Current Events > HP Victus 15 a good budget gaming laptop?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Looking at this one

https://a.co/d/95s9bVu

Rtx 4050, 32gb ram, 1TB storage.

The 1TB storage is the only thing I'm for sure set on. The 4050 and the 32gbs of ram, I'm not sure if it's good or decent enough. I'm not looking to really play high end games that much, as I have my PS5 for that (I know I know). And would prefer a laptop for the portability over a desktop.

Any other suggestions would be good. Mainly looking into the $700-900 range.

I've had one for about 18 months now, it has been great and easily able to play anything (I don't play super high end games, but it could run Civilization VI no problem for example).

Certainly recommended as an option, though perhaps double-check reviews on the battery life, as I've mostly just used it at home.

I'd say the 1TB of storage is manageable if you are happy to uninstall games you don't play. Internet these days is fast enough that most games will install in under a couple of hours.

We have a saying in IT. "Friends don't let friends buy HP"

voldothegr8 posted...

We have a saying in IT. "Friends don't let friends buy HP"

I will second this

Do HPs still cook themselves to death?

2 main problem with gaming laptops at the moment

1. A 4050 or 4060 looks good up front, but it's really hard to get enough VRAM in a budget gaming laptop. 8GB could quickly become the minimum and some of these don't even break 2 or 4GB.
2. You're stuck with that 4050 since the laptop doesn't support Thunderbolt or USB4 for an external GPU.

Not bad, but just remember; vae victus - to the victus goes the spoils of war.

Unless you need it now, I'd wait for a sale on a 4060 8gb or the 5050 8gb to see wider release.

If you can't wait, go with the 8645hs one for $835.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Display-AMD-GeForce-Keyboard/dp/B0D9B53VR1

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5434vs6064/Intel-i5-13420H-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-8645HS

Starks posted...

2 main problem with gaming laptops at the moment

1. A 4050 or 4060 looks good up front, but it's really hard to get enough VRAM in a budget gaming laptop. 8GB could quickly become the minimum and some of these don't even break 2 or 4GB.
2. You're stuck with that 4050 since the laptop doesn't support Thunderbolt or USB4 for an external GPU.

Yeah, another thing to watch out for is that some laptops have GPUs with crippled wattage. I didn't realize that when I bought my cheaper RTX 4060 laptop last year, and it came with a lower wattage one. It hasn't been a problem for what I use it for, but something to keep in mind.

pinky0926 posted...

I'd say the 1TB of storage is manageable if you are happy to uninstall games you don't play. Internet these days is fast enough that most games will install in under a couple of hours.

Oh yeah. That's basically what I do for my PS5. Don't mind having to redownload games.

Starks posted...

2 main problem with gaming laptops at the moment

1. A 4050 or 4060 looks good up front, but it's really hard to get enough VRAM in a budget gaming laptop. 8GB could quickly become the minimum and some of these don't even break 2 or 4GB.
2. You're stuck with that 4050 since the laptop doesn't support Thunderbolt or USB4 for an external GPU.

Hm I see. I don't mind being stuck with the 4050 because like I said, I don't expect to play any high end intensive games. At the most, I've been playing a lot of bullet heavens like Vampire Survivors and those kind of kill the frames on PS5 sometimes lol.

saspa posted...

Not bad, but just remember; vae victus - to the victus goes the spoils of war.

Lol

cheat4ever posted...

Unless you need it now, I'd wait for a sale on a 4060 8gb or the 5050 8gb to see wider release.

If you can't wait, go with the 8645hs one for $835.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Display-AMD-GeForce-Keyboard/dp/B0D9B53VR1

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5434vs6064/Intel-i5-13420H-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-8645HS

Ah okay. I'll look into it. Thank you!

Stay away from HP laptops

For that price? Not even close. For starters, the processor is at least a couple of generations old and also very weak to begin with, the 4050 is both very weak/outdated and has only 6GB of RAM, and the screen is only rated at 62.5% sRGB. Victus is also HP's low end line for gaming laptops, and from what I understand, the build quality reflects that.

If you give me some time (i.e. maybe up to a day or so), I'll try to look around and see what's available and on sale; I just finished my hunt for a new laptop last month, after doing a ton of research and watching the market for over 7 months. I ended up getting an HP Omen Slim 16 with a Ryzen AI 350 and RTX 5060 for $1080, and even that ended up not being as great as a deal as I hoped, as HP did another big sale last week and there was an Omen 16 Slim with an Intel 225h and RTX 5050 for ~$880 that I would've been happy with.

Lazy_Haar posted...

For that price? Not even close. For starters, the processor is at least a couple of generations old and also very weak to begin with, the 4050 is both very weak/outdated and has only 6GB of RAM, and the screen is only rated at 62.5% sRGB. Victus is also HP's low end line for gaming laptops, and from what I understand, the build quality reflects that.

