Guild Wars 2

Hey people. So.. I normally use PC to play gw2. But this summer I’ll be traveling a lot so I need a laptop for gw2 on the go..

Any recommendations? I really don’t know which laptop would be able to handle Gw2 wvw/Pve/pvp. (I’m in a wvw guild and love wvw on Friday nights reset)

I’ve been looking at the Razer laptops and the msi gaming laptops.

My only thing I’m asking is, it needs to be a thin gaming laptop. So like the razer/msi laptops. The max amount of money that I can spend is between $1,500 – $2,000.

Anyone able to help?

Thank you in advance for the help!

Btw I’m fairly new to the forums so if this is in the wrong area, could u please move it?

-Valin

Anything with an i7 mobile processor and a good mobile gaming graphics card will do good enough for that budget for everything but wvw which you’ll see it pushed to it’s limits fairly often.

I’d recommend the MSI GE60 or GE70 Apache Pro with i7 4700HQ and GTX 860M Maxwell. It’ll handle pretty much anything you throw at it.

Cool! I’ll look into those two laptops right know! My goal and hope is to still run gw2 max settings. and yeah I’m used of wvw dropping fops because of zergs etc. :p

Hmmm.. I looked at the two laptops you sent me to look at. They were a bit thicker then expected. So I kept looking around with the specification you gave me. Ran across the MSI GS70 Stealth. Has i7-4700HQ 2.4GHZ and GTX860M. You think that would handle gw2 with max setting (PVE/WvW/PvP) good?

Link: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS70-STEALTH-037-9S7-177214-037-17-3-Inch/dp/B00JKCHRXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1400130764&sr=8-2&keywords=msi+gs70+stealth#productDetails

Or there any you recommend?
Thank you for your help in advance!
-Valin

Ugh.. so hard to decide! Need help! Found another 1 that has the same specification as the last one. GS60 Ghost. Looks like I like the gs series from msi just no idea which one to get help plz :/

-Valin

Valin.6873:

Hmmm.. I looked at the two laptops you sent me to look at. They were a bit thicker then expected. So I kept looking around with the specification you gave me. Ran across the MSI GS70 Stealth. Has i7-4700HQ 2.4GHZ and GTX860M. You think that would handle gw2 with max setting (PVE/WvW/PvP) good?

Link: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS70-STEALTH-037-9S7-177214-037-17-3-Inch/dp/B00JKCHRXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1400130764&sr=8-2&keywords=msi+gs70+stealth#productDetails

Or there any you recommend?
Thank you for your help in advance!
-Valin

No laptop is going to handle GW2 in WvW/Zerg content with ‘full’ settings. Hell even desktops can’t do that.

That being said, A gen3 or Gen4 i7(4 cores with HT, there ARE 2 core i7’s) with a nvidia x60 or x70 (x Being 6, 7, or 8 series) is what you want. AMD does not do as well as Nvidia for performance vs price in the high end mobility market.

So that MSI GS70 Stealth, will do about as good as any other laptop in its class for GW2.

for thin gaming laptops there are really only 5 choices atm

Razer blade 14"

Razer blade pro 17"

MSI gs 70 stealth 17"

MSI gs 60 ghost 15"

Aorus (Gigabyte) x7 17"

Gpu:
The 2 Blades and the 2 msi’s all use 860m’s which are medium range gpus (faster gpus require bigger heat sinks thus compromising the thin nature ofthese laptops.) Not fast enough to drive games at high resolutions (1080p and above) with high settings.

3k res (more below) versions of the MSI use a 870m but still not enough to drive native rez at ultra

The aorus x7 has 765m’s in sli. can drive 1080p at ultra

As for resolution:

The razer blade 14" has a nice 3200×1800 resolution that can be 1:4 perfectly down scaled into a typical 1600×900 (this is important as the 860m gpus are not that strong)

Blade pro is 17" 1080p

The Msi pair have a 1080p version and an upcoming 3k (2880×1620) version. The 3k versions are a lot more expensive and down scale into a funny resolution (1440×810?). Dx command line launch probably necessary to do it.

