TECH GENIUSES, help me pick out a gaming computer! <3

this could help

Reddit to the rescue

I would recommend not buying a Prebuilt one, meaning building it yourself (or bringing it to a local computer shop and paying them to build it, just to be sure nothing it messed up by mistake). Also, If you want Good Gaming computer, your going to have to spend good money ($800+ from what I'v seen), That is, if you want it to last a few years (They can go out of date gaming wise pretty fast if you don't do it right).

I would try http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/, its where I get second opinions on what I buy.

Take a look at the 15.6" HP DV6 with the 1920x1080 display and the Radeon 7690M.
It doesn't have a fancy i7, but if the only performance-intensive task you're planning on doing is gaming, then you don't need one, because gaming is primarily GPU-dependent.
HP DV6t with the i5-2430M, 1920x1080 display , Radeon 7690M - $699+ $649
Start with this saved configuration: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=7054844
This saved configuration has two upgrades: the 1GB Radeon 7690M GPU, and the 1920x1080 display.
Don't downgrade to the 1366x768 display from 1920x1080. 15.6" 1366x768 displays hinder multitasking by making things onscreen large, and they generally have very poor image quality. I don't recommend 15.6" 1366x768 displays to anyone who has a budget to get something better and doesn't need large text for eyesight reasons.
For the purposes of game performance, don't downgrade the GPU. The Radeon 7690M is one of the best mid-range GPUs available right now. The 7470M and the Intel HD 3000 will likely provide disappointing game performance.
Don't upgrade to the 2GB version of the Radeon 7690M. In the case of this GPU, the extra memory won't provide any worthwhile benefit because in most cases the GPU core will max-out before 1GB of memory maxes out.
You can downgrade the processor to the i3-2330M. Many games are not CPU-intensive and will be fine with an i3. However, in order for the coupon to work, the price must be at least $899 prior to application, so you'd have to add another $75-worth of upgrades instead. It's a spec trade-off, not a money-saver, if you were to downgrade to the i3 CPU.
If you set up a more customized version, try your configuration on both that model and on this model: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=7053516
Apply coupon code NBH5297 or add $100 more in upgrades and apply coupon code NBR3576 to make it $649
OR checkout this Newegg model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834158372 (it costs more at the base price, but it ends up being cheaper because you don't have to pay sales tax)
HP DV6z with the A8-3550MX, 1920x1080 display, Radeon 7690M - $699+ $649
Start with this saved configuration: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=7054863
This saved configuration has four upgrades: the A8-3550MX, the 750GB 7200RPM HDD, the Radeon 7690M GPU, and the 1920x1080 display.
Don't downgrade to the 1366x768 display from 1920x1080. 15.6" 1366x768 displays hinder multitasking by making things onscreen large, and they generally have very poor image quality. I don't recommend 15.6" 1366x768 displays to anyone who has a budget to get something better and doesn't need large text for eyesight reasons.
For the purposes of game performance, don't downgrade the GPU. The Radeon 7690M is one of the best mid-range GPUs available right now. The integrated graphics will likely provide disappointing game performance.
You may downgrade the processor in exchange for another upgrade, but keep in mind: The A8-3550MX is around 40% faster than the A8-3520M, and the A8 has a faster iGPU than the A6 which helps with Llano-crossfire-compatible games. Just keep in mind that you need to add an equivalent amount of cost worth of other upgrades, because the coupon requires a price of at least $899 to work.
You may also downgrade the hard-drive in exchange for another upgrade. Just keep in mind that you need to add an equivalent amount of cost worth of other upgrades.
Apply coupon code NBH5297 or add $100 more in upgrades and apply coupon code NBR3576 to make it $649

And please, don't buy a laptop for gaming. It's like buying a grater for fapping.

Buy an Alienware computer. They are the cheapest on the market for what they offer.

Budget? That's the first thing you should let people know when asking for advice on a new build. Also, what Isoak said. Don't buy a laptop for gaming.

No, you do not want a laptop for gaming. Get a desktop. It's what you really need.

If you're not going to change your mind on that though, then get a Clevo. It's all pretty self explanatory. http://www.avadirect.com/Gaming-Notebooks

I don't recommend a laptop as your gaming device due to the problems it brings. Many of them overheat plus they're not that great for gaming overall.

Better off following the falcon guide as posted first and pick what is in your price range. B-but I don't want to screw up! It's like playing with legos. It's really hard to screw it up unless it's raining magnets or you bought the wrong motherboard that doesn't work with the cpu I guess. Look at a couple videos made by tigerdirect/newegg/etcetc. I suggest building because you get more bang for your buck and typically prebuilt have a shitty graphics card.

Whatever you go with I wouldn't recommend Toshiba, as their customer support is absolute shit.

Okay. I'm getting a lot of comments that I shouldn't buy a laptop. Let me rephrase this then.

Yes, gaming laptops are horrible. I want a laptop for leisure. I just want to be able to be on the computer while laying down or on the sofa. It would be nice if I could get a moderately priced laptop that could still handle games. QVC has great sales, so that's why I'm shopping there.

