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Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 05:41 PM Jul 2019

Purchasing a work/gaming/ school laptop.

Want basic word processing, decent gaming for Overwatch and Starcraft 2 and smooth browsing/ typing while trying to keep it under 400.

These are the candidates so far. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Acer Aspire 3, 15.6" HD, Intel Core i3-8130U, 20GB RAM (4GB DDR4 RAM + 16GB Optane Memory) 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Home, A315-53-30BS https://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-Aspire-3-15-6-HD-Intel-Core-i3-8130U-20GB-RAM-4GB-DDR4-RAM-16GB-Optane-Memory-1TB-HDD-Windows-10-Home-A315-53-30BS/107614020

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-Aspire-3-15-6-LCD-Notebook-AMD-Ryzen-3-2200U-Dual-core-AMD-Radeon-Vega-3-Mobile-Graphics-4GB-1TB-HDD-A315-41-R0GH/368547621?athcpid=368547621&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVAV&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=419ea62c-414-16c1b91f48a73a&athena=true

Basically trying to decide between a ryzen with 4gb ram and core i3 with 4gb+16gb optane memory. The optane seems like it would be able to give the i3 a slight advantage over the ryzen -which in itself seems to have better reviews. Any ideas?

Thanks!

17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Purchasing a work/gaming/ school laptop. (Original Post) Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 OP
No suggestions Tiggeroshii. MontanaMama Jul 2019 #1
I have generally had a good experience with the older acer aspires. Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #2
Either one would play starcraft 2 okay but struggle with overwatch mr_lebowski Jul 2019 #3
You know, it doesn't actually look horrible Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #5
Better video for the UHD 620 Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #7
That does look better, however based on the OSD there it's on an i7, not an i3 ... mr_lebowski Jul 2019 #8
You just sold me on the ryzen Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #9
My lappie is a Lenovo with I5, 8GB, and nVidia 1050ti, a very competent discrete GPU mr_lebowski Jul 2019 #10
Ok i just went crazy on an impulse buy Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #11
LOL ... good luck with the Wife ... mr_lebowski Jul 2019 #12
Thanks! Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #13
Right on Tigger! mr_lebowski Jul 2019 #14
Update Tiggeroshii Aug 2019 #15
It's possible ... 4GB of RAM on W10 should be upgraded to 6GB minimum mr_lebowski Aug 2019 #16
Don't blame ya! Brainfodder Aug 2019 #17
At that price Timewas Jul 2019 #4
My standards are pretty low. Don't need anything amazing. Tiggeroshii Jul 2019 #6

MontanaMama

(23,242 posts)
1. No suggestions Tiggeroshii.
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 05:43 PM
Jul 2019

But bookmarking this thread so I can read the suggestions. Would love to find a sweet set up like this for my kiddo who will be a high school freshman this fall.

Paging all you tech smarties out there!!!

 

Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
2. I have generally had a good experience with the older acer aspires.
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 06:02 PM
Jul 2019

Since i spilled coffee on mine a few years ago, i havent found that sweet spot I'm looking for in any of the laptops I've had since. I might have settled on the intel core i3 onoy because of the extra quazi-RAM in the form of optanre. They also have the core i5s with 8gb of rambut for a hundred bucka more so it might not be so mucb of a better performer than the i3 and virtual 20 gb ram.... I will report back next week how my decision has fared.

 

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)
3. Either one would play starcraft 2 okay but struggle with overwatch
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 06:50 PM
Jul 2019

Neither is really powerful enough for modern 3d gaming like overwatch ... you need to spend more for that I'm afraid. 3d gaming laptops aren't really available for the <300 range.

I'd give the 2nd one a better chance of being able to MAYBE play it on the lowest, blockiest-looking settings though as it has a dedicated GPU (vega 3).

But it's a slightly less powerful overall machine (2 core vs 2 core+2 cores hyperthreading on the i3). Both of them have the 4GB + 16GB optane memory ... If I bought either I would for sure put another 4GB stick of RAM in them.

 

Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
5. You know, it doesn't actually look horrible
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 07:59 PM
Jul 2019

Although a bit choppy, I imagine that could be resolved with more memory.



Thanks for the input though! Since Im not a really passionate gamer, and am mostly looking for a reliable work computer, this might fit okay. I don't think the Ryzen is dedicated, but it looks like it might have been made with gaming a little bit more in-mind. I might end up going for the Ryzen. Question: How do you know that the Ryzen also has the Optane? I could not find that anywhere in the specs. Also I think they might be playing the i3 on way higher settings than they should, no?

and here is what the ryzen looks like:

 

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)
8. That does look better, however based on the OSD there it's on an i7, not an i3 ...
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 11:49 PM
Jul 2019

I see 8 cores (actually likely it's 4c/4ht config which is an i7).

The first vid is the exact config you're looking at ... and that is choppy to the point of total non-playability. And the settings are REALLY low, it looks like total crap.

The AMD is playing it perfectly and I'm guessing those are a bit higher settings it's doing it with. AMD has been doing better integrated graphics for quite some time now at the same price points, frankly.

Yes it's possible the intel machine is being memory limited since RAM/VRAM are shared on machines like this (I don't consider the 16GB of 'optane' useful for gaming honestly), but the out-of-box is just terrible. And why isn't the AMD suffering from the same?

I'd want to add 4GB physical ram no matter what anyway (to either) so I guess the intel is worth a try. Could just take it back if it won't game. Same RAM stick will work in either machine so you'd not have to return that.

