Personal computing discussed

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tigidig3x
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Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:16 am

Hi guys.. Im planning to buy this laptop with the following specs:

Lenovo G480 (59363693) Brown - Gaming Laptop
Intel® Core™ i5-3230M 2.6Ghz 3MB Cache
• Ivy Bridge 3rd Generation
• DOS
• Lenovo Wireless Wifi b/g/n
• 14" WXGA LED
• 4GB DDR3 RAM (I plan to upgrade this at 8GB)
• NVidia GT635M 2GB Graphics
• 500GB HD
• Super-Multi DVD-RW
• 1.3MP Webcam, Bluetooth, HDMI
• USB 3.0
• 6-Cell
• Lenovo Bag


Or this one is more better?

Acer TM X483-53334G50MASS Ultra Thin Laptop
• Intel® Core™ i5-3337U
(1.8Ghz, Max Turbo 2.7Ghz 3MB L3 cache)
• Intel HD Graphics
• Acer Wireless Draft-N
• 14”HD LED Display
• 4GB DDRIII Memory (I plan to upgrade this at 8GB)
• 500GB Hard Disk Drives
• Backlight Keyboard
• Bluetooth
• HDMI Port
• USB 3.0 Port
• Super Multi DVDRW
• HD Webcam
• Up to 8 hours Battery Life
• Ultra Thin Less than 1" thick
• Acer Laptop Bag


Is this selection good enough for my needs? Im an IT student and ill mainly use it for coding,multimedia editing, videos, picture, photoshop, lightroom, premier,HD movies, maybe also some rendering, DOTA 2, and some other small games since i have a Desktop PC, i mainly play my hardcore games in there.. Do you think this laptop would fit my needs? This is my first time to have a laptop. Please help me decide. Thank you so much. =)
 
tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:58 am

BUMPS.. please give me suggestions..
 
Phaydren
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:30 am

The Acer is using integrated graphics, while the Levono has an Nvidia card. From rendering and editing alone the Levono is miles ahead not to mention a necessity for gaming. Just be aware that you want the laptop plugged in while using the graphics card heavily, as it will eat your battery alive otherwise.
 
Omniman
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:03 am

I have a Geforce 635m and at times I find it to be lacking. I think ideally look for like a 650m machine if you can.
Intel i7-7700, MSI Trident, 32GB DDR4 2133mhz, Geforce 1060GTX, and Samsung Evo 1TB.
 
MarkD
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:29 am

I'd ask myself how much portable gaming was worth if I already had a good desktop machine. You have to settle for less performance and portability as you move up the performance curve in any laptop. It's your money and your choice, and the experts here will weigh in if you tell them what games, you want to play and what performance you'll settle for. I have a Lenovo X230 with the identical i5 processor you spec'd and it is fast enough to run a vm or two (virtual box) with decent response times, but I don't game on it.
 
Techgoudy
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:54 am

I would personally grab the Lenovo. It is the more powerful machine: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-3337U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-3230M
 
tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:51 am

It seems that the lenovo laptop is winning.. I just want tou to know guys that ill mainly do CODING, VIDEO EDITING, and PHOTOSHOP AND LIGHTROOM.. Dota 2 is just secondary when me and my classmates would do lan at school.. also is upgrading the lenovo to 8gb only enough? I once considered a macbook pro but mac really jasnt captured mu heart yet.
 
tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:54 am

Sorry for the typos , im using mobile now.
 
DPete27
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:41 pm

Hardware-wise, this is not a difficult comparison.
- Both laptops have 4GB RAM
- Both laptops have a 500GB hdd.
- Both have 14" screen, optical drive, USB3.0. etc etc.
- i5-3230m = 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz (35W)
- i5-3337U = 1.8GHz to 2.7GHz (17W)
- 635m on the Lenovo (which will switch to the HD graphics when dGPU isn't needed) compared to only HD graphics on the Acer. One will give you better graphics performance, I'll give you one guess which one it is.
- The only other major difference between the two specs is the thickness. You can decide for yourself how important that is.

- Also, make sure you look at screen quality. Even between all the laptop TN panels, there is quite a bit of variation (color accuracy / viewing angles) out there.

What's the price of each?
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NovusBogus
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:59 pm

I'd go with the one with a real GPU since it can do games and other 3D rendering tasks. I trust Lenovo more than Acer, too--Lenovo is who bought IBM's PC hardware and their business notebooks are exceptional.

I have an Asus with comparable specs (2.2/3.0 i7, 540M graphics, 1366x768 display) and it does everything well.
 
tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:40 pm

Yes, it seems that this lenovo laptop really is dominating against the one i linked. But are lenovo laptops really that big and bulky? especially the one i linked if anyone of you already used it? Because im thinking it would be more nicer if i got a thin laptop. More cleaner.. Just my opinion.. But im perfectly ok with thos big laptops, im just saying it might be better if i have more thinner laptop.. ^_^
 
NovusBogus
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:46 am

"Heavy is good. If it doesn't work you can always hit him with it!"
-Boris the Blade, Snatch

Joking aside, lightweight laptops tend to be flimsily constructed and a common complaint of Lenovo's non-Thinkpads (and most consumer notebooks) is that they could do with a heavier but more reinforced design. My biggest complaint about my own laptop is the lame display hinge which nearly every consumer-grade option including both of yours has these days. Lenovo's site says the G480 weighs slightly less than 5 pounds, that isn't very heavy and won't be a problem. By comparison, ultrabooks weigh around 3 pounds and a large tablet is 1.5.
 
ordskiweicz
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Fri Sep 27, 2013 4:44 am

You are catching that some replies point out that the GPU may not be good enough for gaming. The screen does deserve real consideration too.

