$700 Budget, 1080p Laptop

[Kursah]

Well my Asus K55N has been kickass, but sucks with some of my classes for VB, CCNA, etc. I want more screen resolution so I can utilize it better for my classes primarily. With that, I do some primarily RTS gaming on my current laptop which has done an excellent job overall. But 1300x700 resolution just doesn't cut it.

Budget: $700 MAX

Solution Found, see below or skip straight to it here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/700-budget-1080p-laptop.198673/#post-3078908

What I need:

• 1080p
• 4+gb RAM
• some dedicated GPU power for gaming (AMD or NV fine), NO SLI or CF
• 500+GB HDD or SHDD
• 4+hr Battery Life
• Fits in my Condor Urban Go pack

Would prefer:

• Matte screen
• Haswell-based using NV Optimus for switching (seems to be the most effective all-around combo fwir)
• 15.6" Screen, may consider 17"
• Full keyboard w/numpad
• NV GT750M or 8850M or similar mid-range
• Fits in my Condor Urban Go pack's 16" laptop pocket (A 17" lappy would need to go in the main compartment with my other gear, books, etc.)
• Backlit Keyboard
• New/Refurb Warranty

I have been in contact with Junky at Crazylaptopjunky.com, found some deals here and there...most push beyond my meager budget.

I've missed quite a few deals...I'm hoping to snag something in the coming week or two as my school load is going to increase greatly this week in classes I could really use the extra resolution with. So any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks for taking the time to look!

 

[RCoon]

NV GT750M or 8850M or similar mid-range

$700 MAX

Not sure that's quite achievable. At least in the UK, for $700, you'd struggle to get any dedicated gpu in a laptop.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Cheapest I can find on newegg is this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834313742

But its SLI.

Next cheapest/best is this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152406

 

[Kursah]

Wish I could afford both! I know I'll have to give up on some GPU power to reach the resolution I seek...I'm just hoping a sweet deal comes along that I don't miss! There was a refurb Dell Latitude 3540 for $470 around a month ago! It's twice that now! Or a 25% off a Eurocom with a GT 765m to bring it into my price range. I have found a couple e-bay deals...one is a Dell 17R SE Refurb. It's battery seems weak tho...

Edit: I should mention, I've scoured Newegg, vendor sites, and some Ebay. I'm hoping I missed something or someone knows of a good deal!

Lenovo is having a deal at their site for the Y510P with the new GT 755m sli setups.

 

[Kursah]

Found a few deals here and there...thanks to Junky over at Gaminglaptopjunky.com I was able to snag a refurbished Dell Latitude 3540 for $525 shipped. Haswell i5 4200u, AMD 8850m (supposedly in between gt 750m and 760m performance), 4GB LP-DDR3, 500GB HDD, matte 1920x1080 display, 3xUSB3 and 1xUSB2 ports, decent battery life (I've read forums of 6hrs averge...beats my K55n by 2 hours!). The only bummers are a non-backlit keyboard which isn't a big deal nor is the missing HDMI port...still has VGA. I never have used laptop hdmi ports, and for school primarily plus some gaming this should easily fit the bill.

More info: http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/r...ood-thermals-and-battery-performance-for-500/

Review: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-3540-Notebook.105885.0.html

Other reads: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...d-dell-latitude-3540-worth-gaming-laptop.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-15-3000-gaming-system-780-too-good-true.html

I just snagged one, but they are going fast. Dell limits session inactivity to 15 minutes so get in queue and do your research. I hope this helps someone out there. I almost snagged a refurbished Dell 17R SE from ebay for $699 shipped,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspir...35361671?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item1e8846d287

Good specs, great laptop, backlit KB, lower battery performance, but wouldn't fit my pack. I also bicycle commute so I wanted something that fits my current gear and needs. I look forward to getting it and comparing it to my currently much-liked Asus K55N. If this K55N had a 1080p screen and enough GPU power to do it's current low-midrange performance at that resolution I wouldn't even have needed to make this thread.

 

[LeonVolcove]

$700 Max? is it already included OS or Non-OS?

 

[Kursah]

Update...

While this laptop has been a budget-performance option, it wasn't without issue or fault. Poorly written drivers and graphics-switching implementations made me wish it was just the HD4400 iGPU at times. The goal of getting the Intel GPU and AMD HD8850m GPU working nicely together was an ultimate goal. Newer drivers didn't play nice, so I settled on older Dell/Intel and Dell/AMD drivers...that worked well. Well I figured out how to get 14.4's working...here's a copy of my post from Notebookreview.com.

Source: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-system-780-too-good-true-11.html#post9638561

14.4 WHQL's work great! Do a clean driver install (Express Uninstall AMD drivers). I got a nice performance increase where World in Conflict DX10 plays with 25FPS average on Very High preset in the Graphics Stress Test, where before it was medium-high custom to achieve the same results. Pretty damned impressive IMHO. Setting to High presents closer to 35FPS average, which again is quite an increase from before. Also I was able to go from Medium to UBER on Planetary Annihilation and still maintain smooth gameplay. Keep in mind both of those were also tested at 1080p. Overall great performance...I am considering reapplying thermal paste as I am pushing 75C peak.



Download 14.4WHQL's: Mobile

Download Dell Windows 8 x64 Intel GPU Drivers: Driver Details | Dell US

Then install Intel Windows 8 x64 drivers, version 9.18.10.3165. Restart.

Install 14.4WHQL's. Restart.

Enjoy.

