Jan. 2012 update: This article was originally published a few months ago, in the middle of 2011, and surprisingly little has changed considering the usually rapid development in the tech industry. As of CES 2012, we have seen some progress from Toshiba in the way of glasses-free 3D gaming, but Nvidia’s 3D Vision solution is still dominating and arguably your safest bet.
The other major graphics card manufacturer AMD also has a viable solution, which is similar to Nvidia’s in that it uses active-shutter 3D glasses and a 120Hz display (as opposed to the normal 60Hz) to render an additional dimension in your games.

With a display that has double the standard refresh rate it is able to send every other image to your left and right eye, respectively. Every laptop being sold as a 3D laptop will of course be equipped with this type of display, but it’s important to know that for a laptop to run games in 3D, it must be equipped with a special panel right from the start. The only option for getting 3D on another laptop would be to use an external display or compatible 3D television.

We have taken a look at what’s available as of early 2012 with an emphasis on gaming–i.e., if it doesn’t have a decent graphics card it won’t be listed here. This is even more important in 3D gaming laptop, since there’s a certain amount of overhead (and performance loss) when the laptop has to calculate the 3D visuals. A figure that has been floating around is somewhere around 30%, so the faster the GPU, the better.

1. Alienware M17x 3D Edition

This is currently the king of 3D gaming laptops as far as we’re concerned, and that’s only because the Alienware M18x has no 3D option. The reason is that it offers the option for the fastest NVIDIA graphics card, the GTX 580M, along with a 3D Vision kit from the same manufacturer. Consequently, when fully loaded with the top GPU, the M17x R3 is compatible with most current games and will turn out excellent frame rates even in 3D mode at high resolution.

Alienware M17x 3D Prices:
	$1999.00

2. ASUS G74SX-3DE

The ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX 3D Edition (3DE) offers the very same 3D solution as the Alienware M17x R3 3D, with the drawback that it can’t be upgraded to the much faster GTX 580M GPU from NVIDIA. It comes pre-configured with an NVIDIA GTX 560M (same as the base model of the M17x), which is nevertheless quite a powerful graphics card. On top of that, it comes with a quad-core CPU, backlit keyboard, Blu-ray burner and an attractive design. If you are planning on getting a 3D laptop with a GTX 560M anyway, the G74SX is just as good a choice as the M17x.

ASUS G74SX-3DE Prices:
	$1849.99
	$2535.00

3. Toshiba Qosmio X775 3D

This laptop is not to be confused with the new Toshiba F755, which is the glasses-free 3D laptop from Toshiba and unfortunately only equipped with a GT 540M GPU. The 3D version of the Qosmio X755 is instead a “conventional” 3D laptop with more or less the same hardware as the aforementioned machines. This one also comes with a GTX 560M graphics card, an optional quad-core CPU and of course the necessary 120Hz display plus active shutter glasses.

Toshiba X775 3D Prices:
	$1699.99
	$1899.99

4. Dell XPS 17 3D

Now we are past the top-tier 3D gaming laptops with the most powerful hardware and move on to the slightly less expensive alternatives (relatively speaking), but ones that still have enough muscle to produce playable frame rates in three dimensions. One of them is the 3D version of the Dell XPS 17. This one can be configured with an NVIDIA GT 555M, which is not quite as fast as the GTX 560M but fast enough for inclusion in the Alienware M14x, so it is by no means a slow graphics card. The 3D solution is again the one from Nvidia; a 120Hz display coupled with active shutter glasses, which is the most competent and versatile alternative at the moment.

Dell XPS 17 3D Prices:
	$1299.99
	$1799.00

5. HP Envy 17 3D

HP has opted for a slightly different approach by using an AMD graphics card, but still with the same tried-and-tested active shutter technology even if it does not come with the same 3D Vision kit as the other laptops  on this page. The GPU is a speedy Radeon HD 6850M, so it is quite capable of playing the latest games in 3D, but the implementation is arguably not as sharp as NVIDIA’s version. What puts the Envy 17 3D apart from the rest, however, is its stunning design and comparatively slim dimensions for a 17-inch desktop replacement.

HP Envy 17 3D Prices:
	$1599.99
	$1799.99

There’s no doubt that the top 3 on this list are the laptops that are configurable with the fastest hardware, but the other two are certainly not slow either. 3D gaming laptops have been around since NVIDIA launched its 3D Vision concept at CES 2009, and although the 3D technology itself hasn’t changed much in the last couple of years, the hardware that is powers it has become much more capable in general–something that is particularly noticeable in laptops. The result is an improved gaming experience when playing in 3D, but on the whole we will probably have to wait a few more years before the extra spacial dimension is included as a standard feature in mainstream laptops.

Top 10 Gaming Laptops – February 2012

This list is based on actual or estimated gaming performance, factoring in the hardware specification (particularly the graphics card) relative to the laptop’s size.

Feb Update: Although AMD has released very promising 28nm products for the desktop, all of the dedicated laptop graphics cards are still using the old 40nm process, so regardless of Nvidia’s and AMD’s inventive naming schemes there are very little changes in the current 600M and 7000M-series GPUs. The GTX 580M and Radeon HD 6990M will remain on top for a while longer, since their 28nm successors have not yet been given release dates.

Intel’s final (most likely) Sandy Bridge update before Ivy Bridge is now widely available and all new Intel-based laptops ship with CPUs that have been given an upwards clock frequency adjustment of about 200MHz while retaining the same pricing. The new processor models in the high-end (quad core) segment are the Core i7 2670QM (replaces 2630QM), 2760QM (replaces 2720QM), 2860QM (replaces 2820QM) and finally the Extreme Edition Core i7-2960XM, which replaces the 2920XM.

Current Alienware Coupons:

1. Take an additional $50 off any Alienware laptop configured at $999 or more (that would be pretty much all of them) with the coupon code: BHW1L0MX0D?MCX

Shortcuts

Top 10 17″+ Gaming Laptops
Sub 17″ Gaming Laptops

17-Inch +

1. Clevo X7200

If you are looking for the most powerful laptop in the known universe, there is no doubt that the Clevo X7200 is it. However, you will have to account for the fact that this monster is just barely a laptop–it uses desktop processors, so you can equip it with a hexa-core (12-thread) desktop Core i7 Extreme Edition and up to 24GB of triple-channel full-size DDR3 RAM. On the graphics side you can configure it with dual Radeon HD 6990M’s in CrossFireX or Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M GPUs in SLI. The most powerful mobile GPU solutions on the planet in combination with desktop processors make this laptop’s performance unbeatable, but its battery should mainly be thought of as backup power with a 60 minute life span. Other than that it also has room for three hard drives or SSDs in RAID 0, 1 or 5. It’s a large, heavy, and if you want all the bells and whistles, very expensive machine, but this kind of performance comes at a price.

