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I have 3 grandsons, who would like gaming laptops for Xmas this year. Adamant that they wish laptops. I found this article on gaming laptops, and it is dated in 2007. I know that advances have improved some things, however, my opinion is that you get more bang for the buck on a desktop system. So, how relevant is this article in todays world?

A few words of advice from serious gamers would be appreciated. Playing Santa, is not easy, and granting wishes should involve the best choice even if it means the disappointment of not getting exactly what you wish for.

Charlie's Rant A fool and his money
By Charlie Demerjian
Tue Jul 17 2007, 10:50 inShare.0
THERE IS A RAGING debate between me and the rest of the world over gaming laptops. Most people think they are the hottest thing since sliced bread, I think they are about as dumb as you can get. It begs the question, if all of your friends said enemas were cool, would you get one?
The concept is a good one, in theory, but falls flat in reality. The promise is to have a portable machine that plays games as well as it does all the things you want a laptop for. All the machines to date fail on both accounts, with only a nod to portability.

Let's look at the pros of the current crop of gaming laptops. They are, in no particular order:

1) More portable than a desktop
2) Fanbois think you are cool

Now let's look at the down sides, again in no particular order:
1) Very expensive
2) Proprietary hardware that is unfixable if it breaks
3) Proprietary hardware that is unupgradable
4) Slow CPUs
5) Slow buses
6) Slow memory
7) Slow HDs
8) GPU makers lie about the capabilities of mobile GPUs (the 5000M is every bit as good as a 5000, really)
9) They are heavier than a normal laptop
10) They are as portable as a phone book
11) Battery life measured in hummingbird wingflaps
12) Screen responses measured in glacial movement units
13) Keyboards and mice that pale in response to a Logitech G5/G15
14) Lots of expensive crap bolted on you will never use

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1035315/gaming-laptops-complete-joke

id say getting a gaming pc or building them will cost way less then a gaming laptop by atleast a hundrend bucks each

Self building your own desktop rig will always result in far more bang for your buck as you put it. Laptops can never create the same performance for the same money due to the space and cooling restrictions.

Build something like this to keep bang to maximum and buck to minimum

i5-2500K Intel CPU (OC this to at least 4GHz if not 5GHz depending on cooling purchased)
With stock cooler keep OC to 4GHz or less) with BIG air cooler or basic water cooler (Corsair H60 is an excellent sealed water solution for i5) you can easily OC to 5GHz

8GB DDR3 (use 2 x 4GB Modules) (1600MHz is fast enough for now)

1TB WD Caviar Green or similar for maximum storage at minimum cost, forget about SSD for now)

Decent Overclockable MB from either Gigabyte or Asus (dont buy anything on it that you will not use, dont pay for super OC mboard features until you have the cash)

Budget DVD/RW
Budget case but make it large if using air cooler (Antec 300 gamers is excellent for the cash)
A good quality 500Watt PSU will suffice, 650 watt if it is a budget model.


Thats it, just build it up and turn it on.

Just another point,

If more cash was available I would start to change things like the motherboard, adding a 120Gb SSD for the OS, improved water kit etc but to be honest these only result in tiny % differences. Any i5-2500K OC'ed to 5GHz will run everything going.

p.s. As for a graphics card, spend as much as you can but never buy the current top of the list. Right now I would suggest Nvidia 560Ti, or at most the 680.

