What Features To Look For In A Gaming Laptop

The world of video games is a very vast one when it comes to both software and hardware. Due to the constant innovation that has taken place in recent years, the video game industry can be accessed from a growing number of devices. If the only option for gaming was represented by immobile devices such as computers or consoles, nowadays people have access to an increasing number of options.

Among these countless options are gaming laptops. They represent the perfect middle variant, with both high performance and mobility. Even if they are not as powerful as gaming computers, laptops come with other benefits. But, for a laptop to be suitable for gaming it must include the following components.

Processor

You can look for a laptop with an Intel Core i5 or i7 from a newer generation or even an Intel Core i9-8950HK that you find, for example, in Dell Precision 7530 and which can be overclocked. Because the processor on the laptop is not something you can upgrade, we recommend you to invest in one as efficient as possible when purchasing it. Unless you think you can settle for an older model, you should look beyond the 8th generation Intel Core.

Storage

In terms of storage capacity, you can choose between HDD, SSD and HDD + SSD mix (one of the best options recommended). Obviously, budget gaming laptops are generally equipped with standard HDD SATA (500 GB or 1 TB - make sure it is 7200rpm and not 5400rpm). These are an acceptable solution if you have a small budget and are happy with a large storage capacity. It may sound ironic, but there is an even better solution.

The most in vogue configuration on gaming laptops today refers to the combination of HDD + SSD. This solution is recommended from several points of view. First of all, you can install the operating system on the SSD, and the HDD will remain for storage of games and other content. Secondly, the value of an SSD in a gaming laptop is huge. A higher capacity SSD greatly helps minimize load times.

What it’s said about memory upgrade remains valid for storage. You can upgrade your HDD/SSD and possibly add a drive if your hardware allows it. For example, you can buy a gaming laptop with HDD, but that may take place to add an SSD. Otherwise, when upgrading to capacity, you must remove the old drive and add a larger one (for example, 2 Tb HDD instead of 1 Tb or 256 SSD instead of 120).

Video Card

Even if a performant video card is not required in a business laptop, it is a basic gaming component. Most laptops can work optimally even with the use of an integrated video card. But in order to access the latest games, you must have a laptop that has a dedicated video card.

For accessing performant games and video editing, a video card of about 4GB should be sufficient. For VR games with complex elements, the minimum threshold is somewhere up to 8GB. But, the GB number is not the only essential aspect. The age of the video card also matters, the newer the better.

Display

Because the screen inside a laptop is much smaller in size, its resolution should be higher for an ideal gaming experience. A 1080p Full HD resolution should be the minimum for a gaming laptop. But in some cases, even 720p is enough to provide minimal experience.

To experience the new games as best as possible, an even higher resolution is recommended. Even if there are not many in number yet, laptops with 4K displays are starting to appear on the market. In fact, OLED technology is also beginning to be implemented in some cases, such as the latest laptop launched by Razer.

Cooler

The existence of a cooler or cooling system in a laptop is essential. Due to the increased mobility, all the components of the laptop are clustered in a smaller space. For this reason, the device tends to warm up faster and stay at those high temperatures for a longer period of time. This can greatly diminish the performance of the laptop, even if it has a quality CPU and GPU.

Currently, there are a large number of ways to cool the devices. From normal cooling through the use of fans and even to cooling through a water-based system. Some ways are better than others, but you have to find the optimum trade-off between the cooler's produced and the efficient one.

Conclusion

High-quality video games can be accessed by a growing number of devices. Laptops are an ideal choice because of the way they combine mobility with performance. But, the components mentioned above must be found in any gaming laptop to cope with the latest trends in the video game world.