Aorus x7 is 17" 1080p which matches the 765m’s in sli well.

Cpu:

All of these use intel i7 47xxM hq with minor variations in clock speeds and turbo boosts.

At the end of the day no hardware can run wvw well, especially laptops. But if you must get one and require a thin one, thse are your best options.

As for personal choice it depends on various factors such as bidget and size prefs. At the lower end i would take the $1600 1080p gs60 ghost (same rez as the 17" gs70 stealth/blade pro, but higher pixel densities). at the $2.2k area i would take the blade for a smaller 14" unit, or a x7 for a larget 17" unit.

Hmm.. Looks like I’m really leaning towards the MSI Gs60 Ghost 15". Is there much of a difference between 15" and 17"?

Thanks for the help! It means a lot to me!

Without breaking the bank I think the MSIs are the way to go in my opinion with the GE Apache Pro or Stealth series. Otherwise it’s the much thicker, much gamier GT series which house the more powerful graphics cards for higher prices.

And normally if they’re the same spec but different size for the MSI ones, there’s no difference except size. GT70, GT60, GE70, GE60, same spec, different size for what kind of screen you want. I have an Asus G75VX 17.3 and the thing is massive. It’s not a traditional gaming laptop where the back is huge and the front is huge, it’s designed for prolonged periods while still being comfortable. Though it still takes up a large area compared to say an MSI GT70 i7/GTX770M unit.

non gs series msi are all pretty hefty and thick. No real difference between the 15"/17" (17 has 1 extra display port out, 15 has super raid function with better internal connectors) though some reviews have said the 15 has better finish. There is a version of the gs 60 with an 870m for about $300 more and will net you about 30% more performance.

2 other options:

Gigabyte p34/35 14"/15" thin gaming notebooks. Currently they are using the older 765m chips but have been refreshed to the 860m. (to be named p34/35g v2 with a w version for 870m’s). The 860 version is harder to find atm from reputable retailers.

Lenovo has their refreshed Y series that was ok, but now that prices have recently been cut, they are a lot more competitive in terms of value. 15" Y50 would be the way to go as it has the 860m compared to the y40 with a m270 (bleh amd mobile due to higher heat).

Specs are similar to the gs60 but prices may be a bit lower as the msi is still thinner and lighter and thus has a price preimum.

Hey. Thanks for the help so far. It’s been awesome help! It looks like I’m leaning towards the Gs60 Ghost of Gs60 Ghost Pro. The main difference between these two are $100 and the graphics card (ghost pro is: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M regular ghost is: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860m). Is the $100 worth it for the difference between the two graphics cards? Also another difference between them is that the Ghost pro has 3gb of video memory while the regular ghost has 2gb of video memory.

For the gs60 ghost and ghost pro i have been jeering tons of good positive things about them. There thins, light weight, amazing power, and good battery life. Great for on the go traveling like I need.

Thanks in advance!

dodgycookies.4562:

non gs series msi are all pretty hefty and thick. No real difference between the 15"/17" (17 has 1 extra display port out, 15 has super raid function with better internal connectors) though some reviews have said the 15 has better finish. There is a version of the gs 60 with an 870m for about $300 more and will net you about 30% more performance.

2 other options:

Gigabyte p34/35 14"/15" thin gaming notebooks. Currently they are using the older 765m chips but have been refreshed to the 860m. (to be named p34/35g v2 with a w version for 870m’s). The 860 version is harder to find atm from reputable retailers.

Lenovo has their refreshed Y series that was ok, but now that prices have recently been cut, they are a lot more competitive in terms of value. 15" Y50 would be the way to go as it has the 860m compared to the y40 with a m270 (bleh amd mobile due to higher heat).

Specs are similar to the gs60 but prices may be a bit lower as the msi is still thinner and lighter and thus has a price preimum.

2gb is plenty for 1080p. 3gb is for 1440-1600p and 4gb is for 4k+

the 870m is faster by about 30% but in either case, 60fps ultra settings at 1080p in many games is unachievable for both gpus. For gw2 only i would probably take the 860m as the cpu limits of the game will keep fps limited anyways. But other games will not be like this.