If you give me some time (i.e. maybe up to a day or so), I'll try to look around and see what's available and on sale; I just finished my hunt for a new laptop last month, after doing a ton of research and watching the market for over 7 months. I ended up getting an HP Omen Slim 16 with a Ryzen AI 350 and RTX 5060 for $1080, and even that ended up not being as great as a deal as I hoped, as HP did another big sale last week and there was an Omen 16 Slim with an Intel 225h and RTX 5050 for ~$880 that I would've been happy with.

Yes I don't mind waiting. I'm in no rush, just something I've been thinking about getting lately. If nothing pops up in a day or so, I don't mind waiting even longer.

Thank you friend!

And thanks everyone for the advice. I'm quite noob in the computer world so I'll take any. Although all the "don't get HP" talks are quite concerning lol

voldothegr8 posted...

We have a saying in IT. "Friends don't let friends buy HP"

So what *do* friends let friends do?

https://www.microcenter.com/product/696090/hp-victus-15-fb3002nr-156-gaming-laptop-computer-mica-silver

This is more of what a baseline gaming laptop needs to be these days. It's an interesting CPU choice in the 340 since the only difference from a strix point is the internal GPU cores, which do not matter here.

Patriotwolf posted...

Stay away from HP laptops

Or printers and any other product they peddle.

Touch posted...

Ah okay. I'll look into it. Thank you!

Another alternate, 7700s 8gb/1tb ssd for $950.

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-RX7700S-Graphic-Win11Pro-Accessory/dp/B0D4DW9XJ2

Also, are you near a microcenter?

voldothegr8 posted...

We have a saying in IT. "Friends don't let friends buy HP"

Well I bought an HP monitor back around 2010 and I'm still using it right now to type this post. Maybe I got lucky.

I wanted to at least say that this Lenovo LOQ that I saw posted on here recently is a solid laptop for the price, but it only has a RTX 3050 and would struggle to run anything released in the last year or two thanks to both being years old and only having 4GB of VRAM, as well as the laptop itself only having 12 GB of RAM:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126480962681

I tried looking up videos of recent games being played on it and found this, at least:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lacG64b2ozY

The CPU is rather weak at this point (very slightly more powerful than the one you originally linked) and would be more power hungry/potentially run hotter, from what I understand (as it's an HX processor instead of an H). I would imagine you would want to upgrade the SSD since it's only 512GB, as well, though that's practically the easiest thing to upgrade on most laptops (alongside RAM, which you might also want to upgrade here), and Lenovos are known for being user-friendly/good quality. But yeah, it's pretty much the bare minimum at this point and will only get worse from here, but it's fair for the price of $560. The screen is also rated at 100% sRGB, which is much better than the one you linked; here's a random video I found that shows what the difference would more or less look like:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/1l4d9be/comment/myf43ei/?context=3

I'll keep looking for deals on more powerful laptops later, though now might be a less than ideal time, since many places just had 4th of July deals (HP.com still has the same 20% discount code they've been offering off and on for the last month or two, but their prices aren't as low as they were last week). And for whatever it's worth, my understanding is that HP has improved over the last few years, and I've had no complaints about the Omen 16 Slim (a new model that they just released this year) so far. Hinge wobbling was a major concern in the past (HP = Hinge Problem), but mine isn't any worse than the Dell G15 I'd been using for the last few years.

Also, one last thing: I would recommend against buying from third party sellers, especially on Amazon.com, as most won't offer a warranty of any kind beyond the standard 30 day return window (and even then, you'll likely get smacked with a restocking fee if you try to return it). Stick to either buying directly from the manufacturers, big box retailers like Best Buy, or licensed resellers (the LOQ I linked was from Antonline, who lists themselves as an authorized Lenovo reseller and offers full warranty).

The jump to 12GB vram is very expensive. Requires a mobile 5070 ti or better.

Starks posted...

The jump to 12GB vram is very expensive. Requires a mobile 5070 ti or better.

Yeah, I'm kinda kicking myself because I wasn't expecting to find a 5070 ti laptop near the $1080 I paid for my 5060 laptop, but there was a deal via HP's site 2-3 weeks ago where the Omen Max with a 5070 ti was ~$1280, and I think the extra $200 would've been more than worth it for the future proofing. In all actuality, though, my use case is probably not enough to really need the extra VRAM, as I usually find myself still playing games like TF2 most of the time, and my laptop can play it at max settings at 120 FPS capped with 50+ players and not even make the CPU/GPU sweat. I've been meaning to play some more modern games like Oblivion Remastered whenever I get Game Pass again, but I still doubt it'll demand much from what I already have, especially since I'm happy as long as my games run at 80+ FPS (though even 60 FPS is acceptable - just not my ideal).

