Laptop Buying Inquiry (GL552VW)

[CptMars]

Good day!

I'm new to the forum, and so this serves as my first post. Anyway, I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop, and I'm pretty much set on the GL552VW that has these specs:

Intel Core i7-6700HQ
8gb RAM DDR4
Nvidia GTX 960m 4gb DDr5
1TB 7200 rpm + 128gb SSD

I think that on paper, those specs are pretty good already, and the price is just about right for me (70,000php or about 1,400 usd). Though I still have a few questions regarding the laptop and I hope that they could be answered here on the forum, before I make the purchase.

1. A big reason that I'm buying this laptop is because I want to play GTA V, and I've seen videos of the GL552VW running it on high/very high, so I'm positive that the laptop could run it. How is the performance though, after, say, 5-7 hours of gaming? Obviously I'm not gonna play all day or night, but if possible, I want to play for as long as like without much hassle.
2. Is it true that gaming laptops (or laptops in general) last only for about 2 years? This is another factor to consider before I make the purchase since I plan to keep the laptop for as long as possible. My friend's Alienware M15x from 2010 still runs great and it had no major problems except that the battery is dead, so I'm kind of hoping that the GL552vw could last that long, if not longer.
3. Will I be fine with the listed specs or should I have the Ram or the SSD memory upgraded? I'm going to use the laptop solely for gaming (GTA V, Dota 2, Skyrim, perhaps some racing games), no songs, no movies, some documents and that's it.

[dansan]

CptMars wrote:
Good day!

I'm new to the forum, and so this serves as my first post. Anyway, I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop, and I'm pretty much set on the GL552VW that has these specs:

Intel Core i7-6700HQ
8gb RAM DDR4
Nvidia GTX 960m 4gb DDr5
1TB 7200 rpm + 128gb SSD

I think that on paper, those specs are pretty good already, and the price is just about right for me (70,000php or about 1,400 usd). Though I still have a few questions regarding the laptop and I hope that they could be answered here on the forum, before I make the purchase.

1. A big reason that I'm buying this laptop is because I want to play GTA V, and I've seen videos of the GL552VW running it on high/very high, so I'm positive that the laptop could run it. How is the performance though, after, say, 5-7 hours of gaming? Obviously I'm not gonna play all day or night, but if possible, I want to play for as long as like without much hassle.
2. Is it true that gaming laptops (or laptops in general) last only for about 2 years? This is another factor to consider before I make the purchase since I plan to keep the laptop for as long as possible. My friend's Alienware M15x from 2010 still runs great and it had no major problems except that the battery is dead, so I'm kind of hoping that the GL552vw could last that long, if not longer.
3. Will I be fine with the listed specs or should I have the Ram or the SSD memory upgraded? I'm going to use the laptop solely for gaming (GTA V, Dota 2, Skyrim, perhaps some racing games), no songs, no movies, some documents and that's it.

I have the DH71 model, closely the same but with 16GB of RAM and only 2GB on the video memory.

I play everything on high or max settings, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, World of Warships, CS:GO and some days I've played that thing for 8+ hours without an issue. Don't get me wrong, the machine is pushing out pure fire air out those side vents but you have to expect that.

As for the durability and reliability, cant speak to that as my machine is 3 months old at this point but I've had no issues.

You will be fine with the current specs, I'd say maybe grab some extra RAM to future proof yourself. Mine has a very similar HDD configuration to yours. It only came with the 1TB HDD so I added a 250GB M.2 SSD

Go buy it, enjoy it and have fun, stop worrying.

[CptMars]

dansan wrote:
I have the DH71 model, closely the same but with 16GB of RAM and only 2GB on the video memory.

I play everything on high or max settings, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, World of Warships, CS:GO and some days I've played that thing for 8+ hours without an issue. Don't get me wrong, the machine is pushing out pure fire air out those side vents but you have to expect that.

As for the durability and reliability, cant speak to that as my machine is 3 months old at this point but I've had no issues.

You will be fine with the current specs, I'd say maybe grab some extra RAM to future proof yourself. Mine has a very similar HDD configuration to yours. It only came with the 1TB HDD so I added a 250GB M.2 SSD

Go buy it, enjoy it and have fun, stop worrying.

Well, the only thing that worries me is that if the laptop can't run the games that I want it to run. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

By the way, when you're playing for more than 5 hours, do you remove the battery and plug it in for continuous gameplay?

[D9M2W]

CptMars wrote:
Well, the only thing that worries me is that if the laptop can't run the games that I want it to run. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

By the way, when you're playing for more than 5 hours, do you remove the battery and plug it in for continuous gameplay?

Doesn't matter with lithium-ion batteries, just leave it plugged in

[dansan]

CptMars wrote:
Well, the only thing that worries me is that if the laptop can't run the games that I want it to run. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

By the way, when you're playing for more than 5 hours, do you remove the battery and plug it in for continuous gameplay?

you will be able to play the games you want, i don't see why not.

I leave it in all the time.

[CptMars]

Okay, so I got a few more options now. I found a local reseller that sells the GL552VW-DH74 and the GL752VW-DH74 for exactly the same price . I found out that the DH74 models already have 16gb of DDR4 ram, so I won't need to upgrade it anymore. I think it makes more sense for me to choose between the 15" or the 17" Dh74 instead of the one I mentioned in my first post. Now, which is better, the 15 or the 17? Assuming that they have the same specs and internals?

I'm thinking that since the 17" has a bigger screen, it will consume more power and therefore get more hotter on the inside? I'm not entirely sure. Again, more feedback from those who know about these things are most welcome.