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2. Alienware M18x

The Alienware M18x is now available with dual Nvidia GTX 580M graphics cards in SLI or dual AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPUs in CrossFireX. Simply put it’s an exceptional gaming laptop that will handily defeat quite a few gaming desktops in terms of frame rates and visual bliss. Either of these solutions will let your games run at the 18-inch display’s native 1080p resolution with most or all of the details maxed out. It can also be equipped with other GPUs in CrossFireX/SLI or a single video card. It comes with a choice of 2nd-generation, quad core Intel Core i7 CPU, the fastest of which is a factory overclocked i7 Extreme Edition that runs at 4GHz in Turbo Boost mode. Other features include USB 3.0, 1600MHz DDR3 memory, the usual AlienFX back-lighting artillery, as well as optional WirelessHD that lets you stream lossless Full HD video and audio to an external HDTV or other setup. The base model starts at $1,999 and includes a 2GHz quad core Core i7 and a single GTX 560M.

Alienware M18x Price Comparison:
	$1999.00
	$2049.00

Note: When ordering from Dell, use the coupon code BHW1L0MX0D?MCX to take an additional $50 off the price tag.

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3. Alienware M17x

The M17x has also been given the GTX 580M treatment, although this smaller (relatively speaking) Alienware gaming machine can only house a single GPU configuration. Pretty much every component in the M17x is configurable. There’s a choice of high-end Nvidia or AMD GPUs, up to 16GB of RAM, various quad-core Core i7 processors, 1600×900 or 1920×1080 panels and dual hard drives or SSDs in RAID 0. It is also available in a 3D version that includes the mandatory 120Hz panel and Nvidia 3D Vision kit. The base model ($1,499) includes a GTX 560M, but from a price/performance perspective, the Radeon 6990M upgrade is very attractive. This GPU is neck-and-neck with the GTX 580M and considerably faster than the GTX 560M. Unfortunately it is not eligible for an Nvidia 3D Vision upgrade.

Alienware M17x Price Comparison:
	$1449.99
	$1499.00
	$1699.00

Same as the above: Use the coupon code BHW1L0MX0D?MCX for an additional $50 off from Dell.

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4. MSI GT783

MSI has updated its 17-inch GT780 twice–once with the Nvidia GTX 570M (GT780DXR/DX) and now an even more powerful version with the GTX 580M is available.  Most of them ship with the new quad-core Core i7-2670QM. The GT780DX. It comes with a multi-color backlit keyboard designed by SteelSeries that resembles those from Alienware. What makes this and other high-end MSI laptops a little more interesting than the rest is the TDE (Turbo Drive Engine) feature that automatically overclocks the laptop by up to 30%. It also ships with 12GB of DDR3 and either plenty of hard drive storage or an SSD/HDD combo.

MSI GT783 Price Comparison:
	$2279.00

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5. Clevo P170HM

The 17-inch Clevo P170HM is sold by several different boutique gaming brands and can be configured with either of the two fastest mobile GPUs ever–the GTX 580M from Nvidia or the HD 6990M from AMD. It can also be equipped with a range of quad-core Intel Core i7 processors. In combination with the fastest single-GPU graphics solution on the market and (in its class comparatively) lightweight chassis (8.6lbs) this is a very desirable laptop. If you don’t want to pay a premium for the fastest of everything, you can also opt for the base configuration, which includes a capable GTX 460M. The EON 17-S has four memory slots with room for up to 32GB of DDR3 1333MHz or 16GB of DDR3 1600MHz. Moreover, it has room for dual hard drives or SSDs that can be configured in RAID 0 mode. Or you could use an ultra-fast Vertex 3 as the boot drive and a secondary 7,200rpm hard drive for storage.

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6. ASUS G74Sx Republic of Gamers

The Asus G74Sx is a high quality gaming laptop; reasonably cool and quiet, and not as bulky as many 17-inch desktop replacements tend to be. Moreover, it is relatively inexpensive compared to the closest competitors, but still delivers more than decent gaming performance thanks to the new GTX 560M GPU from Nvidia with higher clock speeds and better power management compared to the GTX 460M that it replaces. The G74Sx is also available in a 3D edition called G74Sx-3DE, which is equipped with an Nvidia 3D Vision kit and a compatible 120Hz panel. Both the 3D and non-3D versions have 1920×1080 resolution screens.

ASUS G74Sx Prices:
	$1399.99

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7. Toshiba Qosmio X775

Qosmio is Toshiba’s premium entertainment brand, so the most surprising aspect of the X775 is the affordable price point for the entry models. For less than $1,200 (at this writing) you get a capable desktop replacement with a Sandy Bridge Core i5 CPU and more importantly for gamers–a GeForce GTX 560M to take care of your gaming needs. There are other and considerably more pricey configurations available though; some with quad-core CPUs and 3D kits, but the base model should hold up pretty well in just about any game thanks to the solid GPU.

Toshiba X775 Price Comparison:
	$1099.99
	$1199.99

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8. HP Envy 17 / Envy 17 3D

HP has updated its premium Envy lineup with an entirely new design and partly new hardware, including a very impressive speaker system with a physical “Beats Audio” volume knob. The result is an exclusive machine with lots of customization options including a 3D version with similar hardware but a 120Hz, 3D-ready display. Both versions ship with the new(ish) AMD Radeon HD 7690M with 1GB of GDDR5 and a range of Core i7 or i5 CPUs. This hardware is quite impressive considering the thin and (for a 17-inch laptop) lightweight chassis that surrounds it.

HP Envy 17 Price Comparison:
	$1249.99
HP ENVY 17 Customizable Notebook PC
	$1449.99
HP ENVY 17 3D edition Customizable Notebook PC

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9. HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition

The quad-core edition of the HP Pavilion dv7t is another interesting option for gamers–not least because of the level of performance it offers for the money. You can order it with a range of 2nd-generation Core i7 CPUs, and the graphics as of 2012 are handled by a still unspecified Mobility Radeon GPU (which is actually an HD 7690M that differs very little from the previous HD 6770M. Nevertheless, this is still enough to give the dv7t and it’s 15.6-inch counterpart the dv6t plenty of gaming power considering the highly affordable (in relative terms) price tag. It’s important to note that the 7690M is an optional upgrade though, and an absolute must-have if you want to call it a gaming laptop.

