Hi guys,

I need your help with recommending a dream poker laptop and an additional monitor for me.

I currently have a desktop with 16GB RAM, i7-2600k and 256GB SSD which is showing it's age to some extent.

I don't play anything but poker so I think I don't need a strong GFX card (I am considering a 4k screen though). I don't play much out of the office so I don't think I care if the laptop is light or not. I do want it to have a large screen.

I have a very big PT4 DB and I have a TON of different sites and tables open at once. I'll also probably be running a virtual machine with a large database and a lot of poker going inside there as well. I want Windows 10.

I currently only have one monitor () a DELL U27. I obviously need to buy another (4k 32''?) but I'm not sure if I need 3 screens or 2 would be enough. I was thinking about trying dual and if I want three either buying another or using the laptop screen as a 3rd.

Thanks!

p.s. Two guys I respect a lot told me that with the amount of sites+tables I have open and the size of my DB I'm better sticking with a desktop. While I do prefer being able to play some on the road, for sure my main priority would be grinding comfortably at home...

decrap it. unless you're running some super secret gto kill the poker ecosystem to enrich yourself software, this should suffice for anything that you want in the current day.

Whats the purpose of running a virtual machine? Shouldn't everything work better if you just ran it natively in Win10?

It will help give you better advice as I don't see the purpose.

It's pretty uncrapped. I do believe I'm one of the guys who has the most sites/tables up at once combined with a huge DB. Also the VM takes it's toll.

I also kind of want a laptop.

There are some different networks that use the same software and you can't run them at the same time.

just look for a laptop with similar specs. One of the newer i7 quadcore (non-U), 16 gb or ram and a SSD big enough for your needs. Most laptops with i7 quadcore are usually gaming laptops so you'll probably be looking in that direction. But since you won be needing a high end GPU, something like a gtx 850/950 will be fine. Xoticpc is a good place to start looking. everything is customizable as well. personally i would avoid alienware because its more expensive.

https://www.xoticpc.com/#

I've never personally run a RAID0 with SSD drives but your resource requirements for what you want are CPU and harddrive IO limited.

Essentially, HM2 is not exactly efficiently programmed, so it dives into your database more often than it should and sometimes haphazardly. So the SSD RAID should alleviate some of the problems you have with that. The CPU will be the limiting factor on how fast it can do the calculations for imports and some of the complex database analysis.

A laptop is not what you want if you want to keep doing what you are doing.

You cannot run an i7 with 16GB RAM and an SSD into the ground running 1-2/VMs and even 20 tables. If it seems slow, you have other issues you need to identify.

Open Task Manager and look at CPU/RAM performance. Then, look at disk performance, this is probably where you're slowing down, if at all.

What antivirus you running? Have you excluded HM directories from scanning?

I would do a clean install of Windows, add another 16GB RAM and throw in a similar sized SSD to run in RAID0 assuming this is a laptop or a desktop with a UPS.

2-3 monitors at 4K resolution are going to need a graphics card with at least 2-3GB of onboard RAM.

Your CPU does not need an upgrade.
Identify the bottleneck before making any upgrade plans.

Its certainly fine to just upgrade what you have as said above. Assuming your motherboard has a good on board RAID chipset (which it might not) then you really only need some upgrades to what you got.

And it would be good to know what the problem is. Whenever your system is running slow take screenshots of the performance tab in task manager and post them here.

Thanks for the responses so far guys.

My desktop is ok speed wise. I think the main thing for me is that the VM is slow at times especially when I TV directly to it. My MB is a ASRock Z68 Pro3-M.

Basically I want a laptop with at least the same performance as my current system but I would prefer a boost and I'm looking for a system that won't require an upgrade for a couple of years. I also want to do 2-3 monitors most likely at 4k.

Wanting a boost without identifying what is your most resource intensive task is shooting in the dark. Good luck driving three 4k monitors off a notebook. To give you an idea, two GTX 780s are the entry point for 4k resolution gaming. Multi monitor setups eat GPU VRAM.

A small boost in performance is really just an extra I thought I would get with buying a new computer. It's not the point of this thread.
What I want is a laptop that could run everything I do now (hopefully a tiny bit faster and that will be with me for a few years) and connect to at least two screens (one of these we need to choose).

poker =/= gaming

Would highly appreciate getting some recommendations for laptops at least as strong as my current desktop and that could support my DELL U27 and another 4k monitor (30 or 32, would appreciate a recommendation here as well).

Thanks!

I would get this and customize it to 16 gb of ram and a internal SSD harddrive

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7255-...rd-p-8671.html

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm looking into it. I live outside of American and I'm a bit worried regarding service if I need it.

Very open to hearing more opinions as well as monitor suggestions.

http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/...#hero-overview

You're welcome.

In the future, you should come out and say that you play high stakes / have a reasonably high hourly / have money. Spending $3-4k on a laptop is perfectly reasonable in your position. Spending less is likely a mistake.

