Wanting a New Gaming Laptop Computer - What Should I Look for? (Budget $1900 - $3000)

Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 20:52
Last edited 15/10/2021 - 21:48 by 1 other user

I play one game online called Second Life otherwise I am usually on the internet, and due to location constraints I need good Wi-Fi. I recently purchased a new modem/router.

I currently have a 5 year old Apple Pro and the Wi-Fi on it is kicking the bucket. My internet speed is half what it should be and I can't solve it. Because I play Second Life I know I need a good graphics card.

I hate how Apple manipulates files as I do do a lot of moving files (movies) from USB to USB and Apple is not good for that, plus the new Apples require an adapter for the Thunderbolt 3 so I can use my multiple USB's with it.

I have gotten dependent on the Apple calendar for reminding me of appointments so not sure if switching to a Windows based is ideal - have not used the Google calendar for ages. And my phone is Apple so it integrates well with my Apple Mac Pro so again switching is scary.

At a minimum I think I need-

Approx. 16gb of memory. Disk space = 1 GB application, 10 GB cache
Processor Quad Core @ 3.30 GHz
Graphics Card Nvidia GTX 750Ti NVidia GeForce GTX 980
AMD Radeon R9 290X 1.12 GHz with 4 GB Memory

and I want a decent price on it.

My partner says to come here for advice before I make any decisions

Any advice on what is the best Laptop to purchase is greatly appreciated and maybe even where to get it would be really great.

Right now my big issue is internet speed on my current Mac lappy!

Computing Computer Gaming Laptop Laptop

Comments

  • Pelicannn on 15/10/2021 - 21:11
    +1

    Do you move around a lot? Is portability a need? Also, really need a budget as a starting point.

    • Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 21:44

      lappy sits next to tv and does not move. I do not have a budget for it but guessing between 1900.00 to 3,000.00 would seem reasonable for gaming computer due to the need for higher end graphic cards. I do not care about the screen or keyboard either as I use an hdmi to TV and an external keyboard - It's a living room set up. Thanks in advance.

      • scrimshaw on 15/10/2021 - 21:47

        You might be interested in this front page alienware deal then.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/656759

        Though I would recommend this Legion 5 Pro 16 as it's more reasonably priced and a RTX 3060 is more than capable of running SecondLife. That game is quite old now and will easily run on something half as powerful.

        • Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 21:53

          whats the difference between these (Alienware R12 from $1952.07, X15 from $2924.05, X17 from $2751.87) besides price?

  • Screamingeagle on 15/10/2021 - 21:50

    Where did you get those requirement from?
    I googled Secondlife system requirements and found this page https://secondlife.com/system-requirements The recommended requirements on this page are not very intensive.

    Basically any imac or mac mini with a dedicated GPU made (even the dedicated GPU is probably not even necessary as those cards (nvidia 9000 series are old (think 2008))) in the last 5-6 years would run it fine according to those specifications.

    • MagicMushroom on 15/10/2021 - 21:54

      Looks like $500 will do the job with that spec

    • scrimshaw on 15/10/2021 - 21:55

      The spec requirements of the game actually became heavier over time because the game got overhauled a few times. I think the 4GB VRAM requirement is due to higher resolution textures being added to the game.

      IIRC this game is CPU bound due to it's nature of an MMORPG game with a lot of assets and players online. The graphics are quite potato quality unless you were to install mods.

      • Screamingeagle on 15/10/2021 - 21:58

        It says 4GB computer memory (normal RAM) not VRAM. The Nvidia GeForce 9800 only has 512MB of VRAM (note the 4 numbers compared to the GTX 980 that was posted with 3 numbers) The GTX980 is much newer and better than a 9800.

        • scrimshaw on 15/10/2021 - 22:01

          The OP did quote "AMD Radeon R9 290X 1.12 GHz with 4 GB Memory" which I think is a copy and paste from this wiki page. What is that, a game client wrapped in a web browser?

          • Screamingeagle on 15/10/2021 - 22:08

            @scrimshaw: Yeah that makes more sense.

            OP posted where he got the requirements from (same place as you) I thought you and OP were both confused about the 9800 from the page I found vs the 980 that the OP posted.

            Plus It didn't help that the page I found says it needs 4GB of RAM.

            Sorry for the confusion.

    • Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 21:56

      I use the firestorm firestorm(viewer/browser so it requires bit higher specs

  • Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 21:58

    fully aware the specs are much older then current gaming computers. so should I just go low end? and save money?

    • scrimshaw on 15/10/2021 - 22:11

      Yeah you can go much lower end. the GeForce GTX 980 is sort of matched by a GTX 1650 SUPER. So it is possible to meet your requirements with a $1k laptop — Harvey Norman sells a couple of Acer Nitro 5's with that GPU.

      If you do want a little more grunt you could go up to a RTX 3050 or RTX 3060.

      Flick through our Gaming laptop tag page and find what you need, the only spec you need to pay attention to is essentially the video card it has and at least 16GB of RAM (most laptops will feature user upgradable RAM though)

      • Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 22:15

        I get overwhelmed with so many options… Is Harvey Normal a decent place to purchase one? with good prices? my modem was listed 30.00 higher there then where I got it on ebay. So feel they over price???? and seems their stock is low

  • Sunshines bright on 15/10/2021 - 23:02

    OK went with Dell. New G15 Gaming Laptop1$2,712.84 Processor11th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-11800H (24MB Cache, upto 4.6 GHz, 8 cores)Operating SystemWindows 11 Home, EnglishVideo CardNVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 6GB GDDR6Memory16GB, 8GBx2, DDR4, 3200MHzHard Drive512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Driver

    Hope I do not regret this!!!! saved about 800.00 on it so added a few software I may have use of in the future (windows home & student, Adobe Acrobat Standard 2020, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 & Premier Elements 2021 Bundle and 3Y Premium Support Plus and Onsite Service - AU

    Thoughts?

    • scrimshaw on 15/10/2021 - 23:25

      Those Adobe software won't have been cheap, but the laptop looks solid enough. Welcome to the PC Master Race :P

    • freefall101 on 16/10/2021 - 00:30

      Sure, it'll play the game you want and if you need the software you've now got it. I doubt you'll have any issues from here on out.

  • lew380 on 19/10/2021 - 18:40

    Honestly sounds like you need a sff pc, with a laptop, your paying twice the price for the convenience oh having a crappy screen and keyboard, but you don't need either.

    To be fair, it isn't half the price these days with the cost of GPU's, laptops GPU's are garbage but they are much cheaper.

    • Sunshines bright on 20/10/2021 - 13:46

      whats a sff? the reason for a gaming lappy is for the higher end graphics card needed

      • [Deactivated] on 20/10/2021 - 16:19

        Small form factor PC.
        ie small case

        Gaming laptops are a waste of money, you could have built a proper PC for 1/2 the $ with better performance.
        I am guessing too late to cancel? The CPU was a pretty poor choice too imo, Ryzen is better.

    • lew380 on 21/10/2021 - 19:49

      My current pc is an ultra sff pc, velka 5 case with a 3060 and i5 10400f and it fits in a plane locker as I travel weekly to work. Something like that would look great in your living room. As opposed to some flimsy laptop.

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