Gaming Laptop: Asus N550JK has a competitor? Should I overclock?

Felipe259 · Jul 17, 2014

I'm looking for a gaming laptop and absolutely love the Asus N550JK-DS71T. So far I think it's the absolute best considering the price (under $1099 on Amazon, $1199 on XoticPC). It feels premium, got the touchscreen which is a nice extra and the dual fan system is reliable and efficient.

Is there a better laptop around? I know Sager deliver "the best bang for the buck" but I'm not really comfortable with that brand because I don't know it at all. Also I dislike the Lenovo Y50, heard too many bad experiences.

When buying from XoticPC I can add $105 bucks for: thermal paste replacement for IC Diamond, +4gb RAM and the Redline GPU Overclock (which costs $45). I'm really in doubt about the overclocking thing, it would mean pushing my budget to its limits since I'll buy a Samsung EVO 840 SSD. Can I safely overclock it myself? Or should I leave it to the pros and also get warranty?

Thanks in advance!

Just in case there goes the Buyers FAQ

1. What is your budget? $1200 (will buy an SSD)

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15,6"

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1920 x 1080 seems great

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Portable

5. How much battery life do you need? 2 to 3hs

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)?

This year's games on medium would be enough (Watchdogs, GTA V)

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) AutoCAD

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 500Gb is okay

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
http

/www.xoticpc.com/asus-n550jkds71t-touch-limited-availability-p-7083.html?wconfigure=yes

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 5 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD

12. What country do you live in? Brazil (Buying it in the US)

iBUYPOWER - Jason · Jul 17, 2014

Hmmm.... if you haven't overclocked a computer before, I'd advise against it, especially in a laptop. Overclocking may cause your laptop to run much hotter than normal so hopefully XoticPC anticpates that with their thermal paste.

Felipe259 · Jul 17, 2014

iBUYPOWER - Jason :

Do you think it's worth to overclock the GPU at all? We're at least looking at a performance gain of ~10%? I'm mostly considering this because I want the laptop to last for a long time and since it'll be stuck with that GPU I might as well make it faster.

iBUYPOWER - Jason · Jul 17, 2014

It might! However, you just have to be weary of the temperatures. You'd definitely need that warranty if you do try to overclock just in case!

Dblkk · Jul 17, 2014

You could look at the MSI GE60

Felipe259 · Jul 17, 2014

Dblkk :

You have any experience with MSI? The GE60 Apache-033 is pretty much the same specs and price but I would never pick it over the Asus. I'm kinda considering Sager for the price (ofc) ~$1100 with better CPU and the GTX 860M Overclocked are pretty hot!

http

/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7358-clevo-w350ss-p-6991.html?wconfigure=yes

http

/www.xoticpc.com/force-16gc-29029-860m-msi-ge60-apachepro-barebones-p-7173.html?wconfigure=yes

Dblkk · Jul 18, 2014

Felipe259 :

Yea, I started off with the Asus G750. Started at best buy with the JM and 860m model. Cpu would get to 100c while rendering and throttle badly. Returned for exchange, next one same thing. Returned and had one shipped from a different location, same thing. Then went to amazon and stepped up to the G750 JS model with 870m. Same thing. Returned for exchange, same thing. Then returned and got the JZ model with 880m. Same thing.

Then went and got the MSI GT70 dominator pro with 880m. Have had for several weeks now, absolutely no complaints. The asus was just great quality, which is why I just kept trying over and over to get one that would work. I didn't think the msi was going to be good, or at least as good as the asus.

The msi build quality just doesn't have the feel of the asus, and it really doesn't look like a+ solid chasis. But its rock solid. I still prefer the laptop of the asus quality, but both are extremely solid. MSI's keeps cpu under 85c while rendering, and if I use the turbo fan it keeps cpu temps below 80c. Which is far better than the asus at 100c.

