Need new high-end laptop

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nfitc1

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The laptop I got for Skyrim is finally dying. It had a good run but the video hardware is messing up. For those of you with gaming laptops, where did you get them? I really like AMD processors so I'm trying to stay with them, but it doesn't seem like their newest laptop core is all that popular. Of the laptops they (AMD) list on their website they have outdated models that aren't customizable by the original manufacturers.
 
you more then likley can use a reflow of you video chip and better cooling for it . this is a common laptop issue.
 
you more then likley can use a reflow of you video chip and better cooling for it . this is a common laptop issue.
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This would be a reasonable solution, but the only way I can find to replace my vid chip is to replace the mobo. The one that I want to get would be $350 and I don't think there's better cooling for it.
 
I would never recommend a laptop for gaming. The price/performance ratio is terrible compared to desktop hardware and temperature issues are always a problem. You can play any game properly with some real pricey modern hardware.

If you're lacking time to game at home maybe think about a solution like Splashtop.
 
If you can wait two or three weeks, I highly recommend holding out for a laptop with the nvidia 970m or 980m - On paper they blow the current gen out of the water in terms of performance per watt

Here is a list of laptops that should be getting them first - these are also probably the most popular high end gaming laptops if that says anything.

Edit: now that I have actually looked, since I am kind of in the same boat, it appears that Amazon already has a few 9xxm bearing laptops in stock
 
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Personally i would avoid a laptop for gaming unless you absolutely must have one. That being said AMD is downright horrible for gaming in a laptop. Their cpu's are either too power hungry or not powerful enough (APU's). I would suggest looking for something with a haswell intel cpu in it and possibly the 970 or 980m when they come out. This will give the best power efficiency which is greatly needed on something running on battery. That being said I have always liked the asus g series gaming laptops. I have one at home that still kicks a decent amount of ass given it is over 4 years old.

15" version
http://www.asus.com/ca-en/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/G550JK/

17" version
http://www.asus.com/ca-en/site/g-series/G750/

I would wait for the 970/980 to come out before i bought. Maxwell is able to cram a lot of power into something damn efficient.
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...st-closing-the-laptop-desktop-performance-gap
 
I agree with everyone that you should not buy a laptop for gaming purpose unless you absolutely need to. Do you really intent to play on a lot of locations? Also, wanting decent performance on a laptop means reaching deep into your pockets. There is some decent hardware out there, but it's just really expensive!

On that note, you could probably buy a decent gaming rig and have some money left for a simple laptop (or even a tablet!). This is all assuming a decent gaming laptop costs about < 1000 euros (some people have other definitions of "decent").
 
My laptop plays games pretty well. I have a laptop because I move between locations, and am still wondering if I should get another laptop or a desktop when I get another computer.
 
OK, I should probably also add a caveat that when I mean "high-end" I don't mean "full 60fps at highest res in all modern multiplayer FPSes". I know that laptops are severely lacking when it comes to processing power. I just need a replacement laptop that can play most modern single-player games at at least 720p and average 30 fps. I consider that playable. Higher than that is, of course, preferred, but not essential.

I haven't been a fan of Intel for a long time back when they were purposefully overclocking their chips and they all seemed to burn out quickly. That was a long time ago so maybe the current gen is lots more stable than I'm giving them credit for.
I'm also not thrilled with this new APU direction that AMD is going as that seems to be focusing all the heat into a single point. Power consumption should be about equal regardless of where they keep the cores though.

I have built my current desktop for gaming three years ago and have yet to really test it out (my daughter was born shortly after I assembled it, but it's still pretty fast with most things I try on it).
 
Ah I see, you can definitely get a decent mid-range dell/alienware for 1-1.5k. Protip: take the student/teacher/business discount ;) ;)
The intel core i5-i7 mobile chip is miles beyond anything AMD has to offer unfortunately- I'd like to side with the underdog but they just don't even compare these days
 
To your question,  "For those of you with gaming laptops, where did you get them?"
I bought an MSI GE70 from my local electronics store, almost 2 years ago.

http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GE60_0ND.html#hero-specification

I mean I'm happy with the purchase and it can run most games at least on medium, but I've learned that mobile graphic cards (cards on laptops) just don't compare well to desktop graphic cards.  I love how portable they are though, the only downside, is I have to keep mine plugged in when I play stuff, but its gaming, come on now. In addition, it heats up and I worry about my graphics card on the long run with the fans and the heat going. I would stick with intel for laptops, then go either intel or amd with building a desktop. I need to build a budget desktop computer sometime though, so I can take some hard duties away from my laptop. A gaming laptop usually have a span of 3-6 years, and aren't easily repaired obviously, like a desktop. You gotta really take care of that *%#&  xD
Looking at some of the new gaming laptops in CES 2014, there are a few that are much slimmer now, and more powerful at a decent price.
 
if you are ok with replacing the motherboard you really should try to reflow the gfx chip on your current board. its not to hard todo . you need some liquid no clean flux and a heat gun.. protect the board with some foil , flux around the chip and heat the chip up with your heat gun.. this should pull flux back into your solder joints and you might just find your gfx chip is working correctly all of a sudden.. then see what you can do to make it cool better (some new paste maybe a shim for better connection with the heat sync)

edit : the DV9 series is well known for heat issues btw
 
The chip itself is giving out. It happened when I replaced the hard drive a few months ago. It's been working fine for three years before this. It's not a heating issue because it happens if the fan is blowing or not. It seems to be random most of the time so it's likely something inside the chip and not the solder joints. I'll take a look at the contacts though.
 
The chip itself is giving out. It happened when I replaced the hard drive a few months ago. It's been working fine for three years before this. It's not a heating issue because it happens if the fan is blowing or not. It seems to be random most of the time so it's likely something inside the chip and not the solder joints. I'll take a look at the contacts though.
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you willl not see them unless you look at the bga below the chip . the bottom pins will almost always look normal. this is a common issue with bga mounting as the heat is forced thru the bga and out the bottom of the board cooking the flux out and weaking the joints under the chip.this creates what is known as "head-in-a-pillow"  for the "pins" of the bga.

see http://www.aimsolder.com/sites/default/files/head-in-pillow_bga_defects.pdf for some more info.
 
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