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I figure that XDA is full of tech heads, and they influence my choice on mobiles, so why not my choice of laptops
Narrowed it down to three:
1) HP/Compaq Mini 311 - 11.6" screen, 1.66GHz Atom N280 CPU + Discrete Nvidia Ion GPU (~$400 with Windows XP, 1GB DDR3 RAM, Wifi b/g, no Bluetooth)
2) ASUS 1201N - 12.1" screen, 1.6GHz Dual-Core Atom N330 CPU + Discrete Nvidia Ion GPU (~$500 with Windows 7, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Wifi b/g/n, Bluetooth)
3) Acer 1410/1810 - 11.6" screen, 1.2GHz Dual-Core Celeron CULV SU2300 CPU + Integrated Intel GMA9400MHD GPU (~$430 with Windows 7, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Wifi b/g/n, No Bluetooth)
All have HDMI out, and feature 1366×768 resolution. HDD size not important to me.
You should probably list the prices and maybe specs of each to show everyone the price differences. It might make voting easier.
Aegishua said:
You should probably list the prices and maybe specs of each to show everyone the price differences. It might make voting easier.
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Click to collapse
thanks man, i changed my original post
I have had two Asus and would recommend them highly... Had the original Asus EEE PC and now am rocking the Asus 1005HA (ridiculous battery life). One thing, tho, I don't think any of the laptops you are looking at can be considered "netbooks", screen is too large (I think most netbooks can be classified as having a 10.1" screen or smaller)...
the RMA for manufactors had hp as highest and acer pretty high too
and Asus won along with toshiba
kinda match the issues I had with both hp and acer laptops breaking on me
I recently made up my mind to get the ASUS 1201N - 12.1" screen! I liked all the reviews about it...
samster786 said:
I figure that XDA is full of tech heads, and they influence my choice on mobiles, so why not my choice of laptops
Narrowed it down to three:
1) HP/Compaq Mini 311 - 11.6" screen, 1.66GHz Atom N280 CPU + Discrete Nvidia Ion GPU (~$400 with Windows XP, 1GB DDR3 RAM, Wifi b/g, no Bluetooth)
2) ASUS 1201N - 12.1" screen, 1.6GHz Dual-Core Atom N330 CPU + Discrete Nvidia Ion GPU (~$500 with Windows 7, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Wifi b/g/n, Bluetooth)
3) Acer 1410/1810 - 11.6" screen, 1.2GHz Dual-Core Celeron CULV SU2300 CPU + Integrated Intel GMA9400MHD GPU (~$430 with Windows 7, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Wifi b/g/n, No Bluetooth)
All have HDMI out, and feature 1366×768 resolution. HDD size not important to me.
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Click to collapse
Of the choices you listed I would go for the ASUS 1201N. It is a bit expensive though as far as netbooks are concerned. (IMO) Amazon has it for $482.43 before tax / shipping.
I'd say for maximum performance, go for the Asus 1201N. Can't go wrong with the Atom 330 for cpu power and the Ion..i believe you can run some fairly decent games with that! Of course, battery will be a killer, so if you're planning on using it for long hauls, this might not be the best.
For balance of work and play the Compaq/HP Mini 11 isn't too bad, and for a little bit more you can upgrade the memory! A little bit easier on the battery, but the Ion is sort of a killer. However, like i said, it'll definitely do well with some games, and HD playback.
Sorry, Acers aren't my favorite..I've worked with many of my friends' Acer laptops, and I've had issues with upgrading the hardware. Also, Acer doesn't carry too much support with their older models for OS and driver support. However, I think the battery life might compensate for a few of its downsides, aka slower processor (though less battery consumption since it's ULV) and integrated graphics that don't tie it up too much.
If I were to make the purchase, I'd go for the Compaq/HP Mini 11. It has DDR3 ram support and that'll give you the most performance (DDR2 is almost at the brink of phaseout for desktops, and will follow suit for laptops), and buying a ram stick for it will only cost a bit more to get even more of an edge. While yes, it's only a single core processor, I'm using my Asus EEE 901 for two years now with it's single core N270, and since my SSD upgrade it's been a true performer on the go. I'd say the HDD would be the least common denominator for a netbook. Paired with an nVidia Ion chipset, you can see that multimedia will be a very good mobile experience!
Hopefully this has been helpful and not too much information to chew at once. But I wish you the best on your purchase!
