Octopus Overlords

I was getting due for a gaming PC upgrade anyways (mine is coming up on 5 years old) and since I'll be spending lots of time over the next 6 months in hospitals and at my mom's house ( ), I think I'm going to pick up a gaming laptop that I can transport easily.

I've never bought a gaming laptop before, so I really have no idea what I'm looking for in terms of laptop GPU's or chipsets, if there's any specific brands I should be looking at (or avoiding), of if anything is substantially different from buying a regular PC. Not terribly worried about screen size, as it'll be hooked up to an external monitor most of the time when I'm (and I don't really need a huge screen when it's not). Would like a 1TB hard drive, but can probably do with a 512 and then hook up an external if I need to.

I've got a budget around $1,500 and was initially looking at something like this. Any red flags? Other specific features/brands I should be looking at? Know of any screaming deals at the moment?

Do you need it for anything besides gaming and browsing/comms apps?

If not, take a look at the Steam Deck.

Considered that. I originally bought a Switch because of the portability but have found that I don't really like playing it undocked. The screen is a bit small for my old eyes, and I imagine that would be an even bigger issue with standard PC games.

Plus, this will be replacing my home PC. So I need all the regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.). I'm sure there's probably workarounds on the Steam Deck, but I'd rather just have a laptop.

I don't know what games you usually play, but honestly, those laptop specs look just fine. I did a double-take at 40GB of RAM, my gaming laptop only has 32GB *lol*

The thing you have to remember with laptops - they get very hot. It's just the nature of the beast, you have some very powerful components in a very tight space. When I game on my laptop at home, it's sits on a cooling pad. Depending on how many hours you end up spending on the laptop away from home - you might consider a super basic foldable mesh/ventilated stand, just to keep it from sitting flat on the desk.

Gaming laptops also tend to be considerably heavier than their more 'practical' cousins. I was given an Alienware gaming laptop a while back that I love, but it's so big an heavy that many laptop accessories won't work with it (laptop stands, for instance, don't come anywhere near its weight.) Make sure that you check the dimensions and weight before choosing accessories.

It isn't a problem, but it is something to be aware of.

Asus is a good brand. You might especially look at their Republic of Gamers (ROG) series if they are in your range. Friend recently bought one and was happily surprised that his model had an user upgradeable extra NVME slot to add storage.

I currently use an Alienware 17R4. It’s heavier than a desktop. Truly absurd. But it’s done it’s job admirably through the years.

I went with the 17 Inch screen because 17>15, but at home, it’s always connected to a giant monitor anyway. If I had to do it over again, I’d get a 15 inch screen and really look for something that isn’t 800 pounds.

Probably a Razer Blade 15. But I’ll cross that bridge when this one gives up the ghost. As big of an SSD as you can cram in there is my main suggestion. I would keep any spinning drives outside the laptop.

I spilled coffee on my old laptop, so I bought an off-the-shelf Republic of Gamers LT with Intel i9 at 2.5 GHz and 32 GB of RAM for about $2,200. It out performs my desktop on BG3.

Thanks, I honestly had no idea gaming laptops were significantly heavier. Good to know.

My desktop now is a Republic of Gamers system. I've been really happy with it, zero issues in almost 5 years.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 2:30 pm Thanks, I honestly had no idea gaming laptops were significantly heavier. Good to know.

My gaming laptop is no heavier than my regular run-of-the-mill Dell work laptop. But then again, mine is 15" screen, maybe more people buy 17" screens for gaming.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 10:45 am Considered that. I originally bought a Switch because of the portability but have found that I don't really like playing it undocked. The screen is a bit small for my old eyes, and I imagine that would be an even bigger issue with standard PC games.

Plus, this will be replacing my home PC. So I need all the regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.). I'm sure there's probably workarounds on the Steam Deck, but I'd rather just have a laptop.

FWIW, a Steam Deck handles regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.) remarkably well, as illustrated here:



Though for regular PC functionality, your best bet is to connect the Steam Deck to an external display with a suitable dock. This way, you're able to use it with a keyboard and mouse just like a normal PC.

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 2:43 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 10:45 am Considered that. I originally bought a Switch because of the portability but have found that I don't really like playing it undocked. The screen is a bit small for my old eyes, and I imagine that would be an even bigger issue with standard PC games.

Plus, this will be replacing my home PC. So I need all the regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.). I'm sure there's probably workarounds on the Steam Deck, but I'd rather just have a laptop.

FWIW, a Steam Deck handles regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.) remarkably well, as illustrated here:



Though for regular PC functionality, your best bet is to connect the Steam Deck to an external display with a suitable dock. This way, you're able to use it with a keyboard and mouse just like a normal PC.

Never used Linux before and don't have much interest in learning a new OS tbh.

Skinypupy wrote:Never used Linux before and don't have much interest in learning a new OS tbh.

So sayeth the masses since 1992.

Anyway, gaming laptops don’t have to be that heavy. Giant 17-inch desktop replacement gaming laptops were that heavy four years ago though.

