Need a new gaming laptop

[Siddharthtech]

Hey there!
I've just qualified for engineering (IIT Kharagpur ) and need a new lappy for the next four years. My requirements, in order of preference are:

• 4th Gen Ci7 above 2.2Ghz, turbo boost to minimum 3Ghz (Similar AMD proc would do)
• 8 gigs of DDR3 RAM
• Good GPU, anything above GT850M or HD 7770M would suffice. Memory isn't an issue. 1GB would be sufficient
• A battery that should last at least 2 hours on gaming and 4 hours otherwise (VERY IMPORTANT)
• A 14 inch screen would do (NOT IMPORTANT), and should be non touch and non reflective (VERY IMPORTANT)
• Fast HDD (No 5400rpm for me) above 500 GB
• Should have a DVD/BR slot
• Enough connectivity options (Well all laptops today have them, so no issue!)

My budget is about Rs. 60000
Please suggest a viable option(s) and thanks in advance!

 

[powerhoney]

Congrats and fill the questionnaire...

 

[seamon]

Hey there!
I've just qualified for engineering (IIT Kharagpur ) and need a new lappy for the next four years. My requirements, in order of preference are:

• 4th Gen Ci7 above 2.2Ghz, turbo boost to minimum 3Ghz (Similar AMD proc would do)
• 8 gigs of DDR3 RAM
• Good GPU, anything above GT850M or HD 7770M would suffice. Memory isn't an issue. 1GB would be sufficient
• A battery that should last at least 2 hours on gaming and 4 hours otherwise (VERY IMPORTANT)
• A 14 inch screen would do (NOT IMPORTANT), and should be non touch and non reflective (VERY IMPORTANT)
• Fast HDD (No 5400rpm for me) above 500 GB
• Should have a DVD/BR slot
• Enough connectivity options (Well all laptops today have them, so no issue!)

My budget is about Rs. 60000
Please suggest a viable option(s) and thanks in advance!

Budget too low for "anything above GT 850m or HD 7770M". BTW HD 7770M is considerably weaker than GT 850M.
Your best bet is Lenovo Z510 with core i7+GT 740M OR Lenovo Y510p with core i5+GT 755M. Lenovo Y510p with core i7+GT755m will be the best laptop for you if you can make it there.
If you want "non reflective" then go with Z510. Y510p has a glossy screen. Alternatively you can get a cheap anti-glare screen cover for Y510p.
Steer clear of Dell Inspiron 15 with core i7 4500U+AMD 8850M. Here the "core i7" is a weak undervolted processor which doesn't even match core i5 processors. It has only 2 real cores as opposed to 4 real cores in core i7s of Z510 and Y510p.


Just wanted to ask you, do they allow laptops in the IIT campus? or do you guys have to keep them in the hostels?

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Congrats and fill the questionnaire...

BTW do they allow laptops inside NIT campuses?

 

[Hrishi]

Budget too low for "anything above GT 850m or HD 7770M". BTW HD 7770M is considerably weaker than GT 850M.
Your best bet is Lenovo Z510 with core i7+GT 740M OR Lenovo Y510p with core i5+GT 755M. Lenovo Y510p with core i7+GT755m will be the best laptop for you if you can make it there.
If you want "non reflective" then go with Z510. Y510p has a glossy screen. Alternatively you can get a cheap anti-glare screen cover for Y510p.
Steer clear of Dell Inspiron 15 with core i7 4500U+AMD 8850M. Here the "core i7" is a weak undervolted processor which doesn't even match core i5 processors. It has only 2 real cores as opposed to 4 real cores in core i7s of Z510 and Y510p.


Just wanted to ask you, do they allow laptops in the IIT campus? or do you guys have to keep them in the hostels?

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BTW do they allow laptops inside NIT campuses?

i think he got selected for iit .

 

[powerhoney]

Technically, they do allow laptops in the campus but it depends on the teacher... Some of them don't even allow cellphones...
Laptops during classes are a rarity though some of the foreigners use tablets to take notes...
As I am in Mechanical, don't feel the need to take a laptop to class...
Btw, how's your SAT preparation coming along??? I am also thinking about going the GRE route after my BTech is completed...

