Buying gaming laptop. Is it worth waiting for Intel Haswell?

All right, so I have decided to buy a gaming laptop and I've found the one I want, however the only thing keeping me from buying it is the coming Intel Haswell. Is it worth waiting approx. 5-6 months on these new processors when buying a gaming laptop? Why, why not?

Thanks

 

Only you can answer that.

 

Not really. If you want to wait for something, wait for the newer GPUs. CPUs are pretty irrelevant to gaming these days, except for some special cases (BF3 caring more of threads than CPU speed, though all the quad-cores have 8 threads anyway). You can make a thread in WNBSIB and people can help you pick out a laptop if you like.

If you need a laptop now, buy one. If not, you can wait. But if you keep waiting for newer tech, you won't buy anything at all.

 

Of course, but I am wondering whether the improvements done to the new Haswell processors are significant and worth waiting for?

 

Since Haswell is a "tick", it'll be a new CPU design, new socket, etc. So performance gains are unknown at this point. If I were to guess, it'll be a minor improvement in CPU performance, somewhat major improvement in iGPU performance (moot point for a gaming laptop), and slightly better battery life.

 

Hmmm, has Intel said anything about release dates and when notebooks with those processors will be available for purchase? Also leads me to another question: Has Nvidia said anything about their new GPUs?

 

I haven't seen anything yet, though I guess both will release around late spring, assuming no design issues. Basing that off of previous releases.

 

Don't expect laptops with Haswell before June. Too much of a wait if I were you. GPU performance will be 2x compared to Ivy, but as long as you want a laptop with dedicated GPU that's not relevant at all.

 

I was in the exact same situation as you, having picked out a laptop, but kept waiting because there were new refreshes of available GPU/CPU. I'm not an expert, but some of the new chips may be compatible with the current generation of sockets (please correct me if i am wrong). As long as you can upgrade the processor at a later date, you shouldnt have to worry.

The other case is assuming new chips wont be compatible at all with previous sockets. In that case, i would look at the processor you are getting. I have a 3630qm, which is fine for me now, but i know that in the future i can upgrade all the way to the i7-3940XM.

My biggest suggestion would be to make sure the laptop you are purchasing is cpu & gpu upgradeable, like a Clevo.

 

Intell will likely have a whole new socket for Haswell. They're infamous for this sort of thing, both laptop- and desktop-wise (especially desktop-wise).

 

Rumors:

CPU +5-15% clock for clock over Ivy Bridge

IGP +200% over HD4000

Socket: G3 (instead of Ivy`s G2)

Chipset: HM85/HM85/UM83

 

No; if you're ready to buy now, and happy with what you'd be getting, it's not worth waiting 5-6 months for an upgrade. If you do, you get into the cycle of never buying anything because there's always something better coming.

And as Cloudfire mentioned, Haswell won't even be revolutionary (assuming you don't care about the IGP). They won't be worth upgrading to from Ivy Bridge, even if you could. I wouldn't have advised waiting 5-6 months for new processors even back in 1998, shortly before Pentium III's came out. And the increases in performance are generally much more modest now.

The only times I'd recommend waiting that long is when a killer feature was coming out (perhaps CD drives back in the day), or there was a specific model you really wanted (maybe a Lenovo Yoga, or something else unique). But when it's just internals changing, I might wait a month, but not much more if I was otherwise ready to buy. I did just this when building a desktop - I bought Sandy Bridge components shortly before Ivy Bridge came out, because it really wasn't worth waiting 2 months for a marginal increase when I could already get what I wanted.

 

The computer I have my eyes on is also a Clevo. Believe it is the 15.6 inch model of the one you have. It has 3630QM and GTX 660M. When it comes to upgrading the computer, well, I don't have the skills nor the courage to open up a laptop. Desktops I have played with, but laptops, doubtful

However, I am about 90% sure that I'm going to buy the laptop I have my eyes on.

 

Desktops are more "dangerous" than laptops; upgrading a laptop is pretty easy (I've upgraded my laptop often, and built my own desktop). RAM and the HDD are simple to replace, and in principle the CPU shouldn't be too difficult (I haven't tried it though since the i7-2720QM is plenty for me).

 

Really? Desktops are much more spacious though, more room for mistakes too, in my opinion. Yeah, the HDD, RAM and DVD-drive are relatively simple to take out etc. but I feel that CPU and GPU are the hardest parts to replace . If I'd upgrade anything it'd be the GPU, since I think CPUs nowadays are powerful enough.

Just checked the website I was going to buy the laptop from and noticed that they were sold out until 28.02.13 xD Ironic, huh?

 

True, but you can also get cocky with a desktop. I did that a month ago and busted my GPU as a result :/. I'd had the dekstop side-down on my lap with the GPU on top (still connected to PCI-E Power cables) and the case slipped and it slammed on the top of the case T_T.

 

I don't know about you but I've had to completely tear down my laptop to change some parts. Not exactly easy.

To answer the OP though, CPU wise the performance is pretty irrelevant at the Core i7 level; games simply don't take advantage of that much speed. The only thing that may be worth waiting for is a graphics update that comes when Clevo does a refresh. Perhaps thunderbolt too if you're interested in peripherals.

 

Some laptops are difficult to work with, some aren't. For me, IIRC all I have to do is to take the top assembly off my W520 to get to the CPU. Haven't tried it though, so I might be wrong in that regard.

 

Modern CPUs rarely limit GPU performance, benchmark shows even a mobile ivy bridge i3 can provide enough power for a GTX680M in most cases except BF3, some RTS or a few other console ported games. If you are planning to use your laptop only for gaming, there is no point to wait for Haswell, wait for the next generation GPUs from AMD/Nvidia instead.

However if you also want to run lots of CPU intensive tasks like video editing, encoding, 3d modeling/rendering besides gaming, then it's probably a good idea to hear more news coming from Intel in the next few months.

 

No disrespect but does anyone know what Haswell is bragging about? If you want an UB gamer sure then wait. Other than that why not buy know? Tick or tock it is about performance per watt. Oh great the IGP will rock? But if a gamer are you guys or anyone serious. Really, I wanna rock games and the IGP is so great. That sounds so stupid.

 

To offer the counterpoint to everyone else above:

If you have a system that is 'capable enough' right now, I would wait - if nothing else, you'll save money buying the system you want that is unavailable for another couple of months anyways.

Contrary to what people say - a CPU + RAM combo limits the performance of all other components in the system - having the latest platform (and the highest performance example of that platform that you can afford) allows you to enjoy the system for that much longer in the ownership lifecycle.

So - if you're buying this and expecting to replace it in less than 2 years from today - go ahead and buy now.

If, however you want a new system to last you for 4, 5 years or longer (and you have something to get you by for now) - waiting will be the smarter move in the long run, imo.

Sure, Haswell may be a minor upgrade in % from IB - but don't forget that even a small increase on a monster platform like IB can add a year or more of usefulness to a system (depending on your uses, of course).




Good luck.

 

I've got to agree - waiting for the newest tech is a question of what you currently have. I'd probably like to upgrade sometime in the next year. My desire is something smaller and lighter with an equal or better screen and better graphics than the Envy 14 without a dGPU. I could get all that right now with a Trinity laptop, or Richland soon, but as long as my computing needs are covered (as they are) I'll wait for something that strikes my fancy, whether it's Haswell in a few months or AMD's Kaveri in the next year or so.

However, if I had my girlfriend's six-year-old Acer ultrabudget laptop with five minute battery life, 1 GB RAM, and a single-core processor I would be buying on a much tighter schedule, so even the immediately-pending Richland architecture might be too far away for me.

 

I have to agree with you. The best graphics in the house is currently a Geforce GT 330 in a Sony Vaio F-series, which is quite good and delivers OK FPS-rates with med and low settings at native 1080p resolution. However, I really felt that I was ready to buy this new computer I had decided on, but now that it is unavailable, I am kind of irresolute as to what to do.

I also figured out an important point the other day. I'm a student and I mostly use my current computer to research, make PP-presentations, word etc. - simple office tasks. So why would I need a computer with a powerful graphics card? Well, to be honest, I don't really have a good answer to that. It is probably that I really enjoy fluent gameplay with high res and FPS-rates when I occasionally play a game or two.

Advice would be greatly appreciated

I looked at some laptops with AMD's Trinity since Fat Dragon mentioned it. It doesn't seem too bad, but the price for the best Trinity IGPUs are approximately 200 dollars less than of the pc with GTX660M, so this idea didn't really tempt me :s and about your girlfriend's laptop, I am certainly not in the same situation xD

 

Best advice:

Buy what you can afford (i.e. the most computer possible - your 'budget' should be the total 'spare' cash on hand - not some arbitrary number).

Buy what you need (i.e. matched to your minimum requirements - not only for today - but for the lifecycle of the system (while in your possession, of course).

Buy only if your current system doesn't meet your current minimum needs and/or your current system doesn't allow you to stay competitive (school, business, etc.).

Buy only if the $$$$ is 'extra' and you have it in the bank (cash) - don't buy on credit.

Buy only if your requirements for the next few years (ideally: matched to the length of ownership until a new system will be considered to be purchased) are a known quantity - don't buy for some perceived, potential, but possibly unrealizable future benefit.


Finally: buy a system that is a major upgrade (in reliability, performance, and capabilities) from what you're using now - avoid side-ways upgrades like the plague (they don't offer much and still cost you major $$$ that will force most users to NOT upgrade at some future time when they NEED to most (because of lack of $$$$, of course).


Hope this helps?




Good luck.

 

Truly thanks! Samsung announced the Series 7 Chronos at CES, so think I'll wait for that and have a look at reviews etc. whenever it's released. Though I am little worried about pricing, since people assume it's going to be around 1700 Euros, about 12500-13000 NOK, Norwegian Kroners.

Well, time will decide what I am going to buy Thanks a lot for all responses and advice!