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Decent gaming laptop for $700 ish Login/Join 
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
posted
I want to get my son a laptop for gaming, despite my vehement aversion to PC gamimg. He doesn't need the latest and greatest, he wants to play a bunch of indie Steam games mostly so not the latest AAA titles that take only bleeding edge tech. I'll admit maybe I'll play The Old Republic on it. Looking to spend $700 ish on one. I've been away from PC gaming so long I don't know what to look for anymore. Thoughts?




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10728 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of reloader-1
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For what you stated, a 1050ti would be a decent GPU:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/sho...top/fncwG3F1421hSEQ4
 
Posts: 2325 | Location: S. FL | Registered: October 26, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
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Go to dell outlet. Search for the $917 G5 Gaming, use this code for 14% off: 14gamcw55, bringing the price to $789.

Quad core I5
16 gig memory
256 gig SSD
1 terabyte HD
1920x1080 IPS 15" screen
NVidia GTX 1060 6 gig

LINK

I got one in red on Black Friday as my son's Christmas present. Best deal I could find.
 
Posts: 10931 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
For real?
Picture of Chowser
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Go 1050ti or 1060 minimum.
I bought my son a gaming laptop in '17 and it had the 1050. I bought myself one this summer with the 1060. Big difference.
Also I have a 256gb M2 boot drive so that helps.



Not minority enough!
 
Posts: 8018 | Location: Cleveland, OH | Registered: August 09, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
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Gaming requirements are graphic intensive.
Putting it all in laptop for $700 - you are going to have to settle for old technology, no way around it.
You have to check the games you want to play first to see if the hardware is up to snuff.
Good Luck.
 
Posts: 22902 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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Lenovo Y-series

Available from ~$700-$1400+, depending on configuration.

Here's a Y50-70 for $709:

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-...&keywords=lenovo+y50
 
Posts: 32506 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Honky Lips
Picture of FenderBender
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This one, I assure you, it's everything you'll need.


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/a...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

or if he's something of a data horder, the above has a 256 gig SSD, this is a 1TB Spinning disk. he'll see better proformance from the above but if he want's to keep a bunch of games installed...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/a...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
Posts: 8146 | Registered: July 24, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of reloader-1
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Rogue, isn’t that one a bit long in the tooth for that price?

Good processor, but 4th gen, and a 960m card. I’d also be concerned about warranty, as that isn’t a 1st party seller.
 
Posts: 2325 | Location: S. FL | Registered: October 26, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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Yes, it's 2016ish tech. But it's a quality laptop that will work well for the OP's stated purposes.

You're not going to get a top of the line, current tech gaming laptop for $700.

There are better/newer options among the Lenovo Ys, but likely only if he's willing to raise his price limit.

Or you may be able to find a similar price on a slightly newer Y series model, if you hunt around a bit. That was the first option I ran across from a big name retailer within the OP's stated price with a quick Google.
 
Posts: 32506 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of reloader-1
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Right, that makes sense.

I guess my major concern would be the seller - it’s fulfilled by Amazon, but the actual selling party is a minor 3rd party. That may make warranty concerns a bit dicey.
 
Posts: 2325 | Location: S. FL | Registered: October 26, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
Picture of Lord Vaalic
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I am aware that $700 wont get me top of the line equipment. I gave up PC gaming a long time ago because I was tired of the constant upgrades.

But he wants to play a bunch of smaller indie type games, not the latest release big name titles. I would be willing to go up a little for something better, but I am not looking to compete with some water cooled Alienware gaming rig. Looks like you can drop $700 - $800 and then the next step up is about $1200, then up again from there.

Like I said I may play Star Wars Old Republic MMO on it, but that's an old game at this point also. Ive been out of the PC building game so long, honestly I don't know shit anymore about what chips or cards are what anymore.




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10728 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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quote:
Originally posted by reloader-1:
I guess my major concern would be the seller - it’s fulfilled by Amazon, but the actual selling party is a minor 3rd party. That may make warranty concerns a bit dicey.


Lenovo's warranty is 1 year from date of purchase. As long as it's not actually a refurbished or used laptop that they're trying to pass off as new, that 1 year factory warranty should still apply. (And if it does turn out to actually be used, Amazon will help make it right.)

Besides, I doubt many big retailers will still have 2-3 year old laptop models on the shelves. So getting a new-old-stock laptop will likely have to involve a minor seller.
 
Posts: 32506 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of bigdeal
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A question. Why does it need to be a laptop (i.e. versus a desktop machine)? You can get a whole lot more machine in terms of capability and performance for a whole lot less coin with a desktop machine.


-----------------------------
Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter
 
Posts: 33845 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: April 30, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
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quote:
Originally posted by bigdeal:
A question. Why does it need to be a laptop (i.e. versus a desktop machine)? You can get a whole lot more machine in terms of capability and performance for a whole lot less coin with a desktop machine.


^^Very True!^^


While there are specific gamer-laptops they on average are 17" screen models with enhancements for gaming.
New ones are going to be about $2K.
A similar new desktop with 27" fast monitor, speakers and better graphics card can start at $1.5K (and up).
Add more for better graphics card, more ram, larger monitor and water cooling.
But the point is for gaming you can customize as you wish.
Laptops are built for convenience, portability and power consumption savings.
YMMV
 
Posts: 22902 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
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quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Lenovo Y-series

Available from ~$700-$1400+, depending on configuration.

Here's a Y50-70 for $709:

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-...&keywords=lenovo+y50


For $80 more, he could get the computer I posted that has a GTX 1060 which runs circles around the GTX 960M plus a 256 GB SSD, 8 GB more memory and a current generation processor that's not only 25% faster, but also uses less power as well.
 
Posts: 10931 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of bigdeal
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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
I am aware that $700 wont get me top of the line equipment. I gave up PC gaming a long time ago because I was tired of the constant upgrades.

But he wants to play a bunch of smaller indie type games, not the latest release big name titles. I would be willing to go up a little for something better, but I am not looking to compete with some water cooled Alienware gaming rig. Looks like you can drop $700 - $800 and then the next step up is about $1200, then up again from there.

Like I said I may play Star Wars Old Republic MMO on it, but that's an old game at this point also. Ive been out of the PC building game so long, honestly I don't know shit anymore about what chips or cards are what anymore.
Given what you've noted you want to use the machine for, the demands you'd put on it with those games are pretty mild. My suggestion would be to hit the Dell Outlet for a refurb'd Inspiron with a current gen i5 chip, running 8gb or better of ram. You won't find huge gaming benefits from an SSD so a spinning drive should be fine. Your main focus should be on the graphics card. Hit up Newegg (or similar) for a GTX 1060 or 1070 with at least 6gb of RAM. The purchase of the PC and graphics card should keep you right around $700, and leave you money to buy a nice 27" monitor.

I think you and your son would far prefer gaming on that machine than a lower end laptop.


-----------------------------
Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter
 
Posts: 33845 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: April 30, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of 226Reasons
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Acer Nitro 5, like I told you already Roll Eyes

Acer Nitro 5 on Amazon $718
 
Posts: 1327 | Location: TN | Registered: March 09, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I was at a local Walmart and they had an MSI GL63 Gaming laptop with a Nvidia 1050Ti for $599 marked down from $1200+. I hope this helps. God Bless !!! Smile


"Always legally conceal carry. At the right place and time, one person can make a positive difference."
 
Posts: 3069 | Location: Sector 001 | Registered: October 30, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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