Ultraportable Gaming Laptop, replace the desktop?

Hi everyone, this is my first post on the forums here. I've been around computers for a long time and have a few builds under my belt as well. Nothing outrageous really. Point is, I am a bit of an amateur as this is an occasional pass time for me.

I've been very happy with my latest build which has done everything I want it to. Its a bit of a mix and match I would say with some parts that aren't very high performance, but its done me well. I've even reached 4.52 GHz with air cooling on the FX-8350 which I was fairly happy about. But to the point of this thread. I have been thinking of replacing my desktop with an ultraportable gaming laptop, specifically either the Alienware 13 or MSI GS30. The "docks" both of these have are very intriguing for my intended purpose. I have started travelling a fair bit for work and need something that I can use to pass the nights in the hotel while I'm away. I would go for something bigger, but I already carry a huge 17" laptop for work so I need something smaller to fit in a secondary "personal item" bag on planes.

Really my question is what would be everyone's opinions on the two laptops with graphics docks? To me, the Alienware's dedicated on board GPU seems a better fit to future proof the portable nature of the laptop, but the processors leave me disappointed as far as the specs go. The dual core i7 doesn't look like it will hold up well in the near future. On the flip side, the MSI's quad core i7 performs similarly to my desktop's FX-8350 on the benchmarks, so it would have a decent life span. But the MSI's graphics are kinda lacking it seems, making it a bit lackluster when away from the dock. Is it better to have a somewhat substandard GPU or CPU?

Edit: I guess I should mention my main uses for the laptop. When docked I would like it to be able to be used as a media server as my desktop currently is, not a big feat really. Gaming would involve stuff like GTA V, Borderlands, Civ 5, Assetto Corsa to name a few.

That i7 in the GS30 Shadow-001 is not a dual core, it is a typical i7 quad that should win out damn near any benchmark over the 8350, and simply DOMINATE it in single-threaded apps. It would be just fine for use, but really, I would have to question if you really wanted the dock vs grabbing an MSI or Alienware lappy with say a GTX 970M or 980M already in it, offering you the power you want at any given time.

The dual core I was referring to is the i7 5500u in the Alienware 13. I have considered laptops with the more powerful discrete cards like the GTX 970m but the laptops generally associated with them are 15" class or larger which is too big for my intended use while on the go. Any 13" class laptop I have found with the GTX 870m that I have found, I think there are only a couple, are quite expensive in my opinion. I don't think I have seen them for less than $3500 in Canada. Some places are even selling the two I listed above for $4000 or more while I could get a fairly tricked out Alienware 13 with the graphics amplifier directly from Dell for less than $2500.

Hmm, fair point. I suppose it's a tough spot to be in then, between the 2 the MSI offers more processing horsepower, but I guess it depends if the integrated graphics are fine with your uses when not at home.

Simply my opinion here, but if I wanted to play games on my lappy, having to dock it would seem like more of a nuisance regardless of which was chosen. If it matters I have heard good things about the Alienware 13.

LED, my 2 cents

I was also recently in the market for a laptop (not specifically gaming). Like you I was weighing the pros and cons between a real full size laptop with quad core and video card vs. a real laptop meant for portability. I have always been disappointed trying to game on a laptop. Its not that it is impossible, just impractical. If you want to hook up to a dock then you kind of defeat the purpose of portability. As for the games you named, a 5500u, hell even the 5200u i5 will play those games with the intel HD5500. Your framerates will be considerably lower, but all things being equal, you will be playing on lower settings and you will be gimped playing on a smaller screen, but it CAN be done. I have the Dell XPS13 and I love it. It has no where near the gaming ability of my monster desktop, but I don't use it for that. When I travel its mostly FB, Videos, and some light gaming.

I really think if you are trying to find a portable replacement for your desktop you will be sorely disappointed. If on the other hand you want to find a fully capable and fully portable replacment. Look at the Dell XPS 13 or the Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1, you won't be disappointed. I had your dilemma and recently purchased the XPS 13 and I couldn't be happier.

I am puzzled why you would want a laptop to replace a desktop unless the point was for portability????

Good luck with your purchase.

Brutal-Force, the reason I am looking for something to replace the desktop is to avoid having multiple gaming rigs. I have travelled and been away from home for weeks at a time so something that I can use to play some of the more recent titles with decent graphics. I'm not concerned about having ultra 4k graphics while away from the dock but something that will give me decent performance at low to medium depending on the game. The docks are appealing since I could just plug the laptop into the dock when I get home and have my 24" screen and ultra graphics but on the go I have decent graphics and a small, portable form factor.

But the more I research this the more I realize nobody has been able to pull off the perfect setup yet. It sounds like the Alienware 13 is the way to go with its stronger graphics but I still feel as if that processor is lacking a bit. That's likely just a limitation of the form factor.

led86 said:

Brutal-Force, the reason I am looking for something to replace the desktop is to avoid having multiple gaming rigs. I have travelled and been away from home for weeks at a time so something that I can use to play some of the more recent titles with decent graphics. I'm not concerned about having ultra 4k graphics while away from the dock but something that will give me decent performance at low to medium depending on the game. The docks are appealing since I could just plug the laptop into the dock when I get home and have my 24" screen and ultra graphics but on the go I have decent graphics and a small, portable form factor.

But the more I research this the more I realize nobody has been able to pull off the perfect setup yet. It sounds like the Alienware 13 is the way to go with its stronger graphics but I still feel as if that processor is lacking a bit. That's likely just a limitation of the form factor.

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Well, if your looking for a portable gaming rig, then this is your rig.... http://us.msi.com/product/nb/GT80-Titan-SLI-GTX-980M-SLI/#hero-overview
Its 10lbs. which is still tolerable. But for portability sake, I would say you can carry it, but the battery would probably last for 10min. while gaming w/o being plugged in.

It has dual GTX 980M. The only thing better would be dual R290/GTX Titan and above. But at $3500, you better have deep pockets.

Edit: Since you are looking at something in the 13" I would say, your kinda getting picky. A true gaming laptop is going to have a better screen to go along with the Graphics card. Its kinda a moot point to put a GTX 970/980m paired with a 13" screen. You could definitely go with a lower graphics card at 1080p on a 13" screen. Your 13 inch option is probably going to be the Gigabyte Aorus X3 Plus at $2200.

Yeah I am starting to realize I'm being picky. My head is in the clouds and I don't think what I want really exists at this point.

I think you'd be happy with a Lenovo Y50-70 Laptop - 59440654

4th Generation Intel® CoreTM i7-4720HQ Processor (3.60 GHz Turbo, 2.60GHz Base, 1600MHz 6MB)
1TB + 8GB SSSHD / No Optical Drive
15.6" Full HD 1080p IPS (1920 x 1080) Backlight Display with integrated camera
16GB PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM SODIMM Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB Graphics Card / Dual Band Wireless-AC


You missed out on a really good sale, so I would look over on Cowboom. It would make a good laptop..... yeah... it wouldn't meet all of your expectations, but for the price its hard to beat.

Last week it was on sale for $899.00, and with W10 coming out, I would keep an eye out, it will surely come back down in price before Black Friday.