Otherwise you get people suggesting $900 Sagers (not his fault either), and you waste your time and everyone else's.

You effectively want the best of the best, and if you don't want it to weigh 6 kg including the power adapter, the above is close to, if not the current best of the best.

Worrying about service is likely a mistake.

Taking into account the new budget information (please, correct me if I'm wrong, 4barrel), if anyone else has a superior suggestion, please, I'd also love to see it.

just because he has money doesn't mean he should set $2k+ on fire for no reason

That laptop with the GTX970M (amongst other things) is the least appropriate suggestion in this thread.

Welcome to 2+2; you'll probably last longer if you read the OP before posting.

Would you like to back this up with some reasoning? As I said, I’d love to hear it. (I have this laptop on preorder, so would love to cancel and get a better option if you can provide one.)

• Latest i7 Skylake
• 32 GB DDR4 (I feel he should have 32GB with his use of VMs, you can certainly argue against this for his needs, but I use my system in a similar way and absolutely need 32, and this need eliminates a large number of options unfortunately)
• 512GB Samsung 950 Pro NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 Solid State Drive [M.2] (Read 2500MB/s - Write 1500MB/s 110K IOPS)
• Can push 2 4k displays, 3GB GDDR5
• 1.6 kg

Is there something I’m missing? You mentioned the graphics card. Something wrong with it?

I did read the OP, and I’ve known 4barrel for years. I look forward to your constructive response.

I would happily pay another 2k on top of this 3.5 for a 20% performance gain. Most people shouldn’t do that, I agree. That’s the point. The amount of money he has and earns is absolutely relevant to the advice he should be receiving.

Rather than getting all defensive about a laptop that you've never even used, it would probably be best the for OP to solidify exactly what he's looking for, unless his goal is simply to spend as much as possible.

Answering questions like this is usually the first step:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thre...posting.29271/

I don't know why you're turned on by nonsense like this: Exclusive Cooler Boost 3 Technology

It reminds me of the old Shell Platformate commercials.

How exactly am I being defensive? You and thunderbolts do seem slightly interested in attacking me and making baseless assumptions, but that line of discussion is of no value to me.

I have no personal attachment to a laptop or a laptop discussion, this is a business forum to me (and to 4barrel).

Did you read thunderbolts' post? He added nothing constructive. I asked him to do so (as I'm genuinely interested in better options and his opinion). If asking him to add something to the discussion, and encouraging him to point out any problems with my suggestion is defensive, then yes, I am "getting all defensive."

When did I say I was turned on by the Cooler Boost Technology? I didn't reference it once. I actually think their marketing is somewhat of a joke, and would agree that "technology" does nothing for me. I am interested in the specs and performance (including the weight). So is the OP.

I'd agree 4barrel should solidify what he's looking for with some additional information. Good suggestion. For example, the laptop I posted is attractive to me due to the specs combined with the weight. If he is ok with something heavy, he can gain significant performance. I mentioned that earlier. I'm making an assumption that since he wants to travel with it occasionally, it has some relevance, but he didn't seem to specify. Apologies if I missed it (I can imagine the nerd rage now if I did ). Maybe a 14" screen is too small for him, etc.

Thanks a lot for jumping in (I think I know who you are but I'm not sure heh). I thought writing dream in the title would make it clear I'm looking for something really good

This is mostly going to be a desktop replacement and I'm not a small guy, I think I don't really care if it's heavy. I also don't mind much about the battery since I can't think of many situations where I won't have a power source nearby.

Why is worrying about service a mistake?

If you absolutely need 32GB of RAM then I'm definitely going for it.

I think he mentioned the GFX card since I don't play anything but poker the GFX it might be an overkill? But on the other hand I do want a GFX card that can support at least two monitors with at least one being 4k.

That is my thought process as well.

Thanks for the link! Here we go:

1) What is your budget?

As much as needed to satisfy my requirements.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
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3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.

Most likely online or in Europe.
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5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?

No.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

Super heavy poker usage, many sites, 100+ tables, VM, PT4 and other poker related software. My current desktop described in the OP deals with this in an ok manner.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

%90+ on my desk, %10- on the road.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?

Pokers.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

Not much.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Without seeing is fine.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (Windows 7 / 8), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Windows 10.

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

No.

15) When are you buying this laptop?

ASAP.

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?

Years.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need? Do you want a SSD drive?

500+, yes.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner?

No.

It being light would obviously be nice but I'm fine with it being heavy. I do want a 17'' so I can still somehow fire up a bunch of tables when I'm traveling.

tytyty

since youre in Europe you should check out XMG laptops.
http://www.xmg.gg/#PRODUCTS

They make good gaming laptops and everything is customizable. So you'll want a 17' (min 1920x1080) screen, the newest intel i7 -6xxx quad core CPU, 32? gb of ram, and a 500 gb ssd. If you want the most powerful laptop you can get this one which has a desktop CPU inside. just customize it to i7-6700k.

http://www.xmg.gg/u706/?LANG=EN