Need help building a gaming notebook

Hi, I am considering a Sager (Clevo) NP9170 or NP9150. My budget is about $1500-$1600.

Can anyone tell me what kind of specs or upgrades I should make to make these notebooks last me about 4-5 years and also get a bang for my buck?

From the past notebooks and desktops I owned, I have only experienced slow and laggy so pretty much anything is a step up from what I am using now.

The games I intend to run are D3, SC2, LoL, WoW....if that gives you guys some kind of idea what specs are needed or atleast qaulified to get.

Please and Thank You:thumbsup:

 

Ran this up quick on Xiotc.. a 9150 with a 7970m.. controversial vid card but for $1599 it pretty much maxes your budget and has alot of bang for the buck in it with the Back to School deals still.

Sager NP9150 / Clevo P150EM
- FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
- SAGER Back 2 School Savings!!! ( Free Hard Drives & Ram Savings ) - See Specials Below *restrictions may apply
- 15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glare Type Screen (SKU - S1R319)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz - 3.3GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
- -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
- AMD Radeon HD 7970M (2048MB) GDDR5 DX11 [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R155)
- No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- FREE! - 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4T824P)
- Sager Branding
- Standard Finish
- No mSATA SSD
- FREE! - 500gb (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache) (SKU - S5R413)
- Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included) (SKU - S7R455)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- No Back Up Software
- Bluetooth Included (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth™ v3.0 (SKU - S8R110)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- Standard Sager/Clevo Non Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (64&32-Bit CD Included) + MS Office Starter 2010 -[ Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (Directly through Microsoft) ]
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Telephone Support (Labor through XPC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Parts Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
- No thanks, standard double boxed packaging is okay with my order
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- Standard Production Time
- No Xotic PC Gear

 

Honestly, the Basic p170em will suit you fine. I'd suggest bumping it to 8gb of memory and upgrading the wireless card if you plan on gaming wireless. None of those games are huge graphics card hogs.

 

I'm not sure I'd recommend getting a sager if those are the games you'll be playing. I'd personally recommend going for something with a thinner form and better battery life. A 650M or 660M would easily handle all the games you mentioned at very respectable settings. Maybe an MSI GE70/GE60 or something similar would be better: MSI GE60 0ND-042US - XOTIC PC - 15.6" MSI Custom Gaming Notebook

 

Yeah the 675M will destroy all those games. You don't need to spend $200-400 extra for the 7970M or 680M for Blizzard games. Blizzard always makes games for the lowest denominator. I don't play SC2 much, if at all, but I ran a quick squirmish and I was running around 70-120 FPS in Ultra with the 7970M, which is having some issues, so I expect the 675M to play SC2 on ultra settings smooth.

As for smaller, the MSI 15" aren't any smaller the 15" Sager/Clevo. But yeah I'd agree, you can get the 660M and be fine, but the 675M on the Sager is still cheaper than an MSI with 660M.

 

Thanks for the help guys :thumbsup:

 

in that case, are there any options w/ 660M that are a noticeable amount slimmer than the 9150?

 

Razer Blade for $2300.

 

That's a 17" though..

 

That's the only one with 660M that is significantly thinner than the NP9150. NP9150 is not that thick. You ought to take a look at one before brushing it off.

 

The razer blade is well above the specified budget, and a ridiculous price anyway. 2300 for that , really????

 

Not brushing it off, I owned a 8150 so I know the dimensions. Just curious is all.

And I don't think the Blade is a terrible concept, just over priced.. If it were ~$500-600 less, I'd consider one.. Gigabyte has their P2542G releasing soon. Up for Pre-order at Xotic. Neat little machine, in the OP's budget, but stuck with a 660 (not sure of that'll be sufficient for as long as OP needs) and no backlit keyboard..

 

An MSI GE70 with a 660M (from Newegg with Free Shipping) is actually cheaper than the base 9150 (from Xotic). It's also around .3 inches thinner.

 

If the thickness isnt too much of an issue but you just want to save a few bucks with the 660M check on the NP6350.

 

Would like it if it had backlit keys