 

[Hrishi]

Hey there!
I've just qualified for engineering (IIT Kharagpur ) and need a new lappy for the next four years. My requirements, in order of preference are:

• 4th Gen Ci7 above 2.2Ghz, turbo boost to minimum 3Ghz (Similar AMD proc would do)
• 8 gigs of DDR3 RAM
• Good GPU, anything above GT850M or HD 7770M would suffice. Memory isn't an issue. 1GB would be sufficient
• A battery that should last at least 2 hours on gaming and 4 hours otherwise (VERY IMPORTANT)
• A 14 inch screen would do (NOT IMPORTANT), and should be non touch and non reflective (VERY IMPORTANT)
• Fast HDD (No 5400rpm for me) above 500 GB
• Should have a DVD/BR slot
• Enough connectivity options (Well all laptops today have them, so no issue!)

My budget is about Rs. 60000
Please suggest a viable option(s) and thanks in advance!

increase a little bit in terms of budget.
and there is no match for i7s by amd counterparts. they barely come closer to i5s , let alone be i7.
but i7s are expensive and come with a hefty price tag.
when you bundle a powerful gpu like 750m or better then price will definitely shoot 60k and upwards.
add a couple more of features and you are aimings for 70s.

 

[seamon]

Technically, they do allow laptops in the campus but it depends on the teacher... Some of them don't even allow cellphones...
Laptops during classes are a rarity though some of the foreigners use tablets to take notes...
As I am in Mechanical, don't feel the need to take a laptop to class...
Btw, how's your SAT preparation coming along??? I am also thinking about going the GRE route after my BTech is completed...

@mods sorry for OT.

SAT prep is going along well.
Good luck for GRE!
Do they really have foreigners in NIT?

 

[powerhoney]

[MENTION=248727]seamon[/MENTION]
YGPM

@op
Fill the questionnaire and increase your budget...

 

[powerhoney]

@op
*www.digit.in/forum/laptops-netbooks/156722-questionnaire-laptop-notebook-purchase.html

 

[$hadow]

Another one of of those thread where a person put on a query without questionnaire.

 

[Siddharthtech]

Sorry guys, for violating the questionnaire rule if there was one! Here I have this filled up.

1) What is your budget? (INR or USD) Rs. 60000-65000

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?

• 14-15 inches

3) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Gaming (The new ones), Coding, 3D Modelling, Multimedia (Videos, Music etc.)

5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eying for ?

• 4th Gen Ci7 above 2.2Ghz, turbo boost to minimum 3Ghz (Similar AMD proc would do)
• 8 gigs of DDR3 RAM
• Good GPU, should be able to run games like Watch Dogs and Battlefield 4 at respectable framerates at 768p (I Back OFF!!)
• Fast HDD (No 5400rpm for me) above 500 GB

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: HP, Lenovo, Dell, ASUS
b. Dislike: Toshiba, Samsung


6) Anything else you would like to say?

• Screen resolution: Anything above 768p

• Non Reflective Screen please!!!
• Battery back up: Around 4 hours
• Purchase place: Anywhere (online, off the street, showroom...)

And yes..I just got through IIT. Don't know anything about the place!
I had thoughts about Lenovo Y510p but there are speculations all over the internet for a disappointing battery life & glossy screen. The Z510's graphic card deters me (Would GT740 be able to handle those?)

 

[seamon]

GT 740m is undoubtedly weak.
Go for Y510p, the battery should easily last 4 hours. Get a matte screen guard to put on the glossy screen if you can't bear it.
Also if you want more juice then consider something like this:
Amazon.com: Turcom Ultra Capacity Portable External Battery Pack for Laptops and Notebooks (TS-281): Computers & Accessories

 

[$hadow]

Get y510p i5 version.

GT 740m is undoubtedly weak.
Go for Y510p, the battery should easily last 4 hours. Get a matte screen guard to put on the glossy screen if you can't bear it.
Also if you want more juice then consider something like this:
Amazon.com: Turcom Ultra Capacity Portable External Battery Pack for Laptops and Notebooks (TS-281): Computers & Accessories

I wonder why they stopped producing matte screen in y510p. Mine is a fab display.

 

[Hrishi]

I would highly recommend Quad-Core processors if you are planning to play futuristic games. Modern games demand a lot of processing , and are optimized for multiple cores. So the more cores you have the better it will be.
For instance , Crysis 3 , Battle Field , etc.

