Budget gaming laptop

PartTimeJedi

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#1
So I was hoping for some feedback about a budget laptop I'm thinking of buying from a friend. Its in mint condition. Also I am money strapped so he's giving it to me for $450. Thanks

Dell Inspiron 15 7559 Gaming Laptop
CPU: i7-6700HQ
RAM: 16GB
GPU: GTX 960M
Storage: 120GB M.2 SSD (OS) & 1TB HDD (Data)

1920x1080 resolution

3 x USB 3.0 ports
1 Card Reader slot
1 HDMI output port
1 Ethernet port
 

Silv3r Shadow

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#3
I got and use an MSI laptop with the same specs apart from 8GB less ram, but I just use it for when im not at home. I've had it for 3 years now, i originally got it for $1,900 AUD brand new.

the main limitation would be the 960M graphics card. as the 10xx series was released a year and a half later its what i got at the time. its not too bad. I prioritize, 30fps for casual games and 60 fps for FPS, so most games I dont run on high graphics. For Overwatch, I dont recommend anti-aliasing for laptops, but instead focus on textures and models.

Ultimately you get what you pay for and graphics isnt everything. For me, if textures/models look good and runs smooth im happy. (despite my gtx 1080 with everything on max (love the high lighting lol))
 

PartTimeJedi

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#4
It's not a bad price for what you're getting.

Do you need a computer asap?
No I don't need one assp, but this seems to be a good deal.
I don't usually play graphics intensive games. Shit, even FireFall which I consider an absolutely beautiful looking game had relatively low CPU requirements compared to modern AAA games like Witcher 3.
I mostly play indie games and Em8er I'm assuming won't be hugely taxing on the CPU requirements..(I'm guessing).
So this seems like a good deal for a low/mid range gaming laptop.
Any other suggestions would be great!
 

PartTimeJedi

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#5
I got and use an MSI laptop with the same specs apart from 8GB less ram, but I just use it for when im not at home. I've had it for 3 years now, i originally got it for $1,900 AUD brand new.

the main limitation would be the 960M graphics card. as the 10xx series was released a year and a half later its what i got at the time. its not too bad. I prioritize, 30fps for casual games and 60 fps for FPS, so most games I dont run on high graphics. For Overwatch, I dont recommend anti-aliasing for laptops, but instead focus on textures and models.

Ultimately you get what you pay for and graphics isnt everything. For me, if textures/models look good and runs smooth im happy. (despite my gtx 1080 with everything on max (love the high lighting lol))
Very cool, thanks for the info.
If I don't get this one I may wait for a black Friday special and get a new laptop in the $800 range.
Not sure what I should be looking at for minimum requirements
i5 or i7 processer?
Gtx 940, 950, 960 or splurge for the 1050 graphics card?
How much ram?
HDD SSD?
I'm a novice when it comes to whats exactly in my computer and what I actually need.
Thanks
 

Pandagnome

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#6
Are you only going for a laptop?
Could compare price for a newer laptop in sale which might have better specs than
the friends laptop

If you know someone who could build you a pc
could wait for sales for parts and get a nice build made that is what i did.

Maybe this might be of interest?
https://www.wepc.com/builds/best-gaming-pc-under-400/

I went for a pc because knowing me i'd destroy the laptop most likely but that's just me :O
 

PartTimeJedi

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#8
Thanks everyone for your help. I think I will research building a PC like pandagnome suggested or wait for a deal on a laptop with better graphics card, SSD and processor as wyntyr suggested.
Now I'm looking hard at a close out sale on a brand new Dell i7577. Some good specs for $850 and I can upgrade very easily on it.
**Operating System- Windows 10
**Display- 115.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
**Graphics Card- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
**Processor- 7th Generation Intel Core i5-7300HQ Quad Core (6 MB Cache , up to 3.5 GHz)
**Memory- 8GB DDR4 RAMHard Drive, 1TB HDD + 218GB SSD
**Ports1- Thunderbolt 3 (USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C with support for 40 Gbps Thunderbolt and DisplayPort), 3 USB 3.1 Type-A (1 with PowerShare), 1 HDMI 2.0, Headphone output/Microphone input combo
**Keyboard- Full-size island-style keyboard with numeric keypad
** Warranty- 1 Year Manufacture warranty
 
