Thinking about a particular gaming MSI laptop

Hi,

I have decided I am definitely going to buy a new laptop for gaming. This one at the moment cannot play team fortress 2 on lowest settings (around 1 fps in-game), integrated graphics etc.

I am using money I have saved from University, I have saved £3000 of which I plan to use around £1000 to spend on a laptop, is this enough? I heard spending more then this is worthless as laptops become outdated quickly anyway.

Portability is a big factor. I am a university student so I travel a bit. My room next yr in the house I'm in is the smallest in the house (next to no space for desktop) and I like to go to LAN parties at university, therefore laptops are definitely key imo. I understand this decision (i.e. double the price as a desktop for the same specs, being unable to upgrade parts like a desktop etc.) but in my situation desktops don't seem viable. However, I don't need to lug it around to all my lectures.

I am hoping to play modern games i.e. guild wars 2, diablo 3, tribes ascend, dota 2, cs:go, left 4 dead 2, team fortress 2 etc. on highest preferable, but not necessary i.e. I don't mind medium settings too much.

What I am REALLY worried about though is cooling system within laptop. At the LAN (goes on for like 2 days) my friend's laptop kept overheating every half hr and shutting down and he bought his like... 1 year ago. How can you tell if these will perform well in terms of not overheating. Is it mandantary to buy a laptop cooler?

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NOTE (Important part of post )

I have already done A LOT of research. I have considered lots of different makes medion, novatech, asus etc. etc. and looked at several possible options.

The laptop I singled out to be the best in terms of brand and bang for your bucks is... MSI GT780DXR-814UK although I am open to other laptops, although it seems to be the best at the moment.

It has a very good gpu but a less so cpu, however I'm pretty sure its a good enough cpu to be future proof enough for a while (I think?) Anyways if not, there are other models of the same name but better processor.

What do you guys think of the netbook?

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That should be an 'all right' way to go for what you mentioned, however something to consider is the newer Ivy Bridge models are out now with the 600 series for near the same price.(MSI GT70) You will see a bounce in GPU and CPU if you go this direction.

What I suggest for cooling is the application of the IC Diamond, and a reserve cooler for the LAN parties, just in case you peak. But, that IC Diamond will assist in near 2-5 degrees decrease and cut down on wear and tear over time as well.

 

Also, with Ivy Bridge + Optimus you'll likely see a reduction in temperatures (which you say you're worried about) and improved battery life (always a nice bonus).

 

Hi,

I just looked at the GT70, its nice but it adds £500 which is outside of what I am hoping to spend. Should I go ahead and buy this laptop? Application of the IC Diamond seems hard to do, you have to know whats in laptops (I don't know, I could mess up, or do I ask the company to do that for me?)

 

I bought a ge60... for the price its really good.. play skyrim and starcraft 2 at maximum (no filter)... after hours of gaming... temps wont go higher than 80-81oC ... but the fan will get to 100% which is loud... but not terrible...

 

Although you're adding 500 to the price, in my opinion you should still get the gt70. You're spending a lot of money on already outdated technology, so your laptop will get older a lot quicker than if you spent extra now. If you don't want to spend 500 extra, you might also want to check out the ge70.

 

GE60 seems pretty suitable for you. It is fairly light and slim which will be a very big help because you will be lugging it around quite often. GTX 660M will most likely do very well in those games that you mentioned, so I would say, go have a look at GE60 (or maybe GE70 is you want a 17').

 

GT780 is good but dated.
Go for the GE60.

 

I also think the GE60 would suit your needs well. It has a good i7 IB processor and a decent 660M as the GPU. It should be able to handle all your games at high settings.

If you want the thermal compound, you can either do it yourself or have the reseller apply it for you. If you don't have experience doing it yourself and are wary of screwing your computer up, it's safer just to have the reseller do it for you, even though you'll be paying more.

 

Because you said "portability is a big factor", I'd get the GE60.
I got a GTX 660m version, don't know if you can get that there.

The speakers aren't as good as the heavier models though