Update: Bought the ASUS G53W-XA1 for $1,000(+shipping/tax), it's running Ultra quite fine. Could have spent $800 if I acted sooner.

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First off, *waves hand* these are not the answers I'm looking for:

* "Buy a desktop. In five years you can swap out the parts. It's better and cheaper." I have no space in my dorm for a desktop and I can't haul one around everywhere I go. Five years is a long ways away, I don't expect it to last that long. I'll probably have a house of my own by then. When that time comes, I'll sell the laptop and get a desktop. For now, It's just out of the question, impractical. Also, you may as well ask me to swap out parts for the LHC.

* "Give a list of computer specs and nothing else. Get a 380GGHz i7 WTz45 tx20L." Sounds great, but It's all gibberish to me. I understand that as well as I understand Swahili Brail. Just tell me what that means. Can it run on high or ultra without problems?

Now that that's out of the way, here's what I'm looking at:

http://www.amazon.com/G53SW-XA1-Republic-Gamers-15-6-Inch-Gaming/dp/B004X5XL3Q/ref=pd_sim_pc_1

Know of anything better? The lower the price, the better; anything over $1000 is pushing it. I want something that can run Skyrim as good as or (preferably) better than the 360 I own and can incorporate mods.

This is a very big deal for me. I've been saving for quite some time and don't want to squander my money on a lesser product because the only advise I received was "get a desktop".

Edit:
I made the decision to buy the linked $800 ASUS, but it took so long to decide that the price jumped back up to $1200. Ain't that a kick in the head? Anyone know where I can grab that laptop for $800 or am I going to have to go through the brutal hunting process again?

Realistically, it will run skyrim on high - ultra, as well as most games, probably mediumish for say bf3.

That said, I'd look around a bit more for a model with a 5xx series of nvidia cards, especially if you want it to last 5 years. A 460 is a meh desktop card, a mobile one that is severely downclocked will not stand the test of time.

Reviews are mediocre at best - i wouldn't go near your rig..

I dug deep and went Alienware - best damn gaming laptop I have ever owned.

Alienware are superbly overpriced for what you actually get, however in terms of pure gaming laptops, they're among the best.

Id recommend spending as much as possible, as upgrading a laptop isn't as easy as a desktop, so you need it to last. Ensure you get a great CPU and gpu. HDD space can be fixed later, as can most other things generally.

In all I'd recommend an i5 at no less than 3ghz, or phenom x4. Get a 5xxxx series amd gpu, or 5xx series Nvidia. 1080p isn't necessary, as you can get fantastic laptop screens at say 1600x900 or even 1366x768 that have better picture quality than some 1080p laptops.

Hope I've helped

I think it's a good deal.

Personally I like 17 inch displays for my gaming machines though. Not sure how much you value that.

under $1000, that will run better than xBox, that will have space for mods and capacity for mods, that won't fry itself with heat, or won't be a doorstop in less than a year? But don't want a desktop? And, since you don't, or don't want to, understand the Swahili Braile that are computer spec numbers, I assume you won't be done much tweaking to make the most of your computer after you get it. For under $1000 is the key point...

Can't believe I'm saying this (may the Lord strike me down), but keep your XBox, and gear your laptop to school stuff. Seriously, not being a smart-ass...being realistic is all. Buy that laptop you have listed, and after 12 months of screaming at it and wondering why it won't run mod X or shader Y, you'll wish you had that $$ back.

I have a friend playing Skyrim with those specs.

Here is what he said: "Running everything at Ultra to to High. Except for Shadows I think I have that set for medium."

The Nanny is correct -- as someone who's actually done professional QA on "gaming" laptops (for mobile video chipsets), I wholeheartedly recommend getting a simple Netbook for schoolwork and using an existing console, or building a Micro-ATX desktop that can fit in any cramped dorm. I just built this Micro-ATX desktop for my little brother to replace his broken "gaming" laptop which would have cost $400 to repair the LCD:

NZXT Vulcan case (has a handle)
Intel Core i5-2500k CPU w/ Corsair H60 Water Cooling (enclosed)
8GB DDR3 RAM
Gigabyte Z68 SATA 6g / USB 3.0 Micro-ATX board
EVGA GTX 560 Ti 2GB
1TB 7200RPM HDD + Intel 311 SSD for SRT caching
Cheapo 1920x1080 display
Price: ~$1200, and we can easily upgrade it further (like dedicated SSD for gaming, better monitor, SLI or new video card, etc.)