I just purchased a HP Mini 311. I didn't have enough to upgrade it but i got the 1.6ghz 1gb setup with XP. I'll post some pictures and tell you how it is once it's here (tuesday)
Wait for a Alienware M11x if youre into games.... :d
But expensive...
anyways - havent read anything about the this Asus model, but theyre been good!!!
I want to keep the build around $800. I am planning on reusing my case, NZXT Tempest Evo, keyboard, mouse HD-dvd/BD drive and my monitor, Acer H233H. I don't game that often and if I do it is not the latest game out. I don't watch movies on my rig, I just encode my movies to be able to stream them to my media player, surf the web and work from home, using word and excel mainly. My wife tends to use photoshop or some other photo editing software. I would like to be able to overclock and be able to upgrade to Bulldozer, probably with the next series of chips.
So far I have come up with the following:
CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler $73.74
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit $214.99
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W $119.99
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX $229.99
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T $169.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $89.99
Total is $898.69
What can I change from above to bring the price down? Obviously if the board does not come with built-in video, I will need to get a video card as well. Any other info you may need to help me?
_eroz said:
I want to keep the build around $800. I am planning on reusing my case, NZXT Tempest Evo, keyboard, mouse HD-dvd/BD drive and my monitor, Acer H233H. I don't game that often and if I do it is not the latest game out. I don't watch movies on my rig, I just encode my movies to be able to stream them to my media player, surf the web and work from home, using word and excel mainly. My wife tends to use photoshop or some other photo editing software. I would like to be able to overclock and be able to upgrade to Bulldozer, probably with the next series of chips.
So far I have come up with the following:
CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler $73.74
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit $214.99
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W $119.99
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX $229.99
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T $169.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $89.99
Total is $898.69
What can I change from above to bring the price down? Obviously if the board does not come with built-in video, I will need to get a video card as well. Any other info you may need to help me?
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Drop the SSD. You don't need that unless you're REALLY into speed and gaming. SSDs will reduce load time and boot time, but nothing a little patience can't fix. Your PSU is more than a little overpowered, too, for your current usage. Experience dictates that about 50% or more of the power goes to the GPU, and you don't have a GPU.
sakai4eva said:
Drop the SSD. You don't need that unless you're REALLY into speed and gaming. SSDs will reduce load time and boot time, but nothing a little patience can't fix. Your PSU is more than a little overpowered, too, for your current usage. Experience dictates that about 50% or more of the power goes to the GPU, and you don't have a GPU.
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Click to collapse
+1. Ditch the SSD and use the leftover cash to get a midrange gpu. I payed 220 for a gtx 560 ti sc and am very happy with it. It plays most games on med/high without much effort and you can sli later. There are cheaper but get whatever fits your needs best.
I'll play devil's advocate here and say stick with the SSD. If you want to save a bit of cash, ditch the after-market CPU cooler.
Here's the reasoning:
That CPU running at stock speeds (with stock cooler) combined with an SSD will feel significantly faster than an overclocked CPU (with a fancy cooler) combined with a mechanical HDD.
I personally went from an 4-year-old Intel Core2Quad Q6600 to a Core i7 2600. I kept my mechanical HDD at the time. My video rendering times were slashed by half, which I was impressed with. But everything else felt the same (ie, navigating the OS, web browsing, document editing, etc).
A few months later, I threw in an OCZ Agility3 SSD. Everything suddenly just seems so much snappier. It's like day and night.
If you need to experience the difference yourself, just visit your local Apple Store (gasp!). Play around with the Macbook Air (with SSD) and the Macbook Pro (usually with mechanical HDD). The CPU in the Pros are significantly faster than the Air. Yet, the Air feels faster throughout.
ohyeahar said:
I'll play devil's advocate here and say stick with the SSD. If you want to save a bit of cash, ditch the after-market CPU cooler.
Here's the reasoning:
That CPU running at stock speeds (with stock cooler) combined with an SSD will feel significantly faster than an overclocked CPU (with a fancy cooler) combined with a mechanical HDD.
I personally went from an 4-year-old Intel Core2Quad Q6600 to a Core i7 2600. I kept my mechanical HDD at the time. My video rendering times were slashed by half, which I was impressed with. But everything else felt the same (ie, navigating the OS, web browsing, document editing, etc).
A few months later, I threw in an OCZ Agility3 SSD. Everything suddenly just seems so much snappier. It's like day and night.