HP dv7t Quad Price Comparison:
	$899.99
	$999.00

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10. Dell XPS 17

The latest revision of the Dell XPS 17 desktop replacement came with some major upgrades – most importantly the latest Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs. Another nice perk is an included 3D Vision kit from Nvidia (optional), powered by a capableGeForce GT 550M or the faster GeForce GT 555M GPU (same as the M14x). As usual with Dell, there are lots of upgrades available although the base configuration is quite powerful. But if you want a gaming model, the GPU upgrade to a GT 555M is highly recommended.

Dell XPS 17 Price Comparison:
	$799.99
	$1239.00

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Up to 15.6″

1. Clevo P150HM

When it’s fully tricked out in the GPU department, the Clevo P150HM is the fastest 15-inch gaming laptop on the planet at this writing. It is known under different names and built-to-order by Origin PC, Sager, AVADirector a number of other gaming PC specialists. What makes the P150HM special is that it’s configurable with either one of the two fastest GPUs on the market right now–the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M or the AMD Radeon HD 6990M–and also a quad-core Intel CPU all the way up to the Core i7-2920XM Extreme Edition. It can also house up to 32GB of RAM. This hardware puts it a step ahead of all of the competition in the 15-inch segment today, no matter if compared in gaming performance or raw processing power.

Read our full review here.

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2. MSI GT683DXR

The new GT683DXR from MSI is generously equipped with very powerful hardware for its size. It has the new GeForce GTX 570M, which is a big step up from the GTX 560M. It’s also equipped with the standard-issue quad core Intel Core i7-2630QM as well as 12GB of RAM. Just like its bigger brother the MSI GT780 it also comes with MSI’s proprietary overclocking technology TDE that boosts the CPU/GPU clocks by up to 30% with the push of a button.

MSI GT683DXR Price Comparison:
	$1519.00

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3. Alienware M14x

The M15x has been decommissioned in favor of a the more portable M14x, so if you want the Alien head logo and all the extras that come with an Alienware laptop, but prefer a more portable version than the M17x, the M14x is a much more convenient alternative. Like all laptops from Dell it can be customized with a wide range of components, including a number of different 2nd-generation quad-core Core i7 CPUs with eight threads. In the graphics department, there’s an Nvidia GeForce GT 555M with either 1.5GB or 3GB of video RAM. This one isn’t quite as fast as some of the alternatives in the M15x, but it comes in a more portable package. Other options include a 1600×900 WLED panel and a fast 256GB Samsung solid state drive. The M14x also comes with the latest and fastest 1600MHz RAM.

Read our full review here

Alienware M14x Price Comparison:
	$1099.00
	$1219.99

When shopping from Dell, use the coupon code BHW1L0MX0D?MCX for an additional $50 off.

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4. Asus G53SX

We have been listing the G53SW here for quite a while, but now that the updated G53SX is widely available we are simply replacing it with the new model, which by and large is the same laptop but with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M instead of its predecessor the 460M. The newer GTX 560M is not much of an improvement on the 460M–although it has higher clocks and the same power consumption it has also been given a smaller, 128-bit memory bus (this is covered in our review). The Republic of Gamers’ G53SX remains one of the most interesting options in the 15.6-inch segment, not least for its attractive price tag. It is more or less a 15-inch version of the 17-inch G7x series and comes with a 1080p display, a quad-core Intel CPU and a backlit keyboard, but unlike the 17-inch model this one has no dual hard drive option. Yes it does (thanks reader ‘ErrOr’ for pointing this out in the comments).

G53SX/SW Price Comparison:
	$1215.00
	$1218.89
	$1249.99

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5: HP dv6t Quad Edition

HP’s Pavilion dv6t is the more portable version of the dv7t, and just like it’s bigger counterpart, the Quad Edition of the dv6 comes with a choice of the latest quad-core CPUs from Intel as well as a Mobility Radeon HD 7690M GPU from AMD (optional upgrade). This graphics card is not a major upgrade over its predecessor the HD 6770M, but the pricing is unchanged and it all adds up to an affordable yet powerful 15.6-inch laptop, capable of playing all the latest games without breaking the bank. Another plus is that HP has taken the design of their premium Envy lineup and applied it to the Pavilion series. The result is a nice-looking laptop with a lot more performance under the hood than meets the eye.

HP dv6t Quad Price Comparison:
	$823.98
	$849.99

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6. Alienware M11x R3

The Alienware M11x wins the title for smallest and lightest gaming laptop on the planet. Make no mistake – in spite of its size it clearly qualifies as a gaming machine, especially in its 3rd iteration with brand new low-voltage Sandy Bridge CPUs and an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M. In combination with the small screen and comparatively low (1366×768) resolution it can run any recent game on medium or even high detail settings.

M11x R3 Price Comparison:
	$899.00

When shopping from Dell: the latest coupon code for $50 off the M11x R3 is: BHW1L0MX0D?MCX

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There are lots of factors to take into consideration when choosing a good gaming laptop; hardware, build quality, features you value personally, and of course the price tag. As for the hardware, the graphics card plays the key role in a gaming notebook. Sure, the processor is very important for overall performance, as is the hard drive (or preferably: SSD), but at the end of the day the graphics card is what determines the frame rate and whether your games are playable.

To play the latest titles at high resolution with all the detail knobs turned up, you are going to need a powerful GPU. No amount of tweaking or optimizing will substitute better hardware. Both AMD (formerly ATI) and Nvidia have highly capable mobile video cards on the market. In bigger, 17-inch plus laptops, you will also find them in dual GPU configurations–called SLI or CrossFire for Nvidia’s GeForce and AMD’s Mobility Radeon series, respectively. The fastest mobile graphics cards as of October 2011 are the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6990M and the Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 580M, which are practically tied for first place–only what particular game you play seems to decide which one is the fastest. However, Nvidia’s GPU generally fares better in SLI configuration.

If you have a laptop with integrated Intel graphics, you can pretty much forget about playing Skyrim on it with decent quality settings. It will start (we’ve tried), but no amount of tweaking will get it past very low settings – even with the latest Sandy Bridge IGP (HD Graphics 3000).

On the other hand, Skyrim was built to run well on consoles that are now half a decade old so it has relatively modest system requirements. If you have a mid-range dedicated mobile GPU there’s a good chance that you can run it at reasonably high settings.

Official System Requirement Translated to Laptop Graphics

Bethesda’s minimum specs for Skyrim include a dual-core processor running at 2GHz accompanied by 2GB of RAM and a 512MB DX9 video card. That includes pretty much any recent laptop with a dedicated GPU, but you also want it to look pretty. For that, Bethesda recommends a computer with a “quad-core Intel or AMD CPU” (since a quad-core AMD processor is enough, the mobile Intel Core i5/i3 with Hyperthreading should also qualify), 4GB of RAM and a DX9 video card with 1GB of VRAM.

