Need Help - Gaming laptop 4 simple games

[newbsandwich]

Hey everybody, I could use some help in picking out a laptop to use for some general steam gaming while on "vacation" with my girls family. We usually spend a week or so with her family at the end of the year, which is great time with her side of the fam, but I usually feel like I'm losing so much potential time to catch up on games, and also be able to surf the net and answer emails instead of doing everything from a tiny phone screen.

So, I saw that Newegg has this laptop (ASUS K501LX-NH52) on sale for $699 as the shell shocker deal this morning. I haven't kept up with the laptops lately and wanted to know if it was any good to play simple games on steam/GOG like Bastion, Transistor, Two Brothers, FEZ, Mark of the Ninja, Banner Saga, Grim Fandango, some TellTale games and the like. Not trying to play latest and greatest FPS or AAA titles, but would be nice if capable of playing some older 3dimensional games also.

If you have any other suggestions or advice on what hardware to look for, please let me know too. I'd like to stick around this price point if possible. Thanks in advance

 

[silentbogo]

It should be enough even for some modest FPS gaming. My last laptop - Asus R500V had a low-resolution screen(1366x768), but on a 15.6" space games looked okay. A built-in GT630M was way below GTX950M in terms of performance, but allowed smooth 1080p on an external monitor with HL2, Portal and F.E.A.R.

According to specs and some reviews a GTX950M is basically a downclocked version of GTX 750 Ti (GM107 chip, same TDP, a bit lower clocks).
I have 750Ti in my desktop and can play most modern games in 1080p at least with medium-low settings. Batman AK works perfectly, Witcher 3 has some hiccups, older games simply fly.

 

[newbsandwich]

It should be enough even for some modest FPS gaming. My last laptop - Asus R500V had a low-resolution screen(1366x768), but on a 15.6" space games looked okay. A built-in GT630M was way below GTX950M in terms of performance, but allowed smooth 1080p on an external monitor with HL2, Portal and F.E.A.R.

According to specs and some reviews a GTX950M is basically a downclocked version of GTX 750 Ti (GM107 chip, same TDP, a bit lower clocks).
I have 750Ti in my desktop and can play most modern games in 1080p at least with medium-low settings. Batman AK works perfectly, Witcher 3 has some hiccups, older games simply fly.

Thanks for the info, that's just what I was looking for. I haven't looked into the mobile market lately and really appreciate the insight on the hardware.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I'd like to point out that the CPU is a 2 core chip. Its a low power chip used in ultrabooks.

 

[newbsandwich]

If there is better option for the same or even lower price, I'm all ears.

I just noticed that there is a similar laptop from Asus with double the SSD capacity, and with an i7
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0146DD02G/?tag=tec06d-20
but it is 100 bucks more. Might be worth it for the processor and extra space.

Thoughts or alternatives?

 

[alucasa]

Both are identical laptops. I'd like to point out that 950m will be powerful enough for med-high settings for most games that are not geared for frame rate.

If money is an issue for you, I'd go for the ASUS K501LX-NH52. If not, the other which has slightly better cpu and double the SSD.

I am not sure about the full spec, but the cheaper one seems to indicate that it has a ssd + hdd. While the more expensive one states only 256gb ssd.

If you care for storage, then the cheaper one would be the one. The CPU difference will be hardly noticeable.

 

[newbsandwich]

Both are identical laptops. I'd like to point out that 950m will be powerful enough for med-high settings for most games that are not geared for frame rate.

If money is an issue for you, I'd go for the ASUS K501LX-NH52. If not, the other which has slightly better cpu and double the SSD.

I am not sure about the full spec, but the cheaper one seems to indicate that it has a ssd + hdd. While the more expensive one states only 256gb ssd.

If you care for storage, then the cheaper one would be the one. The CPU difference will be hardly noticeable.

Thanks for pointing out the SSD difference, I missed that. Also for the settings that chip can handle.

I'm also not in a rush to buy, it's not something I have to have because my computer doesn't work or anything like that. I just saw the deal in the newegg email, and thought it wasn't too bad price for gaming laptop, which I'm used to seeing with much higher price tag.
I'm tempted to just wait till Xmas sales start and see what other deals there are. I just wanted to make sure that the newegg deal wasn't a good one that I should snag now and not pass up.