If you need to experience the difference yourself, just visit your local Apple Store (gasp!). Play around with the Macbook Air (with SSD) and the Macbook Pro (usually with mechanical HDD). The CPU in the Pros are significantly faster than the Air. Yet, the Air feels faster throughout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never thought of that approach to testing an ssd before. I guess i'll need to make a trip to the Apple store myself before building my next comp in a few months.
ohyeahar said:
I'll play devil's advocate here and say stick with the SSD. If you want to save a bit of cash, ditch the after-market CPU cooler.
Here's the reasoning:
That CPU running at stock speeds (with stock cooler) combined with an SSD will feel significantly faster than an overclocked CPU (with a fancy cooler) combined with a mechanical HDD.
I personally went from an 4-year-old Intel Core2Quad Q6600 to a Core i7 2600. I kept my mechanical HDD at the time. My video rendering times were slashed by half, which I was impressed with. But everything else felt the same (ie, navigating the OS, web browsing, document editing, etc).
A few months later, I threw in an OCZ Agility3 SSD. Everything suddenly just seems so much snappier. It's like day and night.
If you need to experience the difference yourself, just visit your local Apple Store (gasp!). Play around with the Macbook Air (with SSD) and the Macbook Pro (usually with mechanical HDD). The CPU in the Pros are significantly faster than the Air. Yet, the Air feels faster throughout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll play the devil in the details here.
Dig a ditch with your shovel.
I'ld suggest getting a smaller ssd, and using it just for your OS partition, and for the ready you can get a huge hdd
Also, cutting some more cost down and getting a gpu would be better IMO
16GB isn't really needed much today unless your work needs it or something else, you can go for 8 and add in a gpu, after some months you can get another 8, to compensate
i say DO put in the money to get a graphics card. midrage nvidia geforce will make all the difference in the world.
cdesai said:
I'ld suggest getting a smaller ssd, and using it just for your OS partition, and for the ready you can get a huge hdd
Also, cutting some more cost down and getting a gpu would be better IMO
16GB isn't really needed much today unless your work needs it or something else, you can go for 8 and add in a gpu, after some months you can get another 8, to compensate
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Ideally, the SSD would house your OS and your applications folder. You should have a mechanical HDD for your personal documents.
Why did you pick the Crucial SSD? I'm looking at OCZ Agility3 specs which seems to suggest it's faster than the Crucial drive while being $40 less expensive (albeit with 8GB less capacity).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726
I agree regarding the 16GB vs 8GB RAM. That's definitely an area where you can easily save some money without sacrificing performance. But remember to go with 2 x 4GB DIMMs (rather than 4 x 2GB DIMMs) so you leave yourself an upgrade path.
I'm interested in building my own gaming pc, something that can run games like BF3 and Fallout 3, New Vegas on full graphics. If I had to throw a price out there, I would say something under $700, the cheaper the better. I don't have a preference in parts since I am not experienced at all in this. I have looked at different videos and tutorials on this but I wanted peoples opinions on specific combinations, part brands, etc. Thank you beforehand! :good:
I asked this question here before, a member recommended me to go to overclocked.net they could help you out alot there on how to build a computer and what parts fit your specific needs
Sent from my LG-VM696 using Tapatalk 2
I think this isn't very helpful but you should check alienware. They have that desktop for 700 bucks which has great specs.
Georges2251 said:
I think this isn't very helpful but you should check alienware. They have that desktop for 700 bucks which has great specs.
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DO NOT get an alienware. They are the apple of PC's. You pay a huge premium for fancy lights.
Get a computer with something along these lines:
Nvidia gtx 670
8-16 gig ram
Because of your price range you might have to go i5 as your processor
Asus motherboards are the bomb.
A cool case but don't spend more than 40 bucks on the case.
Any store you would recommend for the parts, something maybe cheaper and as reliable as New Egg?
Moved to Off-topic.
tigerdirect.com is a great place for parts
quad core CPU i5 or i7 $200
8gb ram 1600mhz or above $40
500 or 600 gtx series nvidia video card $200
SSD 128gb or above $200
750w power supply $50
Those prices are a guestimation based on average market prices. You don't need to trick out your case IMO, any that will fit your motherboard and everything else is fine. Frys electronics is a local electronics store near me that sells it all if you have one near you go there.
Thanks guys, this really gives me a good idea on what I need. What about in regards to the monitor and such. Anything good for the money? Any tips will be really appreciated.
valdesr11 said:
Thanks guys, this really gives me a good idea on what I need. What about in regards to the monitor and such. Anything good for the money? Any tips will be really appreciated.
