This is in response to my previous topic: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=106321.0
My family has decided to get a gaming laptop. We’re willing to spend up to $1,000 or less on it. Unfortunately, we’re all not very knowledgeable about computer specs and technical things, so we need some assistance in picking out a good laptop. We’ve been recommended some laptops, as you can see below. They all sound promising, but I thought I should get the opinion of fellow Avast members before we buy anything.
The main game we’re buying the laptop for is The Sims 3 (I posted specs below for it) and all of it’s add-ons (Expansion packs and stuff packs). The Sims 3 isn’t supposed to be very demanding, despite that, my current laptop has been crashing to desktop and lagging horribly after installing an expansion pack. However, in general, we just want a good gaming laptop that can play most games without hardly any graphical, flickering or crashing problems etc…
Another thing that is important is that it doesn’t overheat quickly. I hear gaming laptops do that frequently. Lastly, almost everyone we’ve talked to said that the most important thing that a gaming laptop should have is a “dedicated graphics card”. Is this the GPU or a specific type of GPU?
All right, here’s the specs of The Sims 3
PC System Requirements OS: XP SP2 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7 CPU: For XP 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent; For Windows Vista and Windows 7 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent RAM: For XP 1 GB RAM / Windows Vista and Windows 7 1.5 GB RAM* DISC DRIVE: DVD drive Hard Drive: At least 3.5 GB** of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games. Video: 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 * For NVIDIA ION™ computers, the game requires at least 2.0 GB RAM. ** 9.6 GB of hard drive space if installing with The Sims 3. Supported Video Cards: Nvidia GeForce 6 series or better, and all NVidia G, GT, GTS, and GTX video cards. ATI Radeon™ series card 9500 series or better, and all ATI X, X1, and HD video cards; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA): GMA 3-Series, GMA 4-Series Please note that the GeForce 6100 and 7100 cards are not supported.
Sims 3 isn’t compatible with Windows 8 yet, I don’t believe, that’s why we’re looking for a Windows 7 laptop.
Here’s the specs for several computers we found/someone recommended to us.
Alienware AMD FX 4100 Quad Core Processor 8.00 GB RAM 64 bit operating system 1 Terabyte space^ I'm not sure if this is a laptop though. An acquaintance just sent me specs through email without specifically telling me.
Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 i7-3610QM GT640M-LE(2GB) 8GB 1TB Gaming Laptop Win7 209388U
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y480-i7-3610QM-GT640M-LE-2GB-8GB-1TB-Gaming-Laptop-Win7-209388U-/160912995743?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item257729759f
IdeaPad Y480 Laptop - 20938RU
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=457&Code=20938RU&category_id=C7563337D3E07CC4B84607F2E57AE7FD#.UJWH1YY2jSj
The above two are the same aren’t they? Just in case, I decided to post them anyway.
ASUS G74 Series G74SX-BBK11 Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230454
Some other laptops that might be worth considering?: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2020688,00.asp
Note: We’re not necessarily going to be buying the same exact product shown in the links (in other words, we may search around for better prices etc…), it’s just to show the specs.
So far, we like the lenovo laptop the best. According to my relative, even though it’s heavy, it doesn’t get hot as quickly as other gaming laptops. Is this a good idea? I hear lenovos have a lot of bloatware though…
Is any of the laptops we picked out any good? Or do you have any other suggestions?
Sorry for the long post.
Thanks in advance!
Best regards.
-Misuzu