But if you really want to go high-performance laptop, get a customized laptop of ASUS, Sager/Clevo, or MSI brand from a place like http://www.xoticpc.com . They include their own warranty to add to the lousy Sager warranties (ASUS has good warranty and decent build quality).

I've got practically the same setup as that laptop, except mine is an Alienware (see signature for specs).

The processor is plenty powerful for any games out right now, with room to spare (I play mostly Crysis 2, Skyrim, and WoW). The GTX 460m is a pretty good card, but you will not be able to max out the higher end games, especially if you require very high FPS while playing.

Here is what to expect (CPU and GPU at stock clock speeds):

Skyrim:
- Prefer Balance: 1440x900 resolution, medium settings, 2x AA, 16x AF = 60+ FPS with 50-75% GPU usage (vsync limited).
- Prefer Quality: 1920x1080 resolution, ultra settings, 8x AA, 16x AF = 30 FPS with 100% GPU usage (gpu limited).
- Prefer FPS: 800x600 resolution, low settings, 0 AA, 0 AF = 60+ FPS with 15-30% GPU usage (vsync limited).

Crysis 2 (v1.9, DX11):
- Prefer Balance: 1440x900 resolution, very high settings, vsync off = 50-70 FPS with 80-100% GPU usage (gpu limited).
- Prefer Quality: 1920x1080 resolution, extreme settings, vsync off = 20-25 FPS with 100% GPU usage (gpu limited).
- Prefer FPS: 800x600 resolution, high settings, vsync off = 60-90 FPS with 100% GPU usage (gpu limited).

WoW (DX11, Zone: Nagrand):
- Prefer Balance: 1440x900 resolution, 1x AA, everything set to max except shadows (low), FPS limiter @ 52 FPS = 50-60% GPU usage.
- Prefer Quality: 1920x1080 resolution, 8x AA, everything set to max, FPS limiter off = 50-75 FPS with 100% GPU usage.
- Prefer FPS: 800x600 resolution, 1x AA, everything set to lowest, FPS limiter off = 100-150 FPS with 90-100% GPU usage.

As you can see, this hardware setup can handle games quite well if you can accept 30FPS as a minimum. It won't quite be able to max things out and maintain 60 FPS, but if you need an on-the-go solution to play your games while traveling, and are content with playing games near max and at a reasonable FPS, it's perfect.

The OP specifically stated he wants mods (or else why not stick with xBox?)...I wonder how far that laptop (or the above Alienware) will hold up with some hi-res textures and an injector? SSAO enabled? I just don't think there is enough headroom without reducing res, knocking off goodies, or forgoing many of the best mods available. 1920x1080 @ 30 fps is pretty choppy (and I'd like to see it even register that much in most towns and cities...even with no mods at all). So...now you are starting to give things up. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer...your thread title said no BS, so you this is my non-sugar coated opinion. Laptops are notoriously glitchy...prone to heat problems...their mobility takes its toll on everything from screen to keyboard to HDD.

Not to say laptops don't have their place, but I'm saying that the most rose-coloured of optimists (and remember people who have over-paid for equipment will rarely tell you they made a mistake) would tell you that what you want is very borderline do-able if everything goes right (if you don't get a lemon...if you don't spill coffee on the keyboard...if every Bethesda patch works as advertised...if every mod is totally efficient and optimized).

Gotta love how some people read this and tell you to just build a desktop anyway. You say you need something you can take with you everywhere and is tiny? People tell you to get a desktop!

Or just use your 360! Because those are portable. If you live in bizarro world.