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Silv3r Shadow

Max Kahuna
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#9
yeah, ^ what @Wyntyr said, also, what country do you live in? depends on recommending places/online stores to buy. also, are you wanting just a laptop? desktops in general have higher value for performance (in the higher end at least, but costs lots more). once laptops play for a bit they get hot. heat for laptops run less efficient.
perks for a laptop are, included OS (already installed (that's if you're not building pc)) good screen quality (despite size), portable. and ready 2 go than install things like building a pc

the 10xx series is a huge performance/energy efficiency increase over the 9xx series. however most of these laptops are around $1,300 AUD/$950 USD. (which is quite reasonable) cause its the same price of just my GTX 1080 when I got it was when it came out 2 years ago :p

Here's a comparison that's worth checking out:
https://www.msi.com/blog/Budget-Gaming-Dilemma-GTX-1050Ti-1050-or-GTX-960M-950-The-Answer-is-Clear


This is really good value for money, I haven't used Dell gaming laptops in a long time but the specs and overall price is quite good. make sure to get have a mouse/pad & headphones (and install their drivers) :p

Also if/when you get it, make sure to change the Downloads folder directory from C; Drive to your HDD and installations there too. It does have a good size SSD (which your OS would be on, so the bootup speeds will be very quick, recommend only having a few of your fav games on it and keep everything else on the HDD if you can. Many people (not so tech savvy people) end up filling up their C: drive which makes the whole laptop slow despite the specs. Maintaining your laptop not and then will keep upkeep the same performance over the years.

Very cool, thanks for the info.
If I don't get this one I may wait for a black Friday special and get a new laptop in the $800 range.
Not sure what I should be looking at for minimum requirements
i5 or i7 processer?
Gtx 940, 950, 960 or splurge for the 1050 graphics card?
How much ram?
HDD SSD?
I'm a novice when it comes to whats exactly in my computer and what I actually need.
Thanks
i5 and i7 isnt 'too much' of a difference in terms of product when they first come out. but now i7 is now on 9th generation, so theyre quite good now, generally you'd pay a little bit more, but its become the new standard and has improved quite a lot since gen 1 & 2 i7. like 1920x1080 has become the tv standard years ago. So i do recommend i7 and they're quite stable now

GTX 1050 (ti if you can) you wont regret it as mentioned above. (9xx m's are limited everything will seem bottle-necked lol)

8GB is suitable. But RAM is cheap as chips, they're all throwing 16gb in them all and doesn't hurt and probably wont reach max usage lol.

for storage it all depends how much you use. as mentioned above. keep stuff off the C drive, 1TB is alright for a laptop but not if you want to download shows, movies and everything in 1080p. Just make sure that it has an SSD, (which should be standard anyway).
If the only storage is just a HDD, it will be a very bad experience as hdd are slow trying to run os and other tasks off the same drive lol. Laptops come with the OS pre-installed to the SSD's anyway, which is good. Just have a portable HDD if you want to download movies/shows/anime.
128GB SSD's are standard, anything higher will always be better


If have any other questions, happy to help
 
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PartTimeJedi

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#10
yeah, ^ what @Wyntyr said, also, what country do you live in? depends on recommending places/online stores to buy. also, are you wanting just a laptop? desktops in general have higher value for performance (in the higher end at least, but costs lots more). once laptops play for a bit they get hot. heat for laptops run less efficient.
perks for a laptop are, included OS (already installed (that's if you're not building pc)) good screen quality (despite size), portable. and ready 2 go than install things like building a pc

the 10xx series is a huge performance/energy efficiency increase over the 9xx series. however most of these laptops are around $1,300 AUD/$950 USD. (which is quite reasonable) cause its the same price of just my GTX 1080 when I got it was when it came out 2 years ago :p

Here's a comparison that's worth checking out:
https://www.msi.com/blog/Budget-Gaming-Dilemma-GTX-1050Ti-1050-or-GTX-960M-950-The-Answer-is-Clear



