I'm getting a new laptop and I don't know what would be beat for me.
I play a lot of games: Dragon Age (Origins, II, and Inquisition), Skyrim, Titanfall, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Bio Shock (1, 2, and Infinite), Sims 2 and 4, Portal 1 and 2, the Walking Dead, etc.
I also use animation programs like Blender, Gimp, and Photoshop.
Best bang for the buck, Lenovo Y50. I7 processor for rendering and productivity; and a GTX 860M for gaming. Get ready to spend about a thousand dollars. Really no way to go cheaper and have a gaming rig.
Not naming any specific machine, just get the Recommended specs for the games you want to play.
Then you just need to find a machine that meets or exceeds them.
Example:
"Skyrim" wants…
- Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU processor
- 4GB System RAM
- 6GB free HDD (Hard disk drive) space
- DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon HD 4890 or higher
- DirectX compatible sound card
- Internet access for Steam activation