Mind if I ask - why laptop? If you have to do some basic work on the go, and you have 1250 budget. Get a cheapo netbook for 250 to get your word processor and browser running just fine. And build a decent entry-mid level gaming machine for a 1000. There's literally no way to better spend those money. You won't get a powerful laptop for 1250, in fact I would say every "gaming" laptop is vastly inferior to a similarly priced desktop. Not to mention even laptops with desktop-class GPUs and CPUs always suck in terms of performance. Cooling issues are standard, which leads to thermal throttling.
Elite on a cr@p PC
- Thread starter NCFCpaul
- Start date
"Little overlap" but there is an overlap at the top end of OP's budget, therefore RTX v GTX is an issue, especially if one can source a good deal.
It is essential you specify exactly what you want from this laptop & your priorities - how long before you replace it, graphics settings & res requirements, which games you play, desired VR compatibility etc. Additionally, whether compromises would be acceptable on those criteria if you save money. If you can provide this info, helping you pick a laptop to meet your needs will be much easier.
For basic playability a 1050ti is perfectly viable at high settings which on a 15.6" screen is fine but I'd agree with Morbad generally that scaling up is desirable & the 1660ti is a good card in terms of bang for buck; if you can stretch to £1200 or so & a 2060, all the better for the architecture advantages. I would add that 16GB RAM is the new benchmark by general consensus going forward in games development.
I generally replace my rig & laptop Evey 2/3 yrs & I have bought 5 laptops in the last 6 months - not all for myself!I've just bought an Asus Rog Strix with a 2070 on behalf of my brother for £300 over your budget limit (he's now my slave until he pays off the balance...ahh good times ahead for this tyrant!) It's an absolute beast of a laptop for a little over what I paid for my Msi 1060, a year ago - grrrr!; if you can find the extra I'd glad to give you the link when I get home later. (On my phone right now!)
& great news...one can type "crap" without the swear-filter kicking in..
crap,crap,crap...see?
I'd be using it a purely gaming computer, I have access to other computers for work purposes. Elite and Civilization are my primary games with a bit of Football Manager and lesser other games too. I would like something to see me through as long as possible, but recognising that within my budget that is an balancing act.
I hadn't given enough thought to the RAM but I agree that 16gb looks a good investment.
If you have a decent internet connection you could consider cloud gaming : https://shadow.tech
I use this for about 50% of my gaming, Elite runs really well on it and latency is rarely an issue. The only time I switch back to my local machine is when I'm PvPing because the stick control accuracy is slightly better (probably because of a small amount of latency).
I use this for about 50% of my gaming, Elite runs really well on it and latency is rarely an issue. The only time I switch back to my local machine is when I'm PvPing because the stick control accuracy is slightly better (probably because of a small amount of latency).
I had been running ED on a crappy little Lenovo until recently when it decided it would crash on every other jump, guess I was lucky it ever worked. I bought a MSi Leopard pro laptop (about £1k) which is brilliant, runs VR on low to medium too. But then became addicted to VR and spent a packet on a desktop, just for ED....cant find any other VR game that even comes close! I have had only minor problems with the MSi, its around your budget and you could squeeze low power to medium VR if wanted (if you can then do!) its a noisy when its stretched though!
Get something MSI in your budget, OP. I've had this one (with an 870M) for 5 years playing Elite & working 50+ hours a week on it & it's built like a tank; apart from a new KB a few yrs ago it's still going strong (but about to be replaced).
The suggestion on the first page with a 1660Ti is a good one.
The suggestion on the first page with a 1660Ti is a good one.
Ahh Footy Manager...a man after my own heart!
Notts County - European Champions ..I can picture it now!
Back O/T:
Your budget is actually pretty healthy...you'll easily get a 2060 - I found about a dozen at £1250 & below on various sites a couple of weeks ago - the only real downside, as covered by Caramel, is the cooling issue but that is obviously unavoidable since your circumstances dictate the need for a gaming laptop. This can be mitigated to a degree with a high quality cooling pad but it's far from ideal.
I'll add the links when I get home at about 6pm.
EDIT: Well, blow me (any offers?) I remembered one:
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I can recommend the Acer Predator i7 gaming Laptop.
https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/acer-p...dbTmawQFYevxfI-BnNv1c6vlDFdp3_ZgaAsYiEALw_wcB
Nothing beats a dedicated Gaming PC which is what I usually play on, with the Acer running one of 2nd accounts.
https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/acer-p...dbTmawQFYevxfI-BnNv1c6vlDFdp3_ZgaAsYiEALw_wcB
Nothing beats a dedicated Gaming PC which is what I usually play on, with the Acer running one of 2nd accounts.
Get a new, full box. Laptops age badly.Will need to be a laptop... I think the problem seems to be the graphics chip is gtx950m which should be OK, but the ram and cpu seem pretty lightweight. Not much else is running on the machine at all. A check on 'can you run it' points the finger that way
Good thinking about the buildup of crud, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was quite a lot
My Dad orders his laptops from PC Specialist, he has had 5 over the last 12 years, very happy with them, he bought me one when I didn't have the money for a new desktop, the screen failed after 3 days, returned it, got it back fixed, 4 days later, no quibbles, no run around. So yes the are recommendable, and the build your own system method is very easy to use and when you have a system built it will check to make sure everything will work correctly, if not it will recommend changes.
Edit: whoops, nevermind. Didn't see that it has to be a laptop.
Concur with the above poster. Got my desktop from PC Specialist. Runs really nicely, looks great. No complaints or issues after a year.
Concur with the above poster. Got my desktop from PC Specialist. Runs really nicely, looks great. No complaints or issues after a year.
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Simple rule of thumb, when bangforbuck is a priority, avoid intel and nvidia and buy amd equipment. also, leave at least 10-15% headroom on your PSU so it won't work at maximum load all the time, this extends its lifetime by a large margin. Closed circle watercoolers for the CPU are quite good from Corsair imho, the price is ok, the one I use is running for 10+ years now (yes, seriously.) and still does its job.
If its not mandatory for you due to work or other things... Never EVER get a damn laptop for gaming. Buy something proper.
EDIT: Also just saw you want a laptop, ah well sorry
also, leave at least 10-15% headroom on your PSU so it won't work at maximum load all the time, this extends its lifetime by a large margin. Closed circle watercoolers for the CPU are quite good from Corsair imho, the price is ok, the one I use is running for 10+ years now (yes, seriously.) and still does its job.If its not mandatory for you due to work or other things... Never EVER get a damn laptop for gaming. Buy something proper.
EDIT: Also just saw you want a laptop, ah well sorry
OP, make sure you get an AMD cpu, they tend to be cheaper, they are just as good as intels, although they have slightly worse single core, but much better multicore performance. If you can pair an amd video card with an amd cpu they also tend to work better together, make sure you have extra power for your psu.
I dont know if AMD still makes RAM, but if they do and you are buying an AMD video card and CPU try to get AMD RAM too.
I dont know if AMD still makes RAM, but if they do and you are buying an AMD video card and CPU try to get AMD RAM too.