Reddit mentions of MSI G Series GS60 Ghost Pro-052 15.6-Inch Laptop (Aluminum Black)

The GS60 is meant to be an ultrabook-esque laptop, with only 4.4 pounds and 0.8" thick, and it has a much better IPS screen compared to the Lenovo Y50's. The Y50 is also around a pound heavier and 0.95" thick. If you opt for the GS60, it really makes sense to get the GTX 870M GPU version, the Ghost Pro-052, since the 870M is around 30 percent better than the GTX 860M, but the Ghost Pro is not too much more expensive than the regular Ghost.

If you're on a strict budget, then this version Y50 would be a good bet. If your budget has some flexibility, then the GS60 Ghost Pro is the way to go.

First of all, the Razer Blade is kind of bad (to put it lightly) in terms of price:performance.

Since your budget is higher than most of the mainstream laptops, you can have almost anything (certainly much better than what Razer offers).

If money is no object, there are usually two options:

1. Portable gaming notebooks (if you are restricted by travel especially) like the MSI GS60(GTX870M + quad core) for $1800 or the Lenovo Y50(860M + dual core) for $900.
   
   
2. Huge, crazily powerful desktop replacements like the Asus notebooks, or the MSI ones that aren't in the GS series. I remember though that one of the MSI models is horribly flawed because it only has one fan to handle so much heat, so watch out.
   
   The crazy notebooks are usually closer to $3000 now, but they can pack the 880M, which cannot be had in the more desirable thin form factor. Also, they can have good performance at a reasonable price. These are between a desktop and a laptop in portability, and are also somewhat cost-efficient.
   
   It used to be that all gaming notebooks came in this massive form factor, but now the medium-high end graphics can be put in a smaller chassis, and this is almost always more desirable over the monsters that used to be. The portability sometimes comes at a premium, for example the GS60 with the 870M goes for ~1800 while you can get that performance for ~1200 in a less desirable form factor.
   
   The Y50 is extremely cost efficient. If you want a cut-down model with a so-so processor, the Amazon model for $900 is very cost-effective. The 1080p display is pretty bad, although for the cost/performance, you can't really complain. Since your budget is described as <$2000, I imagine this is not for you. There is a model with a higher resolution display that fixes the poor performance of it in that regard
   
   Over at Lenovo's website they have all the configurations at decent prices. The second one from the left for $1129 is probably the best (though with the 1080p display). 16GB of RAM and 4GB of VRAM is unnecessary and only adds to cost. The 1TB HDD is more useful, and warrants an upgrade from the first model. The SSD is limited to 8GB from the factory, and I recommend buying your own mSATA SSD to use. The 250GB 840 evo is nice.
   
   The 860M is technically an upper-mid range GPU, and may not perform to your expectations. Unfortunately, the next step up, the 870M, costs quite a bit to get in a portable form factor. I only know of the GS60 that manages to do this, and it typically costs $1800 (Also the Blade for $2200). This is kind of unreasonable for such a performance jump. Still, if you compare the GS60 to the Blade, you are still getting a good deal, so it's not that bad. If you expected to spend $2000, you will be well-served by the GS60 for $1800. It's basically a Blade with a lower-resolution screen for $400 less.
   
   One thing about the GS60: It gets hot. most of the thin gaming notebooks do, but the GS60's underside on the 870M model can cause burns. It's quite cool when web browsing and such, but during gaming, you need to watch out. The palmrest is pretty cool too, even when gaming, so you just have to make sure to NEVER use it on your lap while gaming.

Yep. I know exactly how you feel and I'm sorry it happened.


If you're looking for a high-end rig, I've read a lot of good things about MSI Ghost - GS60 ($1659 on amzn) & the Razer Blade ($2,399.00 on amzn). ASUS also makes solid laptops with a pretty wide spectrum of rigs.

If you need any help in deciding, feel free to shoot me a PM. I don't know a whole lot about DJing but I'm a developer and I've done some pretty exhaustive research on the laptops available right now.

The one thing that I will say is that if you can hold out until the beginning of the year, you'd be better off. Intel is launching a new processor architecture that is a huge leg-up on their current lineup. A lot of new rigs will be rolling out shortly after it drops.

The Ghost Pro would be very good for your needs. It's plenty powerful for games, and overall it's extremely thin and lightweight considering it's a full fledged gaming notebook.

The highest quality gaming laptop within your budget would be the ASUS G751JT. It has the brand new Nvidia GTX 970M, the highest quality construction, a 17.3" 1920x1080 IPS display, and the best cooling on the market.

It is, however, quite heavy and wouldn't be great for carrying around school.

The MSI GS60 Ghost Pro or Gigabyte P34G v2 would be the next best choice. They're both really light and powerful, well capable of gaming.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00JKCHT1C/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687402&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00IQ4H7E4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0MBSN9348G7SPSBZQB8D

The top link of refurbished. The muller store one.

Laptops I've looked at so far

• http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OBA5AMI
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IMTQ6I6/
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00O4ORNDA/
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/N550JK-DS71T-16-Inch-Touchscreen-i7-4700HQ-Windows/dp/B00IAA5BSS
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JKCHT1C

I don't think you're looking at the right model? Maybe link to where you see it that cheap? I bought it for 1700 4 months ago

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Pro-052-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00JKCHT1C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421353175&sr=8-1&keywords=msi+gs60+052

GS60 is like one of the thinnest gaming laptops right now, so it's pretty portable and it's under 2000$, I suppose there are several variations, but they should be powerful. Like this one, It's pretty light, it says 2 kg w/ battery(on MSI site)

Edit: 860M Should play all of the listed games on ultra or at least high on 1080p.

Edit #2: This one even have 870M but less RAM. Although 12GB is more than enough for gaming, hell even 8 is more than enough for games. Also 870M has 3GB of VRAM.

If you want a better graphic card, check some other MSI(GT series) or Sager. But those are bulkier. Also I think decent battery life and gaming laptops don't mix(like 4h battery life)

If you Opt out of the desktop my favorites are:

The Lenovo Y50

The 14" Razer Blade which is by far the priciest, but its the literal PC equivalent of a Macbook.

the MSI GS60 Ghost

MSI

Dominator - 1299

Dominator w/ SSD - 1649

Ghost Pro w/ 12gb - 1649

Ghost Pro w/ 16gb - 1899

ASUS

ROG w/ 24gb & SSD - 2024

as for the Mac rec earlier, I retract that now that I have had a chance to look over their specs. Looks like they haven't been upgrading their video cards these last couple years like everyone else so they are still back on the 750m's. At their release they were great, now though you can do a lot better for the money.

What you are looking for is a dedicated video card with at least 3gb vRam (any of the 870m's or the 970m's), along with an i7 47xx/48xx and no less than 12gb of memory. For what you will be doing those a pretty much a must to get an enjoyable experience while you work. I personally like ASUS, Gigabit and MSI for manufacturers because I've used their hardware in desktop builds before and I like their stuff. Do your research though, make sure the program YOU will be using will work with nvidia cards or AMD cards, and you should be fine.

The Ghost Pro is already out? 1080p model. 3k model.

AFAIK the gs70 ghost pro is the cheapest ultraportable gaming laptop. Your alternatives, like the Razr blade, will run you a lot more. You could also get a larger laptop (bulky and fat) but with similar specs for cheaper (1200-1500). More importantly, a lot of these cheaper laptops only have a 2-3 hour battery life. Think of it more as an all in one desktop that can run on its on for a limited amount of time, rather than a laptop.

The gs60 ghost pro (same specs but 15.6 inch screen) is $1800 on amazon right now.

Gigabyte p35w v2 Very comparable to the gs60 ghost pro, almost same price, has been reviewed very favorably, and I think it has slightly longer battery life than its MSI brother.

I think this guy suits you well:

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Pro-052-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00JKCHT1C/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407254350&sr=1-2&keywords=msi+gs60

Edit: 3k screen version

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-3K-097-Gaming-Notebook/dp/B00JSA1PH0/ref=psdc1_t2_B00JKCHT1C_B00JSA1PH0

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Pro-052-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00JKCHT1C

The ROG J750 gaming notebooks are definitely beast. I haven't seen the newest refresh but they are pretty huge. Here's an alternative you could also comfortably take to lecture.

On budget: MSI GS60 Ghost
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Ghost-003-15-6-Inch-Alumium/dp/B00IQ4H7E4

Only has a GTX860M ("only"), but it should run BF4 handily.

Above budget: MSI GS60 Ghost Pro
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Ghost-Pro-052-15-6-Inch/dp/B00JKCHT1C

Has the GTX870M and a 3K screen, but could probably just play games at 1920x1080 and they'll run even better.

Sadly, the issue I had with macbooks is that the GPUs are always kind of weak...

The good news is that most demos aren't that demanding.
Unreal engine 4 seems to be also only working on windows at the moment, but it's being worked on.

Unreal seems to be hitting hard on lower end cards, at least anything lower than a 1300$ gaming laptop would have problems running them.

Currently with the only option beign the GT750m on the macbook pro, it's a no go.

Sad, because I wanted to do demos in public so, the form factor was ideal. (the reason I got a mac in the first place.)

Unity demos could run fine depending on the complexity of the scenes.

I realised my mistake and bought this for demonstrations : http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Pro-052-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00JKCHT1C/

It is just the best gaming laptop I've ever had. (on par with my older desktop gtx670 build)

how does it compare to the msi gs60 laptops? Theres two, one
and
two

Kinda off topic, but you seem pretty knowledgeable so I have a question. I'm looking at lightly/barely used computers from amazon and need help making a decision between

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012EB2LSQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_H1WwxbZ0BYT7P0

And

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JKCHT1C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_X3Wwxb79FC3C8

Pretty similar prices, just don't know any reputation either computer may have. Really wanted <5 pounds and it seems most laptops with at least a 960m are 5.3+. Unless you have another recommendation.

If you want something lightweight (4.4 pounds), expensive, decent performance, heating issues go with this :-

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS60-Pro-052-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00JKCHT1C/ref=psdc1_t1_B00IQ4H7E4_B00JKCHT1C

If you want something bulky (6.83 pounds), cheap, amazing performance, very little heating issues go with this:-

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8268s-clevo-p150sma-eta-march-p-6987.html?wconfigure=yes

i bet a laptop like this beats MANY of the desktop pcs the /r/diablo readers are using. statements like that are to be treated with caution.