Best places to buy a gaming laptop

That depends on your country, since even a company like Amazon doesn't have a presence everywhere. It will also depend on your budget. Some sites have more inventory and better deals in certain price ranges than others. And, if you're looking for a certain hardware configuration, it might be more cost-effective to get a custom laptop rather than one off the shelf.

If you post your budget and country, as well as what you'd like this laptop to do besides (I'm guessing) run TS3 on high graphics settings, I can look around for some good options. It would be helpful to know, for example, if you want to play other games, or you'd like a lot of storage. Just to give you an idea, I can usually, but not always, find a laptop that will run TS3 on the highest settings for around $800, but that will depend on current sales. So will the question of which sites are the best—they don't all clear inventory and restock at the same time.

You should absolutely be able to find exactly what you want. Since sales will change over time, there's no point in picking out a laptop now, but a quick search of newegg showed a number of options that would fit your expectations and budget. Here's a sampling:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834235196&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154812&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834235077&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234950&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234956&ignorebbr=1

Notice that they're all on sale; the MSI models especially are usually much more expensive. These are all variations on the same theme, with a small SSD plus a larger secondary drive. The last two have SSHDs, which will be faster than a traditional HDD. The first two have 15" screens, and the others are 17". The second one has the best graphics card (a 1660 ti) and the weakest (although still fine) processor. The cheapest model with a 2060 is $1330, although its SSD is too small for gaming; you'd wind up installing on the HDD.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834155076&ignorebbr=1

This is just to give you an idea; I'd be happy to search for the best sales when you're ready to buy. Given your budget, another possibility to consider is getting a custom laptop. CyberpowerPC is sold out of models with a 1060, but you could get a 1660 ti, an Intel i7-9750H, 16 GB RAM, a 1 TB SSD, and a 17" IPS screen (144 Hz refresh rate) for $1370. Getting a 2060 instead, and the i7-8750 it comes with, would cost $1450. (A 2060 and a 9750 would be $1540.) But prices will probably have changed a month from now.

Anyway, the bottom line is, I'd be happy to help you pick something out, or just point you in the right direction if you'd prefer to browse yourself. But you'll definitely be able to find something that works for you.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17073644" wrote:
Hey, I saw your comments earlier but didn't get a chance to respond. I'd be happy to look for something that works for you. Since you're buying in a week, I'll start browsing over the weekend, when the new sales (the ones that will still be good on the 30th) start getting posted.

If there are any other features you want in this computer, like a certain strength of graphics card or extra storage (or other games you'd like to play at some point), or if you want to narrow down your budget, let me know. Otherwise, I'll list a few good models to give you a range of options. There should be plenty in your price range that would fit your needs.

Thank you ! On my other post I replied about the graphics card . I'm honestly trying to stay under 1300(I can go a tiny bit over ) and I'm just hoping i can find one with all of these features and a fast processor for the price point.

I started looking tonight, and I found a few laptops you might like. Currently, as in the last few weeks, models with an Nvidia 1060 are harder to find, as that card is being phased out—one site I checked is out of it completely. The models with a 1660 ti are too new to have come down in price yet. Still, there are a few reasonable deals out there. And if you don’t like what you see now, there’s no harm in waiting a week.

I haven’t heard anything particularly bad about newegg’s customer service, but then again I’ve never bought a laptop from them. The manufacturers should have good CS though. But a couple of the laptops below are on Amazon, if you’d rather stay away from newegg.

This is the budget option, at least relatively speaking. It’s $1,000, but you could (and would definitely want to) add a second hard drive to its single 256 GB SSD. It has a 1060 6 GB and the same strong processor, an i7-8750H, as most of the other models. Its screen is only 15.6”, but it’s an IPS with a high refresh rate. This model does have some cooling issues with intense games, but those games are much more stressful than TS3; I don't think you'd need to worry at all about running the game on this computer.
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-Overclockable-Aeroblade-PH315-51-78NP/dp/B07CTHLX8C

The user-accessible hard drive slot will accommodate any 2.5" model. You could easily add a 1 TB SSD, maybe something like this, for $108:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-Internal-MZ-76Q1T0B-AM/dp/B07L3D19MY

The newer version of the above model would be $1,200, but it’s temporarily out of stock on Amazon. If you’re not going to buy right away though, it’s worth keeping an eye on. It has a 9750H processor, which is somewhat stronger than its predecessor, and a 1660 ti.
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-i7-9750H-Keyboard-PH315-52-78VL/dp/B07QXLFLXT

This Asus is on sale for $1,180 for the next four days. It has an 8750H, a 1060 6 GB, a 17.3” screen, and a combination 256 GB SSD and 1 TB SSHD. The hybrid drive will be a bit slower than an SSD but still much faster than a mechanical drive. Asus laptops generally have no cooling issues and are always great for gaming.
https://www.newegg.com/black-asus-rog-strix-scar-edition-gl703gm-ds74-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834234956

This MSI is the cheapest model with a 2060, on sale for $1,350, with an additional $100 rebate. It has an 8750H and a 17.3” screen. Its disadvantage is that it only has a small 128 GB SSD, so you’d need to install everything on the larger, slower HDD.
https://www.newegg.com/black-msi-gl-series-gl73-8se-010-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834155076

I know you’d like to stay under $1,300, but if you were thinking about getting a great graphics card for other games, this model has a 1070. (One note on the GPU: It’s a Max-Q model, which means it sacrifices a bit of performance in the name of efficiency, and therefore won’t heat up quite as much either.) The laptop also has a single 512 GB SSD. It’s on sale for $1,350.
https://www.amazon.com/Zephyrus-i7-8750H-GeForce-Military-Grade-Chassis/dp/B07G5Z9H8R

I looked at CyberpowerPC as well, but if you wanted a 1660 ti, 16 GB RAM, and an SSD at least 512 GB, you’d end up paying around $1,350 as well, depending on which model you started with. So the custom route probably isn’t the way to go right now, at least not in laptops.

