How to buy a gaming laptop?
Overview:
With the performance and components a bit confusing, their assertive design and their price (often) high, gamer laptops are from another world than conventional notebooks. But if you want to ship, for example, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to a friend without having to move a tower, a screen, a keyboard, a mouse and a power strip in the trunk of the car, that’s the price to pay.
How much is the invoice? It varies between 800 and 5000 €. The weight? Between 1.5 kg and 9kg. In other words, there is something for all tastes and all budgets. But there are some key points to keep in mind, no matter what your final choice.
And if you really do not find happiness in my selection because of your limited budget, I invite you to go see my comparison dedicated to cheap gamer laptops.
Components
If you want to be able to run games on your computer, especially recent games on the market, the criteria to be taken into account are obviously different than for a computer on which to take your course notes. Autonomy and mobility will more than likely be less essential criteria than the processor and the graphics card.
The processor (CPU)
The processor is somehow the heart, or even the brain of your computer, responsible for processing and executing the instructions you give it.
The more greedy the game you use, the more powerful and responsive the processor will be.
Nevertheless, it is useless to invest in the latest ultra-powerful processor if you do not play big games. Before investing in a PC, check the minimum requirements for running your favorite game, and adapt accordingly.
Everything is relative, then, but I would tend to advise you, for a gaming use pushed, to turn to a processor Core i5 or i7 series M or H. If you have the means, you can turn to the Core i9, but at present, games that require such an investment are more than rare (it is usually reserved for streamers).
The Quad Core is to favor, because more and more games are developed in order to make the most of it. But if you find a model 6 hearts, or even 8, it’s even better.
The graphics card (GPU)
Level graphics card, the choice between NVIDIA and AMD is possible. I prefer, by habit and fidelity, NVIDIA, but AMD is also a mark of quality.
Image 1: Graphics card
At the moment, I would advise you to minimize a GTX 1050. A GTX 1060 is a good average, while a GTX 1070 starts to offer you really satisfactory results on games more nervous type FPS. Now, if you want something really comfortable in all circumstances the GTX 1080 is obviously an option of choice.
The Max-Q
It is possible that you meet this mention on the data sheets. Honestly, it’s more than interesting to watch, even if it is still often quite expensive.
This is a relatively new GPU design patented by NVidia, which significantly reduces the power consumption of the graphics card. Now, which means reduced consumption, says controlled temperature. A laptop cooling pad can help to reduce the operating temperature of a gaming laptop. It is an essential accessory that you should definitely buy when using your laptop for long hours. Choose the laptop cooling pads for gaming with review and guide.
RAM
RAM is the RAM of your computer: it stores the information that your computer is actively using so that it can access it quickly. It depends on the computer’s ability to multitask and move quickly from one to the other.
It must be consistent with the rest of the components: if your processor is powerful but the RAM does not follow, it’s not worth it, your computer will be slow.
For gaming, it becomes difficult to navigate to less than 8 GB of RAM. But if you turn to a GTX 1060 processor or higher, I recommend you even 16 GB of RAM to take full advantage of all its advantages.
The hard drive
All notebook models in this selection are equipped with at least partial SSD storage. Why is it important? First for the installation time, which is much faster, but not that.
When a game is running, it picks up information from the internal memory. An SSD thus makes it possible, in particular, to reduce the loading time.
The screen
Of course, it is useless to invest in a quality graphics card if the screen does not follow! Nevertheless, you should know that investing in a quality screen is usually an investment of minimum 1200-1300 € (exceptions exist, of course).
But how to make sure that the screen is of good quality?
The resolution must be at least 1920 × 1080 (Full HD), with a refresh rate of 60 or 120 Hz. If it has G-Sync or FreeSync technology, it’s even better, especially for FPS a little nervous.
As far as touch is concerned, I am personally against it. Some manufacturers put it forward saying that it is ideal for Candy Crush or other games rather mobile.
However, in my opinion, it is above all a considerable drain of the battery, up to several hundred euros more on the bill, and a feature whose utility is generally limited to lovers of strategy games. See if you belong to it.
Screen size
The size of the screen will depend on the place the manufacturer has to put good material in it. A 15 “computer will often have more heating problems and a lower performance graphics card. It is to this format that most manufacturers now seem to be looking after several years focused on the 17 inches.
A model 17 inches, if it offers a better immersion, is obviously less nomad, being much more difficult to put in a bag, and often much heavier. So you have to see how important you are to the mobility of your computer.
In conclusion, which notebook PC gamer to choose?
It is tempting, when we are ready to put a price, to crack for the PC offering the most powerful components of the moment. Nevertheless, I tell you again, you do not need to empty your bank account if you play only games greedy.
The key is first to check the minimum requirements for the games you play and those you plan to buy in the coming months, and to go, if possible, to the recommended configuration (always listed in side of the minimum configuration).
But other questions must also arise, especially around the mobility of your device. If you do not expect to pack it often in a bag where it’s likely to hit, models with plastic chassis such as the Lenovo Legion Y530 and the Acer Predator Helios 300 will prove resilient.
Image 2: Lenovo Legion Y530
Image 3: Acer Predator Helios 300
Otherwise, crack for an aluminum model can be a guarantee of conservation over time. And in this case, opt for a weight of less than 2kg, as with the MSI GS65 8RF, the Razor Blade 15 or the Gigabyte Aero 15X V8 can be a wise choice.
As for the components, you will have noticed, it is often possible to find rather similar configurations for each PC. I invite you to determine what you absolutely need, select each PC in its version with this configuration, and then review the price.
They are all in a comparable range? The preference for a design or a brand can play here. Personally, my good experiences with Asus would probably lean me in favor of the Asus ROG Strix Scar II.
Author Bio: Sundar working in mippin.com, as a manager. He is a writer for more than a year. Also working as freelancer content writer for Technology products. More than a profession, he helps his clients to grow their business by helping them how to advertise and market.