The developer goes on to specify the NVIDIA GTX 260 or Radeon 4890. It’s important to remember that these are the recommended desktop cards. Laptop GPUs with the same name except for a trailing “M” are invariably slower. For example, the GTX 260M is a mobile GPU with 112 CUDA cores, whereas the GTX 260 (without the M) is considerably faster with its 192 cores and higher clocks. The same principle applies to any mobile AMD or NVIDIA GPU. Skyrim will of course be playable on the GTX 260M regardless, but it’s something to keep in mind if you are moving around in the lower end of the scale.

Testing

For testing purposes we got the Steam version just to have the game and saves easily accessible on several laptops via the Steam cloud, which apparently doesn’t work or isn’t implemented yet. As a few points of reference we have tested the game on one laptop with an 1st-generation Core i3 CPU and Intel HD Graphics, one mid-range laptop with a 1st-gen Core i5 CPU and a Radeon HD 5650M/6650M (same GPU), as well as the G53SX, which is equipped with a 2nd-generation (Sandy Bridge, current) quad-core Core i7 CPU and a GTX 560M.

They have not been tested with the same settings, but with a somewhat more realistic approach aiming at playable frame rates with any setting, but preferably at the laptop’s native resolution if possible. For the lower-end laptops this is 1366×768 and for the ASUS it’s 1920×1080. The benchmark was a run from point A to B in the Labyrinthian area using FRAPS to measure average frame rates. Lots of snow (and trolls) were present.

On the Core i3/HD graphics combination the game was not playable even at the lowest possible settings and resolution, which was hardly a surprise. The latest generation Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 3000 series is more powerful and might be able to achieve playable frame rates , but whether it looks good is another question entirely.

The mid-range AMD Radeon HD 5650M, which is essentially the same chip as the current HD 6650M, 6630M and several others (but with varying clocks) was a positive surprise. In combination with a previous-generation Core i5 processor it managed to produce more than adequate results at the default “high” setting with AA/AF turned off. It was also fully playable with 8x AA/AF with the occasional dip to about 25 FPS, which is still playable. This AMD GPU is comparable to the GT 500M and GT 400M series from NVIDIA, so common mainstream GPUs like the GT 540M, GT 525M, GT 425M and so on should produce roughly equivalent results. Most of these cards are equipped with DDR3 video RAM, but this is apparently not a problem.

Naturally, the far more powerful GTX 560M has no problems whatsoever running Skyrim at high settings and Full HD (1920×1080) resolution with additional post processing. Also bear in mind that this resolution contains about twice the amount of pixels to process. It can be tweaked further to run at “Ultra” settings if you can forego some antialiasing and anisotropic filtering.

What we are unfortunately missing is a point of reference between the rather useless integrated graphics and the fully capable mid-range cards, such as lower end dedicated GPUs. However, based on Skyrim’s performance with mainstream GPUs, there’s a good chance that the game is playable even on slightly older laptops. A quick visit to System requirements lab might be enlightening, even if it isn’t always entirely accurate.

It’s difficult to get a comprehensive overview of the mobile GPU market, and the manufacturers (as in: AMD and NVIDIA) are not making it any easier by frequently updating the names whether or not there are any relevant changes compared to the predecessor. It is also important to remember that laptop graphics cards are not directly comparable to a full-size add-on card for your desktop PC. The ‘M’ attached at the end of the name makes a great deal of difference here.

When comparing laptop GPUs, there is no substitute for the incredible amount of work put into the Notebookcheck charts. It is exceptionally comprehensive and includes just about every mobile GPU in existence, so we decided to jot down a very simplified listing with all the older and certified CAD (Quadro) cards stripped out and do a summary of what’s available right now – the graphics processors that are most common in gaming laptops – from the high-end cards to the bare minimum for an adequate gaming experience.

As of December 2011 there are not many changes to report over previous months, but AMD is about to launch its first mobile 28nm GPU in the Envy series that will be launched this month.

1. AMD Radeon HD 6990M

Is AMD’s HD 6990M or the GTX 580M from NVIDIA the fastest mobile GPU at the moment? Both manufacturers claim that theirs is the fastest, and they are both right, in a sense. It seems to differ from game to game, so you can interchange #1 and #2 based on personal preference, overall features and performance in a particular game. The area where the HD 6990M wins hands down is value for money – it costs significantly less than the GTX 580M. Regardless, both are fast enough to run any game in Full HD with high detail settings and neither has much in common with the desktop variety – least of all the 6990M. The desktop HD 6990 is a dual-GPU monster card with a power draw that makes it unsuitable for any laptop, while the mobile version has more in common with the desktop HD 6870, which still isn’t bad considering the latter takes up two slots in an ATX case. Like the HD 6870, the HD 6990M has 1120 stream processors/shaders, but slightly lower clocks than its desktop counterpart.  The 6990M comes with twice the amount of memory though – 2GB of GDDR5 instead of 1GB. Because of its power and cooling requirements, the HD 6990M is usually only found in large desktop replacements such as the Alienware M17x.

1. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M

NVIDIA’s speediest mobile GPU is faster than AMD’s card in many games and slower in some, but in dual GPU (SLI/CrossfireX) setups –which are highly driver dependent – the 580M takes the lead, something that has been confirmed independently by Tom’s Hardware and Anandtech. The HD 6990M, on the other hand, seems to be much more power efficient (which also means less heat). At any rate, the 580M is an incredibly fast mobile GPU that will beat all the competition except the HD 6990M in certain games and situations. It comes with 384 CUDA Cores/shaders (the shader core count is not comparable between AMD and NVIDIA cards due to a different architecture) and is akin to the desktop GTX 560. Just like its main competitor, the GTX 580M is generally only available in large laptops such as the Alienware M18x, which can be equipped with SLI configurations of both the 580M and the 6990M, or the Clevo X7200, which currently tops our “fastest gaming laptop” listing.

3. AMD Radeon HD 6970M

The Radeon HD 6970M is also a very powerful mobile GPU, which is available as an option for the Alienware M17x and a number of built-to-order Clevo laptops that are customized by Origin PC, Sager, AVADirect and others. With 960 stream processors and 2GB of GDDR5 it is not far from the HD 6990M, but it has a slightly lower base core clock speed – 680MHz vs. 715MHz. It is rarely used for the simple reason that it’s so close to its big brother in both price and performance, but it shows up as an alternative every now and then.

4. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M

Unlike its predecessor the GTX 470M, the GTX 570M is actually being put to use in the real world – so far most notably in MSI’s gaming laptop lineup, the 15-inch GT680DXR/DX and 17-inch GT780DXR/DX. It is logically placed between the GTX 560M and the 580M in terms of performance with 336 CUDA cores and a 192-bit memory bus. It is however closer to the 560M than the 580M due to the smaller memory bus and lower clocks.

5. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M

The GTX 560M is by far the most widely used GPU in gaming laptops 15 inches or larger. Although its performance is nowhere close to the GTX 580M or HD 6990M, it strikes a good balance between price and performance and has taken over the role of the GTX 460M as the most common mobile graphics chip. It can be found in everything from entry-level configurations of the Alienware M18x to the 15.6-inch ASUS G53SX. Actually, the entire Republic of Gamers lineup from ASUS is equipped with this GPU. It differs only slightly from its predecessor; with 192 CUDA cores and a 192-bit (or 128-bit) memory bus coupled with GDDR5 video RAM (the memory bus width depends on the amount of memory), but it has the important advantage of higher clocks while remaining at the same power consumption. The GTX 560M is fast enough to play most games at medium to high settings and Full HD (1920×1080) resolution.

6. NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M

NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 555M is also a popular GPU that is used in many laptops including the Alienware M14x, Dell XPS 17 and lots of others. What’s peculiar about the GT 555M is that it’s available in several versions with differences that should have been sufficient for different names. Nevertheless, there’s a version with GDDR5 memory (128-bit) and 96 CUDA cores as well as one with DDR3 memory (192-bit) with 144 cores, the latter of which is most likely the fastest version and the one that is included with the aforementioned laptops. The 144 core version has a relatively low core clock speed (590MHz) but plenty of room for overclocking. The result is a GPU that plays most games at medium to high detail settings and high resolutions.

7. AMD Radeon HD 6850M

The HD 6850M from AMD is most notably the GPU included with the HP Envy 17, but it’s also available with a number of other desktop replacements from Acer. This GPU comes with a full 800 stream processors, but is somewhat hampered by a 128-bit memory bus and low clock speeds. It nevertheless qualifies as a high-end GPU and plays most games with medium to high detail settings at high resolutions.

8. AMD Radeon HD 6770M

Although it has significantly fewer cores than the HD 6850M, the HD 6770M and its 480 stream processors is actually quite close to its bigger brother in terms of performance thanks to its considerably higher clock speeds. The HD 6770M is included with the latest batch of 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros as well as the popular HP Pavilion dv6t and dv7t Quad Edition.

9. NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M, 540M, 525M

Now we have left the high-end territory to start looking at mid-range GPUs – those that you normally find in laptops that aren’t branded or marketed as gaming laptops, but that are still powerful enough to offer a good gaming experience at lower resolutions. With the exception of the GT 555M, the GPUs in the GeForce GT 500 series are quite similar from the 550M down to the 525M. All of them have the same amount of CUDA cores (96), but their actual performance may differ considerably depending on clock speed and the type of memory used. One notable exception from the rule is the Alienware M11x (with a GT 540M), which is certainly sold as a gaming laptop but unlike any other laptops with these cards it is much smaller.

10. AMD Radeon HD 6650M, 6630M

Finally, AMD’s mid-range offerings are also capable of providing good gaming graphics at lower resolutions. The 6650M and 6630M both have 480 stream processors like the more competent HD 6770M, but are hampered by slower clocks and DDR3 video RAM instead of GDDR5. Out of the two, the 6650M is more powerful because of a 600MHz core / 900MHz memory clock vs. the 6630M’s 485MHz / 800MHz. Nevertheless, they have enough performance to run just about any game at decent detail settings at 1366×768 resolution, which is often the same as native resolution for laptops with these cards. One example is the thin-and-light HP Envy 14.

Of course it is also possible to play games with lots of GPUs with specs below the ones listed above, but for newer titles some adjustments will have to be made in terms of resolution and visual details. Older games like World of Warcraft, Half Life 2 and Counter Strike: Source may still be playable at higher settings, but you can pretty much forget about running titles like Skyrim, Crysis 2 or The Witcher 2 at high details (or at all).

It’s not that it’s necessary to overclock the GTX 560M–it will run any current game at reasonable quality settings at its regular clock speed. On the other hand overclocking is fun. That said, we will put in the usual disclaimer here that what you do to your own computer is at your own risk. This article is for entertainment purposes only.

Once upon a time you needed (3DFX) "Voodoo" to play Tomb Raider 1 at fluid frame rates

In the last couple of years, Intel has put a damper on the CPU overclocking game by including their own “Turbo Boost” feature that overclocks the CPU on demand. This is quite boring, but it sort of makes sense for laptops–particularly when they are running on battery power. The same is not true for graphics cards of any variety or brand—you can (for the most part) overclock both NVIDIA and AMD cards unless they are locked in the BIOS.

We just published a review of the ASUS G53SX, which is equipped with the GTX 560M as well as an excellent (and heavy) cooling solution, but somewhat unfortunately it is the 2GB version so it only has a 128-bit memory bus. Nevertheless, it has higher stock clock speeds and probably a better overclocking potential than its predecessor the GTX 460M thanks to some power optimizations in the chip.

So, before our G53SX review was halfway through, we had already found (or at least thought we found) the sweet spot for the core, shader and memory clocks of our 128-bit GTX 560M at the following:

• 920MHz for the GPU core (original clock 775MHz)
• Shaders 1840MHz (1550MHz) and the memory
• 1600MHz (1250Mhz)

As it turns out it wasn’t as easy s expected.  The thing would run perfectly at these very high clocks (courtesy of MSI Afterburner) in most games and benchmarks; Furmark was stable at 92 degrees C (an uncomfortably high temperature, but Furmark is notorious for this) but it was failing in other benchmarks—most notably 3DMark 11. It could run 3DMark Vantage or Furmark in a loop for hours, but in the second scene of 3DMark 11 it would crash without exception.

These crashes should have nothing to do with temperature—these chips can take high temperatures without any (short-term) adverse effects, so more likely the voltage was too low or the driver was unable to handle whatever the particular challenge was. Turning the memory knob back down to 1550 MHz solved the “problem” and even the troublesome 3DMark 11 would finish without issue.

For the record, the 3DMark 11 score of P2559 is higher than any benchmark we’ve seen so far with the GTX 560M–overclocked or not. The 3D Mark Vantage score is as follows:

In other words there might be some arguments in favor of overclocking the 128-bit GTX 560M, and it could more than even out the differences between this one and the 1.5GB/3GB models with a (triple channel) 192-bit memory bus.On the other hand, the results depend on the individual chips, so saying that “results may vary” is an understatement. Nevertheless, a 10,000+ PCMark Vantage score almost puts this one on par with the much more powerful GTX 570M (although you can of course overclock that one as well).

