Deciding best gaming notebook is not an easy decision especially if you also need to look into your pocket to make buy decision that it also affordable.
You may like to read the Gaming Laptop Buying Guide. Starredreviews had earlier reviewed MSI GX640 gaming laptop that you may like to explore.
One of the differences between GX740 and the GX640 is the screen size. The GX740 comes with with a bigger 17-inch LCD screen, and has a more powerful graphics card.
Processor and Memory
The GX740 has powerful 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory.
Display, Graphics an Hard Disk
‘The GX740 has 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPU ( with 1GB DDR5). The
Connectors and Accessories
The GX740 has gigabit Ethernet, WiFi. The max resolution of the display is 1,680 x 1,050. It has an ExpressCard slot, three USB sockets as well as VGA and HDMI outputs. The HDMI output will be especially appreciated by the gaming enthusiasts.
The notebook is available at a price tag of $1,400 at the time of writing – a reasonable price for the power that this notebook possess.
In my previous post I have written gaming laptop buying guide. Today I am going to post affordable gaming laptop reviews. Just few years back buying a gaming laptop or notebooks means burning hole in your pocket. But today you can select one for you from wide ranges of affordable gaming laptops. If your budget is around $1000 then you can go for MSI GX640-098US gaming laptop. MSI recently started shipping of this laptop and available in many stores including amazon.
Basic Specification of MSI GX640-98US
MSI GX640-98US laptop is a midsized inexpensive gaming laptop which comes with 15.6” display. It hosts exclusive features like powerful processors, graphics, which make it perfect desktop replacement. When comes to processor this device is powered by Intel Core i5 I5-430M works at the speed of 2.26 MHz. It integrated with turbo boost technology and Hyper-Threading technology which make this MSI device excellent gaming laptop. Memory include 4GB DDR3 RAM in 2*2 format.
When comes to storage capacity MSI GX640-98US gaming laptop it equipped with 500GB SATA hard drive with 7,200 rpm speed and windows 7 home premium operating system onto it.
The 15.4” TFT glossy screen of MSI GX640-098US gaming laptop has resolution of 1680 x 1050 ( max).
Now the important part of gaming laptop- graphics
GX640-098US laptop comes with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics with 1GB video memory. This ATI GPUs are known for faster, prosperous, sensible visuals and excellent High definition gaming performance. Not only that, overall configuration of this laptop allows you to play powerful games along with other multimedia task like watching video etc.
Connectivity features-
Optical drive-It comes with Super Multi DVD Drive Also comes with 4-1 card reader which includes SD memory card, multimedia memory card, xD-Picture Card and picture sticks.
Webcam- It integrated with webcam of 2.0 Megapixels.
MSI GX640-098US gaming laptop hosts two USB 2.0 ports, one HDMI output, one 15 pin graphics card output and MIC and headphone connectivity.
Networking support includes Gigabit Ethernet LAN and Built-in 802.11a/g/n WLAN.
This gaming notebook weighs only 6 pounds including 9 cell battery weights. Overall battery life is of 3 hours in normal course. It has an extra numeric keypad.
One another feature of its keyboard is that its W,S,A and D is highlighted and arrow indications are made for faster gaming experiences.
At $1199 price tag, the MSI GX640-098US gaming laptop will emerge as an excellent gaming laptop. You can consider it for desktop replacement as well. At the time of writing this review, this gaming laptop is available at discount price of $1100 in Amazon.
Few years back gaming on a laptop or notebook was not a very common phenomenon. Due to advancement of technology, today it becomes common scenario. While selecting a gaming laptop today consumers have wide ranges of choices. Now question arises how to select a gaming laptop? Here is a buying guide from starredreviews.
Processor for gaming laptop or notebook-
You need powerful processor for gaming. The Intel core 2 duo or AMD Turion X2 64bit top end could be a good starting point but if you can put your money in the latest core i3 or i5 , especially quad core i5 you will get the best performance.
Here I would like to suggest you to select mobile processors for maximum power saving.
Memory
While selecting memory you need minimum 3GB ( most decent notebooks do come with 3GB memory), but it would be better if you opt for 4GB or higher depending upon your budget as well the games you want to play. Insufficient memory slows down the gaming performance. Now 2GB memory is available even in the entry level laptop for general use as well.
Graphics for gaming laptop-
The most important part of buying a gaming laptop is graphic selection. Low end graphics are best option. You can play
While choosing dedicated graphics, Nvidia or ATI graphics offer good performance. But, be aware all Nvidia or ATI dedicated graphics are not for gaming purpose. Nvidia GeForce 9600M, GT 130M or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 or above are good choices for gaming notebooks or laptops.
Try to avoid integrated graphics as they are not suitable for gaming.
Screen Resolution
Gaming laptops are generally comes with 17” display. However few 15” gaming laptops are also available. If you are buying gaming notebook with 15” screen then resolution must be 1440 x 900 or above. While buying a 17” gaming laptop you should need screen resolution of 1680 x 1050 or above.
Hard drive
When comes to storage 250-500GB hard drive is sufficient for gaming laptops/notebooks. Should be comes with 5400 rpm speed rate. However, 7200 rpm speed rate is good for gaming laptops. Go for SATA drive instead PATA drives as SATA hard drives consumes less power.
Best gaming Laptops
Alienware laptops are known for best performing gaming laptops especially alienware m17x gaming laptop. However
this laptop is bit pricey. Though, this model overcomes the popularity of Dell XPS gaming laptop. Recently Dell takeover alienware. However if you are looking for affordable gaming laptops then you can go for MSI gaming laptops or Gateway gaming laptops.
Stay tuned with us for alienware reviews or other gaming laptop reviews.