In this guide, I will try to keep it as short and precise as possible. Who reads a long winded guide anyways? I want to know what I need to know when buying something. Without further ado lets get into it. When looking for a gaming laptop, do keep in mind to look out for these things for the best money to performance ratio or in other words best bang for buck:-
1) The Processor (CPU also known as the Central Processing Unit)
Do you prefer a 4 cores or a 6 cores processor? Well yes 6 cores may be the obvious choice but with 6 cores do be reminded that the price also increases. Next up which brand do you prefer? AMD or Intel, usually for budget entry level gaming we would probably go with AMD but it really depends on you (I will be writing a separate blog just for the 2 tech giants) It is also important to check up for the processor lineup like i5 or Pentium ( Will do a separate blog on lineups ) clock speed, boost clock as well as cache and release date of the CPU for better comparison.
2)The GPU (Graphics processing unit)
We must know and understand whether is our laptop running on a dedicated or integrated graphics card. In most cases we would definitely want to run a gaming laptop on a dedicated GPU for better performance but Intel’s Iris Plus integrated graphics will do too, as well as AMD’s Vega Graphics are also not bad. Also, do check for release dates of GPU, clock speeds, memory type as well as VRAM (also know as Video Memory) in GB to better know how well will your GPU perform.
3) Monitor Quality
Monitor is one of the important parts when it comes to a gaming laptop. You should really check on the refresh rate of the monitor as well as brightness and colour accuracy(nits). For refresh rate there are specs such as 60hz, 120hz, 144 hz as well as 240hz. Try to have a colour accuracy in sRGB of 90 percent and make sure your laptop’s monitor produces around 300 to 500 nits. Monitor size also matter so be sure to check on that, they usually come in 14 inch, 15.6 inch, or 17 inch.
5) The RAM (Random Access Memory)
There’s not much to talk about RAM. Try choosing a RAM frequency around 2400mhz or if you have a couple ringgit lying around getting the 2666mhz is not bad and faster. Be careful when getting the RAM especially when choosing the memory type, newer laptops usually run on DDR4 so get that as a DDR3 memory will not fit into the slot. Most of the time, 8GB of RAM will be fairly sufficient for gaming and working needs. On the other hand 4 GB of RAM will not be enough as windows will probably take up around 2.5 to 3.5 GB of your RAM during startup.
6) Cooling System Placement
Cooling system is one of the most important aspect on gaming laptop due to its small chassis, try to check the connection of the heat pipe and fan placement. You would most likely want the fans to be separate on both sides with heat pipes dragging heat out to 2 opposite directions for better and more efficient cooling.
7)The Battery life
First things first, gaming laptop’s battery life are usually very short and we can’t do much about it due to its dual-fan cooling, making space for the performance hardware while shrinking the battery capacity and the power hungry processors and GPUs. All we can do is to bring the charger wherever we go just in case.
8) Upgrade and Expand ability
After getting a gaming laptop, we want to make sure there are still space for upgrades. All though generally all laptops can’t really do much of a customization due to the soldered hardware on the motherboard. Having some sort of upgrade like adding a SATA drive, adding RAM into RAM slots and maybe even adding a another NVME PCIe SSD if slots are available will be a nice thing to have. Triple A titles these days usually takes up a lot of space so be aware of that when selecting storage amount.
9) Ports
Try to find some laptops with a variety of ports to use like Ethernet, HDMI, USB 2.0 and 3.0, USB C if possible get a thunderbolt 3 one. To me the most important port in a gaming laptop is the Ethernet port due to the fact that lag free gaming is always a pleasant experience.
10) Design and Outlook
I can’t comment much on design as everyone has their own preference, but I would suggest preferably get a gaming laptop that has as little flex on the chassis, monitor as well as the keyboard for more durability. Also do note that you must feel comfortable when resting your hands on the chassis as during the game you are most likely to do that.
That’s all I have for you in this blog for today. I will be doing a couple of other blogs on the mediocre laptops as well as gaming laptops that I personally suggest. I will too be explaining the technical stuff that I have stated above or might even start writing a PC building guide someday so stay tune. Hope I have help you in this guide and good luck on your purchase! If you have any feedback please feel free to let me know as I will try my best to change it as much as possible!
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