The only time a gaming laptop would even be a good choice is if you are on the road OFTEN, and really need that gaming fix. The specs on a 'gaming' laptop are watered-down versions of their desktop counterparts, and a lot of the retailers take advantage of consumer ignorance to sell these low-spec laptops for a nice profit.
Best Buy policy (it seems): does it run World of Warcraft on at least medium settings? Stick a 'gaming' sticker on it and add in a couple hundred dollars to the price!
A good majority of the people in the stores do not do any sort of research online and just go by the numbers presented to them on the boxes. They see such things as '2gb of video memory' and do not understand that this is unneeded, as the resolution on a laptop is quite low (compared to gaming desktops where 1080p is the norm, and 1440+ is high rez), and will not load enough textures to utilize all the VRAM. They listen to the sales clerk, who tells them 'it will run any game out' and aren't accustomed to the PC's multiple graphic settings. The integrated Intel HD4000 series can run a lot of the current AAA games at very low settings, a decent mobile dedicated card will not perform it's moneys worth better.
Some people buy the laptops for space considerations, but by the time they attach mice and a level place to put the mousepad on (if they're playing competitively) they could have got a small tower and a small desk to use. Who is really going to be able to play a game like BattleField 3 versus people online, with their elaborate desktop gaming setups, while laying on your bed with a laptop and a trackpad? If they are only playing casual games, they didn't really need the extra specs, and have wasted money.
You can build a mid-spec desktop, that will run most games at medium or better, for maybe $500 U.S., while for a laptop, that will you get a moderate non-gaming one. You're looking at $1000+ just to run medium games. In this situation, you are better off building a $500 desktop, buying a cheap laptop for portability when you're not gaming, and spending the remainder on getting some nicer peripherals.

Excatly Se7en,

I use monster i7 rig at work, high end AMD rig at home and use an iPad at all other times. For me if I want to use a computer properly then it has to be a proper computer. iPad is quick and easy way to stay in contact with here and see my emails.

Problem resolved.

I printed all replies to this post, plus printed the article about the laptops being a joke, and I also took the liberty of printing Kherrs' topic on his dilemma with his laptop. Gave copies to each grandson and left it up to them to decide which they desired, a laptop or a desktop gaming system.

Result : two desktop systems, one laptop. Life is not so difficult after all.

Laptop : ASUS G74SX-RS72-CA Gaming Notebook - 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz, 16GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, 3GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M, 17.3" Full HD Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Desktop x2 : CyberPower Gamer Xtreme GX6110 Gaming PC - 2nd generation Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, AMD Radeon HD 6870, Xion Predator AXP 970 Case, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Thanks to all that helped in my decision on how to handle my dilemma.

crustyasp46 wrote:Problem resolved.

I printed all replies to this post, plus printed the article about the laptops being a joke, and I also took the liberty of printing Kherrs' topic on his dilemma with his laptop. Gave copies to each grandson and left it up to them to decide which they desired, a laptop or a desktop gaming system.

Result : two desktop systems, one laptop. Life is not so difficult after all.

Laptop : ASUS G74SX-RS72-CA Gaming Notebook - 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz, 16GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, 3GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M, 17.3" Full HD Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Desktop x2 : CyberPower Gamer Xtreme GX6110 Gaming PC - 2nd generation Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, AMD Radeon HD 6870, Xion Predator AXP 970 Case, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Thanks to all that helped in my decision on how to handle my dilemma.

not building those desktops yourself?
jk, hope your grandkids enjoy their beastly gaming rigs

Great news and they will enjoy those rigs. Just a small note on the i7. An over clocked i5-2500K will actually out perform in terms of gaming than an i7 overclocked. This is basically because it is fairly easy to get an i5 to 5GHz on a simple water kit but impossible to get an i7 to 5GHz without serious water equipment. With this in mind, the 5GHz i5 will perform faster when gaming than the i7.

You don't need more cores when gaming but higher GHz (in general).

That said, if you also use your computer for real activities like photoshop, archiving or zipping, ripping music, ripping movies etc the i7 will perform better.

Enjoy either way.

for the desktop, that processor is 3rd generation Core i7, not second. Not really a big deal usually, except for the heating issues. the 3rd generation of the Core-i series has been known to use a lower quality TIM inside, which makes them get hotter quicker (but not too much of a problem at stock speeds, still soemthing to keep monitored though in high CPU stress situations).
Now following up on what HT has stated in regards to overclocking in general, in most cases, a slightly lower 'K' series processor might have a lower base clock speed, but can be easily overclocked (and usually less expensive) than a higher non-'K' processor - which can be overclocked, just not as easily, or usually as high as the 'K' series (similar to AMD's older 'black edition' unlocked CPUs.
Anyways, what sort of peripherals are they going to be using for their gaming rigs? interested in all the details, like kb+mouse, monitor, etc make sure to post some pics up when they arrive if you can, including the inside of the case (the boutique pc builders usually do an EXCELLENT job of cleanliness and cable management)