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Turns out I will need a laptop instead of a desktop. I am interested in this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/envy-touchsmart-sleekbook-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive/1732077.p?id=1219061838846&skuId=1732077&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=specifications

What games will it be able to run right out of the box? I am not interested in Crysis on ultra, but would enjoy being able to play Skyrim, Rift or Starcraft 2 with high FPS.

Oh and thank you very much for taking the time to look at the specs and help.

Hey Bro, how're you doing?

Sorry I can't be of much help, since I don't know much about AMD's A-line of processors and their integrated graphics (and it's a bit late for me to get up to date on that), maybe taking a look at this page will clear up things a bit.

http://laptoping.com/amd-elite-quad-core-a10-5745m-cpu-with-amd-radeon-hd-8610g-graphics-overview.html

Now, I don't know how much you want to spend (do you have a flexible budget?) or if this laptop suits your particular needs (i.e. is cool looking, relatively light, you favour HP, etc), but for gaming you're probably better served with an i5 and a gpu starting from x20 (ex. 620, 630, preferably higher than 640).

It's not that I prefer nVidia but at least where I'm from it's easier to find an Intel cpu paired with an nVidia gpu.

I'll check back on the thread tomorrow night, so if you're in a hurry don't count on my feedback :b

Putting a little research into the graphics card (or integrated graphics as the case would be) would suggest that you could run these games on Low with an acceptable 30+ framerate. Though only SC2 would achieve (actually exceed) 60fps. However the specific GPU in that machine does not appear to have been tested, like at all, i am just going on what it says it's similar to.

How are you going to use this laptop? are you going by the battery solo or will you pretty much be plugged in all the time?

A laptop is a terrible gaming platform, near zero ability to upgrade parts, generally you overpay for less vs a desktop.

Now if you are still getting a laptop, I have a HP laptop and its only problem is that it overheats like a mofo, (i;ve burned myself on the keyboard), so you need either a fan under it or have stuff that keeps a 1 inch space between your desk and your laptop.

I forgot the website but i will look for it. They build laptops with Desktop components, (so its easier for you to swap out your graphics card, ram, etc when you want to). the ones they make are slightly cheaper than dell/HP gaming laptops that are on the market, and out perform them aswell. Be warned they have a very low battery life because of these components.


If its for school Get a Netbook (~$100) and a Gaming desktop

Thanks for the replies, I am still researching all over and I appreciate everyone's input.

I'd definitely be plugged in when I game on that laptop.

I had to sell an Alienware desktop so a desktop is not an option.. I wish I could have a laptop for school and a desktop for gaming but I can't have both. I'll definitely be able to cool the laptop properly, and wouldn't be using it for gaming more than once a day and for relatively short sessions.

Since you had an Alienware.. which are pricey most of times.

I have no idea what your budges is on top of that.

but i suggest these.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/category/notebook/

Just to go off topic for a second, your link, Spyder reminded me of something.

I will tell you one thing i always dislike about gaming laptops and pricier laptops in general is the massive screen. I have always failed to see why you would want any bigger than 13.1 for a laptop. It just always strikes me as needless expense and something that is probably holding the performance back on the laptop.

Think about the HDTV you play xbox on. lets say it's 32". To fully appreciate 1080p resolution you need to be sat ~3 metres away. This is also the distance developers assume you're sitting because they hardcode console FPS' to ~60 FOV (which is perfect from the couch btw, fact).

Sitting at normal computing distance from these stupidly massive monitors and screens while playing first person games is going to give you motion sickness. Unless you can set the FOV to something ridiculous like 130. Also you're not going to appreciate full HD because you are too close.

15.6 seems okay, right? I mean, I've had two previous laptops that were 17+ and they played Dawn of War and Unreal 2004 in 2005.

I am looking to spend no more than 650.

That's just my preference.

It looks pretty decent. I wouldn't be suprised if you could run crysis on high 30+ fps. Skyrim is a laggy pos so it propably won't run well. That thing doesn't run well even on my multimonitor rig.

Don't get your hopes up on playing newer games but older and smaller budget indie games might be within performance you want.

 Perkustin wrote:
Also you're not going to appreciate full HD because you are too close.

This just doesn't make any sense. Smaller the pixels are the more you appresiate it upclose. eg. if you've seen those big outdoor tvs (like in timesquare ny). They look pretty nice further away but closer you get more hideus it looks.

Thank you very much guys.