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This was as close as I could get on newegg:
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129042
$54.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
$69.99
Acer G215HVAbd Black 21.5" Full HD WideScreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824009306
$119.99
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (100314-3L )
Item #: N82E16814102948
$169.99
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817371030
$59.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231422
$39.99
Intel BOXDZ77SL50K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813121618
$119.99
Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120
Item #: N82E16819115077
$124.99
Total before shipping+tax: $759.92
Could probably be brought down some by going with cheaper/ghetto on many of the parts like power supply, mobo, vid card, memory, case.
Also this does not take into account a copy of Windows (could be had cheaply if you are a college student through your school most likely) and keyboard+mouse.
Also could shop around for prices, Amazon can be pretty good as well as other sites mentioned.
I mostly stick with Antec for cases/power supplies these days, they're not super-gamer oriented by they have good 12v amperage and reliability.
I've been going intel not only CPUs but also Mobos for the same reasons, they are no frills reference boards. Simple and reliable. I see the appeal of overclocking but it just has never been a priority, spending more money on proper mobo+cooling to possibly reduce video encode times by seconds, maybe minutes?
Same with SLI/Crossfire, by the time I think I could benefit from a 2nd card the newer cards are already as good if not better for around what I paid for the first one.
If you did expand your budget I'd recommend a Crucial SSD drive over beefing up the CPU and mobo. You'll get more real performance gains from an SSD. Just don't benchmark it every day like a moron, they do have limited write cycles but it will last many many years with normal use not continuous torture testing.
Nice choice.. but it would be better if you go for i5 or i7 quad core processor.. they will give you higher fps and smoother performance..
Sent from the Underdog..
heinrichkaiser said:
Nice choice.. but it would be better if you go for i5 or i7 quad core processor.. they will give you higher fps and smoother performance..
Sent from the Underdog..
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Click to collapse
Considering his budget I'd stick with the i3. An i5 won't give any meaningful performance gains for the majority of games out there as they are usually not multi-threaded.
Google for: "The Clarkdale Review: Intel's Core i5 661, i3 540 & i3 530"
It's an AnandTech review, there is a gaming page and it shows there really is only a 3-7 frame difference between the processors, and that's with the FPS being over 70.
Also as I said aside from the graphics card a Crucial SSD would provide the biggest performance gains overall. For games it will significantly cut down launch and load times. And it will make everything else faster, but with the budget as it is that will probably be an upgrade for later (though the prices have come down quite a bit, they are now under the $1/1GB ratio).
Also if you are on a budget, I'd also recommend picking up a basic Dell with an i3 processor and a PCI-Express slot and then getting a Radeon 6850 or 6870. Then expand the ram out yourself as well. It would probably be the cheapest way to get a decent base that you could upgrade to gaming duty.
I'm not really on a budget, I just wouldn't want to spend too much. I do play, but not to an extent that I would go all out. I play maybe a couple of times a week, mostly online with BF3 and story modes on games like Fallout and Skyrim. I decided to sell my laptop since my family got me an Ipad for my birthday, and with the PC that I build with this I can sell my Xbox as well with all its games. Then I'll use my PC for school, games, and surfing the web. The Ipad for traveling and taking it to school. You guys know more than me about what is best when it comes to gaming PC's, I just want to get my money's worth and not make a mistake when putting it together. If I need to go over my "budget" a bit, its no big deal, same with letting me know if you think I shouldn't even build one and just get a Dell like you said, and upgrade the main parts for gaming in order to save money.
valdesr11 said:
I'm not really on a budget, I just wouldn't want to spend too much. I do play, but not to an extent that I would go all out. I play maybe a couple of times a week, mostly online with BF3 and story modes on games like Fallout and Skyrim. I decided to sell my laptop since my family got me an Ipad for my birthday, and with the PC that I build with this I can sell my Xbox as well with all its games. Then I'll use my PC for school, games, and surfing the web. The Ipad for traveling and taking it to school. You guys know more than me about what is best when it comes to gaming PC's, I just want to get my money's worth and not make a mistake when putting it together. If I need to go over my "budget" a bit, its no big deal, same with letting me know if you think I shouldn't even build one and just get a Dell like you said, and upgrade the main parts for gaming in order to save money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Building a PC isn't too bad nowadays but there are weird little quirks you can run into.
For instance, I build a system for my wife and got a case with USB3.0 front ports but the mobo only had USB2.0 front panel connectors, oops. Ended up having to buy an adapter from another case manufacturer, wasn't a huge deal but was a little annoying. I've also had issues with cases having more fans and plug harnesses than the motherboard had but that is less the case as a lot of case fans use molex harnesses.
frank_jaeger said:
Building a PC isn't too bad nowadays but there are weird little quirks you can run into.