But the GE model is a great machine.
http

/www.anandtech.com/show/8267/msi-ge60-review-mainstream-mobile-maxwell
here a great review done by anandtech on the ge. It also includes the Maxwell 860m. Which is honestly the only 860m you should buy. The kepler version is a step down in every category. So if you do go sager, you'll be getting kepler. So cuda core 3.0 instead of maxwel 5.0. Power consumption of kepler vs Maxwell is 2:1. Gaming performance is about equal.

jaguarskx · Jul 18, 2014

My advice is to not overclock the GPU in a laptop. You will not be able to OC the CPU.

Laptops already runs hot when playing games. You do not want to push temps any higher if you can avoid it. In many laptops when the CPU is stressed it is running a temps between 90c - 95c and GPUs can hit 80c in some laptops.

Overclocking a laptop to make it faster and "last longer" will likely shorten it's lifespan due to heat. Electronics do not react well to very high temperatures. In the end it is your laptop so you can do whatever you feel like doing.

Felipe259 · Jul 18, 2014

Dblkk :

If you wasn't using it for rendering you would totally have kept the Asus right? I won't have a chance to return the laptop, which is why buying from Xotic is a must, and the build quality + tech support from Asus in Brazil are winning me.
Other than gaming it won't be used for any task that would get the cpu to 100% and I'm confident that the GTX 850m Overclocked gonna be up to the 860m (and its Maxwell). Sooo I'm pulling the trigger on the Asus.

Dblkk · Jul 18, 2014

Oh, if it weren't for rendering I would've stayed with Asus 100%. Best laptop ive ever used. And although I ended with a $2500 best spec'd Asus and MSI, if it were just gaming, I'd go back to the G750 JM, with 860m. That 860m Maxwell is just the best card ever. No, its not as good as the 870/880m, but its way newer, way better tech into it, fraction of power used, and still plays new games at 1080p on high. Plus it goes in $1000-1300 laptops. Paying double that and getting a 880m gets me ultra. Not worth it for gaming, high/ultra on a 17" laptop screen, no fricken difference.

If right now I wanted a gaming laptop, i'd get the Asus g750 JM. If I wanted a school/gaming/all around laptop, id get the new asus GX500.

While I love my msi, and its a+, the asus was just like a+++.

To help paint the picture on how much I liked the Asus, I went through 4 JM models, 2 JS models, and a JZ model. Trying to find one that would work with rendering. Most people would've easily and with good reason said screw it after the first one, maybe maybe the second. I went through 7, from 3 different retailers, and 5 separate 'batches' of them. I really really wanted it to work.

And while the MSI is great, does everything and I mean everything I need and don't even need (10 hours straight rendering a day no hipucs, any video game ultra/maybe high no hiccups). If someone came to me with a Asus that didn't throttle on max cpu loads, and asked me to switch my msi with it, I would. I'd even pay a 15% restocking fee (15% on a $2500 laptop = $375 plus the hastle of resetting up another laptop). Wouldn't even need to think about it.

Felipe259 · Jul 18, 2014

jaguarskx :

Even when repasting with the IC Diamond and throwing in a coolermaster X2? Ofc I though about it doing more bad than good but if its manageable with the new thermal paste and the coolermaster I think it's worth going for.

http

/www.amazon.com/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=20GAES5JB6FGU&coliid=I3A9UBWRAQ94VD

chubbygamer1983 · Jul 18, 2014

Your spending a lot of money on a computer. I'd advise you to insure it. Overclocking is the worse thing you can do. It will mess up your insurance claim and increase over heating issues which are already a problem in 4th Generation intel CPU's.

Dblkk · Jul 19, 2014

http

/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317540&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS071914&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS071914-_-EMC-071914-Index-_-na-_-34317540-L07B

$1200 bucks on new egg

Lenovo y40, 4k screen (can't game at 4k since its only a 860m but Netflix photoediting and other things would look fantastic

that's what I would do in your boat

Felipe259 · Jul 21, 2014

I ordered the Asus from XoticPC!! Paying it tomorrow. About the Y50: a friend got an Y40 and was disappointed with some issues.... since both Y40/50 are getting more negative reviews than I would like it's off my list.

Dblkk · Jul 21, 2014

Felipe259 :

! Congrats !

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