Laptops are a type of computer that is not very suitable for gaming. This is due to the peculiarities of the relative position of the screen and the keyboard, the high complexity (and often the impossibility) of the upgrade, the low performance of the cooling system and a number of other factors. Nevertheless, due to its portability and compact form factor, many people choose laptops for gaming.
How to Pick a Good Gaming Laptop: Options to Look Out for
A gaming laptop is required primarily for high performance, especially in terms of graphics processing. Therefore, the list of characteristics worth paying attention to is as follows:
-
Screen resolution;
-
Graphics card parameters;
-
Processor performance;
-
The amount of RAM.
These are the main parameters to consider when choosing a gaming laptop. You can also appreciate the convenience of the keyboard and touchpad, the quality of the cooling system and special gaming features.
Gaming laptop screen options
Screen resolution determines the quality ('smoothness') of the picture, the number of elements in the picture and the ability to run modern games – many of them simply do not 'work' on small displays. In addition, the frame rate indirectly depends on it.
The optimal screen resolution for a gaming laptop is Full HD (1920 × 1080 pixels). With a lower value of this parameter, the picture will not look very nice, with a higher value, the load on the video card will increase, which, with an insufficiently functioning cooling system, will lead to overheating and in any case will cause intensive consumption of the battery charge.
The standard diagonal screen for modern gaming laptops is 17.3 inches. Devices with smaller displays can be uncomfortable for gameplay, while devices with larger displays can be inconvenient to transport. At the same time, if you do not plan to take your laptop out of your home, you can purchase a model with a 21-inch screen and a resolution higher than Full HD.
Graphics card parameters
The graphics card is the main stumbling block for modern gaming laptop manufacturers. Special “mobile” graphics accelerators are characterized by very low performance, which is definitely not enough for rendering an image rich in details. Powerful video cards require a significant increase in the function of the cooling system, and also lead to increased power consumption.
Therefore, the vast majority of mid-range gaming laptops are not equipped with a very powerful graphics card. This allows manufacturers to optimize the cooling system so as not to overheat the chips. Flagship gaming laptops are equipped with an almost desktop video card (and sometimes a really desktop one – such as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 in the MSI GT80 2QE Titan SLI, which costs about 400 thousand rubles on the Russian market).
Thus, if you need an inexpensive gaming laptop, you will have to forget about really productive video cards. If you need a powerful graphics accelerator, you will have to spend a little more money than planned.
Nevertheless, a top-end video card is not needed for comfortable passage of most modern games. Such projects can also be launched on a graphics accelerator with 2 GB of video memory. Unless the refresh rate of the picture or the depth of detail can be significantly lower than that of top-end or desktop configurations.
In general, 2 GB is the minimum amount of video memory required for a gaming laptop. It makes no sense to buy less. More is possible (and necessary), but it is necessary to calculate first of all based on the budget.
Laptop processor parameters
If the video card in games is primarily responsible for graphics, then the processor is responsible for 'invisible elements', such as the behavior of artificial intelligence, the elaboration of the physical model, the formation of elements of the environment and the virtual environment. As a consequence, it also needs to be reasonably productive.
Optimal processors for modern gaming laptops are Intel Core i5 or i7 4th (Haswell) or older generation. Such chips, while maintaining performance, provide less heating and power consumption.
AMD processors are only advisable if the budget for buying a gaming laptop is very limited. They are not as powerful, energy efficient and 'cold' as chips Intel, but they are also cheaper.
RAM size
The amount of RAM is also important for running resource-intensive games (and almost all modern projects are like that). However, you shouldn't go to extremes and buy the ASUS ROG G752VY-GC337T, which costs a little less than 250 thousand rubles, but is equipped with 32 GB of RAM.
For most modern games, 8 GB of RAM will be sufficient. Still, we are talking about a laptop, and it is a priori not worth launching any projects with maximum quality on it – it is fraught with overheating of the internal components. If you want the best gaming experience, devices with 16GB of RAM will do.
Other options for choosing a gaming laptop
Also, when choosing a gaming laptop, it is worth considering a number of other parameters:
-
Hard disk space. Considering the resource intensity of modern games, it would hardly be advisable to purchase laptops with HDDs less than 500 GB. Optimal configuration: 128-256 GB SSD for running the operating system and 0.75-1.5 TB HDD for installing games;
-
Convenience of keyboard and touchpad. This is a very important parameter, since it is through these controllers that interaction with the game takes place. Mechanical keyboards are considered the best for gaming, but laptops with them are rare and quite expensive (such as the above MSI GT80 2QE Titan SLI). When buying, it is worth evaluating how the hands lie on the keys and how much the fingers fall into the field of view
-
Cooling system. Gaming laptops, due to the high performance of their components, get quite hot, especially in modern projects. Therefore, the quality of the cooling system is very important;
Special gaming functions – additional buttons on the keyboard, backlighting of active keys, interactive displays on touchpads – all this makes the gameplay more enjoyable.
Summary
Given the high cost of gaming laptops, their choice must be approached responsibly. It is recommended to purchase configurations that not only meet current needs, but also surpass them – so that in the future you can run modern games on your device in the future.
!
In the following articles, our experts will tell you how to choose laptop headphones, the secrets of choosing RAM for your laptop, the main criteria for choosing a reliable laptop bag and a complete guide to choosing a laptop operating system.
Attention! This material is the subjective opinion of the authors of the project and is not a purchase guide.
