How to Choose the Best Gaming Laptop

What makes a gaming laptop the best? Top-notch performance? Lightweight? Easy to carry? What exactly? Of course, it might not be cheap, but you should get value for your money. 

For portability, everyone would love to get something a bit more portable. A gaming laptop can be taken virtually anywhere; you could just whip it out on the plane and continue your COD Warzone session. Desktops cannot do that unless you own the plane and there is not much turbulence. 

You’re looking for a portable desktop with specifications suited to your needs. So, when you’re looking to buy a gaming laptop, you’re looking for a host of factors. This article helps you make the best decision by listing all factors you need to be aware of when choosing the best gaming laptop.

Storage

So, HDD or SSD for storage? Well, why not use both? Some low-cost gaming laptops will only have a hard drive (typically 1TB). But, most gaming laptops will also include a Solid State Drive to work primarily as the boot drive.

In fact, it’s a common sight to see a 1TB HDD and a 128GB SSD coexisting. A larger SSD makes loading and booting time faster, but it will also take a chunk of your budget. Lastly, opt for a 7,200-rpm HDD rather than a 5,400-rpm HDD.

GPU

The graphics card, also known as the GPU, is an essential piece of hardware required in an excellent gaming laptop. The better the card, the higher the graphics settings you can use, and the enhanced the game delivery and performance. While better graphics do not always equal a better gaming experience, you can’t deny how amazing it is to see high-definition graphics during game sessions. You can relate to this better when you load up your GTA 5 or want to engage in any of the Lucky 7 game tricks.

Battery 

This is one factor that is as important as it is general. Whether you want to play games on the go or just need a laptop to take notes at school, battery life is key. When choosing a gaming laptop, consider where you plan to use the laptop the most frequently and how you intend to use it. This will inform your decision.

CPU

While game performance is associated with your graphics card, tasks like game streaming, video streaming, and video editing can greatly depend on CPU capacity. Furthermore, because laptop CPUs are welded directly to their motherboards, you cannot upgrade to a better processor in the future.

Display

You should definitely consider the display specifications when shopping for a gaming laptop. Besides making for a more immersive and vibrant experience, why use a small and poor display when you can get better? Aside from resolution and screen size, it would help to consider the refresh rate.

This is important, especially if you play fast-paced online or offline competitive games (such as COD) where a high refresh rate display directly impacts your gameplay. Of course, connecting your laptop to a high-quality gaming monitor is a good option. But you cannot carry these monitors everywhere, can you? So, you’ll need a laptop with a display that’s up to the task of gaming or working.

Below are the display features you should consider:

• Size

Size is purely a matter of personal preference. Most screens are between 13 and 18 inches in size, with 15 and 17 inches being the most popular. However, note that the larger the screen, the larger the laptop and the higher the price.

• Resolution

A 1920 x 1080 display is the standard you should aim for – nothing short of that will suffice. This is the smallest size that will help you to see clearly. If you go any lesser, you might not be able to appreciate detailing properly.

• Refresh rate

For optimum performance, your best bet in terms of refresh rate (measured in hertz) should be at least 60. This figure indicates how frequently the screen refreshes or updates.

You want the display to refresh at least 60 times per second so that you can react as you should during gaming – scratch that intense gaming session. Anything slower, and your gaming sessions may become more frustrating than they are fun.

• Avoid touchscreens

While they make you look cool, you are giving up more money and less battery life for this feature. Sounds wise? We don’t think so.

Cooling 

Due to advancements in cooling, laptop makers can now go beyond the old typecast of thick, heavy, bulky gaming laptops. Many of the most powerful systems available today are slim laptops with meticulously designed cooling systems.

Despite their complex internal workings, the basics of cooling systems in laptops still consist primarily of fans, vents, and heatsinks. Having said that, significant progress has been made in designing and applying these cooling tools, allowing for the well-reduced form we now see in modern gaming systems.

Comparing cooling systems based solely on manufacturers’ descriptions can be difficult. So, reading reviews to learn about real-world performance and how it may relate to your gaming needs is probably your best option.

Conclusion

What matters most when selecting the best gaming laptop is how you intend to use it. If you intend to game on an external monitor, you may want to prioritize GPU and CPU over an advanced built-in display. If you’re a content creator, a powerful CPU, a high-resolution display, and plenty of RAM may be more important than the most recent graphics card.