You may want more horsepower - with rendering a goal too.
 
Techgoudy
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:23 am

If you are coding and rendering it still makes more sense to grab the Lenovo.

However, a couple of things you really need to consider is how intensive are your task going to be? Are you writing large scale coding projects or just fiddling around with small code? Are you rendering huge amounts of data? These types of questions will determine which laptop you strive for. If they are the same price it's a no brainer to go for the Lenovo, however if the Acer is cheaper and you don't need a lot of horsepower for your tasks go with the Acer.
 
tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:53 am

Hi guys! Thank you for all your comments... I just want you guys to know is that i already bought my Lenovo Core i5 and not the ACER one... Im so happy with my Lenovo performance..

But one thing is bugging me right now... Because my lenovo specifications say that the video card of my laptop is GT 635m. So i installed first the Intel HD driver, then installed the nvidia driver.. After i installed the two, i then checked dxdiag, i found out my display card is that i have only INTEL HD Graphics 4000 but i havent seen Nvidia card... Although the Nvidia Control panel is installed in my laptop and running pretty well.. Do you think i really havent installed the correct driver? Please help.. Thanks so much.
 
Duct Tape Dude
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Fri Oct 04, 2013 8:19 am

Only certain applications invoke the dedicated (nvidia) GPU. If you look in your device manager under Display Adapters, you should be see Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the nvidia GT 635m. Alternatively, try using something like GPU-Z to check on your GPUs. http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

You can change what programs invoke the dGPU in the nvidia control panel.
 
Chrispy_
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:15 am

Optimus, in a nutshell, runs HD4000 most of the time, and only wakes up the Geforce when it's needed.

The default settings is auto-select, which means that most "ID my graphics card" programs will see it as an HD4000.

You can either force the Geforce to be on all the time, or disable the Geforce to use Integrated graphics all the time, but Auto should be good.

Screenshot here
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tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:58 am

Ok2.. Thanks guys.. I understand my laptop about its graphic processor now..Ive got one more thing to ask...


While playing Dota 2 on my laptop, my temp goes up to 70-75c.. Is this normal? Or if it isnt, does buying a laptop cooling pad help? Im thinking.of buying this one..
Coolermaster Notepal I300 Black .. Would this kind of cooling pad would really help my temps? Im worried about my temps... I checked the under of my laptop, it seems that there is no fans attached under instead, the fans are in the side... Do you think the cooling pad could help suck the heat under my laptop? Can you explain it to me guys? Thanks..
 
NovusBogus
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:38 pm

75C under full load is fine, you should only need to worry if it goes above 85 or so.
 
DPete27
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:09 pm

Laptop coolers are a mixed bag. Having an active laptop cooler (with a fan) will always produce better thermals than with nothing (how much better depends on the cooler and the laptop), but it also adds additional fan noise (might balance out if your laptop's fan doesn't have to spin up as much). I've always kept my laptop cooler fans running pretty low RPMs so they are barely audible. I only buy laptop coolers with adjustable speed fans.
But let's face reality, laptop coolers aren't very portable. You'll probably leave a laptop cooler on a desk 99% of it's lifetime, and you'll only ever use it when you're using your laptop at that same desk.

In college, I had an HP laptop whose hdd was thermall unshielded, making the palmrest noticeably warm. I had a sweaty left wrist many times until I set it on a Zalman laptop cooler. After that, no more sweaty wrists, and CPU fan rarely spun up.

Right now, my work laptop is on a CM Notepal Ergo to raise it to my 2nd monitor height. I just ran a Prime95 test (CPU stress test) for you.
Fan on: (low RPM)
CPU = 91C max
hdd = 31C
GPU = 71C max
The i7-640m spent a lot of time at 3.2GHz (that's max turbo with all cores loaded IIRC)
Very similar/same results with fan at max RPM

Fan off:
CPU = 94C max
hdd = 31C
GPU = 74C max
CPU spent most of the time around 3GHz (throttling)
Last edited by DPete27 on Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
Chrispy_
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Mon Oct 07, 2013 1:32 pm

Yeah, I think most laptop graphics cards have fan profiles tuned to aim for about 75-80 degrees. If they're cooler than that they reduce the fan noise, if they're hotter than that they ramp up the fan noise.

The bulky cooling pads will probably improve your performance slightly and/or reduce fan noise, but if you wanted a bulky solution then a desktop is always the vastly superior option.
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tigidig3x
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Re: Would this laptop be enough for my need?

Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:35 pm

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies....i have bought and used the cooling pad i stated above... It works quite well, the underneath of my laptop does not heat anymore, and i assume it is good for the battery. Since i read alot from the internet that the heat near the battery reduces its life.. But still, there is heat on top especially on the empty space below the keyboard but not much.. I think it is working well for me.. What do you think guys?

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