Need help deciding between these laptops

[stylez777]

Looking for a Gaming laptop but not hardcore gaming. I won't be playing @ 1900x1080 settings either. I'll mostly be playing games like City of heroes, Star Trek Online, Star Wars old Republic and Guild Wars (maybe few other games like Diablo 3 and the such) I can't got over $1,000 (closer to 900 would be better.) I found these 3 refurbished.

HP Envy 17.3" 2070NR $989
i7 2630qm (2.0ghz)
6gb DDR3 Ram, 1TB (2x500gb 7200rpm)
Radeon 6850 1gb GDDR5 version
slot load Bluray drive, 1x usb 3.0
1920 x 1080 resolution

Toshiba Qosimo 17.3" X775-Q7270B $949
i5 2410m (2.30ghz)
6gb DDR3, 640gb 7200rpm hdd
GTX 560M 1.5gb
DVD burner 1x usb 3.0
1600x900 resolution

Asus 17.3" G73SW-BST6 $885
i7 2630qm (2.0ghz)
8gb DDR3 Ram, 750gb 7200rpm hdd
GTX 460m
DVD burner no usb 3.0
1600x900 resolution

All are under $1,000, and I'm trying to pit the graphic cards vs each other. I know the 560M is slightly better than the 460M but the 6850M with the GDDR5 is scare to find accurate benchmarks because most of them are from the DDR3 version. Hard to choose that why I need help. I'd love it if I could spend less on the laptop an drop in a SSD but only way to do that is drop down in GPU class and I don;t know if that smart to do or not. Any help here is appreciated!

 

[the great randini]

i would go with the asus its a rog (republic of gamers)screen res could be better but you could always hook up a monitor for gaming if need be

Laptop reliability survey: ASUS and Toshiba win, HP fails
http/www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

 

[bridget22]

I'm a toshiba gal myself for gaming.

 

[nekronos]

I would toss the envy out automatically since you don't plan on utilizing the higher resolution which only hinder the graphics card (assuming you want to run it at native resolution)

I'd probably go with the asus since its $65 cheaper than the toshiba, has the i7 and more ram. It really depends on whether or not you care about the 560 vs the 460 (marginal differences, 192 cores at 775 mhz vs 192 cores at 675mhz) and the lack of usb 3.0 on the asus.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Honestly, those games are a cakewalk for a lot of laptops far less expensive than those. Out of those, Diablo III has the highest level of "recommended" hardware. The only "recommended" hardware for Diablo III that my Llano A8-3500M (Radeon HD 6620G) doesn't meet is the recommended GPU. However, the recommended GPU is a desktop ATi Radeon HD 4870 or nVidia GeForce GTX 260. I don't care if you have the most expensive Alienware laptop on the planet, NO laptop has that kind of graphics horsepower. They're usually lucky if they can match a GeForce 9600 GSO or Radeon HD 4670. As it is, no matter what GPU you have in your laptop, it will never meet the "recommended" hardware level for those games that were designed with desktop monsters in mind. As for all the other games you listed, my Llano IGP exceeds ALL of their recommended hardware. If you spend more than $600, I think you're spending too much in this day and age. An A8-35xx with a discrete GPU attached would be more than enough for what you want. Hell, my $500 A8-3500M is enough to play them perfectly well so the added GPU will only make it even better. I think that all of these laptops are overkill for the games you want to play. Hell, even Skyrim plays perfectly on my $500 machine.

 

[nbelote]

Go for the i7. Some would say the higher clock of the i5 would give you a bit of an edge since games don't use more than 2 or 3 threads on average but the extra cache in that i7 will give you a boost as well as the RAM being dual channel instead of a 2GB/4GB combo that is not dual channel. Though the i5 has the better video card, the i7 machine will outrun it.

 

[sabot00]

Honestly, those games are a cakewalk for a lot of laptops far less expensive than those. Out of those, Diablo III has the highest level of "recommended" hardware. The only "recommended" hardware for Diablo III that my Llano A8-3500M (Radeon HD 6620G) doesn't meet is the recommended GPU. However, the recommended GPU is a desktop ATi Radeon HD 4870 or nVidia GeForce GTX 260. I don't care if you have the most expensive Alienware laptop on the planet, NO laptop has that kind of graphics horsepower. They're usually lucky if they can match a GeForce 9600 GSO or Radeon HD 4670. As it is, no matter what GPU you have in your laptop, it will never meet the "recommended" hardware level for those games that were designed with desktop monsters in mind. As for all the other games you listed, my Llano IGP exceeds ALL of their recommended hardware. If you spend more than $600, I think you're spending too much in this day and age. An A8-35xx with a discrete GPU attached would be more than enough for what you want. Hell, my $500 A8-3500M is enough to play them perfectly well so the added GPU will only make it even better. I think that all of these laptops are overkill for the games you want to play. Hell, even Skyrim plays perfectly on my $500 machine.

I have NO idea what wind your blowing, an 6990M is a desktop 6870, which is a solid 40% better than a HD 4870, this is not counting CF and SLI solutions.



Out of OP's laptops I would recommend the ASUS, simply I have had very bad experience with laptops overheating in the past, and the ASUS one has great cooling.

Go for the i7. Some would say the higher clock of the i5 would give you a bit of an edge since games don't use more than 2 or 3 threads on average but the extra cache in that i7 will give you a boost as well as the RAM being dual channel instead of a 2GB/4GB combo that is not dual channel. Though the i5 has the better video card, the i7 machine will outrun it.

You completely ignore clock speed differences.