A8 3500m + 6750m vs i7 + 540m

[Abyssalx]

I'm in the market for a laptop, and my budget is about $700. I'm looking for the best gaming I can get out of a $700 laptop. Best Buy actually has a really good deal going on with this: http/www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+AMD+A-Series+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+640GB+Hard+Drive+-+Dark+Umber/2738329.p?id=1218348120631&skuId=2738329&st=pavilion

It's an HP Pavilion dv6, with a 1.5ghz quad core AMD A8 3500m processor, 6gb of ram, and a Radeon 6750m graphics processor. I was pretty hooked on it but I found this Acer on newegg.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215004

2GHz i7 with a GT 540m and 4gb of ram.

I already know that the 6750m is decently more powerful than the 540m, but the i7 is obviously better than the A8 3500m. I need to know if the i7 would give the Acer the edge, or if the 6750m is far enough ahead that I'll still get better framerates even with the slower processor.

If it's a difference of just a couple FPS I'd probably be more inclined to go with the HP, just because of the extra stuff (bigger HDD, nice audio, more RAM, bluray player, and fingerprint reader which I don't care about but might be fun to use.)

So if I could get some opinions on which is better, or if you have a better idea in mind, post it here, thanks!

 

[jaguarskx]

I would go with the HP since it has a more powerful graphics core.

 

[alikum]

What's the screen size / resolution for both laptops?

 

[Abyssalx]

1366 x 768 15.6" on the HP,
and the same on the acer.

 

[Immudzen]

I would go for the hp also. Just about every game is GPU bound so the win will go to the more powerful GPU. Very few games are CPU bound anymore so a faster CPU won't really help much.

 

[geekapproved]

I would go for the hp also. Just about every game is GPU bound so the win will go to the more powerful GPU. Very few games are CPU bound anymore so a faster CPU won't really help much.

True.....but....1.5ghz quad core?? A 2.0ghz dual core i3 would blow it out of the water. If I were you I would find a higher clocked i3 (sandy bridge) or i5 (sand bridge) dual core with a really good gpu.

 

[Immudzen]

1.5ghz at default clock with all 4 cores running. The turbocore stuff allows them to clock up to 2.4ghz if not all are in use. If you have a program that will run on all 4 cores correctly then 1.5ghz will be fine for a laptop. If something only needs two cores then the cores will probably be running around 2.4ghz.

However the basic problem is that if you want a fast clocked chip and a good GPU then you are going to spend a lot more money and get lower battery life. If you want good battery life also then you are going to be spending vastly more money. The point is that at $700 this laptop is very hard to beat for average tasks. Yes you can get an i5/i7 system that is faster for CPU and graphics but it will cost a lot more and you take a serious battery life hit.

 

[geekapproved]

That makes sense. Didn't know the A8 had turbo capability.

 

[Abyssalx]

If you can find a decent i3 or i5 with something better than a GT540 for that price, I'll take a look. The next logical step up from a GT540 would be a GT460 (I think) , but that almost always boosts up the price by $200 - $300. Otherwise I think by what I've read and seen here and other places, the 6750 would more than make up for the performance loss of the processor. In games, anyway.

 

[Abyssalx]

And then there's this. http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152274

2.53GHz i5, 5870m, 4gb RAM and a 17" screen. It's $100 more than I wanted but it's really good. Only thing is, much less features and it looks god-awful. Opinions?

 

[jaguarskx]

It seems alright for a 17" laptop if it is not too big and heavy.

The only thing I don't like are the orange stripes.

 

[Immudzen]

And then there's this. http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152274

2.53GHz i5, 5870m, 4gb RAM and a 17" screen. It's $100 more than I wanted but it's really good. Only thing is, much less features and it looks god-awful. Opinions?

Wow you where not kidding that thing is truly ugly. I wonder how anyone designed that thing. Other then that the specs seem fine. The biggest downside is it is about $150 more then the llano laptop I have been looking at getting dv6-6135dx from bestbuy.

The downside I see on that laptop is that the laptop is pretty heavy and I doubt it has very good battery life. It looks like about 2-3 hours is about the best you will get out of it. Still pretty nice except for the looks though.

 

[Abyssalx]

Well, that MSi I posted not only went up by $50, it's now out of stock. Ugh. I'm still looking around so if anyone finds some good deals around $700 - $1000, let me know.

 

[Gibran51]

Here, go to http/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto.do
17 inch Core i5 2410m and AMD radeon 6770M, it also has a 1080p anti glare screen

 

[Immudzen]

That link did not work for me. What is the model number?

 

[Abyssalx]

Yeah the link didn't work. I'll try to get a good price with those specs, hold on.

 

[Abyssalx]

I don't know. The i5 with the 6770 is good, but it's $850. I think there's better out there if I keep looking. HP actually has pretty good prices on their machines though, I'm surprised.

Edit - the MSi GX740, i5 2.53ghz + 5870 is only $800 on Amazon. I think that's what i'm gonna buy. I'll buy another battery also, to compensate for the battery life.

Edit again - That MSi's i5 is a Nehalem, not a Sandy Bridge. I hear a lot of obsession over Sandy Bridge, is it really that big of a deal?

 

[Gibran51]

Sandy bridge is better, did you also use coupons for the HP. A 1366x768 on a 17 inch is awful, 1080p screens are much better, 768p screens are like mirrors, i have one and it sucks.

 

[Abyssalx]

It's not 1366x768, it's 1440x900. Which my 19" monitor runs on that, so I don't have a problem with a 17" not being HD. The MSi is out of stock on amazon now too... UGH. The only confliction I'm having is the battery life. But I still can't find a better or equal laptop for that price.

 

[jwin742]

I've got the Dv6 you're looking at and i'm loving it. Don't let the processor speed fool you. I've found it has plenty of power to handle anything you're going to throw at it.

gaming on it is great. I was playing BBC2 on it at around mid quality and it was running pretty smooth
most games will probably be able to run at mid quality I'd say.
It runs cool too after a few hours the only part of the laptop that was hot was the top left corner on the bottom

The extras on it are pretty nice and build quality is great.
I think if gaming is what you're looking at you can't go wrong with
great Laptop