I see the 20GB total ram on the Ryzen ... at your link, under product highlights

 

Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
9. You just sold me on the ryzen
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 11:53 PM
Jul 2019

If i stay in the price range. Not sure if im gonna go up in price or not. Thinking maybe a higher level ryzen or i5. Or just stick with the ryzen thats there... Honestly i was kinda wondring where those 70 fps were coming from lol


Thanks Lebowski!!!


Who knows i might just go all out on an acer predator lol

 

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)
10. My lappie is a Lenovo with I5, 8GB, and nVidia 1050ti, a very competent discrete GPU
Tue Jul 23, 2019, 12:10 AM
Jul 2019

Even has 4GB dedicated DDR5 for the GPU, doesn't share mem with the system.

I got 'er from Costco a bit over a year ago ... it was bare-bones edition but games beautifully out of the box ... it's a bit on the big/heavy side as the cooling system is beefy ... but it was only like $620. I've added a 500GB SSD and moved the OS to that and set up the 1TB spinner as my D: drive.

I'd bet you can get machines for about $499 with the 1050 regular version and an entry level i5 and 8GB RAM if you look around. Personally that's what I'd do if I could $tretch that

 

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)
12. LOL ... good luck with the Wife ...
Tue Jul 23, 2019, 12:35 AM
Jul 2019


Looks like a very capable machine. I had a 1060 6GB (the one in your new lappie is a 3GB, same chip but not as much texture memory/screen buffer ... 3GB is fine for 1080p though) in my home gaming machine until about 6 months ago, it's a NICE gaming gpu, esp. for a laptop.

You'll soon be Overwatching MAXED OUT with that sucker!

Grats ... don't be surprised if it's a bit heavy though, and probably a bit loud when gaming. I7 + 1060 needs a good amount of copper fins, and some beefy fans
 

Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
13. Thanks!
Tue Jul 23, 2019, 04:47 AM
Jul 2019

My anxiety about spending this much money on gaming may get me to reverse the order as quickly as I made it. But I've been dying for a viable gaming machine for years, and I'm in a place now where I think I can reward myself finslly lol


I will tell you though, it's been a journey versing myself back into modern specs.... we're at Terabytes now? Seroously???

 

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)
14. Right on Tigger!
Tue Jul 23, 2019, 05:56 PM
Jul 2019

Last edited Tue Jul 23, 2019, 09:02 PM - Edit history (3)

Hey, if you like the classic single-player, story-driven FPS style (mid-2000 stuff like Half Life, Bioshock, Far Cry, the 2006 version of Prey, F.E.A.R., S.T.A.L.K.E.R, etc) right now on Steam they have the 2017 version of Prey w/expansions for $8.00. You can order now while on sale and download it later.

If you like that sort of game (sci-fi, fairly open-world, with RPG elements ... it's kindof a Bioshock in space, but way better gunplay) I HIGHLY recommend it ... I played through the sucker 3 times, I've got like 200+ hours on the base game per Steam. It'll hum at maxed settings on your new machine. Probably my fave game of the last few years (though I mostly play single-player stuff). SOOOO worth $8.

If I were you I'd get an Xbox Controller (wired kind works great) ... almost every PC game supports them these days.

EDIT: actually there's a lot of good FPS-type stuff on Steam right now for <10 bucks ...
Doom 2016 (a blast if you like Doom style games)
Dishonored 2 (fantastic, creative, very cool game)
Wolfenstein - The New Order/The Old Blood (from 2013 or so, again, a blast if you like this sort of over the top shooter, it's like Doom but with high-tech Nazi's instead of monsters and a cool story, this is original game + pretty long expansion)

Get those 4 games for <$40 and you'll be set when you get your new machine for like MONTHS playing great AAA titles ... again, if you like SP FPS type games

 

Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
15. Update
Fri Aug 2, 2019, 06:56 PM
Aug 2019

I cancelled the hp and ended up going for the Ryzen since I honestly did not budget for such an expensive computer lol. It does this thing where the start of the game is a little slow but as it continues, starts running faster. I imagine an upgrade of RAM would solve the problem? The computer is arguably the best budget laptop anybody could find. These Ryzens are pretty amazing...


Also in case nobody's wondering, the basic tasks of word processing and browsing are very smooth. The factory set up for computers these days usually has. Lot of extra crap running in the background, as I assume this one does. However, despite that, this is still a really smooth running system.

 

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)
16. It's possible ... 4GB of RAM on W10 should be upgraded to 6GB minimum
Sat Aug 3, 2019, 01:59 AM
Aug 2019

Preferably 8GB, esp. if gaming.

Uninstall the crap you don't need.

A great program to review EVERYTHING firing up (and to disable if you don't want) when you startup your machine is called 'autoruns', and it's available from Microsoft. It's an indispensable little .exe (no install required) AFAIC. Best way to disable crap there is (other than uninstalling ... sometimes there's sub-programs of things you want installed overall, but you don't want THIS part installed ... like you may want Acrobat, but not the 'auto-update' or 'quick-start' Acrobat programs running at all times ... autoruns lets you disable the sub-programs).

Glad you're having fun. Also, protip when it comes to being short on RAM and gaming on a lappie with shared memory like yours ... lowering texture quality in game settings is usually the best band-aid. also, don't run any MSAA, use FXAA instead

Brainfodder

(6,423 posts)
17. Don't blame ya!
Sun Aug 4, 2019, 03:30 PM
Aug 2019

From that scary 8130 ouch that would be awful performer.

Be sure to get a good cooling pad AND USE IT, got 3 of a 5* one for $22/each a couple years ago from ...zon, all 3 still working.



 

Tiggeroshii

(11,088 posts)
6. My standards are pretty low. Don't need anything amazing.
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 08:09 PM
Jul 2019

Like I don't need an alienware, just something that could play my overwatch on low quality with decent fps.

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