Question about specs vs price.

[TBDM5678]

My current laptop is needing to be replaced soon, and after some researching I was thinking about getting the lenovo y510p. I was hoping to get it before I started college/uni in a couple weeks but now I'm not so sure if that is possible.

 

I found a real good offer on microcenter for one with an i7 2.4 GHz processor (may have been 2.2, can't remember), with 8 GB RAM, dual GT750M graphics cards, 1 TB hdd (5400 RPM) with a 24 GB caching SSD. It also had 1900x1080 resolution. I placed the order a nearly week ago, only to find out today that it was cancelled, as the offer had to be pulled off the site and there was no telling when they would get more in, or if it would even be at the same price. A little disappointing to say the least.

 

After a little looking I found one on Amazon for only a little more price-wise. i7, 2.4 GHz, same RAM and graphics. However it has no SSD and has a 1366x768 resolution.

 

There is also one with 16 GB of RAM, includes the SSD and has 1900x1080 resolution for $180 more, and probably wouldn't ship in time for school (not a tremendous deal, but would be bothersome to have to get it to my dorm and load the stuff I need on it during school then). A few weeks ago I would have said it was out of my price range, but right now it may be inside, and I was considering a RAM upgrade later on (in a year or so if I thought it would be worthwhile).

 

My question mainly is about the effect of the SSD on gaming/modding, and the difference between 1900x1080 and the lower 1366x768 resolutions. I play fps games and also like to mod FO3/FNV and Oblivion/Skyrim a lot. The most taxing on a computer would be the modded Skyrim I imagine, and I'm wondering how much these variables would affect something like that. I'm curious as to if the more expensive version that has these features is worth the price or if they would be wasted so would be better off with the lower priced model. I'm hoping someone much more knowledgable than I can help me out asap, so I can make a decision just as soon.

 

Thank you greatly for any help

Edited August 9, 2013 by TBDM5678

[Rennn]

SSDs will dramatically shorten load times, but they will not affect frames per second or general gaming performance in most cases.

 

A resolution of 1920x1080 will be noticeably clearer than 1366x768, ofc, but the 1366x768 screen will require less VRAM and consume much less performance. Really, which you will need depends on screen size. At 17" or less, 1366x768 will be fine for gaming. If the screen is bigger than that, you'll want 1920x1080 to keep the image as crisp as possible.

 

16GB of RAM is honestly pointless. 8GB is fine for any modern game. Having said that, 16GB certainly won't hurt anything and it might improve performance a bit next generation.

[TBDM5678]

I wasn't sure if a SSD would help if I decided to use texture packs or not (With the swapping data between storage and memory). I remember thinking my own 1366x768 was fine for what I had so far, but I had a 14" screen (this other is 15.6"). The RAM was really only if next generation required it (The only person I know who actually needs that much RAM runs virtual machines, a little more heavy in that department than any gaming, haha)

[FMod]

Inside an actual 3D game, the difference between 1366 and 1920 on a tiny laptop screen is marginal and won't be missed. This is especially so when you can't push the GPU, so might be using blurry downsized textures - and given the difference in visual settings, 1366 is likely to actually look better at the same fps.

 

That said, you can run a 1920x1080 display at lower resolution; scaling isn't as bad as people imagine it to be, and it doesn't have to be 2x or something; 1280x720 will be fine.

 

Using texture packs on a laptop is begging for a slideshow. You might do OK with a few gameplay or quest mods. Pushing up the graphics on a machine that can't handle stock seems pointless if you intend to actually enjoy the game. 2x geforce 750M is still very weak; bolting two lawnmowers together doesn't make a racecar.

 

16GB vs 8GB on a laptop is meaningless and will remain so for any future generation - they'll bottleneck on slow mobile GPU and dual-core CPU long before RAM becomes a consideration.

Same with mobile i7 vs i5 unless it's a i7QM, just branding.

 

For a laptop actually used as a laptop, a SSD drive makes far more difference than either of the things above. A caching disk however is only a performance midpoint between HDD and system SSD, so it's not very important.