Gaming Laptops might not be as reliable as PC. However, many people still go for a Gaming laptop because of portability as their primary concern. Moreover, nowadays Gaming Notebooks are getting better as they are capable of running high-end titles smoothly.
After the pandemic Covid-19, we can clearly see a huge number of people are joining the gaming community. Not just that, players are spending their leisure time on online gaming. Be it any current popular games like Valorant, Fall Guys, Among Us, or any other Co-op games. Many players are considering buying gaming laptops either for casual gaming or for multitasking.
Therefore, We have listed out some points which you should consider before buying a Gaming laptop which ultimately fulfills your requirements.
Things to Look for Before Buying a Gaming Laptop in 2021
There are few things or specification that you need to look after while buying a gaming Notebook:
- GPU
- Display
- CPU
- Keyboard
- Storage
- Battery
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
A graphic card is one of the major components of a gaming laptop. Always look for a desirable yet powerful GPU which overall suits your budget and necessity. Currently, if you are looking for a casual gaming experience then you should consider laptops with GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 as a starting segment. Below that, you might face a poor gaming experience and have to compromise on quality for time being.
You can easily play the latest triple AAA titles in medium settings with a consistent 60 frames per second. However, many games can run on even high settings while turning textures and details low. In a conclusion, GTX 1650 and 1660 great for entry-level gaming laptops and affordable too.
Likewise for PC, you have the privilege to upgrade your GPU in the future but you can’t upgrade anything in your gaming laptop except ram and storage. So, it is advisable to invest money in a future proof device.
Furthermore, if you are really into hardcore gaming and want to experience games in high-end graphics along with VR experience. Then, the RTX series graphics card will do their job without any compromise and delivers unmatched performance. You can go for RTX 2060 or RTX 2070 as both GPU are capable of 1440p gaming with ray tracing, DLSS that makes sure you don’t miss any details.
Display
Most of the gaming laptops come with an optimal screen size of 15.6 inches or 17.3 inches. Don’t buy laptops below 15inch if gaming is your primary reason. Moreover, go for FHD ( 1080×1920) display for an immersive gaming experience.
In Competitive games like CSGO, Valorant, Apex legends, and Rainbow six siege, refresh rate and response time play vital roles as every mile seconds is crucial in these multiplayer games. If you are into these games or planning for E-sports, it’s good to have a 144hz display with a 1ms response time. This will provide you a better response time and motion while gaming.
Overall, these specs aren’t all necessary as budget-friendly laptops usually come with a 60hz refresh rate which is also good for gaming as you won’t feel much difference unless you are into competitive games.
CPU (Processor)
Similarly, the CPU is also a major component that contributes to the overall gaming experience. A processor like i5 10th gen is good enough for a budget gaming laptop.
However, it’s good to have an i7 8th or 9th gen, which performs fast and efficiently backed up with a powerful GPU. Most gaming laptops come up with either the i5 series or i7 series, as both are great options according to your budget.
CPU is as important as much as GPU because some games are highly CPU intensive which means CPU takes up all the load for running it on background.
Keyboard
You don’t have to emphasize this section much as every gaming laptop comes with a durable keyboard. Budget gaming segment laptops are usually equipped with a backlit keyboard or red backlit lighting.
There no doubt that RGB backlit gives your laptop an extra charm. Make sure to check whether your laptop has just a backlit keyboard or a backlit RGB. The RGB backlit comes with customization tools where you can set any color backlit according to your preference.
Storage
When it comes to storage, it’s better to have an HDD and SSD in a gaming laptop. Nowadays, almost every laptop is equipped with HDD + SDD which is the best build as SDD fastens up the game loading and bootup time.
There are a lot of SDD variants that come with gaming laptops, such as 1TB HDD+ 128 GB SSD or 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD. Hence, make sure whatever the laptop you are buying is having both HDD and SSD.
For handling high-end games or AAA titles, a good amount of RAM is required to play games efficiently. However, you need atleast 8GB of RAM for any gaming laptop to run games. For better performance, 16 GB Ram is sufficient to provide you unmatched gaming experience without any lag. Upgrading RAM on laptops is quite easy, as you can upgrade RAM anytime in the future.
Battery
A hard pill to swallow. But, battery backup sucks for gaming laptops. You can hardly play games without charging up your laptop. Most of them will give you a battery duration of just 3-4 hours depends on the brand and overall cooling design.
Hence, looking for an excellent battery backup in gaming laptops is daunting. Although, you can still check reviews of battery before purchasing.
Brands
Here is a list of some of the best brands for gaming laptops:
- Alienware
- MSI
- ASUS
- Acer
- HP
- DELL
- Razer
Some specific models of every brand are known for overheating. Don’t go for outdated models that are reported by many players or users. The laptop’s cooling system is important when it comes to long hour gaming sessions.
Bottom Line
Don’t go for specification below that what we have mentioned above as upcoming games are GPU and GPU intensive. Therefore, it would not be a wise choice for purchasing an outdated gaming laptop. Keep on checking for newly launched series for best deals and features.