Moderately powerful laptop on a budget?

[V8Stang]

Hello everybody I just joined the forums today, hooray!:-)
Anyway, getting down to point I was planning on buying a new laptop that would offer bang for my buck at a reasonable price.
My budget is around the $800-$1200 price mark but I have no clue as to which laptop would be the best option for me.
I currently own a Sony Vaio @ i3 (2.53GHz) Windows 7 64 & 4GB RAM.
I have tried emulating on Dolphin 4.0 but have had little success with games running at more than 30fps.
I would greatly appreciate some input and guidance around to moderately powerful laptops, nothing too high end but something that could pull off the job better than my current specs.
Disregard my lack of knowledge but I am quite new to emulation, and that's about all the info I have right now, hopefully my thread won't count as spam, just asking for a little advice! Thanks.

[admin89]

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np2740-clevo-w740su-p-6201.html
i7-4750HQ with Turbo Boost up to 3.0 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.1 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.2 GHz (for 1 active core) + Intel HD 5200 Iris Pro which is on par with Nvidia GT 650M or Nvidia GT 640 (desktop) . This is mid-high end gaming laptop that can run most games full speed
if you have more money to spend then
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8268-clevo-p150sma-p-6986.html
This one is a high-end gaming laptop : i7 4710MQ with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.4 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.5 GHz (for 1 active core) + Nvidia GTX 860M which is on par with Nvidia GTX 750 (desktop) . If you choose this one , you must select "IC Diamond Thermal Compound" and "COPPER COOLING UPGRADE" when you customize it

[RaverX3X]

(08-23-2014, 09:18 AM)admin89 Wrote: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np2740-clevo-w740su-p-6201.html
i7-4750HQ with Turbo Boost up to 3.0 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.1 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.2 GHz (for 1 active core) + Intel HD 5200 Iris Pro which is on par with Nvidia GT 650M or Nvidia GT 640 (desktop) . This is mid-high end gaming laptop that can run most games full speed
if you have more money to spend then
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8268-clevo-p150sma-p-6986.html
This one is a high-end gaming laptop : i7 4710MQ with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.4 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.5 GHz (for 1 active core) + Nvidia GTX 860M which is on par with Nvidia GTX 750 (desktop) . If you choose this one , you must select "IC Diamond Thermal Compound" and "COPPER COOLING UPGRADE" when you customize it

Speaking from someone that has the macbook pro with that setup (mine does also have the gt 750) along with the iris 5200 its a monster for high-mid range laptop.. (i do have the 2014 version which has a higher clocked i7...

[admin89]

Your point ? MacBook pro are overpriced . Do you even read this ?

Quote:My budget is around the $800-$1200 price

Not to mention . Apple uses crappy OEM thermal paste on their notebook . If CPU and discrete GPU are used (full load) at the same time , your MacBook will overheat for sure
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1444512

[RaverX3X]

(08-23-2014, 09:52 AM)admin89 Wrote: Your point ? MacBook pro are overpriced . Do you even read this ?

Quote:My budget is around the $800-$1200 price

Not to mention . Apple uses crappy OEM thermal paste on their notebook . If CPU and discrete GPU are used (full load) at the same time , your MacBook will overheat for sure
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1444512

i was vouching for the configuration saying its decent... . I didnt say go out and buy a macbook pro.. Honestly thats false i have ran the macbook up to full load on the gpu and cpu and it has not yet overheated..

[mbc07]

(08-23-2014, 10:52 AM)RaverX3X Wrote: Honestly thats false i have ran the macbook up to full load on the gpu and cpu and it has not yet overheated..

Or your CPU/GPU silently downclocked themselves to avoid the overheat and you probably didn't notice...

[etertay]

Hi everyone, I just joined as well rather than make a new thread ill just leach on to this one.

really considering buying the np2740, I'm hoping it will run most games full speed like was said, (and hopefully xenoblade, but ill take what I can get for that price)

I did notice that many other "laptops for emulation" threads refer to buying a laptop with specs for emulation was a generally bad Idea, but those threads are old and I assume technology has advanced somewhat so whats a more recent scoop on the matter?

[RaverX3X]

(08-23-2014, 09:52 AM)admin89 Wrote: Your point ? MacBook pro are overpriced . Do you even read this ?

Quote:My budget is around the $800-$1200 price

Not to mention . Apple uses crappy OEM thermal paste on their notebook . If CPU and discrete GPU are used (full load) at the same time , your MacBook will overheat for sure
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1444512

Not to be an ass you linked a forum post where the guy never tested the macbook with stock thermal paste and are stating it as fact??

Quote:
Originally Posted by afinch1992 View Post
how does the end result compare?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sevimli View Post
This is the most important part? Do you have the temp. readings before/after?

Very nice tutorial btw!
Well you see heres the thing... I did my first swap 5 minutes after getting the machine and didn't do a reading before hand so.......

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=15723980&postcount=4

[admin89]

Google is your friend . Just google "macbook pro overheating" . You will see what i'm talking about
I've been here for 5 years . I saw too many threads about "MacBook overheating" or sth like that on this forum ...
I may try to dig 1 thread for you if you want proof
The MacBook Pro that use only integrated GPU will be fine for Dolphin but the one with dedicated Nvidia GPU won't . Using both high-end CPU and mid-range GPU is too much for a multi-media laptop to handle
Even though OEM TC is bad , it won't die right away . Usually , it will last less than 1 year if you game a lot
Aftermarket one like Arctic MX-4 can last 8 years

[RaverX3X]

(08-24-2014, 08:50 PM)admin89 Wrote: Google is your friend . Just google "macbook pro overheating" . You will see what i'm talking about
I've been here for 5 years . I saw too many threads about "MacBook overheating" or sth like that on this forum ...
I may try to dig 1 thread for you if you want proof
The MacBook Pro that use only integrated GPU will be fine for Dolphin but the one with dedicated Nvidia GPU won't . Using both high-end CPU and mid-range GPU is too much for a multi-media laptop to handle
Even though OEM TC is bad , it won't die right away . Usually , it will last less than 1 year if you game a lot
Aftermarket one like Arctic MX-4 can last 8 years

Problem with that is i can google just about every laptop and desktop (boxed) and come up with the same amount of oh it overheats... Even if your macbook did over heat and die apple is really good about just replacing them...