I got this for my mother, granted all she plays is WoW, Rune Factory titles, Dragon quest titles, and the odd free MMO, and it's doing fantastic for her. Would assume it depends on what you play.

These are the noob things I'm not so privy to lol. What's the difference between regular ram and vram? And is 32gb of regular ram good or would 16gbs be good for most things?

Touch posted...

These are the noob things I'm not so privy to lol. What's the difference between regular ram and vram? And is 32gb of regular ram good or would 16gbs be good for most things?

VRAM is on the GPU (graphics card). It's not upgradeable (so whatever you buy, you're stuck with it), and games are demanding more and more VRAM nowadays to run at higher settings, to the point where people are starting to think at least 12 GB is what you should aim for, though as was mentioned, you have to go all of the way up to a 5070 ti on a laptop to get that, and most models I've seen are going for at least $1600 unless you catch a really good sale (and even that price seems to be on the very low end).

As for regular old RAM, 16 GB is more or less the minimum people recommend at this point, though many say it's better to get 32 GB now, since there are games like Hogwarts Legacy that will use up more than 16 GB if you let it. The thing is that upgrading the RAM yourself is almost always much cheaper than paying for a laptop that comes with a higher amount preinstalled; my new HP came with 16 GB, and I paid $80 + tax for 32 GB off of Amazon, then spent not even five minutes installing it. HP currently charges $260 on the laptop I just checked to include 32 GB out of the gate:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/88aa55d5.png

Same deal with hard drives, too - it's almost always much, much cheaper to upgrade on your own.

I also just realized that the YouTube video about 100% sRGB vs 62.5% sRGB I tried to link earlier actually just linked to the reddit topic I made asking about my potential laptop choice last month (though the video is down the line of comments). Here's the direct link:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P51r6JjTM-0

The VRAM debate is the hottest debate in gaming right now. In 2015 it was whether 2 or 4 was enough. In 2020 it was whether 6 or 8 was enough. Now we're discussing if 12 is enough. Pretty sure in 2028 people will say 16gb of vram isn't enough.

HP stands for hinge problems

pinky0926 posted...

The VRAM debate is the hottest debate in gaming right now. In 2015 it was whether 2 or 4 was enough. In 2020 it was whether 6 or 8 was enough. Now we're discussing if 12 is enough. Pretty sure in 2028 people will say 16gb of vram isn't enough.

Laptop graphics have always lagged behind but now it feels like a wall. You're already paying for a crippled version of a decent GPU core and maybe you have decent memory bandwidth, but you can't even load the game now. This wouldn't be a problem if you could still get a 12 or 16 gig variant like you could for a desktop.

But again, I want Thunderbolt 5 to simply end this problem. 240w aio egpus at 120Gbps with no interface bottleneck and no requirement for additional power unless you want it.

I sit here with a work laptop in my lap, an HP.

Fuck this computer and fuck the company who thought it was a good idea.

Don't buy HP, send Hewlett-Packing.

DuuuDe14 posted...

HP stands for hinge problems

Personally in my head it stands for horse penis.

Whatever you end up doing TC make sure to exhaust your money saving and redeeming options.

Like, sign up for Rakuten and compare the cashback to what MS Edge offers. Activate any deals on your credit cards for the store you plan to buy from.

And wait for a sale. When I was in the market for a new laptop, I had like two or three systems in mind and i just checked the prices daily. The ASUS that I wanted eventually went on a deep discount and it's treated me well for the last two years though the keyboard quality is bad

Thanks for the advice y'all. Definitely gonna take my time with this and do research, and take what I can from y'all lol.

If HP is a no no, then how's about ASUS or Lenovo?

Once upon a time I'd have recommended ASUS on the spot, but I'm less sure about them now.

I have a ROG Zephyrus or whatever from them, it works well but gets super hot.

Touch posted...

Thanks for the advice y'all. Definitely gonna take my time with this and do research, and take what I can from y'all lol.

If HP is a no no, then how's about ASUS or Lenovo?

Honestly, I wouldn't completely ignore any brand just because someone says it's bad; a lot of comments you'll find for anything will be based on older or different models than what you'd likely be looking at right now (though I know said complaints can still serve as a barometer of sorts for how much you can trust a particular manufacturer). Some of the big manufacturers have released new models in the last few months (such as the Alienware 16/16X Aurora, HP Omen 16 Slim, etc.), too, and no one can really know for sure just how reliable they'll be in the long term. No joke, I've heard plenty of bad things about just about every brand: HP has hinge problems and their screens suck, ASUS has overheating issues and their warranty process is a nightmare, Dell is overpriced and unreliable, Acer has terrible/cheap build quality, etc. Lenovo's probably the only brand I haven't really seen consistent complaints for at this point, but you can still find people with problems like failing motherboards and overheating issues if you look for them.