Price range is around 500 or 800, but I intentiontally left that out. I wanted to withold that information for a while just to see what you guys would come up with.

I'm not really sure if it's possible to get a 500-800 laptop that can play games at high/maximum graphics, but I'm being optimistic and thinking so! After all, that's a lot of money so I'd think there are computers out there for that price that can handle the job. I'm not sure if you guys checked out the website I gave out, but please do. It would generally be more help if you guys showed me what computers from that website would be good for gaming.

I'm still reading what you guys have typed, but thank you very much! I hope the comments keep coming.

If you are looking to get a GAMING hardware, you should forget adding the word Notebook to it, mostly because of the price difference you can get if you get a desktop instead, also the life of the battery simply does not allow you to carry it around like you expect without having to plug it in every hour or so (this is mostly because of the power consumption gaming hardware has). Still, if you actually have the money and you dont care.....well just go get yourself an Alienware, but dont report to me when you get it lol.

If you're talking about a desktop gaming computer, i might be able to help you.
If you're looking to get yourself a gaming computer, do NOT look for prebuilt stuff (doesnt mean you HAVE to put it up yourself, but try to get the parts individually, you'll get a better price control and you'll know exactly what is inside of it). For what i read, you're looking for something that can handle intense games at high or maximum detail, well in that case, you could be looking at:

Motherboard: Asus Intel P-67 Sabertooth- Rev 3.0 B3 (great clean look, great air flow), around 330USD

CPU: Intel I5 2500k (3.30GHZ, Sandy Bridge, can be overclocked, uses latest intel socket), around 340USD

GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 570 (1.2GB VRAM, GDDR5, 320 bits, great price-performance relativity, if you can go further you can get a GTX580 at another 100USD), around 500USD.

GPU option 2: ATI Sapphire 6970 (2GB VRAM, GDDR5, 256 bits, a powerhorse which in terms of DX11 can put a nice competition), around the 550/600USD.

HD: In this particular case you can just stick to one regular high capacity Hard Drive, like a Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB, around 300USD, or you could go for a combination of a 1TB or 2TB HD with a high speed HD, which is an SSD (they have much higher speeds, but they also have a low capacity, like 120GB for example, aaand they're more expensive.

PSU: Coolermaster 700w Extreme Power Plus (high quality product, recognized brand all around).

Case: This is more personal preference, but i'm going to point you to one that while it isnt a very known brand, it has enough coolers and features for the computer i mentioned: Sentey Vulcano Gs-6300 Sup Thermaltake, around 100USD.

The prices may be different, i'm just trying to give you an estimate, also, since you didnt mention a budget, i just gave you a nice combo that is more than capable of maxing some games and playing some others on High at good resolutions such as 1920x1080.

Although I did orginally give the option for you guys to tell me about gaming computers, it's left me really confused with all the options and different opionions. I've really loved all the feedback. You guys have been so nice! But I think it would benefit me a lot more now if you guys looked on the website at the top and looked at it closely, and shown me a few laptops that would be able to handle my gaming needs better than this Dell. I hope it's not too much to ask! I'm thinking about starting a new thread just to get answers concerning the QVC website since no one has actually talked about the laptops on it.

dont buy one. build one.

Thank you guys so much. You've all been helpful sweetums! I'm sorry to say, but I'm going to log off for today. It's getting late, and I want to relax. With all the variety of opinions I've been given, I feel pulled every which way. I'm utterly confused on what to get because you guys each have your favorite comps. I'm pretty flustered and confused at this point; don't want to make anyone feel like their information was a waste :c I'll figure it out tomorrow. This was a lot to take in at once. Again, thank you all! You guys have been wonderful. I hope to still recieve posts even while I'm offline. Good night.

if you need anymore help just message me http://steamcommunity.com/id/caspernomnom/

ive built multiple computers, tried AMD and intel based laptops different gpus and all.

Let me help you out...

If you absolutely MUST get a laptop, get a dual core with the absolute BEST graphics card that you can.
By getting a dual core, you can still get very good performance without spending 2-3k+

I remember a seeing a test concluding that dualcore/strong gpu will get better performance and is better for your money than quadcore/mediocre gpu.

I wouldn't worry too much about the technical aspect of building a computer. Everything just clicks together like lego.
I'm far from a practical person, but decided to 'challenge' myself to do it last year, it wasn't much of a challenge to be honest.

The hardest part is choosing the components and not going crazy and spending all your money, oh and making sure they're all compatible. Once I'd bought all the parts it only took me a couple of hours to fit it all together.
There are some good guides to building your first PC on the site below. The forums are good too, you can check whether parts are compatible and make sure you're getting a suitable power supply etc.

www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/How-To,4/Build-Your-Own,16/

I understand if you decide to get a pre-built one if you're a bit apprehensive about buuilding, but I'll echo the other posters here and say don't get a laptop for games. Not really up to the job and more difficult to upgrade. You get a sense of satisfaction building it yourself and you can upgrade it easily in the future if you want to, something you probably won't attempt if someone else builds it for you. You can get wireless keyboards/mice etc. if you want to sit back on the sofa.

Alright. I'm going to log off now. I'm serious this time. o:

I'll be back tomorrow, so feel free to keep on posting!