For instance, I build a system for my wife and got a case with USB3.0 front ports but the mobo only had USB2.0 front panel connectors, oops. Ended up having to buy an adapter from another case manufacturer, wasn't a huge deal but was a little annoying. I've also had issues with cases having more fans and plug harnesses than the motherboard had but that is less the case as a lot of case fans use molex harnesses.
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Click to collapse
Yeah stuff like this is what I want to avoid.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
valdesr11 said:
Yeah stuff like this is what I want to avoid.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I listed earlier is a pretty decent start point I think.
Case obviously is very much up to taste, I like the Antec 300 because it has a lot of bays, large rear and top fans and looks nice. No chrome and lights n stuff.
Video card could be swapped based on brand/manufacturer preference.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
$99.99
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148443
$179.99
Adding the OS (Win7 Home 64-bit OEM) and the SSD drive bumps the total up to $1,035.90.
The SSD drive would be for OS, games, programs. And any big files like movies, music, etc could go on the regular 1TB.
As far as actually assembling it you can probably find some pretty good generic guides but really just need to take it slow and follow the directions. The case comes with these kind of "post" screws, that you put on first and then the MB sits on those and then you use the normal little screws. And check everything to make sure the screws you use are the correct threading for where you put them.
Oh and IO panel cover that comes with the MB goes into the case first before mounting the MB itself.
One weird area is connecting all the front panel switches and lights (power, hdd activity) from the case to the MB, usually isn't too bad as the case plugs are labeled and then you just color match.
I honestly think an i3 will be sufficient for normal use and gaming. Additional threads/cores won't really show their worth unless you're doing 3D rendering or lots of encoding jobs.
Only thing is with the OEM license it would be paired to the motherboard at license time. The retail license which you can move between complete systems is an additional $80.
frank_jaeger said:
What I listed earlier is a pretty decent start point I think.
Case obviously is very much up to taste, I like the Antec 300 because it has a lot of bays, large rear and top fans and looks nice. No chrome and lights n stuff.
Video card could be swapped based on brand/manufacturer preference.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
$99.99
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148443
$179.99
Adding the OS (Win7 Home 64-bit OEM) and the SSD drive bumps the total up to $1,035.90.
The SSD drive would be for OS, games, programs. And any big files like movies, music, etc could go on the regular 1TB.
As far as actually assembling it you can probably find some pretty good generic guides but really just need to take it slow and follow the directions. The case comes with these kind of "post" screws, that you put on first and then the MB sits on those and then you use the normal little screws. And check everything to make sure the screws you use are the correct threading for where you put them.
Oh and IO panel cover that comes with the MB goes into the case first before mounting the MB itself.
One weird area is connecting all the front panel switches and lights (power, hdd activity) from the case to the MB, usually isn't too bad as the case plugs are labeled and then you just color match.
I honestly think an i3 will be sufficient for normal use and gaming. Additional threads/cores won't really show their worth unless you're doing 3D rendering or lots of encoding jobs.
Only thing is with the OEM license it would be paired to the motherboard at license time. The retail license which you can move between complete systems is an additional $80.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fortunately, my school provides us with Windows 7 (all versions) for free. So that's $100 I can save. Building it doesn't worry me as much as getting the right parts and making sure they work for what I need them for. What is the deal with AMD and why do people love Intel so much over it?
valdesr11 said:
Fortunately, my school provides us with Windows 7 (all versions) for free. So that's $100 I can save. Building it doesn't worry me as much as getting the right parts and making sure they work for what I need them for. What is the deal with AMD and why do people love Intel so much over it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Intel hit a homerun with the initial Core 2 Duo/Quad processors after the old Core Duo pieces of crap. Since then they haven't let their quality and performance drop. They were the SSD leaders for awhile as well but Crucial took that away from them, Samsung is making noise but still hasn't been proven.
Really though it just comes down to preference. I'm not really up to date on what AMDs current cpu offerings are, I switched from AMD to Intel during the Core 2 Duo days and stuck into the Core i series. Basically it seems the AMD cpus are sub-par compared to Intel offerings and to counter-balance AMD cuts the price.
Granted while I have no preference for AMDs processors I love their GPUs. The Radeon HD 4870 made a lot of waves when it came out and they've continued to deliver. The 6850/70/90 have excellent performance to price ratios.
