It certainly will, but at 9.5 lbs there’s a definite tradeoff.
That Asus sells for $2k in the US. Compare that to the brand-new Razer Blade, also selling at $2k but dramatically more portable, less than half the weight at 4.25 pounds, with a high-DPI screen and gorgeous machined aluminum macbook pro-like build quality.
Of course that’s a 14" screen versus 17", and a 970M versus 980M, and no 1TB magnetic HD. But it is a dramatically nicer computer and it’s actually portable as opposed to “luggable”. So if you don’t plan to move your laptop, the asus is a clear choice.
And of course prices will probably vary in Denmark.
Thanks stusser - I did look at razer, but they do not sell their wares in Europe, and their keyboards are still american only, meaning, they miss our æ, ø and å. A small thing, but an annoyance in the long run.
I do think that maybe its a good idea to wait a few months, and see what happens with the EGpu thingie. But theoretically, any computer with Thunderbolt should be able to take advantage of it, right?
I don’t know if Dell sells in Europe or not. I purchased my Alienware, not without a few headaches, with a 970m for barely above 1K as a refurb. So far, once I fixed the rookie mistakes, it’s done well.
Refurb are previously owned machines, right? I’ve never looked into those. Dell should sell in Europe actually, so thats worth looking into. Thanks Nesrie!
Also , is razer reliable? I can say from experience ASUS G series machines are very, very well made and don’t overheat.
Reliability is the most important thing in a laptop, even moreso than specs (as long as you can meet min specs for what you want) The last thing you want is a $1500 toaster.
Any computer with thunderbolt3 with the USB-C connector, yes. But they do need to support the spec in their BIOS. My feeling is that they all will, soon enough.
Keep in mind that the first TB3 eGPU enclosure lists at $500. It will probably take a year for them to settle at the “right” price of $200 or so.
Yes. Certified direct from dell including a one year warranty. The warranty was the primary reason I considered it along with the price of course. Look for coupon codes, frequently at 35% up to 50% off Dell Outlet, but you have to browse a bit before you find one that is a modern machine with an ssd and at least a 970m. I saw the 980s too but it was more than I wanted to spend since next year I will be doing a full new desktop build.
I have an Asus RoG 751, I love it, great performance. 2 negatives, it’s not really portable and needs to be plugged in all the time. No issue for me as it sits in my lounge plugged in all the time.
My aging desktop has died and I’m looking for a non-travel laptop to replace it. My budget is just about $2000, or a bit more. I have my eyes on this MSI. Amazon reviews are positive, as are many other reviews. What does QTT think? Anyone have a similar computer and have advice for a purchase? It needs to be a laptop since I’m either in my bedroom, living room, or office. It won’t be for travel, so weight and battery life are not issues. Keeping up with current and future games, however, is an issue. All advice is welcome.
But remember that new GPUs are coming out in June, and rumors are that the AMD chips in particular are very power-efficient. Even though you don’t care about size and battery life, laptops are still constrained by cooling considerations. So you may be able to get a lot more for your money if you can wait a bit.
I’m ashamed to say that after almost 30 years of PC gaming, I’m still limited in my understanding of hardware and their various combinations. I looked at the MSI over the ASUS due to the 980m over the 970m, because if I ever entered into the VR world I read that the 980 is the card to get. I currently have an older ASUS ROG laptop that I love (despite having to send it in under warranty due to a crashed hard drive). The comparable ROG to the MSI I and considering is over my price range. Am I missing something important I should be aware of?
Side note: it is do or die as far as buying a laptop in the next couple of weeks. I convinced my wife to budget for a new laptop since we got our taxes back and refinanced our house (giving us a mortgage “free” month). If I wait too long the money will disapppear and my wife will cool off on buying the laptop. Yeah, I’m the man of the house…
The Wirecutter actually recommends a different variant of that same MSI laptop as their “step-up” configuration. The Wirecutter recommended version costs $100 less up front, also has a $100 rebate, has twice the SSD storage, and 8GB additional RAM, but comes with a slightly (100Mhz) slower CPU.
You’re correct in that the 980M meets the minimum spec for current-gen VR. It’s the second-fastest GPU you can get in a laptop today, beat only by the desktop-class GTX 980 (and SLI variants too). But laptops with the desktop GTX 980 start at almost $3k.
Funny you mention MSI gaming laptops. pcper.com recently posted this article/video explaining the differences between around 27 models of gaming laptops MSI makes right now. Hope it helps you settle your choice.
p.s. Consider buying more power adapters, so it’s one less thing to lug around beside your laptop.
I’d be wary about getting a laptop for VR without finding clear evidence that the particular model works well with it. From what I understand both headsets are really picky about various HDMI and USB attributes which may be lacking in a laptop.
It sounds like you may be okay with the Vive, but no mobile GPUs are even officially supported by Oculus. Although they DO sell a laptop with a desktop 980 in it and those will work.
I bought an MSI GE70 Apache Pro-061 and like it quite a bit. Good build quality, nice screen, and a backlit SteelSeries keyboard. The trackpad is a bit odd, but I rarely use it.
It only has an 860M in it (my budget was below $1k), but it runs recent stuff like Titanfall and PvZ:GW well. I don’t demand high settings of every game. It does run pretty warm on the left side exhaust when gaming, but that’s to be expected of any laptop with a dedicated graphics chip.
Thank you for all the feedback. Two more questions if you don’t mind: Do you think that 8gb of vram is truly better than 4gb, or does it not really matter at this point? I ask because one of the MSI models shows 8gb for the 980m. The 4gb model has the 256 ssd, while the 8gb vram model has 128gb ssd. I’m not sure which is more important.
Finally, is there an easy way to hook the new pc up to the old, possibly via a usb cable, to transfer files? I have a few modded games that will be difficult to re-mod on the new computer the exact way I currently have them modded. I don’t even know if it is possible to transfer files this way, but I do not have a large working external hd to transfer files to and from.
Again, thanks for the guidance (and not making fun of my remedial computer knowledge! ;) )!
