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I usually just lurk on here but I have a question that I'm not sure if this is the right thread for it (maybe a thread in the games forum?) but what would be a better value for portable PC Gaming: an entry-level gaming laptop or a Steam Deck? Budget is ~$600.
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Nov 14, 2022 02:24
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Lockback posted:There's....not much right now at that price range that's TB compatible. Acer Aspire from a few places including Costco for $465 but I really, really don't like telling people to get Acer laptops. They have pretty bad QC generally. I'd probably suggest a refurb/used from somewhere at that price point, but it's probably worthwhile to hunker down and see if anything comes out in the next couple weeks. Yeah I saw a refurb of the same laptop from work at Walmart for like 450ish, so I might end up just going with that if anything at all. The Costco Acer I looked at but it didn't click for me for whatever reason. I'll just hold out a bit and see what else comes around. Thanks all!
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Nov 14, 2022 02:24
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spasticColon posted:I usually just lurk on here but I have a question that I'm not sure if this is the right thread for it (maybe a thread in the games forum?) but what would be a better value for portable PC Gaming: an entry-level gaming laptop or a Steam Deck? Budget is ~$600. What games are you targetting playing? In general I'd say Steam Deck (I love mine) but they are fundamentally different things even if they are both PCs.
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Nov 14, 2022 02:29
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Lockback posted:What games are you targetting playing? In general I'd say Steam Deck (I love mine) but they are fundamentally different things even if they are both PCs. Probably the most demanding game I might play on it is Deep Rock Galactic and other games I can't play on my Switch and maybe some GameCube emulation (Since Nintendo won't port Metroid Prime and Wind Waker to Switch). I'm leaning toward getting a Steam Deck specifically the mid-tier model that is unless some really good gaming laptop deals are going to drop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
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Nov 14, 2022 03:41
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spasticColon posted:Probably the most demanding game I might play on it is Deep Rock Galactic and other games I can't play on my Switch and maybe some GameCube emulation (Since Nintendo won't port Metroid Prime and Wind Waker to Switch). I'm leaning toward getting a Steam Deck specifically the mid-tier model that is unless some really good gaming laptop deals are going to drop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. There will be but at your price point you're not going to get great quality. I mean, the big difference is 15" 1080p vs 720p and 7" screen. Also keep in mind a that not all games will run on the deck unless you install Windows which can be something of a can of worms. Same goes for playing stuff from Game Pass (Steam obv works and with a little work Epic and GOG aren't hard to get working). So as long as you understand what you are getting, I think the Steam Deck is a better piece of hardware for the money than a similarly priced laptop, but you are making some compromises that may be deal breakers.
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Nov 14, 2022 05:08
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CaptainSarcastic posted:My HP 2-in-1 seems fine, but my partner's 17 inch HP laptop broke a hinge inside a year of light use. I'm sure they make some decent models, but the hinge thing soured me on them. They also seem more aggro about including more marketing crap in with their bloatware, and it seems less well thought out than Dell. The Dell support application that checks for drivers and such is pretty slick, the comparable HP app(s) wants to sell you stuff and is much more opaque in terms of usability. My favorite thing is when I see a laptop with McAfee preinstalled, as well as an app that nags you about activating the 12-month Norton membership that came bundled with your laptop.
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Nov 14, 2022 05:20
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Cream-of-Plenty posted:My favorite thing is when I see a laptop with McAfee preinstalled, as well as an app that nags you about activating the 12-month Norton membership that came bundled with your laptop. I recently rolled back my install due to being dumb and not checking for a hardware problem first, and the first order of business was going through and uninstalling McAfee, along with a bunch of other crap. No competing Norton, but more than one McAfee "security" thing I had to rip out.
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Nov 14, 2022 06:43
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If you've ever wanted a honkin' huge 16 inch 2-1 laptop, Lenovo has a deal on basically their highest (or near highest) spec Yoga 7i 16. 1040USD gets you:quote:Processor : 12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-12700H Processor (E-cores up to 3.50 GHz P-cores up to 4.70 GHz) Interesting to see the H-series processor and ARC graphics for this price. Undercuts many of the P-series equipped models with integrated graphics. Also, while the A370 is far from a power hungry GPU, it's hard to find info how it, and the 12700H, perform in a chassis where most sku's that have gotten out into the world simply ship with the i5-1240P or i7-1260P. May be a solid configuration for video content creator work, if not exactly gaming judging by the state of ARC drivers.
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Nov 16, 2022 15:00
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FYI, the Intel Arc GPUs are all over the place in terms of game performance, and have some significant driver issues. But I agree that's a pretty good deal for $1000 if it fits you.
