Laptop for gaming under $1000?

gkkiller on 30/7/2015 at 11:55

What the title says. My efforts to upgrade my PC have been run into the ground for various reasons* and it looks like a laptop might be the next best option. I'm looking for as powerful a machine as I can get for about $1000, willing to stretch by $100-200. Mainly for gaming and Internet browsing, should be able to run recent games at high resolutions and good quality.

* Mainly, I discovered my case is small, so I'll need either a power-easy mini card or a whole new case. Latter isn't cheap where I live, and former is hard to find. (http://www.dell.com/in/business/p/optiplex-990/pd) This is my desktop - any idea what I could do?

Sulphur on 30/7/2015 at 17:48

Is that a 250W PSU? Oh, man. Get another case and a decent PSU, shove a GTX 970 in there, and it'll still come out to less than 3/4th of your budget. What cases are you looking at that are so expensive? If it's stuff like Fractal Design then yeah, that's gonna be kinda difficult to source in India.

voodoo47 on 30/7/2015 at 19:04

a low profile gtx 730/750 would work ok, and anything faster would be an overkill anyway. also, a gaming laptop is nonsense unless you absolutely, unmistakably need to be mobile (expensive, almost no upgrades, almost impossible to replace parts).

bikerdude on 31/7/2015 at 07:08

Quote Posted by gkkiller

* What the title says. My efforts to upgrade my PC have been run into the ground for various reasons
* and it looks like a laptop might be the next best option.

* Give us your full system specs, inc make/model of each part
* You are severly restricting your bang for buck ration going down the laptop route

gkkiller on 31/7/2015 at 07:23

Quote Posted by Sulphur

Mainly I have zero experience actually building a PC myself, so I was operating on the assumption that I'd have to put together the thing from scratch for a new case. I have zero experience with putting together a PC, so I'm dreading the 'dirty work' side of it. My current one is just a spare workstation PC my family keeps.

Quote Posted by bikerdude

* Give us your full system specs, inc make/model of each part
* You are severly restricting your bang for buck ration going down the laptop route

I myself have no idea about the former - all I know is what's on the site. If you go into the Tech Specs tab down the page, it should go into a bit more detail:

Quote:

Chipset
Intel® Q67 Express Chipset
Optical Drive
DVD+/-RW
DVD-ROM
Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader (MT & DT only)
Connectivity
Integrated Intel® 82579LM Ethernet LAN 10/100/1000
Optional Broadcom® NetXtreme® 10/100/1000 PCIe card
Optional Dell Wireless 1520 PCIe (MT, DT, SFF)
Optional half-mini PCIe (USFF) WLAN card (802.11n)
10 External USB 2.0 ports (1 Internal USB 2.0 for MT & DT only)
1 Serial; 1 RJ-45; 1 VGA; 1 DisplayPort; 2 PS/2; 2 Line-in (stereo/microphone), 2 Line-out (headphone/speaker), optional USB 3.0 PCIe card
Optional 2nd Serial PCIe card
Optional 1394a PCI card
Dimensions (H x W x D) (cm / Inches) : 36.0 x 10.2 x 41.0 / 14.2 x 4.0 x 16.1
Min. Weight (kg / lbs ) : 7.56 / 16.67
Number of Bays : 1 internal 8.8cm (3.5) 1 external 13.3cm (5.25)
Expansion Slots : 1 half height PCIe x16 1 half height PCIe x16 (wired x 4) 1 half height PCIe x1 1 half height PCI
Power Supply6 Unit (PSU) : Standard 250W PSU or optional 250W up to 90% Efficient PSU; Energy Star 5.0 compliant, Active PFC

I have zero idea which of the optional ones I actually have ...

Also, I'm going to be going off to boarding school in a few months, and I can't exactly bring a desktop there, but I can bring a laptop. I'll be coming home some weekends, so I'll still have limited desktop access, but on the whole a laptop is more convenient.

faetal on 31/7/2015 at 07:49

Quote Posted by gkkiller

It really isn't difficult, it's just daunting because the parts are expensive. The hardest part of the entire process is choosing which components will play nicely together. Once you have that part sorted (which the people here will get you through no problems), putting it together is straightforward so long as you take the time to properly read the installation instructions carefully. Most things are designed to only fit one way and don't need to be forced, which is all the tactile feedback you need to know if you are doing it right.

bikerdude on 1/8/2015 at 09:03

Quote Posted by gkkiller

I have zero idea which of the optional ones I actually have ...

Run this - (https://www.piriform.com/speccy)

But looking at the info you have given already the PC is old and could do with replacing, so -

* What the make and model of your monitor/keyboard/mouse.
* where do you like to shop online for computer stuff.
* What reason/s do you want to go to a laptop over a desktop?

gkkiller on 1/8/2015 at 13:15

Quote Posted by bikerdude

* DELL P2411H (1920x1080@60Hz) / Dell KB212-B / Logitech G400S (wired) - I don't feel a pressing need to change any of these and my mouse is fairly new, only had it for 3-4 months, so I'd like to keep it
* (www.flipkart.com) www.flipkart.com or (www.snapdeal.com) www.snapdeal.com - prices are in Indian Rupees, just plug them into google (search 'X INR to USD') if you need to convert. (www.amazon.in) www.amazon.in or (www.amazon.com) www.amazon.com are also fine, although the first two are preferred.
* Mostly, if I get a laptop, I'll be able to use it more often. My desktop will sit at home until I get back on the weekends, while I'll be able to keep my laptop with me at school.

bikerdude on 2/8/2015 at 10:47

So you would prefer to spend most of your cash on a gaming capable laptop and if there is anything left over put that towards the desktop PC..?

Azaran on 3/8/2015 at 06:28

I remember seeing a lot of laptops on Amazon with 12-16 GB of RAM under $1000. I don't recall the other specs, but that's a good start