Gaming laptops are versatile machines with a strong emphasis on performance. They boast cutting-edge hardware, making them well-suited for a variety of tasks, with gaming being a primary focus. Delve into the essential components that power these laptops, from processors to GPUs, and explore key considerations, including storage, display options, and connectivity features.
Main use case
Depending on your budget, gaming laptops come with the best hardware money can buy. As such, they’re good for just about anything, but the primary use case is, you guessed it, gaming.
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Processor
While the GPU does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to gaming, you still want to get a decently fast processor when it comes to gaming laptops. We would recommend at minimum a 12th or 13th gen i5 “H” variant Intel processor, or in the case of AMD, a Ryzen 6000 or 7000 series Ryzen 5 “H” processor. The best of the best will come with Intel Core i9s and 7000 series Ryzen 9 processors.
RAM
When it comes to gaming, RAM is very important. At minimum, you want at least 16GB of RAM. DDR5 would be ideal but you can go for DDR4 as well.
GPU
Depending on your budget and the kind of games you want to play, we would recommend picking up an RTX 4050 gaming laptop at the minimum for some level of future-proofing. When it comes to gaming laptops it’s important to keep GPU TGP (Total Graphics Power) in mind. This is essentially how much power the GPU uses with higher being better in terms of performance. Avoid gaming laptops with “Max-Q” GPUs; these GPUs are intentionally underclocked to provide better power efficiency but at the cost of performance.
Storage
At least 1TB of PCIe Gen 3 SSD or higher is strongly recommended for any creator laptop.
Display
Displays aren’t as important when it comes to gaming laptops. As long as the laptop has your desired resolution and refresh rate you should be fine. However, if you’re looking for a gaming laptop that can also double as a creator laptop, refer to the creator laptop segment.
I/O ports
As far as portability is concerned, gaming laptops are the least portable kind of laptop. Chances are you’re going to keep it on a desk the majority of the time with peripherals and/or a monitor plugged in. Keep the number of ports you’ll need in mind before making your purchase. We would recommend at minimum 3 USB-A ports and at least one USB-C port in addition to an RJ-45 ethernet and HDMI 2.1 port. Most laptops come with a 3.5mm combo audio jack as well for your audio needs in case you don’t have a USB headset.
Thermal performance
Thermals are very important in a gaming laptop since gaming is among the more intensive activities one can perform on a laptop. The cooling capabilities of a laptop can determine how well it performs during long gaming sessions before starting to throttle performance.
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Manish Rajesh
Manish can usually be found fervently playing video games of all kinds or… no wait he’s pretty much always playing games View Full Profile
