Portable gaming rig/gaming laptop?

Hello,

 

I don't know if this it the right section for this, but couldn't find anything better, sorry.

I've had an entry level gaming-ish laptop for 2 years now, shifting it every weekend back and to my dorm for college/uni. The graphics card is starting to seriously let me down now though  (GT540m), and since it's soldered to the motherboard, I have no choice but to get a new rig.

2 years has been way too short, and I'd want something more futureproof than that. More like 4+ years, but then again I can't really get a normal desktop rig, so my first thought was to get a high-end, more future proof, gaming laptop now. Or maybe a very portable desktop? Since notebook graphics cards tend to be significantly worse than full size desktop ones. 

 

As for gaming laptop I was considering the Asus ROG G750JZ, since it seems to have good cooling and a GTX 880m, so I possibly could get my hands dirty and OC it in the future, but the big downside is that it isn't replacable either. Does anyone know of the Digital Storm Behemoth can get its GPU swapped? Considering it supports SLI and isn't really much more expensive than the G750JZ.

 

As for portable desktop I wouldn't have a clue, it'd be much more futureproof and cheaper with an easy GPU swap in a year or 2-3. But then again, it'd be a pain to drag it along in my suitcase through the horrors of public transport, and have externals both in my dorm and at home.

I don't know about laptops, but if I were to build a portable computer this is the best case for it, in my opinion: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/Graphite_380T/1.html

Take a look at the review and decide if the case suits your needs.

how often are you travelling between home and your dorm? because a mini-itx build desktop wouldn't be a bad option. But if you are moving your computer more than twice a month I would say a high end laptop would be a better option, although personally I hate the aesthetics on most gaming laptops with their pulsing keyboards, large exhaust ports, and LEDs.

I would recommend something along the line of the MSi Ghost series of laptops, because then at least you have a thinner laptop with nice battery life for classes, and still be able to game on it.

If you decide on a laptop, just remember that overclocking will be extremely limited due to the form factor, and that it will have less power than a desktop for that same reason. AKA (Mobile i7 = Desktop i5)

If you are going laptop, I recommend the upcoming Asus GL551JM.

http://www.asus.com/us/site/g-series/GL551/

If you are going with a portable MITX build, look at Logan's Colugo build for a reference point.

http://youtu.be/lOGNUSvzjMI

If I was getting a desktop , the smallest I would get would be a SilverStone Fortress FT03. http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=291 

But then aggain , maybe splitting your money , and instead of getting a 2K laptop now , get a 1.2k one and another in ~2 years ? 

I was actually looking for a laptop like you describe , and found this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152554 only I was going to be doind more CPU intensive stuff , so I choose one with an i7.

But you can get a lot better , something with a R9 M290x ( 7870 desktop ) can be gotten for as low as ~980$ .

Just for refference , a 880m =~ gtx 760 . 

Lian Li makes a case (PC-TU200B) you should look it up. Its perfect for making an extremely portable mitx system. You will be able to build something very powerful in this type of form factor that will last a lot longer then anything your going to find in a high end notebook (and spend a lot less). Not to mention as time rolls on you can always just drop in a different cpu/gpu/ram and keep it going strong. If you can't find the case lian li makes a boatload of different mitx cases that would fit the bill.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

I didn't know anything about cases and these are interesting. I travel about every weekend to and back my dorm, so travelling over 8 times / month sadly enough. Indeed might not be a good idea to have mini-itx for that then, but the capabilities still attract me, if I could pull it off.

For a laptop I don't care about bulk or weight. Bulk actually could even be a good thing since it would mean better cooling. I don't have many classes where I can bring a laptop to, max 3 times a week or so. In most classes they're not useful/rather frowned upon.

Msi doesn't seem to have the best reliability reputation with all the mobo dying horror stories out there. I'm not sure if Asus is much better though.

My current laptop was a 1.2k one, and I'm not sure about lifespan but I think it would be nicer to have something high end 2k to begin with that still performs as well or nearly as well as a 1.2k one in 2 years and spend 400 on repairs or save it.

I've heard that Nvidia is going to bring out gpus with the maxwell architecture this October, would they be worth waiting for?

I've had a dragon edition 2 msi laptop for a bit and the thing has been nothing but absolutely amazing. Considering it was a 3k machine I would expect nothing less. I actually posted it here to try and sell it but didn't really have any luck (hint hint). Nvidia has a tenancy of recycling mobile gpus and even when they launch new stuff it generally isn't leaps and bounds over previous generation stuff. Even something like the 880m is nothing more then a rehash of the 780M that is in my own machine.  The next generation aka maxwell will be more about power efficiency then raw horse power.  

do you game every day? how often do you game during weekends?

if you only game during the week you could get away with having a regular gaming rig at your dorms and just using your current laptop when you're away for the weekend.

Hmm, sounds interesting to get something with a 780m instead then, although I still have some saving up to do. "For a bit"? what about after the warranty expired? I heard of 2 msi motherboards purchased together, dying right after the warranty expired 1 month from eachother.

Also, I game quite often, atleast 2-3 hours / day, more during weekends, so not having my rig either through the week or weekend would mean to make sacrifices.

By at bit I meant I got it late last fall and it has a 2 year warranty lol sorry for the confusion.  I don't think its going to go belly up right after the warranty.