 

[seamon]

I would highly recommend Quad-Core processors if you are planning to play futuristic games. Modern games demand a lot of processing , and are optimized for multiple cores. So the more cores you have the better it will be.
For instance , Crysis 3 , Battle Field , etc.

No point in having CPU power if the GPU can't keep up. It will result in a classic GPU bottleneck as in the case of GT 740m.

 

[Hrishi]

From my personal experience I7+GT650m or better should suffice. I have benchmarked loads of performance last year from various laptops .
I can tell that for sure that if you use 650m or 750m or better it will not cause bottleneck. But for 1080p screensize , yiu will have to go with gddr5 edition.

 

[Siddharthtech]

In that case, would Nvidia optimus be suppoted? I won't need my SLI GPUs while coding, would I? So is Optimus supported in SLI configuration? And if yes, would it add to my battery life during non-gaming? (I'd be plugged into power while gaming for sure!)
And yes, I have already made a mind about not choosing GT740M, definitely a bottleneck as you guys have mentioned!

 

[seamon]

In that case, would Nvidia optimus be suppoted? I won't need my SLI GPUs while coding, would I? So is Optimus supported in SLI configuration? And if yes, would it add to my battery life during non-gaming? (I'd be plugged into power while gaming for sure!)
And yes, I have already made a mind about not choosing GT740M, definitely a bottleneck as you guys have mentioned!

Let's put it this way:
You WON'T get the SLI GPU in India. You will have a single GT 755m and be happy with it because this is INDIA. According to Lenovo people, Indians don't NEED the power of GT 755m SLI.
Yes, the laptop will support Optimus. I don't think you have much experience with IBM laptops, gaming on battery will result in FPS drops. You will HAVE to game on battery.
Hope this helps.

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From my personal experience I7+GT650m or better should suffice. I have benchmarked loads of performance last year from various laptops .
I can tell that for sure that if you use 650m or 750m or better it will not cause bottleneck. But for 1080p screensize , yiu will have to go with gddr5 edition.

GT 650ms are almost extinct now. core i7 quad is just too powerful. I haven't seen a game which utilizes my core i7 3632QM more than 60% with Watch_Dogs leading the pack with 60%. However, games like Crysis 3 benefit from it due to the extra threads. I haven't been able to bottleneck core i7 quad with GT 650M SLI OC(converted to GTX 770m).
Meanwhile, processors like core i7 4500U(just slightly weaker than core i5Ms) easily gets bottlenecked by a AMD card equal to GT 755m(AMD 8850M).
This is no surprise, considering their performance is less than half of a quad core i7.

 

[Siddharthtech]

Let's put it this way:
You WON'T get the SLI GPU in India. You will have a single GT 755m and be happy with it because this is INDIA. According to Lenovo people, Indians don't NEED the power of GT 755m SLI.
Yes, the laptop will support Optimus. I don't think you have much experience with IBM laptops, gaming on battery will result in FPS drops. You will HAVE to game on battery.
Hope this helps.

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GT 650ms are almost extinct now. core i7 quad is just too powerful. I haven't seen a game which utilizes my core i7 3632QM more than 60% with Watch_Dogs leading the pack with 60%. However, games like Crysis 3 benefit from it due to the extra threads. I haven't been able to bottleneck core i7 quad with GT 650M SLI OC(converted to GTX 770m).
Meanwhile, processors like core i7 4500U(just slightly weaker than core i5Ms) easily gets bottlenecked by a AMD card equal to GT 755m(AMD 8850M).
This is no surprise, considering their performance is less than half of a quad core i7.

Thanks for clearing the doubt..!
And one more question. I'm good at 3D modelling and I'm sure I'm going to master it a lot in college. Which component would reduce render times most? The CPU or the GPU? and does a better GPU mean that my models would look better after render?
Using Bryce 7 and 3ds MAX 2013

 

[seamon]

Thanks for clearing the doubt..!
And one more question. I'm good at 3D modelling and I'm sure I'm going to master it a lot in college. Which component would reduce render times most? The CPU or the GPU? and does a better GPU mean that my models would look better after render?
Using Bryce 7 and 3ds MAX 2013

GPU.
Better GPU means your models will render faster.

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They will look the same.