 

[alucasa]

There are few things consider when buying a laptop. And it differs for each people.

For me, storage option comes first and then I look at gpu and then screen resolution and so on ...

The deal is not had. You will find something better by Xmas, but it won't be much cheaper than that. If I had a choice between a 256gb SSD and a 128gb + 1TB HDD, I will choose the latter always. For an OS drive, 128gb is all you need. 1TB HDD can act as a storage device to store games and documents and backups, so even if the SSD dies, your data won't.

The reason you can run med to high setting with 950m is that FHD in 15 inch makes everything pretty small. Thus, you will not need AA in games which save a lot of GPU processing powers. I know some must turn AA to max but this is laptop. Compromise must be made.

 

[silentbogo]

I'm tempted to just wait till Xmas sales start and see what other deals there are. I just wanted to make sure that the newegg deal wasn't a good one that I should snag now and not pass up.

That would be your best option. Holiday deals will bring some more options in that price category, so be ready!
In terms of CPU performance - that dual-core i5-5200U is only ~20-25% slower than my old laptop's quad-core Core i7-3820QM in multi-threaded tasks and less than 10% slower in single-threaded ones. So you'll be fine as long as you don't try to crunch on it at 100%, while zipping in 4 threads the contents of your 1TB HDD, playing Spider Solitaire and listening to Slayer - War Ensemble at the same time.

 

[newbsandwich]

That would be your best option. Holiday deals will bring some more options in that price category, so be ready!
In terms of CPU performance - that dual-core i5-5200U is only ~20-25% slower than my old laptop's quad-core Core i7-3820QM in multi-threaded tasks and less than 10% slower in single-threaded ones. So you'll be fine as long as you don't try to crunch on it at 100%, while zipping in 4 threads the contents of your 1TB HDD, playing Spider Solitaire and listening to Slayer - War Ensemble at the same time.

Ahh crap, that's exactly what I do, got to listen to some Slayer whilst playing some Solitaire. As long as it doesn't slow down when I beat the game and the cards go bouncing all around the screen, I think I can handle it.

 

[alucasa]

Try googling the model numbers and see if you can find bottom view. Some laptop makers make users' life excruciatingly painful when trying to open the bottom cover.

For an example, Acer used to offer a good maintenance cover on bottom which allowed me to access an unused hidden m.sata slot as well as swapping out HDDs. But then this year they came out with a new design which made opening the bottom very painful. Opening Asus Zenbook is easier than opening Acer 2015 models now.

 

[silentbogo]

Try googling the model numbers and see if you can find bottom view. Some laptop makers make users' life excruciatingly painful when trying to open the bottom cover.

For an example, Acer used to offer a good maintenance cover on bottom which allowed me to access an unused hidden m.sata slot as well as swapping out HDDs. But then this year they came out with a new design which made opening the bottom very painful. Opening Asus Zenbook is easier than opening Acer 2015 models now.

They had that on older Acer Aspire laptops: I've recently fixed two of those and both had to be disassembled completely even for TIM check or cleaning.... Got me furious... and fast with a screwdriver

 

[alucasa]

They had that on older Acer Aspire laptops: I've recently fixed two of those and both had to be disassembled completely even for TIM check or cleaning.... Got me furious... and fast with a screwdriver

For some models, I can understand why they made opening the bottom hard. Asus zenbook is a good example where, by design, they simply could not afford the convenience of a maintenance cover. It's thin ultrabook after all.

But I don't understand why some 15in and 17 inch models having no maintenance cover at all. Acer 2015 models are good examples of this. I had good experience with good customization for older Acer laptops, so I was going to get one this year but having taken a look at their 2015 models, I could not.

P.S. I sometimes buy cheap models and upgrade them by myself.

 

[P4-630]

P.S. I sometimes buy cheap models and upgrade them by myself.

Which is nowadays mostly limited by only HDD/SSD and RAM upgrades with laptops under $1000.

 

[alucasa]

Which is fine by me. Most laptops don't offer storage options I want which is SSD + Storage HDD at minimum. Clevo is probably the only one that can offer 3 HDDs in one chassy.

