Best sleek gaming and school laptop under $700?

chromux

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Aug 22, 2015
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What's the best gaming and school laptop under $700? I don't really do heavy gaming, just some league and other games here and there. I'd like to find a sleek, light and thin one, if at all possible. Preferably equal to or less than 15 inches. Thanks :)
 

RazberyBandit

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Dec 25, 2008
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I have to disagree, Techy.

I'd be more inclined to go with an Intel-based lappy with nVIDIA GPU than an AMD Kaveri- or Carrizo-based one. Kaveri and Carrizo laptops are constantly being limited in power by manufacturers. Most are limited to ~15W while fully capable of up to ~35W TDP. When that's combined with underwhelming 1600MHz RAM w/ poor CAS timings, one can only expect poorer-than-expected gaming performance from the iGPU. (I have witnessed that firsthand on an AMD A10-8700P-equipped HP 15z laptop.)

Unfortunately, most of the Intel/nVIDIA choices in the $600-700 range weigh around 6-lbs., which isn't really considered either sleek or lightweight in today's market. Really, sleek and lightweight (or ultrabook) means under 4-lbs. in today's world. Further, most of the truly lightweight laptops don't come with dedicated GPUs until you get into high-end ultrabook models that cost $1500 to $2500, and the Intel iGPUs are completely underwhelming when it comes to the gaming side of the equation.

So, if you're OK with a laptop 5.5- to 6-lbs or so, then I'd probably select one of these with an nVIDIA GT 940M over an AMD 7300P + M260 (M265DX dual-graphics) :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232376
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315015

The GT 940M has better performance than any laptop equipped with AMD M265DX dual-graphics. (It will even outperform the M275DX dual-graphics combo.) Meanwhile, 4th- and 5th-gen Intel i5 and i7 CPUs quite simply outclass the AMD A10-7300P's CPU compute performance. Both of these laptops have 1920x1080 screens, and they come in at just over 5-lbs., too.

If you need more graphics horsepower, consider something with an i5 and the GTX 950M. That combo would get you into near desktop-quality gaming performance levels, not just midrange or detail-restricted gaming performance.

Here are examples:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232576
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152877

Newegg had the MSI one on sale for $690 earlier in the week, so you may want to wait and see if either of them drops in price prior to making a final decision.