As for my own experience in the last few years: I had a Dell G15 5511 that I bought refurbished from Dell themselves back in July of 2022 that started to overheat/shut down in December of 2024. I tried a Lenovo Legion Pro 5 about a month later, but the keyboard made my hand cramp and it reset my USB mouse's sensitivity every time I rebooted it (plus the QHD resolution was messing with my eyes a bit). I also tried a refurbished Acer Nitro 5 and the screen had horrendous backlight bleed and the audio (I'm talking about using headphones, by the way) was noticeably worse in quality. After those failures, I kept using my G15 (I was usually able to keep it from shutting down if I limited the CPU/GPU power draw and set a universal cap on frame rates via Nvidia Control Panel) until last month, when I saw the new HP Omen on sale and decided I'd give it a chance despite all of the bad things I'd heard about the brand (mostly because more recent comments I'd seen on the Omen models were saying they'd improved their issues, and it was practically the only recent laptop I could find that met most of my silly demands, such as having a 100% sRGB FHD screen and being a darker color with a keyboard that had a numpad/RGB lighting and ports on the back). So far, it's great, but ask me again in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc.

I guess I'm basically saying you're taking a chance on almost any laptop you can buy, but you can at least mitigate the risks by looking around and seeing what people have to say about any specific model you find yourself interested in, as well as making sure you're buying from an authorized seller that'll give you the manufacturer's warranty (most of which seem to last 1 year, from my experience, though you can often buy extended warranties if you're the more cautious type).

These days its more about whether individual model lines are good or not as opposed to brands as a whole.

If you really plan on gaming heavily on your laptop and with the latest games, I would get one with a 4070 or 5070. Wait until Black Friday for another price reduction.

Arcanine2009 posted...

If you really plan on gaming heavily on your laptop and with the latest games, I would get one with a 4070 or 5070. Wait until Black Friday for another price reduction.

Like I've said before, I don't really plan to play high end games (too much?). I still have my PS5 for that, although I get the library is limited compared to PC haha. I mainly wanna dabble in stuff like FF9 with the moguri mod and the likes.

Bump 2 avoid purge.

Also yeah, keeping thermals controlled is an important thing for me. Although I read I can help with that with whatever settings I put on the laptop itself yeah?

Hmmm kinda been lazy with research lately and still looking at that Victus 15 with the 4050. But again, no rush here.

Worth repeating that the 5050 Victus is only $40 more than the 4050 one and has an extra 2GB VRAM. I don't think you're really appreciating how much you'd overpay to be ripped off and stuck with an old CPU that has aged poorly. 13420H is from 2023 and was quickly superseded by the 125H/210H and now 225H/226V/228V. And yes, they have to presented weirdly like that since you can't know also CPU features from just its model number these days.

Please go with the newer Ryzen AI Victus laptops. Fresh tech is not a premium.

5050 one:
https://www.microcenter.com/product/696090/hp-victus-15-fb3002nr-156-gaming-laptop-computer-mica-silver

5060 Victus only an extra $50 beyond the 5050 one:
https://www.microcenter.com/product/696088/hp-victus-15-fb3001nr-156-gaming-laptop-computer-mica-silver

Dang yeah that 5050 one looks good but unfortunately, no microcenters around me :(

And with the 5050 and 8gb vram, would 16gbs of regular ram be okay?

This is what I have, added a 2TB SSD to it as well and will soon be upgrading to 32GB RAM:

https://a.co/d/1ZCw7Jf

It regularly goes on sale for under 1k but I got the damn thing at $1400 back in 2023. Runs everything Ive thrown at it perfectly at high settings too.

Before that I had an HP Pavilion with a 1050ti I bought in 2019 and that thing is actually still kicking ass, though not at modern games. Its my wifes Sims and Stardew Valley machine

Touch posted...

Dang yeah that 5050 one looks good but unfortunately, no microcenters around me :(

And with the 5050 and 8gb vram, would 16gbs of regular ram be okay?

Unfortunately can't read everything in the topic at the moment but it depends on what you're doing. If when you're gaming your primarily going to be just gaming, maybe music/a video running in the background, it should be fine. If you're not doing any multitasking heavy work it should be fine as well.

R_Jackal posted...

Unfortunately can't read everything in the topic at the moment but it depends on what you're doing. If when you're gaming your primarily going to be just gaming, maybe music/a video running in the background, it should be fine. If you're not doing any multitasking heavy work it should be fine as well.

Yeah mainly just pure gaming. Any music or extracurricular stuff I'll do on my TV or a speaker or something

DuuuDe14 posted...

HP stands for hinge problems

I had an Inspiron 1525 that caught fire after the hinge broke.

Trumpo posted...

I had an Inspiron 1525 that caught fire after the hinge broke.

Like...immediately after? o__O