Here's my rig that I bought in 2008 and still use today:

Dell XPS 1730M
Core 2 Extreme 2.8 ghz @ 3.0 ghz
4 GB DDR2 667
Nvidia 8800 GTX w/SLI (turned on)
Windows 7 64-bit
17" 1080p display, ported to a 46" 1080p plasma TV

Running a few light mods, shadows on medium, 2x AA, 16xAF, Ambient Occlusion, Transparency AA x2, and grass/tree distance pushed out, I get 35-45 fps outdoors, 30 FPS in most towns (my rig takes an arrow to the knee in Markath), and 55-60 fps in dungeons. FPS dips are not sharp and the game feels smooth as silk.

Is my 4 year old laptop glitchy? Does it struggle to play Skyrim at a solid fps?

Asus is a top dog provided your willing to spend a decent dollar on it.... Cooling is your highest priority.. and when it comes to gaming laptops...... they are the fastest failing machines in the world of computers.

nothing kills something than burning up.

Cheaper gaming laptops i find have a lack of cooling capacity.. exchanging copper for aluminum or just lighter stuff yet. If i could suggest at the very least.. look at a 16/17 inch version of the laptop within your price range.. this can SIGNIFICANTLY change the outcome of the lifespan and capabilities of the laptop.


Alienware about 5+ years ago... or more.. well before Dell bought them out and they sold their soul.... they were a very expensive yet one of the best.. now they are just an overpriced version of dell's own laptops.... and recent years they've shown it.

Least with Asus they have been sticking to their guns for the most part.. but still provide a cheap competitive product which still can burn people just like alienware does in terms of failing horribily...

Personally i would stick to intel cpu coupled with an ATI gpu....



The machine in the link.... is going to be able to crunch skyrim easily at ultra or better.. shouldn't be a problem.

I just bought a new laptop for Skyrim myself, and I would offer one piece of advice: Go for an i5 or a dual-core i7 with a higher clock speed. Because of the only dual-core optimization of the game, a 2.3 ghz dual core will run Skyrim faster than a 2.0 ghz quad. But the one you have there will run it. Maybe not on ultra or even high (get cpu limited in cities), but it will run it fine on medium or medium-high at good fps.

And just a note to all of the people talking about how laptops overheat: they don't if you are smart about it. Just keep the places where air flows cleaned out and unobstructed during play. My laptop, when run at max everything for an extended period of time, never tops 76 C, and it's rated to take up to 105 C. And no, it's not being undervolted . It's actually clocking in the top range of its turbo boost.

A Gaming Laptop's Achilles heel is heat, so if you MUST have one, then invest a relatively small amount of money (~$59) in one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834991039&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Accessories+-+Notebooks/Tablet+PCs-_-Thermaltake-_-34991039

It has done wonders for my son's two-year-old "gaming" laptop, which runs games nicely but suffers greatly from heat soak, like ALL gaming laptops.

This simply isn't true with modern laptops. Unless you play games with it on your bed, blocking all vents... Or you don't know how to clean out dust bunnies.

When I look at my CPU and GPU heat levels on my gaming laptop, everything is perfectly fine. Just avoid laptops with bad design reviews.

You are looking at it from the perspective of someone who only games from his/her home, and always has the luxury of being close to their desktop. Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to be near their gaming desktop every day of the week. Some people need the flexibility of a gaming laptop in order to play their games away from home.

Most people willing to put down $1.5-2k+ on a gaming laptop know fair and well their machines can't compete with a gaming desktop. To argue otherwise is illogical, and irrelevent. Like you said, laptops have their place, and for some, their place is to provide a mobile gaming solution. And yes, there are caveats to that.

I have this laptop Alienware M11x by Dell
It is a netbook with attitude. (Not the biggest screen at only 11", but great on a normal LCD or HD TV through the HDMI or SVGA out.)

Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 @ 1.6Ghz
4GB Mushkin 1333 DDR3
Nvidia Geforce GT335 1GB
Samsung 500GB 7200RPM HDD

$899.00
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x-r3/pd

Basic review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eHef6d_wU

Crysis 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfUXxeSxBak

I have a Qosmio X505 8100, sandy bridge i5, 8 gigs of ram, a dedicated gtx460 1.5 gigs and the game runs beautifully. I have no gaming problems on any game I've played. I also have a second Toshiba, 3D, 335M card and a second generation i5, 8 gigs of ram. I have no problems running the game on either. I'd definitely go for sandybridge processor and a dedicated graphics card. Those are the important things.

