Looking for advice concerning unexpensive gaming laptop

ozymandiasm267 · Apr 3, 2016

Hello,
I'm currently looking for a new gaming laptop but i live in France and i find it hard to find accurate reviews or advice concerning available laptops. I think that everyone will agree that the gpu is the most important part of the laptop when considering gaming. So i've found a laptop in my pricerange with a GTX 970M meanwhile all the other gaming laptops in that pricerange have a 960M so here is my question : the 970M laptop has 4GB of ram (which i'm planning on changing) but the part that concerns me is that the CPU is a Intel Core i5-4210H @ 2.90GHz and i'm wondering if the laptop will be able to use the full GPU power or if i'd better take a laptop with a 960M but overall a more solid build. So what do you guys think ?

Here is the laptop that i'm talking about (in French sorry) : http

/www.prix-portables.fr/PC%20portable/17638/Msi,Ge72-2qf-239xfr-apache-sans-windows.html

Kimshiyun · Apr 3, 2016

Hi,
The CPU Core i5-4210H seems not enough for intense gaming. It's a Dual-Core.
Overall, that laptop seems too expensive for what it has.
Then, it depends on what games do you want to play? & what settings (medium/high/ultra-high.. etc)? in order to chose between the 970M & the 960M.

But If I were you, (& since that website doesn't have an i7-6700HQ) I would go for an i7-4720HQ + 960M.
i7-4720HQ 2.60GHz scores = 8099
i5-6300HQ 2.30GHz scores = 5697
i5-4210H 2.90 GHz scores = 4547 (the one you choose)

I excluded the i7-5700HQ 2.70GHz scores = 8553 (because it's more expensive, but it's better)

If you want some suggestions:
This Lenovo has the best CPU i7-4720HQ (in the range of 999.00Euro) :
http

/www.prix-portables.fr/PC%20portable/16776/Lenovo,Lenovo-y50-70-gtx-960m.html (price = 949.00Euro).

A good MSi with i5-6300HQ CPU and a cheaper price:
http

/www.prix-portables.fr/PC%20portable/18179/Msi,Ge62-6qc-246xfr-apache-sans-windows.html (price = 899.99Euro).

Or Asus with i5-6300HQ CPU (supposed to perform around the same as the MSi above):
http

/www.prix-portables.fr/PC%20portable/18263/Asus,Rog-g552vw-dm269t.html (price = 965.00Euro).

I hope this will help you.

ozymandiasm267 · Apr 4, 2016

Hi,
thank you for taking the time to answer me. So it seems that people disagree on this matter cause i've seen people who agreed with you and told me to buy a laptop with a better CPU because as you said it has a low benchmark and is only a dual core but other argued that if i chose a 960M i would have the same issue with the GPU concerning the benchmark ratings : 4076 for the 970M and 1 706 for the 960M. Their argument was that on this computer the CPU would bottleneck the 970M but that it would still have better perfomance overall than a 960M that isn't bottlenecked by the CPU. I'm still not sure but i have to admit that i've been surprised by the ratings on the 960M, i didn't thought the difference was that big.
(BTW regarding gaming my main priority is to be able to play the game that will come out in 1/2 years (obviously higher settings would be a plus))

hyrudigan · Apr 4, 2016

Way too expensive laptop with respect to its specs. Search for a laptop with i7 cpu. Also 4gb ram does not run the latest games .You will need atleast 8 gb RAM. The fiirst Lenovo laptop recommended by Kimshiyun is good.

Kimshiyun · Apr 6, 2016

ozymandiasm267 :

Hi,
Again, it depends on the type of games you like to play.

The GTX 960M is not that bad. You can play many games at high settings with it.
But honestly, and regardless of the GTX970M 4GB issue related to the last 512MB being slower, the mobile version GTX970M out perform not just the GTX 960M but also the desktop version of the GTX 960 (on some charts).

The bottle-necking issue you mentioned could create some additional heat inside the laptop that could affect the lifespan of the laptop's components.

Take a look here (if you didn't already) http

/www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.13849.0.html at laptop's GPU and Games settings to have an idea on both GPU(s).
Chose your games, check the two GPU(s) on the list then click "Restrict" = to get a small table just with the two GPU(s) to see at ease.

Regarding your last concern about future games 1~2 years later, it depends on the type of games.
There are/will be games that can run in GTX 960M (like RPG, fighting, Racing...), while there are other more demanding games that may need a GTX 970M 3~6GB or even a GTX 980M 4GB such as Open-world games. So you need to set and specify what games you are expecting to play with your laptop to know whether the GTX960M is enough or not.

Personally, I am planing to buy later this year a laptop equipped with a GTX 960M or 965M, and I believe it will be good enough to run my applications and games.

Purpletalon55 · Apr 6, 2016

the 512mb memory thing only effects the desktop 970 not the mobile one

ozymandiasm267 · Apr 7, 2016

Hi,
thank you all for your answers, you've definitely been very helpful. Kimshiyun i did not know that website but it is very helpful indeed it's just too bad that you can't change CPUs to compare. In the end i think i'll wait and either buy a 965m or if i can a 970m.

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