It really depends your own budget, how much value you place on graphics, and how much you are willing to turn down. From the prices i have seen the pro 870 versions tend to be about $200 more meaning neither is a better “value” over the other.

as a side note the 860m in the gs60 is not maxwell but rather kepler, which makes the decision a pure budget vs graphics decision, rather complicating it with additional power/heat considerations.

I’d like to point out that the CPU limits for GW2 don’t really kick in until huge amounts of players like Tequatl events or WVW. A GTX 870M would have a bit of a better chance over an 860M. With my Asus G75VX the limiting factor on it is the clock speed is too low on the GTX 670MX that it has, otherwise the i7 3630QM has very little problem.

If the 860M on whichever laptop you’re wanting is a Maxwell unit, I’d say go for it otherwise it’s practically a neutered GTX 770M and would go for the 870M instead, and with the price difference between 860M and 870M, the choice is fairly obvious since normally the price difference is around $250-ish for those two chips in otherwise the same spec of laptop.

My verdict: Go for Ghost Pro. It’s 870M (which is originally a GTX 680M) is still a very high powered graphics card and will have no trouble with this game and possibly not much with other more intense games.

Thanks for the help! The Msi Gs60 ghost is Kepler and so is the Msi Gs60 Ghost Pro… So the ghost pro is better to pick up? Also thank you for the help!!

Avelos.6798:

I’d like to point out that the CPU limits for GW2 don’t really kick in until huge amounts of players like Tequatl events or WVW. A GTX 870M would have a bit of a better chance over an 860M. With my Asus G75VX the limiting factor on it is the clock speed is too low on the GTX 670MX that it has, otherwise the i7 3630QM has very little problem.

If the 860M on whichever laptop you’re wanting is a Maxwell unit, I’d say go for it otherwise it’s practically a neutered GTX 770M and would go for the 870M instead, and with the price difference between 860M and 870M, the choice is fairly obvious since normally the price difference is around $250-ish for those two chips in otherwise the same spec of laptop.

My verdict: Go for Ghost Pro. It’s 870M (which is originally a GTX 680M) is still a very high powered graphics card and will have no trouble with this game and possibly not much with other more intense games.

Reading around the forum, people with high end overclocked desktops are lagging in WvW. I don’t think the laptop you are thinking of buying has been invented yet

Yeah I’m aware of that. :p
My gaming PC that’s at my house does max settings everywhere in gw2. Even in wvw it does max setting though it lags when we get into some nasty zergs fight which is normal. I dont mind the lag during the wvw fights as I’m quite used to it. Just need a nice gaming laptop that does max setting everywhere, I don’t mind if it lags in wvw. :p

user.1708:

Reading around the forum, people with high end overclocked desktops are lagging in WvW. I don’t think the laptop you are thinking of buying has been invented yet

Valin.6873:

Thanks for the help! The Msi Gs60 ghost is Kepler and so is the Msi Gs60 Ghost Pro… So the ghost pro is better to pick up? Also thank you for the help!!

Yeah. Ghost Pro is the best. Or any Ghost unit that has the i7 4700HQ and GTX 870M.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the help!!

Avelos.6798:

Valin.6873:

Thanks for the help! The Msi Gs60 ghost is Kepler and so is the Msi Gs60 Ghost Pro… So the ghost pro is better to pick up? Also thank you for the help!!

Yeah. Ghost Pro is the best. Or any Ghost unit that has the i7 4700HQ and GTX 870M.

Valin im with a MSI GE60 ’ GTX860m and I can sure you that is a good machine. If you have the money go for the GS version. GTX860m can handle it, but 870 its a little better so is the choice for the money. The ghost version is a must,supper thin, the GE60 is not that thiker, much better than the asus rep of gaming. About the de msi’s 60’s or 70’s its all about the screen size. I prefer the 15 version

The GE60, which is the Apache Pro, uses a Maxwell GTX 860M. It’s far better than the Kepler GTX 860M which I’m not even sure why it exists. But since the GS60 Ghost just has a Kepler GTX 860M, it’s not really an option. It’s like I said, a neutered GTX 770M. 870M is the better option.