In 3DMark 06, the result went up from 13,724 to 14,935–a  smaller improvement in DX9 as indicated by the review. It seems that the real gains are to be had in DX10 and DX11. The reason is perhaps that the driver support has been improved in the more recent benchmarks compared to the aging, but still relevant, 3DMark 06.

Just to repeat the obvious: this is not necessary. The standard clocks are good enough for any game on the market, but it’s interesting to know that even the 128-bit GTX 560M has quite a bit of room for overclocking.

How much extra performance you can squeeze out of a laptop GPU differs a great deal between laptops–from none at all (locked BIOS) to an impressive amount of extra frames per second, suddenly making some games playable at higher detail settings and resolutions. Laptops specifically designed for gaming usually have better cooling and the Alienware M14x certainly belongs in this category. Even though it is relatively small for a gaming laptop, there’s nothing to complain about when it comes to cooling (although you might complain about the noise level).

As you would expect from a gaming PC manufacturer, Alienware makes pretty overclocker-friendly machines, but you perform the steps outlined here at your own risk. You get good frame rates in all games with the GT 555M anyway, so there’s no actual “need” for overclocking, but when the option exists it’s hard for any hardcore geek to resist.

Since overclocking by and large both depends on both the cooling capabilities of the laptop and is even known to vary between individual chips, there are no guarantees that you get the same results as us. Neither does this necessarily apply to any laptop with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M such as the Dell XPS 17 due to a different cooling layout. This might nevertheless give you some hint about what to expect from the GT 555M.

Overclocking Software

There are several apps available that will overclock your NVIDIA graphics card. Even NVIDIA itself has a tool, but we settled on eVGA Precision. It is of course intended for NVIDIA-based eVGA cards, but it is simple and straightforward and works just as well for other NVIDA cards. Precision has the convenient option to apply the new clocks at startup (not recommended when you are testing) and several monitoring tools including temperature. It also links the core and shader clocks. The fan speed in the Alienware M14x is set in the BIOS, so this option is grayed out.

The standard core clock for the GT 555M is 590MHz and for the memory 900MHz. To test how high it can go without producing artifacts or hanging, a good tool to use is Furmark (available for download here), which stresses the GPU to the max. There’s also a built-in “Test” tool in eVGA Precision, but this probably only works for eVGA cards (at least it didn’t work for us). At any rate Furmark is more than adequate if not better.

A conservative way of testing increased clock speeds is to up the sliders in Precision little by little, in 10MHz intervals for example, until you start to notice artifacts or worse, that the driver hangs. You run Furmark and watch the temperature increase until it stabilizes at a certain level and stays there. Let it run for a while to make sure that it stays stable before testing a higher clock speed.

The “sweet spot” for our M14x was 752MHz for the core clock (1504MHz for the shaders when linked) and the maximum 1080MHz for the memory clock. When the core clock started to reach 800MHz the driver would hang and restart. After countless hours of gaming in Dragon Age 2, Fallout 3, Civ 5 and other games via Steam as well as several shorter benchmarking runs it has remained completely stable. One of the Fallout 3 DLCs did hang (Operation Anchorage), but this turned out to be due to be a problem with the game itself.

Results

Here are the results from the Futuremark 3DMark benchmarks with the new clocks, compared to the stock clocks that were used in our M14x review.

The overclocked system delivers as expected with the increased clock speeds. A 27 % improvement in 3DMark Vantage, 21 % in 3DMark 06 and 24 % in 3DMark 11 is more than OK and puts it roughly on par with the GTX 460 at stock speeds. How about the games then? Here are a few samples:

Again very nice improvements in frames per second ranging from 24 % in STALKER  to 32 % in Dragon Age 2. These are not subtle changes but clearly noticeable ones; if a game is just barely manages to run at playable frame rates it will suddenly run completely stutter free. It may also be enough to make some games run at higher detail settings than they would otherwise.

Update: As Venceslas points out in the comments below it is to a certain extent the voltage that limits how high you can go with the GT 555M. This can be circumvented by using a custom BIOS (which no doubt voids the warranty). However, with this tip in mind it was too hard to resist the temptation, and it works. All of a sudden the GPU core clock could be taken beyond 800MHz and with the core set to 807MHz the M14x was stable and produced 14,247 points in 3DMark 06 instead of 13,574. Not a huge improvement and nothing worth voiding your warranty over but an interesting experiment nonetheless.

HP recently rolled out the brand new AMD Llano APUs in the AMD version of the HP Pavilion laptop, the dv6z. It is a considerably more affordable alternative to the dv6t, which also use AMD graphics but Intel on the processor side.

That begs the question if it’s a worthwhile trade-off; AMD still has some catching up to do compared to Intel as far as general purpose computing goes, i.e., raw processing power. On the other hand, AMD clearly has an excellent graphics product in its Radeon brand. That helps even the score in terms of gaming performance, and some of the latest Fusion APUs are also leveraging both the relatively competent integrated graphics in the APU and a dedicated graphics card in “hybrid” Crossfire mode–or Dual Graphics.

But the question remains whether an all-AMD laptop can keep up with an Intel/AMD system in the latest games? There’s no clear-cut answer–at least not yet. Anandtech evaluated a generic mobile Llano (A8) system a while back and produced a number of gaming benchmarks that pegged the performance as slightly behind a Dell XPS 15 with a GeForce GT 540M, which is pretty good considering that this laptop was equipped with a quad-core Intel Core i7–a much faster CPU than the Llano.

The folks at Notebookcheck.net have been more specific and reviewed the latest HP dv6z with an AMD A6-3410MX APU with Radeon HD 6755G2 graphics (HD 6750M + integrated HD 6520G). Their conclusion was that, although the overall impression was good, the Fusion dv6z is not suitable for gamers.

This verdict is very harsh, considering that most of the 20 games tested were playable at medium settings and many of them at high settings. The problem though, is that the results vary a great deal between different games, which is a clear indication that it is a driver related problem. To make matters worse, some crashes were also occurring with Crossfire enabled in Notebookcheck’s tests.

It should not be surprising that the hybrid Crossfire solution has teething problems. All systems involving dual graphics cards rely heavily on driver updates to have any effect whatsoever. If the driver support is not there, dual GPUs may even have a negative effect on the performance.

Another problem is that Crossfire only works with DX10 and DX11, meaning that older DX9 games will have to rely on a single GPU. Given these issues it is easy to conclude that a high-end Intel based system will offer better gaming performance even with a single AMD GPU in the same class as the HD 6750 in Llano. This is however not the same thing as saying that the HP Pavilion dv6z (or other laptops) with AMD Fusion and dual graphics are a bad choice for gamers. You also have to factor in the price/performance ratio.