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Nov 16, 2022 15:44
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Yeah, I think the real benefit of ARC is probably the media engines for video work. My main concern for the above system would be how well the chassis handles the extra heat loads of the higher spec CPU and dGPU. From what I've seen, models with the P-series chips are very friendly in terms of fan noise/heat output. It's too bad there isn't a Ryzen 6800u option, I think it would be a nice alternative to models with the i5-1240p
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Nov 16, 2022 17:11
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If someone is looking for a 16" gaming laptop, Walmart has a Legion 5 pro. https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/197908523 6800H and a 3060 for $1,099. Personally I think 16" is borderline unwieldily, but if its mostly going to sit on a desk that's a good size. Legion 5 Pro is a top-tier gaming laptop in terms of build quality and heat/battery management.
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Nov 16, 2022 17:31
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Lockback posted:If someone is looking for a 16" gaming laptop, Walmart has a Legion 5 pro. Nice find. That combination will play a lot of modern games with decent quality settings. The alder lake intel chips score higher in benchmarks, but they often cost a noticeable premium over the AMD systems and I think for most people, the Ryzen will be fine. I use my 15inch asus on a lapdesk to play cyberpunk on my couch. Big screen lap gaming is awesome.
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Nov 16, 2022 18:55
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Lockback posted:There will be but at your price point you're not going to get great quality. I mean, the big difference is 15" 1080p vs 720p and 7" screen. Also keep in mind a that not all games will run on the deck unless you install Windows which can be something of a can of worms. Same goes for playing stuff from Game Pass (Steam obv works and with a little work Epic and GOG aren't hard to get working). Update: I was about to just get a Steam Deck but then I came across this: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaP...09RND1LP2&psc=1 Yeah I know the internal storage and RAM are a bit lacking but I can upgrade those down the line and I'm only looking for 1080p60 gaming at medium/high settings anyway so I would think a RTX3050 would do the job. Or are the Lenovo gaming laptops terrible for some reason? spasticColon fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Nov 17, 2022 |
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Nov 17, 2022 05:24
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e: double post sorry about that quote =/= edit 
spasticColon fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Nov 17, 2022 |
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Nov 17, 2022 05:26
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spasticColon posted:Update: I was about to just get a Steam Deck but then I came across this: I got that for my son for $500. It's fine for what it is, but a bit flimsy and has pretty bad battery life. For him it works great, it sits on a table and sometimes he takes it to friends houses, but it's mostly not portable. Again, comparing to a steam deck there is no comparison on the decks better portability. But the laptop can do everything a laptop can do, so. Comes down to what you want to do with it.
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Nov 17, 2022 05:53
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Lockback posted:I got that for my son for $500. It's fine for what it is, but a bit flimsy and has pretty bad battery life. For him it works great, it sits on a table and sometimes he takes it to friends houses, but it's mostly not portable. Again, comparing to a steam deck there is no comparison on the decks better portability. But the laptop can do everything a laptop can do, so. Comes down to what you want to do with it. I think I'm just going to get the laptop because I want the versatility of a laptop. And where did you get it for $500 or was that some kind of deal or sale?
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Nov 17, 2022 06:02
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spasticColon posted:I think I'm just going to get the laptop because I want the versatility of a laptop. And where did you get it for $500 or was that some kind of deal or sale? Yeah, sale at best buy. I think it was actually 519 or something.
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Nov 17, 2022 06:20
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Lockback posted:Yeah, sale at best buy. I think it was actually 519 or something. No sign of it on Best Buy's site so I'll be getting it from Amazon for $600 which was my budget anyway. I just wanted to get a basic gaming laptop that I can use around the house and occasionally travel with it and have as a backup to my gaming desktop which is similar in spec.
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Nov 17, 2022 06:47
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I haven't gotten a new computer in a decade so I wanna go ham for gaming... am I missing something here or is the Walmart one a better buy for the same price? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-L...0DBUS/761504447 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo...p?skuId=6504420
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Nov 17, 2022 10:46
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Asproigerosis posted:I haven't gotten a new computer in a decade so I wanna go ham for gaming... am I missing something here or is the Walmart one a better buy for the same price? Walmart model has a 3070 for $100 less, get that one, otherwise the specs are the same.