The ones that offer what I want go well above a grand, so no. I'd rather upgrade myself.

 

[newbsandwich]

Which is fine by me. Most laptops don't offer storage options I want which is SSD + Storage HDD at minimum. Clevo is probably the only one that can offer 3 HDDs in one chassy.

The ones that offer what I want go well above a grand, so no. I'd rather upgrade myself.

Agreed, I'd rather have a big regular HDD, and an SSD for OS.

 

[silentbogo]

Which is nowadays mostly limited by only HDD/SSD and RAM upgrades with laptops under $1000.

You forgot to mention CPU's.

Had a couple of Asus N52D's recently - both had problems, but were easily fixed. I tried to run a few games/benchmarks to check the stability and saw that a built-in Radeon HD5730 did exceptionally good in games even for such old platform. $30 bought me a tri-core Phenom II P870 and another 4GB DDR3 SODIMM, which turned this elderly monster into a decent workstation. A 65W PSU did really good job powering the thing, so I've decided not to bother with 95W brick. Played Outlast and Dota on max settings in native resolution and couldn't be happier. Now my cousin's GF plays solitaire on it.

Still have one more N52D with power issues. If it gets fixed I'm gonna keep it and upgrade CPU to a quad-core P960.

Most AMD APU-powered ASUS and Acer laptops are upgradeable, if you can find a used mobile A8/A10 APU, of course. HP is pain in the ass with its "hardware compatibility issues".

My old R500V was fully upgradable and I bought it for ~$700 refurbished almost 3 years ago. Wanted to bump the MXM VGA to something more powerful, but got so scared of prices that I've built a hexacore desktop instead

 

[P4-630]

You forgot to mention CPU's.

Had a couple of Asus N52D's recently - both had problems, but were easily fixed. I tried to run a few games/benchmarks to check the stability and saw that a built-in Radeon HD5730 did exceptionally good in games even for such old platform. $30 bought me a tri-core Phenom II P870 and another 4GB DDR3 SODIMM, which turned this elderly monster into a decent workstation. A 65W PSU did really good job powering the thing, so I've decided not to bother with 95W brick. Played Outlast and Dota on max settings in native resolution and couldn't be happier. Now my cousin's GF plays solitaire on it.

Still have one more N52D with power issues. If it gets fixed I'm gonna keep it and upgrade CPU to a quad-core P960.

Most AMD APU-powered ASUS and Acer laptops are upgradeable, if you can find a used mobile A8/A10 APU, of course. HP is pain in the ass with its "hardware compatibility issues".

My old R500V was fully upgradable and I bought it for ~$700 refurbished almost 3 years ago. Wanted to bump the MXM VGA to something more powerful, but got so scared of prices that I've built a hexacore desktop instead

Most CPU's in laptops are soldered to the motherboard nowadays, intel at least.
And finding a suitable videocard for a laptop that will actually work and without needing a better powerbrick is not easy.

 

[alucasa]

Upgrading GPU isn't worth the hassle, I agree. And as you said, the trend is such that gpu upgrade is almost impossible. Nowadays, they come as a part of mainboard. (or soldered gpu)

CPU, however, is still very much upgradable but, personally, I don't see a point in it. There are cases where a user can find cheap 2nd hand mobile cpu and can benefit from it. AMD APU is a good example where a good upgrade can also affect GPU. But I don't tend to bother CPU and GPU. I do sometimes re-use mobile CPU in server environment for their low tdp however.
For an example, I have a spare i7-4700MQ. The girl is too good to sulk in a corner just yet.

 

[silentbogo]

Regarding CPUs: I haven't had a chance to look at the newer models, but up to 2013 only AMD E-series, some A4 APUs and Intel U-series CPUs were soldered. Others still have sockets(at least the 3xxxQ and 4xxxQ-series).

MXM III Videocards are fairly upgradeable, if you are looking for old mid-size stuff under 50W. A regular power brick can handle that load, so do motherboards, but the major issue is always a price of such VGA. Something simple like a GTX660M would cost you $200. Mainstream GTX850M and 950M are non-existent in retail. Quadro K-series cards can be found cheap, but those are power-hungry monsters with 60-100W TDP and crazy cooling requirements. Don't even know why people buy or even build shit like that for laptops.