Gaming Laptop help

[NyreLy]

Hello, while doing some research i found out about this awesome forum that could save me from choosing which Gaming laptop i should get.

Here we go.

General Questions

1) What is your budget? Precisely 3000$

2) What size notebook would you prefer? 17'' screen

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator. I'm not too sure about this, i'm from Canada but i can see a lot of good US Storess

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: Asus, Alienware, MSI, Clevo
b. Dislike: Lenovo

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
Maybe

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Gaming,Photoshop,3D

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
I'm going to be carrying it when needed to some friend house, so i'll have a backpack for this

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Of course, i currently own: BF3, The Sims 3, Unreal Tournament, MW3 and a lot of MMORPG

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
2h+

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
i would go to buying online without seeing

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Windows 7

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?
1920x1080

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
Any of those 2

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
I go for performance over sexiness

15) When are you buying this laptop?
Around end of April or beginning of May

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
2Years+ would be nice

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
I'm going to need a lot, i've been told to get a SSD with an Hybrid.(Combo)I don't know if they are good

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes , a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
if possible all those 3, but i'm more into DVD-ROM

only to specify, this is going to be my first purchase online and i'm a novice in computer. Another thing, for the power of the laptop, i want to at least be able to play BF3 at Medium or High ( i don't care about Ultra seriously ). If you need more information of my needs please ask them here.

Oh yes, i'll accept also customizing laptops ( i only know gentechpc )
Thank you !

[Person395]

Your budget is very high if you only want to run BF3 on medium/high. I'm running a $1100 laptop and its coping beautifully with BF3 on high.

[atoneapone]

I agree with Person395. Every year around Summer time (June-August) we see new tech with better graphic and CPU capability for games and 3D graphic apps. So save your money and just buy a $1000+ laptop every year for 3 straight years instead of one monster $3000 lappy. You could always sell your 1 year laptop and keep trading up every year. And you'd still be ahead on your budget and performance/ "bragging rights of greater laptop gaming rig than your neighbor", every year.

[nissangtr786]

With that budget buy a 7970m or wait for a gtx680m. They should be coming out in a month for the 7970m and maybe slightly later for 680m.
I personally think $2000 will get you a top end laptop and $3000 should get everything maxed out.

Anyway BF3 will easily run on ultra with your budget. $1500 should be what you should be looking to spend soon as you are a novice and anything more is to expensive to take around with you.

[NyreLy]

Thanks for replying.

I would like to know which Laptop should i get since i see that my budget is quite high :O
and sadly i can't be waiting for vacation for a laptop since i won't be around

[nissangtr786]

Well the new laptops are coming out on april 23rd I would expect. Why do you need a laptop so soon though.

If you can't wait go to the dell outlet store and see if you can get an l702x for cheap with 1080p screen for cheap.

[atoneapone]

Dell looks like a good place to start along with Alienware notebooks, but for good prices also checkout Newegg for MSI and Asus brands. Maybe Alienware or Sager notebooks are other options to look for.
I don't know what is the best brand & best price on a premium laptop but (I assume they are all $100-250 overpriced compared to a real bargain deal).
Alienware is sold at Dell:range between $2000-3200 (Dual 6900M crossfire and 580M SLI)
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m18x/fs

Sager has some notebooks with GTX 675M <$2000
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.p...el_name=NP9170

Here are neweggs most powerful laptops:

GTX 580m $2000 - the most powerful graphics laptop on newegg.
Newegg.com - MSI GT783R-658US Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 17.3" 12GB Memory DDR3 1.5TB HDD 7200rpm Blu-Ray Burner NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
GTX 570M $1475- $1530 ---this looks like the sweet spot for price/performance.
Newegg.com - MSI GT780DXR-447US Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 17.3" 12GB Memory DDR3 1TB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M
Newegg.com - MSI G Series GT780DX-406US Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 17.3" 12GB Memory DDR3 750GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M
GTX 560M $1379
Newegg.com - ASUS G74SX-NH71 Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 17.3" 12GB Memory DDR3 500GB HDD 7200rpm DL DVD±RW/CD-RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M

[NyreLy]

Thank you for all your suggestion, i've noted them as a possible purchase.
I saw today from some reading around the forums about G75 and Sager NP9170.
And i'm considering getting one of those two if they have good reviews.

So i'll be okay to wait for G75 to get released to be sure. Do you think it is a wise choice to wait or is there better ?

[atoneapone]

G75 looks terrific with faster ivy bridge and lighter weight than old G74 models! But gpu is a 660m in the $1400 models. With your budget you might want the gpu to be better like 675m or Dual 6900M crossfire or 580M SLI. But I honestly think they're all fine and the G75 will keep you far under your budget, so you can make even a better upgrade 2 years later .

[hsh1208]

Your budget is super high considering your usage. I am getting Sager 9170 to play BF3. it costs me about $1500 but I am pretty sure that I can BF3 in high or ultra setting. For gaming, I was told that it is GPU that is a botteneck but not CPU. So, I think you should care more about GPU than CPU when you are picking amoung Laptops, and for now the best laptop GPU is Nvidias GTX 675m.