New Computer Time :D

[rbk95]

Alright guys so yesterday was my b-day and i got a good chunk of money for a new computer, but i have no idea what a good computer is so essentially i have $1000 to buy a new gaming laptop that can play minecraft,skyrim, etc without lag. Sooooo if y'all could help me find a good gaming laptop that'd be awesome!
thanks,
rbk95

edit: perhaps this is good (i have no idea ) http://bit.ly/12kXYxg

[Invunarble]

Whatever you do, rbk, WHATEVER YOU DO, do not buy a macbook air then call it a gaming laptop.

[rbk95]

haha i dislike macs dont worry

[random980]

$1000 will only go so far in regards to it being decent, might be worth looking for a high preforming second hand laptop.

LOLmac

[RobipodSupreme]

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/nextday ... step1.html
This looks quite good for a low price. You can customise it a fair amount, too.

[vallorn]

Okay a few things first. do you want pure power or value for money? Do you want a small or a large desktop? And what do you consider to be "Acceptable" for playing games?

Once I know those I can help out more but here is a basic guide from the top of my head:

Brands: Most CPUs and graphics cards are made by 2 companies. AMD and Intel make processors and ATI Radeon and Nvidia make graphics cards.

Intel and Nvidia are generally better for sheep power but AMD tends to offer better value for money on their mid range items as does Radeon. My machine personally runs an AMD 6 core CPU and a Radeon HD 7000 series graphics card.

RAM: Be careful with this and be sure to get it from a brand you trust. Generally the more the better but unless your doing something ridiculous you don't need to go above 10Gb of DDR3 RAM.

Power Supply: Okay. DO NOT skimp money on this. check the minimum wattage of your components and choose a block that will not only fit in whatever case you choose but also supplies 50 to 100 watts more than you need. The more overhead the better since it allows you to upgrade later. Really this is the single most important choice you can make since a broken PSU can wreck your entire machine.

Motherboard: I suggest choosing one that has 2 slots for graphics cards in case you want to add another in synchronization later on. As well as this MAKE SURE that the CPU socket matches the CPU specification on your CPU. And if you can afford it go for one which has USB3.0 sockets and PCI Express 3.0 graphics card slots.

Not only that. Select the size you want. from ITX, mini ATX or micro ATX because that affects what case you can put it into and what parts will fit inside that case.

Hard Drive: Generally Bigger Is Better. As is a faster spinning drive. However a faster spinning drive is also more prone to getting wrecked if your computer is shaken and so if you truly desire fast load times on things you can opt for a more expensive Solid State Drive (Just check the reviews on it and make regular backups in case it fails on you)

Then you want to ass things like Wifi cards and other things which usually come packed on the motherboard but if not they are usually easy to find and add. As well as that a case with more fans is better for cooling your components down.

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2 final parts of advice: Wait a few months. By that time the big boys will have their newest shiniest tech out and we will know what is needed for next gen games to run so you can plan around that. As well as this try the following places for more advice:

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/ ... ware-Group

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/ ... oup?page=1

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

This youtube series:

Spoiler! :

EDIT: Oh its a laptop... Ah well this stuff should help you understand what your buying into anyway. The Escapist groups and stuff can help more with laptops than I can.