comparing two possible laptops to play STEP-enhanced Skyrim

[iarwain]

Hi all, new poster here. Not sure this is the place for this question, sorry if I'm on the wrong sub-forum.

 

I need to get a new laptop for college but I have a tight budget. I want to be able to play Skyrim on the new laptop, ideally with STEP Core enhancements. I've tentatively narrowed down my laptop options to two systems, but even after looking around for a while online I'm still not sure how they compare and how well they'll run STEP.

 

LAPTOP A: Refurbished Dell Inspiron Z15 Ultrabook

CPU: i5 1.7GLV (that's all the specs I could see - it's from a non-profit that sells refurbished laptops to students)

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT 630M 2GB

RAM: 8GB

 

LAPTOP B: Lenovo Z40-70

CPU: i7-4510U (2.00GHz 1600MHz 4MB)

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT 820M 2GB

RAM: 8GB

 

How do these systems compare especially regarding how well they'd run STEP?

 

To me it looks like option B is obviously a much better system than option A, but I just wanted to make sure. If they're about equal in quality then I might go with option A because it comes with a 4 year warranty vs. a 3 year warranty for the Lenovo.

 

Thanks!

Edited June 1, 2015 by iarwain

[werewulfking]

Unfortunately with laptop graphicscards it is not as easy to tell how good or bad they are as there are sometimes three or four different versions of the same card in circulation so that even more detailed specks would be necessary to access the situation completly. Because it could be that both laptops have the same graphics core but a german site I found to be quite correct would sort the 630M a bit higher in general.

 

Unfortunately both are not really fit for skyrim with any kind of mods. even vanilla is only useable at low resolutions and with low settings.

[iarwain]

 

Unfortunately both are not really fit for skyrim with any kind of mods. even vanilla is only useable at low resolutions and with low settings.

:(. Sounds like I'd need to use a reduced textures mod rather than enhanced textures. Is that correct?

 

I also have another option for a laptop with a Nvidia NVS 4200M 1GB graphics card. I know that's considerably worse than the 820m or 630m, but the 4200m laptop costs $150 less, and as I said I'm on a tight budget. The extra $150 would only be justified for me if it significantly improves the game experience. What do you think?

[werewulfking]

yeah i have no personal experience with those gpu's to compare it to but honestly I don't expect any of these graphiccards to work with any graphic enhancements. but 4200m is still a significant step down and you most likely won't be able to play skyrim at all.

Edited June 1, 2015 by werewulfking

[TechAngel85]

If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with Laptop B.

[DoubleYou]

What is your price range? The second looks better, though I wonder on your choice of CPU. Do you intend on needing good battery life?

[phazer11]

Yeah we can help you find something in your price range if you tell us what it is.