As far as laptops, I have an Alienware m11x R2. It's ok for games and handles games ok. I only tested Portal 2 on it and it ran fine. However, I recommend getting a desktop or waiting till valve releases more info on their console which I'm speculating is probably going to be an optimized and affordable gaming pc. Hopefully shaped like a companion cube.

Another option is to try OnLive.

Something Awful represent
It really helps to know what your screen resolution is and if you intend to overclock. I was a newbie at computer buying until I bought my computer using this site.
Mine runs basically every game except Metro 2033, maxed, minus full SSAO.

here's a price calculator for custom desktops. it should get you in the ball park of how much you would spend on a custom, self built computer.(i know that this has nothing to do with your question about the laptop, but i think it's worth sharing)

Without reading any of the below comments because that's how I roll, here's a list:

• You've mentioned the difference between desktop computers and laptop. This is a big part though, and desktop comps are definitely the way to go - laptops tend to heat the table and I kid you not, you could boil an egg with that.
• In any case, buying a prebuilt computer is usually not enough. Some specialized re-sellers though build nice ones, but major retailers (Walmart, Best Buy...) tend to go for lower quality at a higher price.
• Laptops are a pain to build though, so buying a prebuilt one is what 99% of shoppers do. There's a lot of videos on Youtube showing you the insides of a laptop, and it takes about one hour to remove every component. Then it takes three hours to put them back in.
• Now the games you've listed are not that recent, except Portal 2. The thing is, the graphical quality has shifted - up until now developers worked on ways to make more polygons (that is change that hexagon to a full circle). To reach the best quality you'd have needed a top-of-the-line graphics card. Since 2011 however there's been more and more filters applied - SSAO, Antialiasing, HDR... (these already existed but they're always improved).
• What we're looking at is a laptop with a rather old graphics card, and a nice CPU.
• My spec is an nVidia[brand] 1Gigabyte[capacity] 9600GT[model] - got it in 2007, so it doesn't hold up to the most recent games. However I've got a new CPU, an AMD[brand] Phenom II[model] x6[number of cores[=processors]] 1090T[serial] 3.2GhZ[gigahertz] - this CPU will hold up for at least 5 more years.
• Taking all this into account, I would recommend looking for a specialized brand - Alienware I believe does exactly that, except they're quite onerous. As for the parts, we're looking at 6 gigabytes of RAM at least (brand doesn't matter here), an nVidia 9xxx GTX (mind the GTX! It's gonna cost more than a GT but the latter is getting obsolete, so you're better off making the investment right now) or ATI equivalent (I don't know ATI components, sorry).
• As for the CPU finally, I recommend AMD. Intel is the other leading brand, but they're not made for gaming and they cost more (the i7 for example, the newest Intel CPU, only goes up to 2.7ghZ for the same price as my 1090T. And yes, the gaming-or-not bit is important.

To recap:

• 6 GB RAM
• AMD quadcore with 2.4 ghZ (by the way, this means each of the two cores will have 2.4gigahertz, for a total of 9.6). Several people have advised you for a dualcore, but these are going out of fashion and quadcores are not what they used to be. AMD also makes true quadcores, meaning you really have four individual CPUs in that little square.
• nVidia video card (nVidia was the leading brand by the way, ATI - which belongs to AMD - only got decent video cards in 2009) of a 9 thousand something GTX model - 9100 through 9800 GTX, basically.

This should make your computer worth more than a brick for a few more years, possibly up until 2014. Note that Quantic Computers are on their way, and even though it's gonna take a long time, all our computers will become obsolete - a Quantic Computer works by using atoms instead of electricity.

if you live in Australia I recommend you checking out msy technology or pcdiy as their prices are pretty reasonable and you can pay a bit extra for them to assemble it all for you. i'm sure there are services like these wherever you live if you look in the right places.

i got my rig about two weeks ago and it cost me around $650, it's able run battlefield three on high at a reasonable frame rate;

-PROCESSOR: INTEL i5 2400
-MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-H61M-USB3-B3
-RAM: KINGSTON 4GB DDR3
-GPU: AMD RADEON 6870
-PSU: ANTEC NEO ECO 620W
-CASE: ANTEC 300

The most important thing is the graphics chip (GPU). Current CPU's, even very low end, should be enough to play the games you want decently. 4GB RAM should be enough. For graphics, first of all make sure it's not Intel. You choices are either NVIDIA (GeForce) or AMD (Radeon). You won't be able to get a laptop with a powerful gaming GPU for a low price, but you can get mid range GPU's which will let you play games decently, for example the GeForce 540M in this laptop. I'm linking to Newegg because it has a good selection and good filters so you can search for specific GPU's.

A note about GPU numbering: in general the first digit is the family (how new the GPU is), and the second is how powerful it is within the family. So GeForce 550 is more powerful than 540 and Radeon 5750 is more powerful than 5650. 550 would be faster than 450, but 520 will be weaker (the second digit typically trumps). 450 vs. 540 - hard to tell from the numbers. It's confusing and hard to tell without reading benchmarks (and even then it's often not conclusive).