Advice On A New Gaming Laptop

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by redrev1917, Mar 6, 2022.

  1. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    Hi Guys

    I need some advice from those of you who know your AMD7 from your GeForce GTX 970

    I'm moving from my house to become a fulltime liveaboard narrowboat owner, both space and power are at a premium on a boat so I need to replace my gaming PC with a gaming aptop suitable for TSW but Im completely lost!!

    So my current specs are
    CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT 8-Core Processor 3.9 GHz
    GPU: Radeon RX 480
    RAM: 16GB

    I want something which is at least as good but wont break the bank.

    Screensize isnt a factor as Ive already got a decent 24" energy efficent HD monitor on order as I'll need a 2nd screen for my work laptop anyway.

    I did want a 1TB SSD drive but there seems to be a big jump in price from any laptop with a 512GB so would an external SDD be value for money?

    At the moment Im considering this https://store.acer.com/en-gb/acer-nitro-5-gaming-laptop-an515-57-black-nh-qesek-003
     
  2. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    Have you checked out Alienware? Not sure what £££ you’re playing with but they make some laptops that’ll blow most games out the water (excuse pun)
     
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  3. Cyklisten

    Cyklisten Well-Known Member

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    Why move to the boat, you should move to a train instead!
     
  4. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    It looks like all you really need is a decent graphics card. Try to get at least an Nvidia RTX 2070 or 2080. Go with an AMD 7 4800H or better. 16GB of Ram is adequate and a 1TB SSD ( 500GB at a pinch ). I'd say about $900 or £680 tops.

    The boat sounds exciting. Wish I had the guts to do something like that.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2022
  5. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    dont think you can get a train for under £35K.
     
  6. mariussoare_84

    mariussoare_84 Well-Known Member

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    I never understood the existence of ¨gaming laptops¨. It sounds like a niche made to ask more money for having the ¨gaming¨ badge on a product.
    Lest year we´ve had an overhaul in regards to electricity plans and consumption as it was split into 3 periods throughout the day with peak, middle and out of hours intervals each with its own price. It sucks cause I can´t play as much cause of the high price during peak hours and I mainly have the weekend with really cheap electricity price.

    In my opinion, invest in your power sources if possible to try to keep your habits as close to normal as possible. I remember the floating houses I saw in Amsterdam 11-12 years ago and they had solar panels and wind turbines even back then.
    I know sun in the UK is not the most common sight but they really need daylight plus wind should be enough as well where there is water.
    Renewable sources are also heavily subsidized so it takes more time to chose and get the paperwork done than the concern of cost.

    At least this is what I would try first if I were in your shoes and if it´s not possible then look into how a long term life would be under the given conditions.
    Regardless, best of luck with the move, it´s a bold one and I hope it works out well for you!
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2022
  7. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    Min spec, in my opinion:
    i5 11th GEN
    16 GB RAM in dual channel so 8+8
    3060 RTX
    Fast SSD drive
     
  8. PeteW

    PeteW Active Member

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    Given a 1TB SSD is less than £100, it may be cheaper (if not annoying) to do an aftermarket upgrade.
     
  9. Tank621

    Tank621 Well-Known Member

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    Make sure it has some decent cooling capability on it, laptops run hot
     
  10. Speedster

    Speedster Active Member

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    Whichever laptop you look at make sure you confirm what components are user replaceable. A lot of laptops will come with RAM soldered on and only provide an additional slot for expansion (as opposed to two slots). Then you can always decide whether getting the manufacturer to put in more RAM or larger SSD is better value than buying them yourself and installing.

    Also check if the laptop has the capability for a 2.5" SATA drive as well, you could add a 2.5" SSD as a second drive and run games from there, leaving the NVMe drive for Windows.
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2022

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