if you're ok with running games at mid settings and such, then I do not believe your laptop choice will become outdated too soon. One of my friends plays games on a laptop that supports a 900p resolution and is loaded with a 420M card (normally at medium settings, as well). He's been doing that for almost 3 years, and though he'd like an upgrade, he can still get by (note that it can be a rough ride for him sometimes, however, and has to turn down the settings).

If you're into gaming, you should never, ever go for integrated graphics. Performance-wise, they can seldom be compared to low-tier dedicated graphics solutions, not to mention they do not support most technologies and features dedicated graphics do.

Intel has been adding native integrated graphics support on quite a few of their mobile processors, and still we see that the dedicated/discrete graphics giants (NVidia and AMD/ATi) are unaffected by this. That's because Intel can't compete with them in this regard. What Intel is doing is focused more towards consumers who do not require the sheer power of dedicated graphics, require a very long battery life (in the exclusive case of laptops) or who are into non-gaming media (music, HD videos and such); software requirements increase over time and, naturally, hardware specifications must improve, as well, hence another reason for them to improve on their integrated graphics.

Another reason to skip a platform based exclusively on integrated graphics, is that your expected use would be likely to shorten its lifespan, as laptops equipped only with integrated graphics normally have inferior cooling solutions (they are just not designed for gaming).

I'd keep the i7. 4 real cores is better

I second that. The i7 is totally worth it.


If you need to cut down the price, then pick lower capacity hard drives or less RAM, since you can easily replace/upgrade those later. It will be much easier, and also cheaper.

the A10 + 7670 should offer similar performance to the i7 + 650. the others will be weaker.

what are the full specs on the A10?

The Y500 is good, if you get the i7 it's a nice upgrade from that A10, however, if you are not getting the I7 y500, i would suggets you keep looking into the A10 model you saw. It's got decent specs, for what i am sure is a bit cheaper.

You are not getting close to a 640m, let alone a 650m. Hybrid crossfire is buggy and often doesn't work. 3dmark scores are NOT indicative of performance. Sometimes hybrid crossfire is WORSE than simply a 7670m on its own. Read the reviews and you will see this.

Whyso, are you saying the 7670 isn't on par with the 640M? Just want to make sure i read that correctly.