Hopefully AMD will also be able to produce better and more stable drivers in the future that could take Fusion laptops to a whole new level. The dv6z is a tempting option at the current price point, but based on the information available so far it is difficult to recommend it to gamers without reservations. Cautious buyers may want to wait and see what happens with the driver support. It certainly looks like AMD Fusion has great potential if the manufacturer manages to tap it with good drivers.

Unless you happen to be a dedicated geek who stays constantly up to date with the latest hardware updates, any laptop purchase can turn into a chaotic state of affairs. You have to check up on a lot of things before settling on a computer if you want it to be perfect. This becomes even more difficult when you are looking to buy a gaming laptop, considering that you need top performance for playing games and particularly with the latest gaming machines, constant updates and changes are all-too frequent.

In other words, you have to ensure that the computer is the best in its class (and within your budget) if you want it to last longer than just a couple of years, which – according to Moore’s Law – is the time frame in which the number of transistors, and hence performance, doubles in semiconductors. The same goes for graphics capability. It’s a simple truth that in a few years, even the latest and fastest GTX 580M and overclocked quad-core CPU in your EON 17-S or M18x will be surpassed by the average mainstream laptop. In spite of the cliché, there’s no such thing as a “future-proof” computer.

That’s not to say you should never buy a full-featured, high-end gaming laptop with all the bells and whistles. Everyone want one, and if you can afford it you will probably be more than happy with your monster laptop. But for everyone with budget considerations, it really makes sense to compromise as opposed to making the final down payment on a really expensive machine five years from now (when the laptop will no doubt feel really old). So, how do you make the best out of a difficult situation? A middle-of-the-road alternative is not a bad option these days. There are lots of (comparatively) affordable laptops today that can play all the latest games, even if it’s not with all the detail knobs turned up to (DX) 11. HP’s high-end versions of the dv6t and dv7t laptops are good examples.

Consult Your Local Geek

The experience of purchasing a gaming laptop becomes even more difficult if you are not a techie because it is impossible for the average guy to keep track of all the latest tech developments in the computer gaming industry. You have to check a lot of things before you get to check and feel your new gaming laptop. Things like hard drive or SSD, GPU, processor, screen resolution, display type, RAM and not least size are all things that you will need to check before finalizing the purchase of your new portable gaming companion.

You always want a powerful graphics card and decent processor first and foremost. Lowering your requirements will disappoint you in your gaming experience. However, how do you determine what the best options are if you are not a computer hardware aficionado? Ask a geek! And if you don’t have one readily available you can always drop a comment here on BestGamingLaptop.net. Nevertheless, below are a very few basic guidelines to keep  in mind before deciding on a laptop.

The Most Important Part – The GPU

When it comes to checking the components in a gaming laptop, the first place to look is the GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) or graphics card. This is the heart and soul of a gaming laptop because gaming laptops need to able to play all the latest games with decent quality settings for at least a year. The GPU is the single component that pulls the heaviest load in this department.

The high requirements of new and upcoming games make it essential to get the most from this part of the computer and consider all other upgrades secondary. Only Nvidia or AMD/(ATI) graphics cards will do the trick. It has to be dedicated – even AMD and Nvidia offer integrated solutions like the useless ones from Intel, which are somewhat better but not enough to handle the latest games. You will know that it’s integrated if it doesn’t come with its own video RAM.

Don’t worry too much about the amount of video memory – any mid-range GPU has enough RAM to do what it’s supposed to. It is more important to look at what type of memory modules are used. The fastest variant at this writing is GDDR5, whereas DDR3 is somewhat slower. On the other hand, DDR3 can still provide more than sufficient performance, as seen in out M14x review.

CPU and RAM

Secondly, no matter how fast your GPU is, if there is not enough muscle in the processor to manage it, it will turn into a bottleneck and also degrade overall system performance. Usually all laptops that come with a good GPU also have a matching processor, but choosing at least a dual core processor, preferably from Intel for the time being, is a good idea if you want a little more power for other things than just gaming. Almost any Core i-series CPU is sufficient for powering the graphics card, but having a quad core processor certainly doesn’t hurt overall system performance.

RAM (Random Access Memory) does no determine how smoothly your games will run to any noticeable extent. Just make sure to have  enough spare RAM to avoid swapping to the page file on your slow hard drive. No less than 4GB of RAM is acceptable in a Windows 7 PC.

Storage

The hard disk is even less relevant for your gaming frame rates, but that does not mean that it doesn’t affect the rest of your system. Choosing the hard disk with a higher RPM rate is best option. For instance, hard drives running at 7200rpm are faster than their 5200rpm counterparts with the same capacity. It is also worth mentioning that higher-capacity hard drives offer better overall performance than smaller ones. The same does not apply for solid state drives, however. An SSD will give you a tremendous boost to overall system responsiveness and performance, but they are still very expensive in cost per GB and rarely available in affordable laptops.

Display and Optical Drive

Screen resolution is another important factor to consider because it has a major effect on how your games (or HD movies) will appear on the screen. 1080p displays offer plenty of screen real estate, but in a low-cost gaming laptop you also have to consider that if your graphics card is unable to run a game in native resolution, a 1080p screen might actually make your games look worse than one with 1366×768 pixels.

As far as the optical drive is concerned, you can buy a blu-ray drive if you’re a movie buff – otherwise ditch it. Blu-ray readers, and especially Blu-ray burners come with a price hike and virtually no benefits unless you are planning to watch HD movies on your laptop.

Final Thoughts

This is not the end of the checklist, because when you find a gaming laptop with the best possible specs within your budget, you also want to make sure that it’s a quality machine with a solid build and good cooling. For example, overheating is one of the potential problems with gaming laptops, so read reviews (if available) or compare it to other laptops with similar specs.

In any recent laptop (or desktop), the mechanical hard drive is the component with the most detrimental effect on overall performance. This shouldn’t be surprising, as hard drive technology has remained more or less the same for decades.

Sure, some significant breakthroughs have been made and in regards to storage space and to an extent, read and write speeds, but the basic technology is the same as it was 30 years ago. The use of spinning platters inside a modern computer is almost an affront to the rest of the other, brand new high-end parts.

An SSD is fast, silent and on the whole a very tempting upgrade when you are configuring a laptop online–especially for the performance-hungry crowd looking for the perfect gaming laptop and won’t settle for anything but the latest and speediest tech.

That said, solid state drives are not a universal remedy for every aspect related to data storage. There are clearly some downsides as well, which we’ll discuss in the following paragraphs. But first a straightforward comparison.