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Nov 17, 2022 11:18
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The best buy one is a slim, which honestly is not great for a 3070, but you're paying for the slightly smaller profile. Unless you have a specific want for slim I'd avoid it. This is a better 3070ti laptop if you want to go balls out for about the same price: https://www.microcenter.com/product...i_8GB_GDDR6;_32 (32GB, better GPU, better mobile CPU) Or if you want to save some money and here's a 4k OLED with a 3070ti for $1200. You may want to run it at 1080p for demanding games though. Gigabyte isn't quite as good a build quality than Lenovo. https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16834233529 Or a 3070 for $1000 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-t...p?skuId=6494644
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Nov 17, 2022 15:34
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I was looking at the cpu moreso since all the games I like are cpu heavy and the i7 12~ are better than ryzen? Per my very lazy research of one random benchmark website (I have no idea, computers are scary) Oh you said the amd is better, interesting Asproigerosis fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Nov 17, 2022 |
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Nov 17, 2022 21:36
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Asproigerosis posted:I was looking at the cpu moreso since all the games I like are cpu heavy and the i7 12~ are better than ryzen? Per my very lazy research of one random benchmark website (I have no idea, computers are scary) Mobile vs desktop. Intel is slightly faster but you'll run into thermal and power problems faster, making it more likely to hit thermal throttling. For a laptop the AMD CPU is basically trading a little top-end speed for a whole mess of things that you want out of a mobile CPU. For most games it won't make any real difference either. 2-3%, typically if that. The 3070ti is a way bigger difference.
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Nov 17, 2022 22:03
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Opinions on this HP Victus sale on Best Buy? Replacing 4-5 year old HP whose case is falling apart. $800 is at the upper end of my budget, and I don't really know what to expect for other Black Friday deals. I really don't play anything right now that would be considered intense usually; I don't really do modern AAA games, so I don't think I need something top end, just want something that will keep the games I do play running smoothly.
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Nov 17, 2022 23:32
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YorexTheMad posted:Opinions on this HP Victus sale on Best Buy? Replacing 4-5 year old HP whose case is falling apart. This is a nice stepup from the ideapad that was discussed before. You could consider this Gigabyte which has a 3060 for a little bit less: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16834233534 A little slower CPU (though probably better battery life), maybe slightly lower build quality but the 3060 is a much better gaming GPU. You could hold out for like an open box 3060 G14 or something, but these are basically the black friday sale prices right now.
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Nov 17, 2022 23:45
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OOORRRRR This Gigabyte with a 3050ti and an older/poor for mobile 11th gen Intel for $550. it definitely needs another 8GB of RAM, I believe it comes with a 4 and 4, so it'd need a full 16GB set. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/gigaby...p?skuId=6511339 This is a really, really good deal for around $500
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Nov 18, 2022 05:51
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I’m looking to acquire a PC that can do VR development for science communication (and quite possibly zero gaming of any sort). Over in the desktop build thread I have a plan in a console-sized case, with an i5-12600K, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2TB SSD, and an RTX 3060 Ti, for $1600. That thread keeps pushing me to look at laptops, though, so here we are. Are there any laptops whose regular price is $1600 or so, with comparable specs? Regular price is important because I will be going through a university purchasing department, so I can’t necessarily jump on flash sales.
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Nov 18, 2022 06:15
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Grundulum posted:I’m looking to acquire a PC that can do VR development for science communication (and quite possibly zero gaming of any sort). Over in the desktop build thread I have a plan in a console-sized case, with an i5-12600K, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2TB SSD, and an RTX 3060 Ti, for $1600. That thread keeps pushing me to look at laptops, though, so here we are. Are there any laptops whose regular price is $1600 or so, with comparable specs? Regular price is important because I will be going through a university purchasing department, so I can’t necessarily jump on flash sales. Can you add your own ram? Finding a laptop with 32GB but not under $2k would be tough.
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Nov 18, 2022 07:40
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Lockback posted:Can you add your own ram? Finding a laptop with 32GB but not under $2k would be tough. That would depend heavily on the laptop in question, wouldn’t it? If the laptop allows it, I feel competent enough to install more/different RAM.
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Nov 18, 2022 08:01
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Grundulum posted:I’m looking to acquire a PC that can do VR development for science communication (and quite possibly zero gaming of any sort). Over in the desktop build thread I have a plan in a console-sized case, with an i5-12600K, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2TB SSD, and an RTX 3060 Ti, for $1600. That thread keeps pushing me to look at laptops, though, so here we are. Are there any laptops whose regular price is $1600 or so, with comparable specs? Regular price is important because I will be going through a university purchasing department, so I can’t necessarily jump on flash sales. Laptop CPU and graphics card will have lower performance than desktop counterparts. I took a quick look at benchmark numbers for Cinebench r23 and desktop i5-12600K has similar score with laptops having i7-12700H. For graphics performance wise desktop 3060ti is mobile 3080 equivalent, but mobile part has 16gb of RAM. So performance wise it's very very unlikely you'll find 12th gen i7, 3080 and 32 GB of DDR5 RAM laptop within $1600. If you're fine with slower graphics card like mobile 3060 then Legion 5 Pro line is highly regarded.