That's another item you could swap, is the 6850 for the 6870 (what I'm running currently) or a comparable Nvidia card, just check the reviews on sites like anandtech, tomshardware, legitreviews. Again this is all opinion but the card manufacturers I've been partial to lately are Sapphire/XFX/EVGA, mostly Sapphire because they are the least expensive and I've had great results with them. ASUS and Gigabyte would probably be ok.
Also as an earlier posted said you can most likely get better info/recommendations from a dedicated site like overclock.net.
SKYNET 1.0
Good morning everyone,
I thought I should share the official build I purchased last night. Came out to a little more expensive than I wanted but it will be worth it in the end.
And that's with not doing exactly what I wanted of having two monitors and throwing in there a home theater system build as well.
So I just kept it as a gaming system for now. I will either be upgrading it as I go or sell it in the future and build my second one when I have money for it with exactly what I want, and possibly learn to overclock
1 x Logitech MK550 Black USB RF Wireless Ergonomic Wave Combo
1 x APC BE450G 450 VA 257 Watts UPS
1 x ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x Newegg Free CPU Magazine Coupon
1 x Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, ...
1 x ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor W/Speakers
1 x SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MV-3V4G3D/US
1 x EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready ...
1 x Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 x Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-450-M 450W ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD ...
1 x ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
1 x Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...
Everything including shipping came out to $1,077.18 - $30 in rebates.
I'll post some pictures later on of the building process just to share with you guys.
P.S. Thank you guys for all the advice and mad credit to everyone from the overclock.net community. You were all great and a big influence on my build.
Nice!!!
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Hey guys,
I'm stuck in a dilemma here,
I came across a guy selling a Alienware laptop, and I'm very interested in getting a gaming laptop as I travel alot and always miss my games whilst I'm away from my desktop.
I currently have a 2010 edition Macbook Pro 13" which works flawlessly for what I need it to do, I can play the games I want but with poor FPS most of the time.
I contacted the guy selling and offered him a trade as he mentioned he needs a new laptop for school, hence the reason he is selling. He accepted my offer but after a bit of research I'm having second thoughts, the alienware laptop is bulky, heavy and very big (17 inch).
Does anybody have any experiance with alienware laptops that could offer me some advice?
Specs for Macbook:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.66GHz
4GB SDRAM RAM
320GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
13.3-Inch Screen, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Specs for Alienware Laptop:
Intel core i7
4 Gb RAM
AMD Radeon hd 5870
17" 1080p HD Screen.
Space for 2 Mobile GPU's (1 Taken up)
Space for 2 2.5" HDD/SSD (Both taken up)
Okay condition.
Customizable LED (Built in program)
Bluetooth + WiFi
DVD RW + Card reader
500 GB HDD + 128 GB HDD
Built in Webcam + Mic
High Power Speakers
Face recognition software A.K.A Auto login
Ports: 4X USB 2.0, 4 pin Firewire, E sata, Ethernet, Display port, HDMI, VGA, Mic Jack + 3 Headphone Jacks,Pcie Express.
I came across this website that helps compare the two, Alienware wins on most parts.
Hello,
We already have a thread dedicated to computer discussions called **Desktops and Laptops Thread**[All In One Thread]. The first thread/post you opened about this topic was moved there. Please don't open another another one. Instead, please continue your topic on that thread.
This one will be closed.
Regards...
Ok, so erm, I live in London, and own an XBOX but it obviously can't compare to the PC MASTER RACE, so I have decided to buy a laptop that I can play my favourite games on. I have been saving up quite a lot of cash, around £500, and I need some professional gamer knowledge to decide which laptop to buy, to play the games I want, obviously the laptop must be powerful enough to run the games on... I guess at least high graphics. For more information on what games I will play:
Conan Exiles
Mass Effect Andromeda
SWTOR
Age of Conan (that is still a MAYBE, but still good to consider)
Neverwinter Online (this would be THE BEST if it was on max settings with highest performance)
Witcher 3?
Skyrim
Fallout 4
Return of Reckoning
Warhammer Total War
Dragon Age Origins
Warframe
For Honor (that is a big MAYBE, the game so far is too **** to play)
Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen
Kingdom Come Deliverance
World of Warcraft (another BIG MAYBE, however I will be willing to check it out)
Those are the games that first come to mind. However, if a laptop that can run these good enough costs more, I am still willing to consider it. What I mostly care about is a good laptop that I should save up for if I don't have enough, or a laptop I should buy.
