Can't decide which laptop for general use and casual gaming.

zombieZA

zombieZA

New member
My budget is as close to R10k as possible. Looking for something to use for general web surfing, movies, etc and some casual gaming (Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, ESO, etc).

So far my decision is between the following 2 MSI options, but I can't decide because I'm not clued up enough on the finer details of their differences ( http://www.evetech.co.za/mobile/compare.aspx?ids=577,520 ):
- MSI Performance Series CX70 2OD 17.3" Intel Core i7 Laptop
- MSI GP60 2OD 15.6" Intel Core i5 Gaming Laptop

Can anyone give any insight on which would be the better choice for my purposes or suggest something else that may fit my budget and requirements?

Thanks in advance.
 
zombieZA said:
My budget is as close to R10k as possible. Looking for something to use for general web surfing, movies, etc and some casual gaming (Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, ESO, etc).

So far my decision is between the following 2 MSI options, but I can't decide because I'm not clued up enough on the finer details of their differences ( http://www.evetech.co.za/mobile/compare.aspx?ids=577,520 ):
- MSI Performance Series CX70 2OD 17.3" Intel Core i7 Laptop
- MSI GP60 2OD 15.6" Intel Core i5 Gaming Laptop

Can anyone give any insight on which would be the better choice for my purposes or suggest something else that may fit my budget and requirements?

Thanks in advance.
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I would recommend the 15.6" as it is 1920x1080 and has a little SSD :) (Among other things). It is also a bit more portable even though it weighs more :p. Unless you want the i7 for something specific, you won't really notice the difference for your use. The 15.6" might feel faster because of the SSD.
 
zombieZA said:
So that I can sit anywhere around the house (or in bed) and do what I want to :)
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Same thing I use mine for and its easier to take on holiday or in the plane when going somewhere on business or casually :D.

Make sure it has a dedicated GPU and it should be alright for general gaming and 4 gb+ memory.
 
Get i5 one, it has an ssd for one, higher resolution, faster harddrive. Seems like better value of the 2
 
I would also say go for the one on the right...

That ssd will help a lot for game loading times and the cpu is still good. Same gpu's anyway
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Out of interest, how does a Hybrid SSD+HDD work?

edit:
Nevermind - found this after asking.
 
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rootworm41 said:
Is your choice definitely out of those two?
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For my budget (as close to R10k as possible), those two are the best I've managed to find for what I want to do with it. If anyone has any other options that may be better I'd definitely give them a look too.
 
I have one of these.

http://www.shoplenovo.co.za/laptops-ultrabooks/ideapad-laptops/lenovo-ideapad-y510-7496.html

The site does not list all of the features. It is actually the Y510P gaming laptop. It has a 24gb SSD Hybrid drive as well. It also comes with the Ultrabay option, even though I have not seen any Ultrabay options available in SA.

Just remember when buying a gaming laptop that they get hot, as in scorching hot. When playing games on one remember to either get a cooling pad or at least elevate the laptop when gaming. Never play games on a gaming laptop with it on your lap or put it down flat, the air intakes at the bottom must have proper airflow or you will damage the laptop.

The Y510p has a stronger GPU than the MSI ones you listed and the i7 Sharkbay CPU. I can run GW2 on Low to Medium but GW2 is a known resource hog. Most games I am able to play on at least Low settings. Playing Planetside 2 on it now on Medium settings and getting anywhere between 30-58 fps most of the time. Also able to play COD:GHOSTS on it with decent fps and no slow downs. Except the obvious game slow downs but that is not a hardware issue. I am able to play Skyrim as well, but because I do not like Vsync I had to stop playing it because of the FPS/Water Glitch when your fps goes over 60/refresh rate of your screen. But the game was smooth on low to medium settings.

The negatives I would have to mention the screen is not Full HD but even though I had a gaming laptop with two 23 inch 1080p screens attached to it, I don't really miss it and it does not bother me as much. If you want more desktop space and you are iffy about Full HD then well skip it. Also there is a problem with heat on the laptop, as mentioned above, you have to use a cooling pad with it otherwise it gets hot. Up to 90C under heavy gaming load, with the elevation and cooling pad it gets up to 80C. With that said because of the design of the Y510P and how the Ultrabay sits if you game and your laptop gets hot, the P:>?"{_) keys will stop working. This is due to where the CPU sits.

But remember these laptops will have issues, I know the MSI ones have heat issues as well and you will find some cut corners when going into the mid-range gaming laptop area.

Edit*

Forgot to mention that the WiFi on the Y510P is horrible, it works but some days the demon inside the laptop goes haywire and it will cause random DCs or just won't connect.

I mentioned the Y510P just to show you that there are other options but you have to know what you are getting yourself into.
 
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rootworm41 said:
The Y5** series have got great reviews that I have seen in the past. They are know to be reliable..but 90C!
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Yeah they get pretty hot, but this was before I got the cooling pad and the laptop was sitting flat on the desk. And because it has a low profile there was no room for air to get in, it was cutting off all air flow.

Still love it nonetheless.
 
rootworm41 said:
The Y5** series have got great reviews that I have seen in the past. They are know to be reliable..but 90C!
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Mine goes past 90c when gaming after 5 years but in the beggining it was 80c when gaming on my Acer :D.

I use the cooling pads from Incredible connection and seems to work fine, drops 10c off the temperature.
 
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