The big thing here is to NOT use 8.1 Dell or Intel drivers, but Dell 8 drivers.

Running great. And this lappy will see Ubuntu in a few weeks when school is out. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB and put a 1TB SSHD in. Much better with SSHD.

Now I have plenty of room for a dual boot situation. I run Win 8.1 and Ubuntu 13.10 on my gaming rig...I am going to go 14.04 soon I believe.

I have not tested Mantle. But sleep, resume is great, temps seem decent, performance is the best I've experienced yet. I'm very happy with this product.

NOTE: HD 8850M will now be identified as R9 M265X
GPU-z loses most of the details, but temp sensors and clock sensors (Open Hardware Mon, HWMon, AIDA, etc) all read the same.

IF YOU HAVE ISSUES IN BATTERY MODE

So, I found I had sleep/resume issues in battery mode, also noticed that if I closed the lid while plugged, that after about 3 hours my laptop would awake from sleep mode stuck in converting to hibernation state...cranking heat out...about burnt down in my school pack laptop pocket last night.

I also lucked upon a couple things I tried that resolved it. The for-sure thing is the older drivers for ATI...which while they perform good, are not nearly as good.

FIX 1:

- Go into CCC, (right click, click graphics properties).
- Click Power option on LH menu.
- Click "Switchable Graphics Global Settings".
- Uncheck "Allow additional power-savings.

If doesn't do it, apply FIX2. I had Fix 1 and 2 applied first...then removed Fix 2...so far it's gone great this afternoon and evening. I will post if that changes.

FIX 2:

-Apply Fix 1 first.
-In the same Global Settings, change Battery to "Force power-saving graphics". This forces the Intel GPU and I believe if it even loads the AMD card in this setting it's at idle clocks. I haven't verified this yet...but 3d performance suffers greatly on battery mode with this set like so. But battery life estimations seem to go up.

Thanks for reading!

 

[commandermamado]

i had a question

I bought this Laptop yasterday
DELL INSPIRON 15R (5537) BTX BASE.
4TH GENERATION INTEL CORE I7-4500U (1.8 GHz up to 3.00 GHz - 4MCache).
15.6 INCH LED BACKLIT DISPLAY WITH TRUELIFE.
8GB DUAL CHANNEL DDR3L 1600MHZ (4GBX2).
1TB 5400RPM SATA HARD DRIVE.
AMD RADEON HD8850M 2GB GDDR5.
1.0MP HD Webcam with digital microphone.
6-CELL BATTERY.

GPU is 8850 with dell drivers but when i get the 14.4 WHQL it came up with R9 M265X, is these is a hardware or software issue ?

GPU Core Clock is 625.0 max
GPU Memory clock 1000.0 max

should i return it back ???

 

[MxPhenom 216]

i had a question

I bought this Laptop yasterday
DELL INSPIRON 15R (5537) BTX BASE.
4TH GENERATION INTEL CORE I7-4500U (1.8 GHz up to 3.00 GHz - 4MCache).
15.6 INCH LED BACKLIT DISPLAY WITH TRUELIFE.
8GB DUAL CHANNEL DDR3L 1600MHZ (4GBX2).
1TB 5400RPM SATA HARD DRIVE.
AMD RADEON HD8850M 2GB GDDR5.
1.0MP HD Webcam with digital microphone.
6-CELL BATTERY.

GPU is 8850 with dell drivers but when i get the 14.4 WHQL it came up with R9 M265X, is these is a hardware or software issue ?

GPU Core Clock is 625.0 max
GPU Memory clock 1000.0 max

should i return it back ???

Make a different thread. Don't steal someone else's.

 

[Kursah]

i had a question

I bought this Laptop yasterday
DELL INSPIRON 15R (5537) BTX BASE.
4TH GENERATION INTEL CORE I7-4500U (1.8 GHz up to 3.00 GHz - 4MCache).
15.6 INCH LED BACKLIT DISPLAY WITH TRUELIFE.
8GB DUAL CHANNEL DDR3L 1600MHZ (4GBX2).
1TB 5400RPM SATA HARD DRIVE.
AMD RADEON HD8850M 2GB GDDR5.
1.0MP HD Webcam with digital microphone.
6-CELL BATTERY.

GPU is 8850 with dell drivers but when i get the 14.4 WHQL it came up with R9 M265X, is these is a hardware or software issue ?

GPU Core Clock is 625.0 max
GPU Memory clock 1000.0 max

should i return it back ???

That's a driver deal...it's so they can recycle the chips for the next gen of hardware. Use the Dell GPU drivers for Windows 8, not 8.1 on Intel and use the Dell 8.1 13.151 drivers for ATI as I describe above. I am dual booting 8.1 x64 and Ubunut 14.04 with good results.

Some have had pretty good luck with 14.04 hacked drivers, and I did too...but I lost a little performance versus the older 13.151 drivers. Also make sure you use the newest firmware...I believe it's up to A06 now.

Those GPU clocks match what I see as well.

 

[commandermamado]

That's a driver deal...it's so they can recycle the chips for the next gen of hardware. Use the Dell GPU drivers for Windows 8, not 8.1 on Intel and use the Dell 8.1 13.151 drivers for ATI as I describe above. I am dual booting 8.1 x64 and Ubunut 14.04 with good results.

Some have had pretty good luck with 14.04 hacked drivers, and I did too...but I lost a little performance versus the older 13.151 drivers. Also make sure you use the newest firmware...I believe it's up to A06 now.

Those GPU clocks match what I see as well.

thank you so much Kursah