College and gaming laptop

[Nrd]

Okay, so I will be going back to school soon and I want to get a laptop for general school stuff and some gaming. I would like to spend about $700, but my max budget can be about $850. I'd like a nice, dependable laptop that will last me about four or five years that I could upgrade if I have the inclination. Here are the recommended specifications for one of the games I typically play.

Recommended System Configuration:

OS: Windows 7 / 8
CPU: Intel i7 Series or AMD X4 @ 2.0 GHz or greater
RAM: 4 GB or higher
Video: AMD Radeon 6790 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 or better with at least 1 GB VRAM

 

[Geoff]

What are the game titles that you like to play? 4-5 years is quite a bit to expect out of a laptop, especially gaming laptops, if you expect them to still be able to play newer games throughout that time. As far as upgrading goes, most laptops are pretty limited, allowing you to only upgrade the memory and hard drive.

Do you have any preference on brand? Have you looked into any of the Lenovo Y40? http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40/

 

[Nrd]

EVE Online, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Mount and Blade, Sid Meier's Civilization V, amongst other older games and maybe some newer games that are on the low end of the spectrum. I don't plan on playing the most cutting edge games on it, I just don't want the thing to break for a few years. I have no real brand preference, and being able to upgrade is an optional feature. I haven't looked into Lenovo Y40s, so I'm doing that now. Thanks for the suggestion.