Power Efficiency

What are the differences between these two types of storage? Actually, they are two completely different animals. A hard disk drive, as the name implies, use (almost) constantly spinning magnetic discs and a data retrieval head (think of it like an old turntable). A solid state drive on the other hand, and also as the name implies, has no moving parts whatsoever unless you count the electrons. It’s just a Flash memory modules and a controller soldered on a PCB.

As a result, no power is needed to keep those aforementioned platters spinning. Neither does it need to move those heads back and forth to read and write data, which resulting in lower power consumption. This is of course particularly beneficial for laptops, as you will save some much-needed minutes on the battery life. Laptop hard drives are fairly power-efficient already though, so the difference might not be noticeable in a high-end laptop during practical use.

Speed – 7,200rpm Vs. SSD

This is where a high-end SSD really makes a huge difference. You really can’t argue with the numbers: a SandForce SF-2200 based solid state drive such as the Corsair Force GT or OCZ Vertex 3 both reads and writes data at incredible speeds–around 500MB/s on both counts, consistently. Compare that to a comparatively fast 7,200rpm hard drive, which will typically max out at around 100MB/s, and that’s not a consistent drive speed. Due to its physical characteristics, it reads data faster on the outer edges of the platter and slower on the inner parts.

If you haven’t seen an SSD in action, you should know that this makes a difference that is very noticeable indeed. The operating system starts much faster, games and apps load considerably faster and the system feels much more responsive on the whole. It can actually make a dual-core low-voltage laptop “feel” faster than a high-end, quad-core gaming machine.

The improvements gained by going from a 5,400rpm hard drive to a 7,200rpm one is completely negligible compared to moving from any hard drive to a fast SSD.

What About the Downsides?

The most obvious disadvantage with a solid state drive over a regular laptop hard drive is the price. Another major weakness related to the first one is storage capacity. The price per GB of storage varies, but is often higher by a factor of 10. For most laptop buyers this means that upgrading a hard drive to an SSD with the same storage capacity is simply out of the question.

The alternative is usually settling for a lower-capacity SSD. This poses another problem for laptops, if they come with just one hard drive bay. On the other hand; if it has dual hard drive bays, as is often the case with larger gaming laptops, you can use a small and inexpensive SSD for the OS and your most commonly used apps and games and use a roomy hard drive for storing your videos, music and so on. Remember that a fast solid state drive, no matter what capacity, will outperform even dual hard drives in RAID 0. If your laptop has an option for an HDD/SSD combo, take it! You will not regret it.

If there’s only room for one drive, the choice is undeniably more difficult. You can always use an external USB hard drive for storage, but that’s another gadget that you don’t really want to carry around at all times. Whatever the alternative, it will be a compromise between capacity and performance.

A comparison is inevitable; there’s no doubt that what Dell is offering with the slim XPS 15z is a replacement of Windows users looking for a PC equivalent of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. On the other hand you can run Windows 7 natively on any Mac these days via Bootcamp. The main question therefore is whether the MBP is worth the price premium for gamers, who usually run Windows and want a comparatively slim and light 15-inch laptop?

Which of the laptops is better-looking is as always in the eye of the beholder, but both are clearly slimmer and lighter than the average 15-inch laptop: the XPS 15z 5.54 pounds (2.51 kg) and the MacBook Pro 5.6 pounds (2.54 kg). Both of them actually weigh less than the 14-inch Alienware M14x that we just reviewed, although we can establish right away that none of the 15-inch laptops are as powerful in the graphics department.

Specifications

First of all, there is no doubt that the latest MBP 15 from 2011 is a more powerful laptop on the whole. Where the XPS 15z makes do with dual-core Intel CPUs, the Apple notebook uses Intel’s quad-core counterparts exclusively. While this has a major effect on overall system performance, the difference in games is very small in most cases. The dual core, 4 thread Core i5 and Core i7 processors in the 15z are not a bottleneck for the graphics card, which effectively runs your games. Speaking of which, Dell has opted for an Nvidia solution in the XPS 15z (GeForce GT 525M) while Apple went with one from AMD. Another important detail is that there are two GPU alternatives for the MacBook Pro: either a Mobility Radeon HD 6750M or a HD 6490M in the “cheaper” model.

The pricing on both these laptops is actually quite good considering the components and the benefit of a slimline design. There’s an added cost if you want to add Windows 7 to your Mac (in addition to the pros and cons of being branded a heretic in the Church of Jobs). However you look at it, both are attractive laptops.

Gaming Performance

As usual, to measure gaming performance it’s the graphics card that counts and not much else. Although the other components will have a marginal effect as well, it is usually small enough to be negligible. Even if a certain game can take full advantage of the extra core count, the GPU is where the magic happens. The Nvidia GeForce GT 525M is not a high-end card, but certainly fast enough to play games. For the MBP 15, there’s a significant difference between the HD 6750 and HD 6490 GPUs, similar to the options available in HP’s Pavilion dv6t Quad and dv7t Quad; the 6750M has 480 stream processors while the 6490M only has 160.

We have compiled some reviews to try and make sense as to how this translates to real-world gaming frame rates. Engadget compared the XPS15z with the high-end MacBook Pro 15 in 3DMark 06 and the difference was 7,317 vs. 10,262–a 40% improvement in favor of the Mac. Both number are still enough to play any recent game, but you will definitely be able to turn up the details and resolution higher in the MacBook Pro.

LaptopMag actually took the time to try out some games: Far Cry 2 and WoW. The XPS 15z produced a playable 26 frames per second at its native (in this case 1920×1080, Full HD) resolution and with graphics set to “Very High” (no mention of the MBP here). A surprisingly good result for this GPU. In World of Warcraft, the XPS 15z came in at 35 frames per second at the “Ultra” setting, compared to 43 FPS for the 15-inch Mac–a 23% improvement.

The results can differ quite a lot between different drivers, not to mention different screen resolutions. What the individual GPUs are capable of hardware-wise is not necessarily a good indicator of how they actually perform in real-world gaming. Nevertheless, it’s easy to reach two conclusions, namely that the XPS 15z is more than capable of running the latest gamest, and also that the 15-inch 2011 MacBook Pro in combination with the Radeon HD 6750M is considerably faster.

It was considerably more difficult to find some hard data on the “low-end” MPB with the HD 6490M graphics card. Although it’s the fastest part in the 6400 lineup it is still a relatively low-end GPU. Moreover it ony has 256MB of video RAM, albeit the fastest GDDR5 type. Some anecdotal numbers from various forums say that it is capable of games like Starcraft 2 on lower resolutions and details, and games like World of Warcraft shouldn’t be a problem either. It is no doubt slower than the GT 525M in the XPS 15z though, so gamers faced with a choice between the HD 6750M and the 6490M shouldn’t hesitate choosing the version with the 6750M if they can afford it.