GarrusN7 said:
Ok, so erm, I live in London, and own an XBOX but it obviously can't compare to the PC MASTER RACE, so I have decided to buy a laptop that I can play my favourite games on. I have been saving up quite a lot of cash, around £500, and I need some professional gamer knowledge to decide which laptop to buy, to play the games I want, obviously the laptop must be powerful enough to run the games on... I guess at least high graphics. For more information on what games I will play:
Conan Exiles
Mass Effect Andromeda
SWTOR
Age of Conan (that is still a MAYBE, but still good to consider)
Neverwinter Online (this would be THE BEST if it was on max settings with highest performance)
Witcher 3?
Skyrim
Fallout 4
Return of Reckoning
Warhammer Total War
Dragon Age Origins
Warframe
For Honor (that is a big MAYBE, the game so far is too **** to play)
Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen
Kingdom Come Deliverance
World of Warcraft (another BIG MAYBE, however I will be willing to check it out)
Those are the games that first come to mind. However, if a laptop that can run these good enough costs more, I am still willing to consider it. What I mostly care about is a good laptop that I should save up for if I don't have enough, or a laptop I should buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you definitely need a laptop? Because a desktop would give way more performance for way less cost. If you build your own, you could do it for under $700 USD. However, gaming laptops are very hard to cool, very expensive, and more importantly, they can't perform as well as a desktop because you can't get a full-size GPU into them.
Geza
gezafisch said:
Do you definitely need a laptop? Because a desktop would give way more performance for way less cost. If you build your own, you could do it for under $700 USD. However, gaming laptops are very hard to cool, very expensive, and more importantly, they can't perform as well as a desktop because you can't get a full-size GPU into them.
Geza
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need something to play on while away. It's quite important to me.
GarrusN7 said:
I need something to play on while away. It's quite important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fine, just be aware that you will have to pay upwards of $1000 USD to even get a used gaming laptop with decent specs.
Figured. Still, £800 doesn't sound too bad. As long as all my games run, fine with me.
Also, the laptop doesn't necessarily have to be a gaming one, as long as the specs are good, just to add.
GarrusN7 said:
Figured. Still, £800 doesn't sound too bad. As long as all my games run, fine with me.
Also, the laptop doesn't necessarily have to be a gaming one, as long as the specs are good, just to add.
(sorry for double post but it got bugged)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright so here's the deal. You probably won't be able to play all those games at high settings unless you pay $1700 or more. I just did some research and see several companies to shop from, Alienware (Dell), MSI, Asus, Razer, HP, and Gigabyte. The HP Omen 17 looks like a good one, as it is a midrange gaming laptop, MSRP $1400. Now I would suggest you buy from ebay, as they are offering the same laptop for around $1000 new.
My advice? Do some research on the products of those companies and decide what is important to you. Do you value battery life over screen res? Do you want a light laptop with a plastic frame or do you want a 2 lbs heavier laptop with an aluminum frame? All this is stuff you have to decide. Also, try not to buy new from the company. Go refurbished or used and save half a grand off the MSRP.
Hope this helps!
Geza
gezafisch said:
Alright so here's the deal. You probably won't be able to play all those games at high settings unless you pay $1700 or more. I just did some research and see several companies to shop from, Alienware (Dell), MSI, Asus, Razer, HP, and Gigabyte. The HP Omen 17 looks like a good one, as it is a midrange gaming laptop, MSRP $1400. Now I would suggest you buy from ebay, as they are offering the same laptop for around $1000 new.
My advice? Do some research on the products of those companies and decide what is important to you. Do you value battery life over screen res? Do you want a light laptop with a plastic frame or do you want a 2 lbs heavier laptop with an aluminum frame? All this is stuff you have to decide. Also, try not to buy new from the company. Go refurbished or used and save half a grand off the MSRP.
Hope this helps!
Geza
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I have that, can you tell me a list of laptops that well...fit my needs but with different options, like those you mentioned (frame, resolution etc). Basically the laptops you would recommend (like 5-6) and I will check what they have and then decide from there. Main reason being that I have NO DAMN CLUE how specs work and I have no idea about hardware, even though I use pc everyday XD
GarrusN7 said:
Ok I have that, can you tell me a list of laptops that well...fit my needs but with different options, like those you mentioned (frame, resolution etc). Basically the laptops you would recommend (like 5-6) and I will check what they have and then decide from there. Main reason being that I have NO DAMN CLUE how specs work and I have no idea about hardware, even though I use pc everyday XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When looking for a gaming laptop there are a few things that matter. One is the CPU. There are 2 major brands of PC CPU's, Intel and AMD. I am only experienced with Intel CPU's and therefore will only focus on those. i7 = High end, i5= Mid-range, and i3 = low end. For a good gaming laptop, you either want an i5 or and i7. There are also different generations of the "i" series, so make sure you get either the latest or second latest gen. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ seems like the ideal CPU for your price range.
