Hey tunicata,
I recently went through exhaustive reasearch when searching for a gaming laptop under $1000 for my son. Plus, I do a lot of coding, website speed audits, and graphic design for web incliding web video.
My son plays all the top "hardware taxing" games with 3D render engines, HD high-motion graphics, plus the added strain of rendering online multiplayers from all over the world... on screen and in real time. Yeah, graphics powerhouse for sure.
Here is what I bought from newegg.com for $549. It rocks and has better graphical specs than than the latest base model iMac:
1) ACER V3-572G-54S6 : $549 at newegg.com ( best price online right now)
Intel Core i5 4210U (1.70GHz /2.7GHz with "turbo boost")
8GB DDR3L Memory
1TB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M w/ 2GB DDR3 memory
15.6" 1366 x 768 "CineCrystal" screen (just under full HD)
Windows 8.1
No touchscreen, no cd/dvd drive
My only complaints: The screen is not HD and has touchy viewing angles. No backlit keyboard. That's it!
It has been turned loose to a pre-teen every since Christmas. No problems, no lagging, no graphical issues. It runs all the 3D engines from Valve/Steam, Unreal, Frostbite, etc. Plays it everyday...for at least 2-3 hours.
I'm about to buy another one today...just for me. But Im upgrading the RAM to 16GB, and may get the full HD version.
*This page from technobrij.com helped A LOT (no affiliation)! Be sure to read all the specs and disregard their posted prices - shop around. Heres the link:
http://technobrij.com/best-gaming-laptops-under-1000-dollars/
*Others I considered:
2) Acer V17 VN7-791G-7484 "Nitro Black" edition: $999 at newegg.com
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 2 GB GDDR5
Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz)
16GB Memory
1TB HDD
17.3" 1920 x 1080
Windows 8.1
8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive (M-DISC enabled)
3) Lenovo Y50-70 59421855-Black : $999 ($1500 reg price) at Lenovo's webstore:
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M - 4 GB GDDR5
Intel Core i7 4710HQ (2.50GHz)
16GB Memory
1TB HDD + 8GB SSD hybrid
15.6" 1920 x 1080 (full HD)
Windows 8.1
BEWARE: Lenovo has a non-HD screen option that is horrible.
Lenovo also has an option to upgrade your screen to 4k Ultra HD for a few hundred bucks. Since you are getting a discount, it May be worth it to get something on par with a retina screen. *They have other Y-50 models on sale. Check out the different ones.*
Tips and Helpful info:
#1 - Pick a good processor.
All "i7, i5, i3" are Not created equal. The 4th gen Intel "Haswell" chips seem to beat any AMD chip. Apple started putting Haswell Intel chips in all their computers last year.
a) Look for Intel i5 or i7 that start with a "4" . For example, the Intel i5 4210U (4th generation Haswell chip - the "4" denotes a Haswell chip). Haswell chips are extremely faster than their predecessors. Thats why my mid-grade graphics card performs so well.
In general (but not always):
i7= Higher-end
i5 = Midrange
i3 = Budget
b) Pay attention to the last 1-2 letters of the chip model. The i5 4210U - "U" is the "Ultrabook" model...not bad.
"HQ" - is a top model "High? Quad-core" (Q means "quad", but not sure about H )
"MQ" - is pretty awesome too "Mainstream/Mobile Quad"
"M" - is a little better than "U"; "Mainstream/mobile" (some call it "Mobile")
You may run into letters like "K" (for over-clocking), "T" and "S". These are lower level models you are more likely to see in budget PCs. "Y" is a lower level model found in tablets.
The "best" Intel Haswell chip is something like "Intel Iris XXXX". Not in our budget!
#2 - GRAPHICS CARDS:
This can be a mess, but I'll try to summarize. Try to stay away from "integrated" graphics. You want to aim for "dedicated". However, a lot of the Macs out there run on an integrated chip such as the "Intel HD4400" and do just fine.
But those are Macs, and they seem to have some kind of "Ju-Ju" that makes them work better than the sum of their parts.
*As a general rule, a better/faster CPU (especially Haswell chips ) can make up the difference of having a slower graphics card or integrated graphics chip.
Suggestions based on $1000 budget:
*Dedicated Graphics Cards
a) NVIDIA GeForce 860M (best in our budget, but still awesome)
b) NVIDIA GeForce 840M (very good, but far from best)
c) NVIDIA GeForce 750M, 760M (ok)
d) AMD Radeon R9 M275 (dont go lower)
(A newer 900 series NVIDIA model became more prevalent this month, but those are out of our price range.)
*Integrated Graphics
a) Intel HD4600 ( built-in to some Haswell chips)
b) AMD Radeon HD 8650M
c) Intel HD4400
(Again, these suggestions are based on a $1000 budget. Plus, I made sure everything I reseached was equivalent or better than what Apple uses in their newest machines)
Why not Apple? Why not buy a Mac? My primary reasons: lack of upgrading ability and small hard drives. They are super fast Solid State hard drives, but I have thumb flash drives as big as their ssd/hdd. Not impressed.
And yes, some of the higher end Macs give you easy acess to RAM, HDD, etc but those are out of the $1000 range. Another dead end.
Why not a MacBook Air? Those are around $1000, right? Well, they only have 11"-13" screens. Its like an iPad with a keyboard. As a designer, you need at least 15".
Macbook Pros have 15"-17" screens, but they get out of the $1000 range... real quick-like!
Dont forget to check out that technobrij.com link (no affiliation). I found it to be be very helpful!
Also, you can check the ratings, speeds, comparisons of any CPU and graphics card at
http://www.NotebookCheck.net. Another excellent resource.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
- Blaine Wilkerson (GammaRay)
Twitter: @blainewilkerson
