a decent gaming laptop with longevity -- an oxymoron?

Is it possible to play graphically-intense games on a decent laptop (with dedicated video) and still have it last you for at least half a decade?

I once fried a laptop by playing video games on its integrated graphics card ... first the USB ports went, then the sound went, then the hard drive went... I have been recently advised that I can avoid most issues by getting dedicated video.

The thing is, I am more worried about frying circuits than dropped frames. I can have pretty decent gameplay with 20-30 FPS, or on the lowest settings, but I want to minimise circuit-frying for as much as possible.

 

whats you budget?

what size notebook would you prefer?

.... try quickly filling out the FAQ

it would help us get a better idea on what might fits your needs.

 

Well, I already filled out an FAQ, and am considering choosing between two laptops. But this isn't really a concern -- although a major concern of mine is durability, I'm actually looking more for advice on how to take proper care of a gaming laptop or how worried I should be about heat slowly eroding away the components in my laptop.

My budget is 400 to 700-800 (answered in another thread here), but I am also wondering what exactly the higher-priced gaming laptops are supposed to do if the lower-priced laptops already have pretty sweet graphics (good memory, good GPU, etc.). Are they more durable?

So I'm asking a general question.

 

But he's asking valid questions though too.

To the OP, if you take care of your laptop, keep the vents clean, don't overclock, don't abuse it, it should last you a long time. Gaming wont hurt it, but high temps will in the long run.
Fill out the faq if you want us to help you select a good notebook for you. That's what we're here for! :yes:

 

high-end custom notebooks (especially that are designed and manufactured by different ODMs other than the average ones)... like Arima and Clevo... can have different superior build quality and designs... especially made for enthusiasts over the mainstream market notebooks.

I explained why Clevo is still a highly respected boutique brand manufacturer in the Clevo Guide.

In any case, as long as you take care of your notebook (given that there ar not any manufacture or design flaws), it will take care of you.

I have the world's first dual-core notebook with a high-end 7800 GTX... its been 2.5 years now and its near mint... with no palm stains or anything.

I covered it in:
Two years later... with my D900K

 

You are not going to find a gaming laptop in your price range the best bang for your buck is the Gateway 7811-FX rom BestBuy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892825&type=product&id=1211587727985

 

that is a very good laptop. however, way out of his price range. (like..double.)
i got my laptop from best buy for 600, but its 750 now (not on sale) you might wanna try that. i think it will last at least a year med-high settings on most games (it can handle crysis medium, so why not?) and probably another 2 on low-med. who knows, it may last 5 years, though i doubt it, im gonna replace it after games start looking like crap (probably 2-3 years)

 

Gophn, 2.5 years? You gotta be gettin that special itch right about now

 

I am a little jealous that the successor of my notebook (D901C) has quad-core support and SLI MXM Type IV cards....

but I cannot complain since my system still outperforms the latest mid-range gaming notebooks today.

 

Well, let's talk about reasonable goals.

Expecting a laptop to perform well for cutting edge games for $700 for 5 years is a little insane as most desktops can't even pull that off.
(seriously how well would that 5-yr-old $700 desktop run Crysis?)

Laptops you pay a premium for their portability in either size, price, heat, or performance or some mix of those four.

You must choose which axis to make sacrifices.

My laptop below was top-of-the-line or close to it over a year ago... and still performs well in most games. (seriously about as well as a current 9700m GT when the 8700m GT is overclocked)

I expect it will be quite useful for gaming for another year, become slightly less capable after that, and fade from up-to-date gaming after about 3 years of use. I am sure it will run in 5 years, but likely I will be using it as a secondary or backup laptop

I made sacrifices on the size axis, on the performance axis, and the price axis in medium amounts each. I refuse to pay for a car payment for a computer, so $4000 SLI laptops were out. I hated my previous laptop's heat problems, so I picked this larger 17" one. (I can literally game on my lap, overclocked, it barely gets warm.) At the time, my laptop was extremely good on the price/performance grid and over time has actually gotten BETTER in comparison to its contemporaries.

I am still quite happy with my purchase and feel as though the laptop was the right purchase for me at the time.

My laptop is used all day at work and then gets put through the grinder playing up-to-date games like Conan. I have upgraded RAM and will be upgrading processor as I feel good staying with this laptop for some time.

 

What kind of laptop is it?
Basically that's what I was trying to say, sometimes you have to pay a little extra for what you want to do.
Yeah I would love to be able to pay only $700, have it play current games and last 5 years but that's not gonna happen!
That's why you have to pay a little extra for all the stuff you want.
IMO the 7811-FX is a great deal.
If I was looking for a "cheap" gaming laptop, that would be the one I get.
I don't even have one but had the first series the 6831-FX and it was great, but this one is even better.

 

Hmmm the 7811FX isn't that great it has a lot of issues and there are quite a few more lemons than compared with previous models, the screen seems to have issues just check the gateway forums lots of people have dead pixels etc.

 

Well I'm talking about used laptops too. I was recommended some laptops already within my price range with pretty decent video memory and video cards I think? (ATI, 512 MB dedicated video). It's just that battery life and heat seemed to be issues, and durability wasn't addressed.

OMG, I'm not looking to be hip or trendy or play the latest games. The most intensive FPS's I will have I think, is the newer versions of Half-Life I might pick up, various flight simulator games (IL-2 Sturmovik) among others.

I call myself a "gamer" but a lot of my games include the classics. That's why I said "decent", not "cutting edge".

Is it true that not having a proper dedicated card causes most of the heat problems? I don't want to play Crysis. I want to play AA.

 

Flight sim games can be tough on a computer. You are drawing a lot of scenery, and it changes like crazy as you come closer to the ground.

 

Look, if you pick up a laptop now that can *barely* handle the source engine (half-life 2), then its futureproofing is in jeopardy. Also, video memory means nothing. At least, anything over 256mb for a midrange card is useless, and even less can be used on a low-end card (which your budget seems to be calling for). In reality, you generally get what you pay for, and build quality is the most important part to longetivity. Unfortunately, for that budget, you don't have many options.

That being said, if you can splurge a little, I'd go with some variant of a thinkpad. Built like a tank.