This is really good value for money, I haven't used Dell gaming laptops in a long time but the specs and overall price is quite good. make sure to get have a mouse/pad & headphones (and install their drivers) :p

Also if/when you get it, make sure to change the Downloads folder directory from C; Drive to your HDD and installations there too. It does have a good size SSD (which your OS would be on, so the bootup speeds will be very quick, recommend only having a few of your fav games on it and keep everything else on the HDD if you can. Many people (not so tech savvy people) end up filling up their C: drive which makes the whole laptop slow despite the specs. Maintaining your laptop not and then will keep upkeep the same performance over the years.



i5 and i7 isnt 'too much' of a difference in terms of product when they first come out. but now i7 is now on 9th generation, so theyre quite good now, generally you'd pay a little bit more, but its become the new standard and has improved quite a lot since gen 1 & 2 i7. like 1920x1080 has become the tv standard years ago. So i do recommend i7 and they're quite stable now

GTX 1050 (ti if you can) you wont regret it as mentioned above. (9xx m's are limited everything will seem bottle-necked lol)

8GB is suitable. But RAM is cheap as chips, they're all throwing 16gb in them all and doesn't hurt and probably wont reach max usage lol.

for storage it all depends how much you use. as mentioned above. keep stuff off the C drive, 1TB is alright for a laptop but not if you want to download shows, movies and everything in 1080p. Just make sure that it has an SSD, (which should be standard anyway).
If the only storage is just a HDD, it will be a very bad experience as hdd are slow trying to run os and other tasks off the same drive lol. Laptops come with the OS pre-installed to the SSD's anyway, which is good. Just have a portable HDD if you want to download movies/shows/anime.
128GB SSD's are standard, anything higher will always be better


If have any other questions, happy to help
Excellent! Much appreciated! I think I'll look at the same laptop but in the i7 configuration with a slightly higher going as recommended.
I am in the US, Good'ol communist Massachusetts to be exact. Lol
Once again thank you all for your help!
 

Sy

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#14
Consider a used 1050Ti. With cryptocurrency suckers upgrading to the latest stuff, I hear old cards are going for cheap.
 

PartTimeJedi

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#15
Well I took up a cyber Monday deal and with an online coupon decided on a brand new Dell 7577 gaming Laptop.
Paid $775 free shipping
Specs-
8th gen i5 processor
16 gb memory
NVIDIA 1060 graphics card
128gb SSD
1TB HDD
Win 10
I was going to get the Newer Dell G7 with the exact same specs but comes with the 8th gen i7 processor instead of the i5, but there was a $400 difference in price. Also I read that during some games the i7/ NVIDIA 1060 combo generates substantially more heat than the i5/ NVIDIA 1060 combo with only a few more FPS to show for it.
 

Sy

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#17
Well I took up a cyber Monday deal and with an online coupon decided on a brand new Dell 7577 gaming Laptop.
Those are nice specs.

You definitely didn't need the i7. The 8th generation will grant more cores and threads as you go up, but not enough games can even use what your i5 provides.

The 1060 is a solid card.

Dell is a solid company. You can choose to extend/upgrade your warranty later, which I recommend on a laptop if you actually move it around. Accidental drop insurance is great. Just wait for a while, and they'll probably send mail you a coupon-card with a discount code in a couple of months.
 
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PartTimeJedi

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#18
Those are nice specs.

You definitely didn't need the i7. The 8th generation will grant more cores and threads as you go up, but not enough games can even use what your i5 provides.

The 1060 is a solid card.

Dell is a solid company. You can choose to extend/upgrade your warranty later, which I recommend on a laptop if you actually move it around. Accidental drop insurance is great. Just wait for a while, and they'll probably send mail you a coupon-card with a discount code in a couple of months.
Muchos Gracious!
 

Wyntyr

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#20
Umm I think it's a coffee lake i5. Or I might be not understanding what a K i5 is...
Sorry about that. For example, is it an I5 8600 or I5 8600K? The K means that the processor can be overclocked. I ask because you may be able to get a little more performance from your system without messing the thermals up and having your laptop slow down. Not just with the processor though, as you can up your RAM speed (which i would recommend even if you don't OC the processor and graphics card), and graphics card.