If these aren’t exactly what you want, just let me know what you’re looking for, and I’ll try to find something better.

So I ended up getting one. This is the one I chose , https://www.bestbuy.com/site/alienware-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1070-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-silver/5713021.p?skuId=5713021
Thank you so much for you help,it made the buying process much easier for me

Honestly, I don't know if that's the best computer for what you want, certainly not for that price. The processor is significantly weaker than the newer ones—there was a big leap between the seventh and eighth generation of Intel CPUs. You won't be able to run TS3 off the SSD either, as it's far too small for either the game's program files or the gme folder in Documents. You'll have to move both over to the larger, and slower, HDD, which will make loading CAS and Build/Buy catalogs take a lot longer.

But if this is really the one you want, I hope it works well for you.

The processor is fine for TS3; other people play on it without any trouble. My comment was more about futureproofing, since you might want to run other games on your computer, and those might run much better on a newer CPU. The HDD will also run TS3; it'll just be slower than an SSD, probably by a significant margin if you have a lot of custom content. But if you get frustrated in a year or two with the slowness, you can get the HDD replaced with a large SSD. A 1 TB model might cost you $110.

Also, as igazor said, the objection to Alienware is the price, not the hardware, which is generally of good quality.

That's a good computer; I have no criticism of it, and MSI makes excellent gaming laptops. But of course I had to poke around on Best Buy's site, just to see. The Asus version of the MSI you're looking at is $100 cheaper, and Asus also makes great gaming laptops.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-tuf-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-hdd-256gb-solid-state-drive/6297095.p?skuId=6297095

For the same price as the one you're looking at, you could get an MSI with a single 512 GB SSD instead:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-p65-8re-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-512gb-solid-state-drive-aluminum-silver/6337429.p?skuId=6337429

If you really want to go nuts, this model has a 9750H (the newer, better 8750H), an Nvidia 2060 (equal to or slightly better than a 1070, depending on the game), and a 1 TB SSD. And a 17.3" screen. It's from CyberpowerPC, which makes great custom laptops and desktops. Somehow it's only $1550. (Actually, the same model is $1535 on Cyberpower's own site, so it makes some sense.)
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-17-3-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-1tb-solid-state-drive-black/6350580.p?skuId=6350580

And I'm female, and I read everything I can get my hands on, whether it's for me or not. So I totally understand.

The 8750H does have a 2.2 GHz base clock speed, but it's built to comfortably run in turbo for long periods of time. It also has six cores, instead of the four of the 7th gen (and some 8th gen) CPUs. TS3 can only use two cores at a time, and TS4 can use up to four, so those cores can run only the game while the others handle Windows and whatever else you're doing while you play. So while the low base clock speed might not quite seem ideal, it's really fine, more than fine, for what you want.

Running in turbo for long periods also might run down the processor a little faster, at least theoretically. But these models are so well made that it might be a decade before the difference between an excess of turbo and "normal" wear and tear became apparent. The limiting factors will definitely be cooling and time-induced obsolesence, not whether the CPU turbos up to run TS3.

Side note: I would worry a bit about running a laptop CPU at max turbo speeds (all cores) for extended periods of time, just for the heat generated, but that's not going to be a problem with Sims games. Besides, if you're really nervous, there are very simple monitoring apps you can install, and you can even set alarms for high temps. But all the above models have good cooling, and it doesn't sound like you're going to try to run Battlefield in ultra for three hours straight or anything like that.

The 9750 in the last link has a 2.6 GHz base clock speed, if that makes a difference to you. Its benchmarks are better than those of the 8750, but not by a very wide margin. So while it's a nice thing to have, there's no sense breaking your budget just for this one upgrade.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17080591" wrote:
The 8750H does have a 2.2 GHz base clock speed, but it's built to comfortably run in turbo for long periods of time. It also has six cores, instead of the four of the 7th gen (and some 8th gen) CPUs. TS3 can only use two cores at a time, and TS4 can use up to four, so those cores can run only the game while the others handle Windows and whatever else you're doing while you play. So while the low base clock speed might not quite seem ideal, it's really fine, more than fine, for what you want.

Running in turbo for long periods also might run down the processor a little faster, at least theoretically. But these models are so well made that it might be a decade before the difference between an excess of turbo and "normal" wear and tear became apparent. The limiting factors will definitely be cooling and time-induced obsolesence, not whether the CPU turbos up to run TS3.

Side note: I would worry a bit about running a laptop CPU at max turbo speeds (all cores) for extended periods of time, just for the heat generated, but that's not going to be a problem with Sims games. Besides, if you're really nervous, there are very simple monitoring apps you can install, and you can even set alarms for high temps. But all the above models have good cooling, and it doesn't sound like you're going to try to run Battlefield in ultra for three hours straight or anything like that.

The 9750 in the last link has a 2.6 GHz base clock speed, if that makes a difference to you. Its benchmarks are better than those of the 8750, but not by a very wide margin. So while it's a nice thing to have, there's no sense breaking your budget just for this one upgrade.

I'm so excited for tomorrow. Your also my new go to for these types of things ( you've taught me very well :) ) whenever I need some technical help or someone else does I'll be sure to mention you :blush: