Looking for a gaming laptop for GTA V and AC - any suggestions?

1,372
United States
United States
Firehound427
CivicTypeR15
I currently have a HP 15 Notebook laptop, which I use for gaming as well as general internet-surfing. It runs older driving games (such as Race 07, GRID Autosport and Test Drive Unlimited) just fine, but has trouble with newer and more graphics-intense games. For example, I have to run SCS Software's truck simulators and Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 on reduced settings to get decent framerate. Recently, I bought Grand Theft Auto V to play around with mods, but had to apply for a refund as the game ran poorly on the lowest settings and I couldn't make it past the prologue level. After checking Assetto Corsa's requirements (another game which I am interested in) and concluding that my HP 15's graphics card wouldn't be good enough for that game either, I have decided that I would like to purchase a new laptop better able to run the aforementioned games than what I currently have.

A few things to note:
  • I am specifically looking for a laptop, as I would like to take it with me on occasion, and because my current setup lacks the space for a fixed PC.
  • While I would be willing to pay for a decent laptop, I am not looking to shell out thousands for a top-of-the-line custom build.
  • USB ports are a must for connecting a mouse and steering wheel (might seem odd to mention this, but we do live in an age of iPhones that lack headphone jacks...).
  • Grand Theft Auto V and Assetto Corsa are the games I am most interested in, although I may also purchase other games. I have listed the system requirements (from Steam) for those two games below:
Minimum:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Windows 8 64-bit, Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
Storage: 72 GB available space
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible

Recommended:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Windows 8 64-bit, Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1
Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHz (8 CPUs)
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD 7870 2GB
Storage: 72 GB available space
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible

Minimum:
OS: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 2.8 GHZ, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 10.1 (e.g. AMD Radeon HD 6450, Nvidia GeForce GT 460)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 15 GB available space
Sound Card: Integrated

Recommended:
OS: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Processor: AMD Six-Core CPU, Intel Quad-Core CPU
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 11 (e.g. AMD Radeon 290x, Nvidia GeForce GTX 970)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 30 GB available space
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible

With this in mind, does anyone have any recommendations for gaming laptops that fit the bill? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
I think the most I’d be comfortable with spending is £800-£1,000, and I’d prefer to buy new if possible.
 
I think a laptop with at least an I5 CPU, a GTX 1070 GPU, and 12GB of RAM would be fine. For GTA you definitely want a graphics card with at least 8GB of VRAM as well as plenty of regular RAM as the game uses 7-8GB on average for me.
 
I think the most I’d be comfortable with spending is £800-£1,000, and I’d prefer to buy new if possible.

Lemme see what I can pull up. For the sake of this, I'm working with the assumption that £1000 is $1200 USD.

Example of what to expect spec-wise: This MSI laptop is a little over your suggested budget, but is about what you can expect for a modern gaming laptop. CPU is still good, GPU is about the best of what you can get in your price range, should also look into adding another 8 GB RAM stick.
 
Back