The second is the GPU. GPU's are also made by 2 different major brands. Nvidia and AMD. I would go for a Nvidia as they are the easiest to figure out. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 are all good GPU's for gaming. The higher the number, the better performance, generally.
The third is RAM. I can't really tell you a lot about the exact method of choosing the best RAM, but make sure it is DDR4. You will probably want 16 GB of RAM in your laptop.
The fourth is Hard drives. You can either get an HDD or an SSD. SSD's are soo much better than HDD's that I wouldn't even consider an HDD.
The fifth is screen size and resolution. Just because a screen is big, doesn't mean it is high quality. You want to look at screen resolution. Shoot for 1080p or 1920x1080. If you get a better screen than that, you may have to scale down the game window resolution so that it can render faster. That's why I don't think that 4k screens are good in gaming laptops, because the computer can't handle them.
Here are a few of my suggestions. If you choose to buy any of these, make sure you get the one with the specs I've mentioned as there are several versions of each laptop, and some may not be as good as the others.
The Alienware 13. Make sure the specs match these: Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. The RAM size is up to you, as it comes in 8GB and 16GB. It has a 13.3" screen so it may be a little small, but that is up to you. This laptop has pretty loud fans when running at full performance.
HP Omen 17. Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, RAM 16GB.
Acer Predator 15 (G9-593-72VT). Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, RAM 16GB
Gigabyte P55Wv6. Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
MSI GT62VR. Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
All of the above laptops are comparable. Check them out and see what you like and what is the best for you, spec wise and price wise.
Geza
gezafisch said:
When looking for a gaming laptop there are a few things that matter. One is the CPU. There are 2 major brands of PC CPU's, Intel and AMD. I am only experienced with Intel CPU's and therefore will only focus on those. i7 = High end, i5= Mid-range, and i3 = low end. For a good gaming laptop, you either want an i5 or and i7. There are also different generations of the "i" series, so make sure you get either the latest or second latest gen. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ seems like the ideal CPU for your price range.
The second is the GPU. GPU's are also made by 2 different major brands. Nvidia and AMD. I would go for a Nvidia as they are the easiest to figure out. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 are all good GPU's for gaming. The higher the number, the better performance, generally.
The third is RAM. I can't really tell you a lot about the exact method of choosing the best RAM, but make sure it is DDR4. You will probably want 16 GB of RAM in your laptop.
The fourth is Hard drives. You can either get an HDD or an SSD. SSD's are soo much better than HDD's that I wouldn't even consider an HDD.
The fifth is screen size and resolution. Just because a screen is big, doesn't mean it is high quality. You want to look at screen resolution. Shoot for 1080p or 1920x1080. If you get a better screen than that, you may have to scale down the game window resolution so that it can render faster. That's why I don't think that 4k screens are good in gaming laptops, because the computer can't handle them.
Here are a few of my suggestions. If you choose to buy any of these, make sure you get the one with the specs I've mentioned as there are several versions of each laptop, and some may not be as good as the others.
The Alienware 13. Make sure the specs match these: Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. The RAM size is up to you, as it comes in 8GB and 16GB. It has a 13.3" screen so it may be a little small, but that is up to you. This laptop has pretty loud fans when running at full performance.
HP Omen 17. Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, RAM 16GB.
Acer Predator 15 (G9-593-72VT). Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, RAM 16GB
Gigabyte P55Wv6. Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
MSI GT62VR. Intel Core i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060.
All of the above laptops are comparable. Check them out and see what you like and what is the best for you, spec wise and price wise.
Geza
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot.
Just to clarify, is the alienware screen is quite small or is it only slightly smaller than most screens?
Also, how do I know what gen is it, and which gen us the newest?
I personally wouldn't mind a 13" screen because I am currently using a 14" and 1" smaller wouldn't be a problem for me. However, if you're currently using a 15"+ screen, it may shock you a bit at first, until you get used to it. I kinda like the idea of a 13" because it is more portable and generally lighter.
The underlined portion of the below CPU model number shows what defines the generation and version of the CPU.
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Geza