It's sad that most people that have replied to your topic really do not know what they are talking about.

"Get a dual core with higher clock speeds instead" -> The CPU he chose is a sandybridge that will run games @ 2.9ghz.
"Get an alienware with lesser specs for the same money" -> Stop kidding yourself, with Alienware you pay 30% extra just for the brand name. Not at all surprising since it's owned by Dell.
"Someone who pulled Resolutions/FPS out of his ass" -> Badly optimized games running less then 100% GPU before achieving atleast 30% CPU. Your list of "15% GPU/30% GPU" isn't helpful at all since it says more about a games engine then the hardware that's pulling it. Either post values along with the CPU load (and what kind of CPU is getting the load) before conjuring lists like that.

Real advice however: The laptop you pointed out is a fine machine (spec wise), in fact I find it extremely cheap.

The processor is an excellent choice, the video card is "stripped" (meaning it's a dumbed down version of the desktop 460) but still holds up well. They compensated by adding more ram to the card (which in turn allows you to load higher res textures for example).

8GB ram is overkill, so nothing bad there. (Most games don't even support more then 4gb after just having left the 32-bit era with the cap).

7200RPM 500gb HDD, should be fine.

You will run into one dilemma however with that laptop.

Will you go for visual quality, or clarity?

The reason I ask this is because your laptop will run everything @ 1920x1080 / 60hz native, what this means is that in return for clarity you might have to lower other graphical enhancements. The pro of a small screen with a high res is you won't really NEED anti-aliasing saving you a LOT of performance there. You might have to turn shadows down to medium and perhaps stuff like ground detail or object clutter.

What I'm trying to say is, 1920x1080 is going to demand a lot of your CPU and GPU on itself, do not be surprised that in order to attain FPS' above 40~50 you will have to lower a lot of things to medium or lower (depending on the game).

In a nutshell though, if you really can't place a desktop for whatever reason and really want to be able to game on the go; this is the laptop of choice. It's cheap and has great specs, I'd say go for it.

P.S: Your laptop will only allow you game for 1.5~2 hours without a power outlet. 1.5 hours is more likely with the CPU & GPU running with heavy load.

But that isn't really relevant here. The OP was discussing getting a laptop for Skyrim and noted that a big reason for his purchase on PC is modding. If this is just for some gameplay tweaks, then by all means, go for it. However, Nanny was pointing out that getting a 1k laptop is not necessarily going to make the OP that happy down the line. Sure, it can play vanilla Skyrim decently. But like Nanny mentioned, there really isn't much headroom there at all, especially considering that mods are never perfectly optimized. Ask yourself the question, can the linked laptop run a fairly modded Skyrim? I'm not so sure. Compromises can obviously be made, but is it worth spending 1k and still compromising? People who tell everyone to get a desktop regardless of their situation are out of line of course. Those considering a more expensive laptop may realize that they are going to pay extra for what amounts to average desktop performance. However, these people pay 1500-2000 dollars for the benefits PC gaming gets them. I'm not so sure the OP will get too much benefit out of a $1000 laptop, as he may not be able to mod Skyrim to any significant degree. Since the OP needs a laptop, he may be more satisfied in the long run just getting a laptop that specializes more in being a good laptop, and not a gaming rig. He can play the (consolized) game on a console, and get 80% of the graphics he would get otherwise. Will he miss out on some mods? Sure. But he will get a laptop better suited to his needs, and one that functions better as a laptop.

