New Computer

[2468avc]

Hi all,
I'm looking into buying a new gaming computer, even Minecraft has been lagging our old family computer now. This is a configuration I came up with on Origin, thoughts?

EON17-S
Exclusive ORIGIN PC Glacier White
1920 x 1080 17.3" LED Backlit Matte Display
Customizable Backlit Keyboard and Touchpad w/ Three Lighting Zones and Seven Color options
Single 4GB NVIDIA GTX 860M
Intel Core i7 4810MQ Quad-Core 2.80GHz (3.80GHz TurboBoost)
16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Genuine MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition
8X Slim CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)
RAID 0: For better speed and performance (2 or more identical drives needed)
mSATA OS Drive
RAID 0: For better speed and performance (2 or more identical drives needed)
750GB SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
120GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
Integrated High-Definition Audio powered by Sound Blaster XFi
Wi-Fi Link 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN w/ Bluetooth
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Ports
Media Card Reader
Integrated Biometric Fingerprint Reader
Built-in 2.0 Megapixel Video Camera
1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
ORIGIN Recovery USB3.0 Flash Drive
45 Day No Dead Pixel Guarantee Free
ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor

Thanks,
Avc

[Nick3306]

Does it need to be a laptop? You could get a more powerful desktop for a fraction of that price

[Chipaton]

You can drop the 16gb RAM to 8 unless you know you need it for a specific reason.

Check to make sure that the OS is going to be installed on the SSD (Seems like a no-brainer, but was not listed)

"Origin approved" SSD tells you nothing. Try to find the manufacturer and model of the SSD included.

Go with Windows 8 if the option is there.

If you plan to play a lot of games, 750GB wont cut it. My current Steam folder is over a TB. That doesnt include Uplay, Origin, and other legal methods.

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

If you can, go with a desktop like Nick said. Often times you can get a more powerful desktop and a laptop for still less money. Heavily consider that option.

[Nick3306]

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

This is not true. Some graphical implementations include vigorous use of vram. Watch Dogs requires at least 3GB to use ultra textures if i remember correctly and I would expect future games to follow this trend.

[Chipaton]

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

This is not true. Some graphical implementations include vigorous use of vram. Watch Dogs requires at least 3GB to use ultra textures if i remember correctly and I would expect future games to follow this trend.

The card runs Watch_Dogs on Ultra at nearly 20fps. Also the card has a 128 bit bus, which as far as I know, wont be able to use the 4GB effectively. Any game that will need that much VRAM will already be maxed out by the card itself. Titanfall says it needs 3GB VRAM for extreme textures but my 2GB card is chugging along just fine on extreme.

From what I read the 4GB one is Kepler while the 2GB is Maxwell based, so it should consume less power and generate more heat.

[Nick3306]

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

This is not true. Some graphical implementations include vigorous use of vram. Watch Dogs requires at least 3GB to use ultra textures if i remember correctly and I would expect future games to follow this trend.

The card runs Watch_Dogs on Ultra at nearly 20fps. Also the card has a 128 bit bus, which as far as I know, wont be able to use the 4GB effectively. Any game that will need that much VRAM will already be maxed out by the card itself. Titanfall says it needs 3GB VRAM for extreme textures but my 2GB card is chugging along just fine on extreme.

From what I read the 4GB one is Kepler while the 2GB is Maxwell based, so it should consume less power and generate more heat.

its not about that particular game. I feel a lot of games in the future will use more and more VRAM so it's always good to have. The bus is only a tiny problem because it does limit last games from fully using all that memory but that's not always the case, developers are always finding new ways to use VRAM.

[Chipaton]

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

This is not true. Some graphical implementations include vigorous use of vram. Watch Dogs requires at least 3GB to use ultra textures if i remember correctly and I would expect future games to follow this trend.

The card runs Watch_Dogs on Ultra at nearly 20fps. Also the card has a 128 bit bus, which as far as I know, wont be able to use the 4GB effectively. Any game that will need that much VRAM will already be maxed out by the card itself. Titanfall says it needs 3GB VRAM for extreme textures but my 2GB card is chugging along just fine on extreme.

From what I read the 4GB one is Kepler while the 2GB is Maxwell based, so it should consume less power and generate more heat.

its not about that particular game. I feel a lot of games in the future will use more and more VRAM so it's always good to have. The bus is only a tiny problem because it does limit last games from fully using all that memory but that's not always the case, developers are always finding new ways to use VRAM.