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Nov 18, 2022 10:13
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A 3070 mobile is probably pretty close. Why were people trying to get you to buy a laptop for VR dev anyway? That seems not ideal. You don't want to suddenly have a thermal throttling while in VR, that's puke city. Do you need to be portable? What about those cooler master prebuilts at microcenter? HP has a line of gaming prebuilt PCs too. I agree 1600 for a 3060ti machine is probably too much but a laptop is maybe not the best solution unless you need to be portable.
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Nov 18, 2022 14:44
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Lockback posted:Why were people trying to get you to buy a laptop for VR dev anyway? That seems not ideal. You don't want to suddenly have a thermal throttling while in VR, that's puke city. Do you need to be portable? Portability is important. I’ve carried my current VR box with me to international conferences before, so I want its replacement to be equally easy. As for why people keep pushing me to a laptop, it’s probably me not being sufficiently clear about my use case in that thread. I would guess that gaming or simply giving a demo is less taxing than having to develop on that machine. (I can guarantee that professionally-developed VR programs are better optimized than my current abilities; and what I’ve been doing has been a niche thing so there were no good formats or toolkits available to speed things up.)
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Nov 18, 2022 15:43
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Lockback posted:OOORRRRR Thanks for the advice! Haven't made a decision yet but this gives me some options. Edit: Followup, since I haven't messed around with computer parts in ages, what kind of RAM would I need to look for if I went with this model and wanted to add more memory? YorexTheMad fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Nov 19, 2022 |
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Nov 19, 2022 00:04
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YorexTheMad posted:Thanks for the advice! Haven't made a decision yet but this gives me some options. DDR4-3200. I'd do a 8GBx2 There's a free M.2 slot and a free 2.5" drive if you want to add more storage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ymPyNVR43w
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Nov 19, 2022 02:56
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Sorry if this sort of thing comes up a million times a day and it's getting old, but the OPs are pretty out of date. What's the best gaming laptop I can get for around £1000...? Preferably cheaper than that, obviously, but if there's a decent pinch point of price to quality ratio then I would like to aim for it. Basically I want to play new games and have them look as pretty as possible. I'm mostly scared of framerate issues as my last laptop was quite expensive and allegedly fantastic but has endlessly had problems with frame drops and stuttering, so I'm feeling burned and anxious about trying this again. Thank you!
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Nov 21, 2022 00:26
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SomeKindofVerb posted:Sorry if this sort of thing comes up a million times a day and it's getting old, but the OPs are pretty out of date. What's the best gaming laptop I can get for around £1000...? Preferably cheaper than that, obviously, but if there's a decent pinch point of price to quality ratio then I would like to aim for it. Basically I want to play new games and have them look as pretty as possible. I'm mostly scared of framerate issues as my last laptop was quite expensive and allegedly fantastic but has endlessly had problems with frame drops and stuttering, so I'm feeling burned and anxious about trying this again. I don't know the UK market that well. What are some examples of games you are playing?
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Nov 21, 2022 01:21
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Also some guidance on what screen size and portability you're looking for.
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Nov 21, 2022 02:01
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The $900 3060 G14 is back at best buy
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Nov 21, 2022 03:54
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thanks for the responses! I'd like to be able to play newish games with goodish quality graphics, your Elden Rings and your FFVII remasters, your Cyberpunks and your Red Dead Redemption 2s and the like. I'm not too married to screen size or portability, though, it likely wouldn't be moving further than from my bedroom to my front room. I'm pretty cartoonishly inept when it comes to understanding this stuff in this, the space year 2022, so I really am kind of just looking for someone to point me at a laptop and say, "this one will be pretty solid for at least a few years," hah.
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Nov 21, 2022 15:25
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You want something with a 3060 or a AMD 6600xt or better GPU. CPU isn't as important here, Intel 11th Gen or later or and 5000 or later. You can probably get away with a Ryzen 4800. 16gb of RAM. Typically that's a little above 1000 in the UK, but there may be holiday sales. Legion and Asus Strix are generally good quality but the brand matters less than the components. If you go under that with a laptop playing those games I'd guess you'd be compromising on performance pretty much right away.
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Nov 21, 2022 15:49
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