New Laptop

[ash23]

Hi everyone,

I would appreciate some help from the tech savvy people on here please.. I am buying a new laptop for mostly 5 boxing dungeon groups in wow for Legion. I decided on MSI and the configuration is below:

MSI GT72S 6QF Dominator Pro 4K-059 i7-6820HK 2.7GHz 8G 980 Desktop 16G RAM 256G RAID SSD 1TB HDD 17.3"

Intel Core i7-6820HK Quad Core Processor, 2.7 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 4.2GHz)
Kingston HyperX Impact 32GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2400MHz (4 x 8GB)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 GDDR5 8GB (Desktop Version)
17.3" 3840 x 2160 4K UHD (16:9) IPS LED
Samsung 950 Pro 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 3D-VNAND SSD
Samsung SM951 128GB M.2 PCIe x4 SSDM.2 SATA SSD Slot 1
Samsung 850 EVO (3D VNAND TECH) 500GB M.2 SATA3 6Gb/s SSD
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive
Windows® 10 Home, 64bit, English

MyWir
Now i am stuck on whether to get the same configuration without 4k but with a 6920 processor

http://www.hidevolution.com/msi-gt72...-hdd-17-3.html

or go for something similar with the 6820 processor.. ?

so my question is: is the faster processor and the $600 increase in price will make the games run noticeably smoother when multiboxing?

Thank you for your help.

[MiRai]

I've edited your parts list to be much more readable since it was a jumbled mess of repeated lines and missing carriage returns (this is usually what happens when you copy and paste parts lists from other websites), but I'm guessing I didn't get the drives right since you have three different M.2 SSDs listed (it really doesn't matter either way).

First, I don't know how they are claiming that the 980 is the "desktop version" when it comes equipped with 8GB of VRAM. The desktop version of the GTX 980 has only ever been equipped with 4GB of VRAM, and it's only the "laptop versions" which come with double the VRAM. Why? I don't know since laptops are never going to utilize twice the amount of VRAM that a desktop is.

Second, it's highly unlikely that a single 980 is going to be able to power a multiboxing team while using a 4K resolution, and you're probably going to be forced to use a lower resolution on each game client, or straight up change the desktop resolution to be something lower and create your team with that. It's also unlikely that a single 980 will power most games at 4K without the need to drop several settings down in order to maintain a smooth, playable framerate (although WoW is less demanding than most modern games). (Benchmarks* 01 / 02 / WoW)

So, while more expensive, I would probably go with the GSync display laptop since it's going to be nice and smooth even if you're not at 60 FPS all the time, because you are going to be using a normal 980. 4K is really nice, but I think trying to get a single 980 to work well at 4K is going to be a less-than-stellar experience whether you're multiboxing or not.

* Linking to 980 Ti benchmarks to show how the GTX 980 compares with more modern GPUs with matured drivers.

[ash23]

Thanks MiRai for your help,

yeah the HDD should have been NVMe for the primary and secondary.

so if i go with the non-4k with the 6920 processor and the 980 "desktop" version it should be enough?

Would sacrificing the speed of the processor to a 2.7 and getting dual NVIDIA GTX 980Ms be worth it?

I've edited your parts list to be much more readable since it was a jumbled mess of repeated lines and missing carriage returns (this is usually what happens when you copy and paste parts lists from other websites), but I'm guessing I didn't get the drives right since you have three different M.2 SSDs listed (it really doesn't matter either way).

First, I don't know how they are claiming that the 980 is the "desktop version" when it comes equipped with 8GB of VRAM. The desktop version of the GTX 980 has only ever been equipped with 4GB of VRAM, and it's only the "laptop versions" which come with double the VRAM. Why? I don't know since laptops are never going to utilize twice the amount of VRAM that a desktop is.

Second, it's highly unlikely that a single 980 is going to be able to power a multiboxing team while using a 4K resolution, and you're probably going to be forced to use a lower resolution on each game client, or straight up change the desktop resolution to be something lower and create your team with that. It's also unlikely that a single 980 will power most games at 4K without the need to drop several settings down in order to maintain a smooth, playable framerate (although WoW is less demanding than most modern games). (Benchmarks* 01 / 02 / WoW)

So, while more expensive, I would probably go with the GSync display laptop since it's going to be nice and smooth even if you're not at 60 FPS all the time, because you are going to be using a normal 980. 4K is really nice, but I think trying to get a single 980 to work well at 4K is going to be a less-than-stellar experience whether you're multiboxing or not.

* Linking to 980 Ti benchmarks to show how the GTX 980 compares with more modern GPUs with matured drivers.

[Lax]

getting dual NVIDIA GTX 980Ms be worth it?

Is that even an option?

My wife I each have one of these MSI Domintator Pro laptops, not with the options you're looking at exactly, but I have to agree with MiRai that the 980M isn't going to perform well enough to multibox at 4K. I'm using 3K and it's bad enough.

[ash23]

Hi Lax,

Yes the MSI has a line called Titan where they have the 980Ms in SLI. however, they are the mobile versions and not the desktops ones. Also the ones i was asking about (the SLI versions) come without 4k.
I was just asking because i read somewhere long ago that SLI might not be that beneficial for gaming.

[MiRai]

so if i go with the non-4k with the 6920 processor and the 980 "desktop" version it should be enough?

I hate to make any concrete claims when it comes to multiboxing on laptops since I don't have any experience with one, but as long as you're not playing at 4K then you should be alright.

Would sacrificing the speed of the processor to a 2.7 and getting dual NVIDIA GTX 980Ms be worth it?

I would imagine that the 980m SLI laptop is going to be as hot as lava, and the increased heat could end up throttling you, as well as decreasing the life of the laptop altogether. However,I know someone who has an MSI laptop with 980m SLI and they said that it's pretty beastly. There are also some laptop coolers which you can put under the unit in order to help blow air through it, so it might be worthwhile looking into those.

I realize this isn't a super easy decision when there's a lot of money involved with no headroom to upgrade or change out components if need be, but high-end laptops are kind of uncharted territory when it comes to multiboxing.

I was just asking because i read somewhere long ago that SLI might not be that beneficial for gaming.

SLI is beneficial to WoW. Other games? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

[Crum1515]

I multiboxed at 4k with the GT80 sli 980mX2 and it worked very well. I wasn't able to play with everything at max, I turned off AA, SSAO and bloom and water effects and all that jazz.

I don't know if they still do, but the GPU came with 8GB of VRAM each, so that helped a ton with texture streaming and post effects.

I also did it with all 5 accounts on my 4k monitor, and also with 1 client on the 4k screen and the other 4 on a 1080p monitor, but using the dual monitors caused some problems with the cross monitor swapping.