Eh the games that will use that much VRAM will already be limited by the power of the card anyways, but I guess it really boils down to if you would rather have Kepler+4GB of VRAM vs Maxwell.

 I just checked the site and that is the lowest tier card they offer with that laptop (oddly enough they increase by a 6GB 870m and a 8GB 880m) so it doesnt really matter if the option isn't going to be there.

[Nick3306]

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

This is not true. Some graphical implementations include vigorous use of vram. Watch Dogs requires at least 3GB to use ultra textures if i remember correctly and I would expect future games to follow this trend.

The card runs Watch_Dogs on Ultra at nearly 20fps. Also the card has a 128 bit bus, which as far as I know, wont be able to use the 4GB effectively. Any game that will need that much VRAM will already be maxed out by the card itself. Titanfall says it needs 3GB VRAM for extreme textures but my 2GB card is chugging along just fine on extreme.

From what I read the 4GB one is Kepler while the 2GB is Maxwell based, so it should consume less power and generate more heat.

its not about that particular game. I feel a lot of games in the future will use more and more VRAM so it's always good to have. The bus is only a tiny problem because it does limit last games from fully using all that memory but that's not always the case, developers are always finding new ways to use VRAM.

Eh the games that will use that much VRAM will already be limited by the power of the card anyways, but I guess it really boils down to if you would rather have Kepler+4GB of VRAM vs Maxwell.

 I just checked the site and that is the lowest tier card they offer with that laptop (oddly enough they increase by a 6GB 870m and a 8GB 880m) so it doesnt really matter if the option isn't going to be there.

but that's what I'm saying, just because now the games that require more vram require more powerful cards doesn't mean it's always going to be like that.

[2468avc]

You can drop the 16gb RAM to 8 unless you know you need it for a specific reason.

Check to make sure that the OS is going to be installed on the SSD (Seems like a no-brainer, but was not listed)

"Origin approved" SSD tells you nothing. Try to find the manufacturer and model of the SSD included.

Go with Windows 8 if the option is there.

If you plan to play a lot of games, 750GB wont cut it. My current Steam folder is over a TB. That doesnt include Uplay, Origin, and other legal methods.

There is no need for a 4GB GPU with a laptop, or even at 1080p in general. Drop the 4GB if possible and try to get a better overall card. 2GB of VRAM will be plenty.

If you can, go with a desktop like Nick said. Often times you can get a more powerful desktop and a laptop for still less money. Heavily consider that option.

What should I do about the memory? I'm currently not using 2 msata drives, would you recommend those? I could also up the 750 gb to a terrabyte. I just don't really want it to cost too much more. The ssd is built by origin.

Thanks everyone,
Avc

[Chipaton]

The total price of that computer is around $1900 on their website, just build one for $1200 and get another laptop for $600-700. You will get a computer miles ahead of this laptop.

Also I would not recommend the Origin SSD.

[2468avc]

I'm just worried that I'll do something wrong and break everything. Do people offer classes on it? Could a get a professional at a computer store to do it? Also, why a second laptop?

[Nick3306]

I'm just worried that I'll do something wrong and break everything. Do people offer classes on it? Could a get a professional at a computer store to do it? Also, why a second laptop?

Yout could take it to a computer store and have them build it for you but they might charge you quite a bit since you didnt buy the parts from them. It's not all that hard to build a computer there are tons of youtube tutorials on it if you need help.

[2468avc]

I think that I'm going to try to get a complete laptop sent to me to eliminate problems that might come up if I do it. Also,  I changed the SSD to a 128 gb OCZ Vector 150.

[Nick3306]

I think that I'm going to try to get a complete laptop sent to me to eliminate problems that might come up if I do it. Also,  I changed the SSD to a 128 gb OCZ Vector 150.

Alright, if you want to pay more for less, go for it.

[Chipaton]

I think that I'm going to try to get a complete laptop sent to me to eliminate problems that might come up if I do it. Also,  I changed the SSD to a 128 gb OCZ Vector 150.

It really doesn't make sense to do that, building is actually very easy. The reason for the second laptop was that I thought you may need a laptop for school or something, if not, go full out for a desktop.

A $1200 desktop will max most games, while a $2000 laptop will struggle achieving that.