iBUYPOWER Valkyrie or Lenovo Y500 [Animation/Gaming]

VitaXT

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May 20, 2013
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10,510
Yes, I'm sure there are many other threads like this but I've been indecisive for weeks.

I'm heading to college and I need a laptop to replace my desktop, which I will be selling. I'm a 3D modeler/animator and a gamer and will need a pretty powerful laptop, but I can't afford a professional, Quadro-powered laptop, so I'm looking on the gaming side. I have three laptops in mind (in descending order of power). The CPU's are the same and the other feature don't matter to me.

$1310 iBuyPower Valkyrie $17.3" (3DMark=3978) - tinyurl.com/o3989gr
$999 Lenovo Y500 15.6" (3DMark=3580) - tinyurl.com/adanvgwIt
$1200 MSI GE70 17.3" (3DMark=2327) - tinyurl.com/k82f8oj

I want a 17.3 inch screen because (I think) it would be easier to see the smaller objects in 3DS Max and the Valkyrie seems very appealing for this purpose. For gaming, however, the $300 less expensive Y500 is very attractive. But while the %10 drop in GPU power is negligible, mobile GPU drivers in general are finicky and I've heard the use of SLI (which not all games support) only exacerbates the issue.

So value wise, which laptop is the best? Also, this is my first post, so feel free to give me some tips.

Thank you
 

VitaXT

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May 20, 2013
4
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10,510


I would prefer a 17.3. I'll be leaving some time this summer (probably toward the end)
 

VitaXT

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May 20, 2013
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10,510


Hmmm... I'll take that into consideration.
 

James Devenberg

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May 22, 2013
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Speaking from experience, a 17.3" laptop doesn't sound bad, then you actually start carrying it around. At the university I attended I saw lots of 17.3" laptops sitting on desks in dorms and almost none in class rooms. Most people who took their laptops to class regularly had 14" or smaller displays, though some people with lighter 15.6" laptops were able to manage.

When I started, I had a 12" HP that I took every where with me, but it crapped out half way through (it was a few years old already when I started) and I replaced it with a 15.6" Lenovo and almost never took it anywhere with me. If carrying your laptop to classes is really important to you, do yourself a favor and get something smaller and lighter.
 

kyofu01

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Jun 5, 2013
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10,510
Y500 sounds like a good choice since its not as expensive...
and the thing with 17.3"...
I am a college student, and I know a lot of people in college who own laptops (which is obvious)...
I know people who are sick of carrying even a 15.6" one... most people who have bigger laptops don't even take them to college with them...
I suggest not grabbing a big laptop if you are going to carry it around... I have a 13.3" and even that seems annoying quite often...
It may seem like it won't be a problem... but walking around in college all day with anything bigger than a 14" is going to be very very troublesome... and I have heard this from dozens of people...
be careful...
and good luck buying one