How to choose a laptop for gaming: what characteristics are important and what you can not save on
- 30.05.2023
For modern games will not suit an office laptop. High characteristics of the main parts of the device are required. Gaming laptop is designed for a heavy load. Let's consider what to pay attention to in order to choose a suitable laptop for gaming, and what characteristics are important.
Laptop for gaming with a discrete graphics card
Graphics card should not be built-in, and a discrete, because it can cope with the playback of heavy graphics games. The quality of detail, the smoothness of movements depends on its capabilities. A few important parameters:
- If even more resource is required, install from 2 to 4 video cards.
- The higher the clock frequency of the video card, the faster the image is processed.
- The memory capacity of the video card should be from 2 to 8 GB.
A gaming laptop must have a powerful processor
The capacity of the processor determines the performance of the laptop. The minimum number of cores - 4 pcs. Clock frequency - a minimum of 2.8 GHz, maximum - 3.6 GHz.
The RAM of a gaming laptop
This device is responsible for how much information the laptop can process at the moment. The minimum size of RAM is 8 GB. However, some modern games require 16 GB. It is better to choose RAM among the fourth generation DDR4 with high frequency and with reduced power consumption.
Notebook cooling system
Powerful gaming laptops are warm during operation. Therefore, in order for the processor and graphics card to work at high frequency, you need an active cooling system. An important factor, where the hot air is directed. It is not desirable if the air flow moves to the right, because it will heat your hand and mouse, which is not comfortable.
Laptop data storage for gaming
The storage has to process data quickly and boot up the operating system. SSD storage is expensive, so there is a compromise. Often, gaming laptops combine an SSD and HDD with a minimum of 1TB. The SSD installs the operating system, and the SSD installs the games.
The screen of the gaming laptop
The size of the screen does not affect the performance of the laptop in games. However, it does affect how bright and impressive the course of the game will be perceived. Indicators of gaming notebook screens:
- Diagonal from 17 to 21 inches.
- Resolution - a minimum of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
- IPS matrix format gives you wide viewing angles and does not distort the colors when viewed from the side or bottom of the screen. TN matrices have a faster response time, which is important for active scenes in games, there is no braking and blurring in motion. Modern TN matrices have a picture display close to IPS.
- The glossy coating of the screen has better color rendering, and there is no glare on the matte. This factor is chosen for their lighting conditions and color rendering needs.
Laptop ports
To be able to display the game image on a large monitor, you need HDMI and DisplayPort ports. To connect headphones you may need a 3.5 mm jack.
The battery in a gaming laptop
To play on the laptop without a power connection, you need to have a high-capacity battery installed, from 5800 mAh. It's important to keep in mind that when not powered, graphics card performance drops to about 30 FPS. Also, battery life on heavy games usually only reaches an hour and a half. Therefore, battery capacity is not always important, unless the games are too heavy or circumstances require autonomy from the mains.