That being said, if the OP likes mouse and keyboard, and would like to play Skyrim, even at lowered settings, it may be worth getting a laptop that isn't geared so much to gaming, but serves as a better laptop (better battery life, lower weight, etc). He could still play Skyrim at ok settings, and wouldn't have to lug a massive laptop around. I think the OP mentioned he was a student. Lugging a 17' behemoth is not the way you want to go. I have a housemate with such a laptop, and he bought a netbook later because of battery and weight issues. I played a bit of Skyrim on my macbook pro 15' with a 330m and it ran alright on medium-high settings. This would be out of the OPs price range a couple of years ago, but he could get a similarly performing windows machine now that would fall within his budget. Would it be "better" than the xbox? Not really, but it would allow for gameplay mods as well as optimized mods that run improve visuals while maintaining vanilla performance. I'm just not sure that a gaming laptop is worth the money in this budget range...

on topic: yep that should run it fairly well... if it's the system you want... regardless of whether there's better stuff out there... buy it!

mildly off topic: from the amazon specs "Processor: 2 hertz" really? 2 WHOLE clock cycles per second

also OP... no offence... you mention you're in college... but the way you speak... are you 75? lol

So, in a "nut-shell" you have offered nothing.

The question was.. for "under $1000" ... "notebook" ... "Run the game better than x-box"

That alienware is not "hype-priced". It is one of the best options you can get, for under $1000, and will do what was asked.

As for your P.S. Power was never a question, which the alienware laptop I listed, will run OVER 6 hours easy. I know, I own one. As for being plugged-in... that goes for any laptop or PC... How long does your PC last unplugged?

As for the comment about "running at max"... Um, no... it will run the same as any equal PC. (Equal) Not to mention it is dead-quiet running all day long.

The game itself is about 50% CPU and 50% GPU. Designed for NVIDIA on x-box, designed for dual-core, designed for low-power devices. (X-box only has 250watts, at the most.) The game is hardly a "showcase" or "streamlined" game.

For someone spouting out his back-side... about us spouting out our back-sides... You have contributed nothing to the conversation, and shown your own lack of knowledge. Let me guess, your "sin" is pride, or are you all seven... Envy, gluttony, pride, wrath, lust, sloth, and vanity?

As a professional PC technician and hardware/gaming hobbyist who has built dozens of machines, I can say that Seven's post was actually spot-on.

By the way, you realize that the current iteration of your Alienware laptop at the $900 price point has an anemic low-power 1.3 ghz i3, right? The 2.0 ghz (2.9 turbo) i7 in the ASUS rig runs circles around it. And for an absurd $300 upgrade, your Alienware machine can upgrade to a 1.5 ghz i7, still substantially slower than the ASUS.

And it has half the RAM.

And an inferior screen.

And an inferior GPU.

And it comes with Dell customer service, which PC World magazine ranks worst (or close to it) among PC manufacturers every year.

Anyone with a GED and the internet, and funds, can build a kick-butt computer... GED optional.

Not sure what you are talking about... 1.3ghz...??? Your eyes are bugged.
Eyes not bugged... They have that as the option, not listed in the specs. Add $100 for the 1.6Ghz (2.3Ghz) i5
They upgraded to a GT 540M (Which is 2x faster than my GPU specs. EG, Flawless Skyrim performance at 1080p. Since CPU is barely 50% of the load. Which is high for a game, BTW.)

Asus, under $1000... I see no price in that range, with your specs.

My Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 @ 1.6Ghz
4GB Mushkin 1333 DDR3
Nvidia Geforce GT335 1GB
Samsung 500GB 7200RPM HDD

The "new" listed specs for that laptop. (Mine was purchased a year ago. Runs better then my $3000 Qosmio 18". Toshiba is crap. Crap support, crap drivers, and pure novelty. But I like it for 3ds-max ans z-brush. Bigger screen.)

Processor
Intel? Core? i5 2467M 1.6GHz (2.3GHz w/Turbo Boost, 3MB Cache)
Operating System
Genuine Windows? 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Genuine Windows? 7 Professional, 64bit, English
Genuine Windows? 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
Memory5
6GB DDR3 at 1333MHz
Chipset
Intel? QS67 Express Chipset
Video Card
NVIDIA? GeForce? GT540M graphics with 1.0GB Video Memory and Optimus
Display
11.6" High Def (720p/1366x768) with WLED backlight
Hard Drive
Up to 750GB4 SATA hard drive (7200RPM)

As for customer service... Boo hoo... Get a ticket, return, they replace... end of story... ASUS... Pull teeth, get squat. You break it, you own it.

That's a good gaming laptop (the one you linked on amazon), and should handle Skyrim well enough. I'd say go for it, it's a good deal.