New Laptop

[Teho]

I admit I don't pay much attention what's current in PC hardware so had no idea that running 4k is that demanding still. Myself I don't even have a dedicated PC screen, my rig is in the living room hooked up to my HDTV. As such all I need is 1080p @ 60Hz, which you certainly don't need to reach for the top shelf for. I've a GTX670 in it now which still runs just about everything fine. Elite: Dangerous does lag a bit sometimes though, so I've been thinking about upgrading. But really, I should build a new rig as this one is close to six years old and the mobo, CPU and PSU in it has never been changed.

[Kin Hell]

I admit I don't pay much attention what's current in PC hardware so had no idea that running 4k is that demanding still. Myself I don't even have a dedicated PC screen, my rig is in the living room hooked up to my HDTV. As such all I need is 1080p @ 60Hz, which you certainly don't need to reach for the top shelf for. I've a GTX670 in it now which still runs just about everything fine. Elite: Dangerous does lag a bit sometimes though, so I've been thinking about upgrading. But really, I should build a new rig as this one is close to six years old and the mobo, CPU and PSU in it has never been changed.

Yeah, six years of age on a Mobo/CPU/Memory/GPU thing is massive..... really. You should upgrade to at least Z77 with an Air cooled OC @ 4.4/5Ghz with some 780Ti action. You'll be gobsmacked!

& 60Hz @ ANY resolution is not suitable for gaming on. Absolute minimum is 75Hz, 80 is better and anything over 100Hz on CRT or Flat panel, be it TN or IPS is where you need to be for a more absolute definition of what's best for gaming on the PC.

A bit where the "Amiga" was (in the opposite direction) all those years ago.

Look what happened since.

[Harrison]

As you well know, I'm just not bothered about resolutions above 60Hz any more since LCD monitors appeared. With CRT yes, 85Hz was essential for crisp looking graphics but no more. I know some people say they can tell the difference, and I bet Charlie you are one of them because you are always in pursuit of the ultimate setup, but as you know I'm all about the best bang for your buck rather than spending big for only a slight advantage.

With prices of 4k monitors starting to fall I've been very tempted by them but I'm still putting off getting 4k monitors until the GPUs are good enough to power one in gaming at 60fps from a single card. At the moment I'm still running a 27" 2560x1440 resolution Dell U2711 and love it. I would say however that this Dell at this resolution and 27" is about the highest pixel density I would like to use for productivity work and think the pixel density would be way too high on a 4k 27" screen. Although saying that my Samsung 10.1" tablet has a screen resolution of 2560x1600 so it's slightly higher than my 27" monitor and it looks really nice, but it is a different way of using the higher resolution, so is different.

Personally for a laptop any of the GPUs you have mentioned should run all current games at 1080 resolution without any issues so really no point spending a lot more than needed.

[Demon Cleaner]

Personally for a laptop any of the GPUs you have mentioned should run all current games at 1080 resolution without any issues so really no point spending a lot more than needed.

At the moment, definitely yes, but how does it look in 2-3 years? Will then the 980 have a noticeable advantage over the 970?

[Harrison]

As is always the case, in 2-3 years time I think the GPU technology and games will have moved on another generation as we are currently at a development point that should see something new very soon which pushes performance forward again, so whatever you get now will start to struggle for new releases in 3 years time. Saying that, sticking with a 1080 resolution current GPUs should IMO manage to cope because development is definitely looking towards 4k for the future of gaming, plus multi-display for games such as racing.

It depends what you want to play most. If you are going to be running a lot of FPSers then the best current GPU you can buy will be best for future proofing. If however you will mostly be playing RPGs, Strategy and Adventure games, plus some emulation, then that isn't so important.

[Demon Cleaner]

I noticed something else at Notebookguru, you can still chose the CPU.

As I mentioned before, Schenker has the i7-4720HQ (2.6 - 3.6GHz), but Notebookguru also still has the previous model, the i7-4710HQ (2.5 - 3.5GHz), which was used in most laptops before, and it's 80€ less expensive. Both use turbo boost technology, and in comparison they are almost the same.

Another 80€ saved?

[Harrison]

AFAIK both CPUs are the same, except the more expensive one is clocked 0.1GHz faster, which isn't anything you would ever notice. So definitely go for the cheaper one if possible. Clocked slightly slower, it will also run that little bit cooler, which is always good for a laptop.