Like I said, I would be looking at the much more svelt 15 inch laptops if I was looking today. I’m much more concerned with portability today than I am anything else.

gilraen wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 11:18 am I did a double-take at 40GB of RAM, my gaming laptop only has 32GB *lol*

Yeah, I noticed that too. I guess it's mathematically possible with one 32GB RAM chip and one 8GB, but why??

FWIW, I'm not the type of gamer that needs a cutting edge system that pushes a bazillion FPS at every moment. Just need something that works well enough that I can play most current games at something reasonably above potato-level graphics.

i mostly play MMOs and RPGs, so games like Final Fantasy XIV, Pathfinder, Baldurs Gate 3 (if it ever comes out of EA), Mass Effect, Lost Ark, etc. Will mix in the occasional action or FPS, but again, don't need every graphic bell and whistle on those.

Chraolic wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 3:11 pm

gilraen wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 11:18 am I did a double-take at 40GB of RAM, my gaming laptop only has 32GB *lol*

Yeah, I noticed that too. I guess it's mathematically possible with one 32GB RAM chip and one 8GB, but why??

Asus solders 8GB on the motherboard and has one DIMM slot so you can find the odd RAM totals on some of their laptops.

Besides Asus I'd consider the Lenovo Legion laptops, they consistently got good reviews this generation and can be found at decent prices. I love my Alienware but IMO they're only worth it when there's a really good sale, which I don't see at the moment. You should be OK weight-wise with the 15" models, I think they've only been making some of the 17" laptops uncomfortably heavy.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 2:56 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 2:43 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 10:45 am Considered that. I originally bought a Switch because of the portability but have found that I don't really like playing it undocked. The screen is a bit small for my old eyes, and I imagine that would be an even bigger issue with standard PC games.

Plus, this will be replacing my home PC. So I need all the regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.). I'm sure there's probably workarounds on the Steam Deck, but I'd rather just have a laptop.

FWIW, a Steam Deck handles regular PC functionality (e-mail, web, Zoom/MS Teams, etc.) remarkably well, as illustrated here:



Though for regular PC functionality, your best bet is to connect the Steam Deck to an external display with a suitable dock. This way, you're able to use it with a keyboard and mouse just like a normal PC.

Never used Linux before and don't have much interest in learning a new OS tbh.

Fair enough.

But realistically, while the Desktop Mode of a Steam Deck may be Linux, it closely resembles the Windows 10 desktop, with a taskbar, a pseudo-Start menu, and windowed applications. So it looks and feels instantly familiar. If you've used Windows, using and navigating your way around the Desktop Mode of SteamOS is effortless. If you watch the video above you can see it in action, and just how simple and straightforward it is to find and install various applications for regular PC functionality like e-mail, web, and Zoom/MS Teams.

DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 3:45 pm Besides Asus I'd consider the Lenovo Legion laptops, they consistently got good reviews this generation and can be found at decent prices.

Legions are all on sale right now too.

Here's the two I'm looking at:
- Lenovo Legion
- Asus TUF

The ASUS has way more RAM (40 GB vs 16 GB) and a larger hard drive (1.5 TB vs 1 TB). The Lenovo has what looks to be a slightly better processor (i7-11800 vs i7-11370) and video card (RTX 3070 vs RTX 3060).

Seems like the better processor and video card would be more bang for the buck, right? I used to know these things...feel like such a luddite now.

The nice thing about the Lenovo is both the RAM and drive space can be upgraded, unlike the CPU & GPU. I know the Lenovo has a 2nd m2 slot so that would be easy. Unfortunately, the RAM is 2x8GB and only 2 DIMM slots so you would have to replace the entire 16GB. The 32GB kit I used in my laptop cost $112 at Amazon. I upgraded the RAM more for the 6 million tabs and programs I have a tendency to keep running since there doesn't seem to be a big difference for gaming. For gaming, the Lenovo will definitely beat the ASUS since it has a 3070 compared to the 3060. I also noticed the 3070 runs at 115W or more in Gaming mode but the 3060 is limited to 80W. That probably adds another 5-10% performance increase. The Lenovo has a 2k screen and a webcam and the ASUS is 1080 with no webcam, if that matters.

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 1:11 pm Probably a Razer Blade 15. But I’ll cross that bridge when this one gives up the ghost. As big of an SSD as you can cram in there is my main suggestion. I would keep any spinning drives outside the laptop.

I picked up a Razor Blade 15 last year around Christmas and it's been superb. I've been using it as my work laptop as well because it's thin, light and powerful.

I went ahead and ordered the Lenovo last night. Thanks everyone for the input.

If the laptop is just going to be used for gaming 40gb is way over kill. Also, because of the way ASUS does RAM with one 8gb stick soldered on the motherboard (they do this on a bunch, but not all of their models), that means there is a 32gb stick in the upgradable slot. The significance of this is that it is a RAM mis-match and most of the RAM is not going to running in (the faster) dual channel mode. Because of this the performance may well be lower than the 16gb RAM model also listed in that Amazon link. 40gb is only going to be useful if you are editing 4k video, running virtual machines, etc.

Edit: glad to see you got the Lenovo. Enjoy! I almost got one of those myself, but ended up going with a 2022 ASUS g14 for the smaller size--needed something very portable for long term travel.