A gaming laptop is not a blurred concept anymore. It is something that could be described as a powerful device, capable of playing AAA titles – otherwise strenuous to its kind. Gaming laptops are also more powerful devices in general due to the components required to build one. That said, it doesn’t matter if you are playing the hottest games, doing office work or even playing some light browser games like baccarat casino online.

So how do you choose which gaming laptop is the best for you? Stay tuned to find out.

What do you need the gaming laptop for?

As a rule, gaming laptops are for those who wants to get the most out of their games without being constrained by the limitations found at the usual portable offerings. You also fall into this camp if you require a desktop class performance in a portable package.

On the contrary, if you are looking to play competitive titles such as Valorant, then I would look for a gaming laptop with a high refresh rate display, decent CPU, memory and GPU. Nothing extravagant, just enough for the task to save up some money – maybe even for some proper esports grade peripherals.

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Now if you are just looking to casually play games or maybe you just want to try one of those top Australian online casinos then you don’t have to commit to a fully-fledged gaming laptop. Something with decent specifications will be enough.

CPU

The processor is one of the key components of both desktop and notebook computers. It is largely responsible for the performance of the machine – except that in games, rendering, brute force and some other scenarios, the graphics card comes to the foreground. If you are planning to play demanding modern games, you need a laptop with a modern CPU. It is not necessary to chase after the number of cores though as Intel and AMD has some pretty good midrange mobile CPUs that could do the job just fine.

Another important point that should be mentioned is the division of mobile processors into performance and energy efficiency. High-performance CPUs with increased power consumption limits and high operating frequencies provide more processing power than models that are geared to save battery power.

Memory

The memory is yet another important component, caching data from the storage device to be used by the processor at will. The more capacity the better, but starting off with at least 16 GB will do. Also, make sure it is in dual channel mode or is capable of doing so for a future upgrade. Some notebook manufacturers has soldered memory baked into their models so keep that in mind.

Do not stress out on DDR5 and DDR4 either. DDR4 is plenty fast and DDR5 is still relatively expensive per gigabyte due to their recent emergence.

Graphics

The processor and video cards are the very components by which a gaming laptop is usually judged – along with the memory.

The good news here is that notebook manufacturers themselves determine which processor best matches the performance of a certain video card and you won’t have to get confused about the nuances of matching one to the other. The bad thing is that you can’t replace either the card or the processor later. You can upgrade the memory, and change the storage for more capacity and performance, but the processor and video card can not be replaced. Anyway, this option is not provided by the manufacturer.

For specifics, AMD’s Radeon and NVIDIA’s GeForce models should be the one you are looking out for. There are many models out there so this is where you should expand your info base. I.e., what graphics card model suits your needs or budget. A GeForce RTX 3050 Ti enabled laptop for example will be decent enough for competitive titles, while it is highly recommended to go for higher end models for more demanding games.

Display

Laptop displays are often overlooked and for good reason. Below are some pointers to consider.

  • Size: most gaming laptops have a screen diagonal from 15 to 17 inches, although there are models with 18-inch displays and a few 14-inch systems. The size is determined solely by personal preference, but do not forget – the bigger the screen, the bigger and heavier will be the laptop itself. So here it all depends on whether you plan to take a laptop with you often, for example, on business trips, or will mostly move it within the apartment.
  • Resolution: Do not even look if it is less than 1920 x 1080 (Full HD), although, in modern gaming laptops, this is rarely the case. In some gaming laptops, there are screens with a resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160), but they are significantly more expensive, and the difference in resolution on the small screens of laptops won’t be noticed by everyone. Plus, to play in this resolution you may need to lower some settings, especially if you enable ray tracing. To summarize, Full HD resolution is fine for gaming laptops given the small display diagonal; 1440p and 4K are better, but not enough to overpay and compromise by lowering graphics settings.
  • Refresh rate: The vast majority of gaming laptops feature 1080p displays with a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz. And for most gamers, that’s good enough, but eSports gamers may want to take a closer look at models with at least 144 Hz, 240 Hz or even 360 Hz refresh rates. The screens with higher resolution (2560 x 1440, 3840 x 2160) have a better picture, but their refresh rates does not usually exceed 60 Hz – unless we are talking about desktop displays.
  • Panel: Many laptops now come with OLED displays. They can provide deeper blacks, high contrast, and color reproduction, and for the most part, they are brighter and “more colorful” than laptops with IPS and TN matrices. However, some gamers are concerned about the possibility of these panels burning out. IPS is a rock solid choice here to start.
  • Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync: Some gaming laptops, especially the top models comes with the ability to support video card display synchronization technology, eliminating screen tearing – offering better immersion.
  • Avoid touchscreens: they are not bad per se, but not very suitable for gaming laptops, as they consume more battery and glare too much due to their nature.

Proven Brands

Each brand of gaming laptop has its characteristics. Some stand out for their striking exterior design, some for their functionality, and some for their focus on software. Here are the most popular of them:

  • Alienware (Dell) – the brand Alienware produces both lightweight and thin gaming laptops like Alienware m17, and comparable to desktops powerful machines, such as Alienware Area-51m. It is also worth noting the entry-level Dell brand laptops.
  • Acer – Acer is known for its affordable models, but periodically entertains with innovations like the completely insane Predator 21X with its curved display and mechanical keyboard. And the PredatorSense app lets you monitor CPU and video card temperatures and adjust fan speeds.
  • HP – HP’s Omen lineup stands out with a more stylish design, but retains its gamer aesthetic. The app is called Omen Command Center and provides detailed information about CPU, video card and RAM utilization, as well as a network acceleration utility that allows you to allocate bandwidth with different priorities.
  • Lenovo – Lenovo’s gaming lineup is called the Legion and boasts a stylish, sleek design, indistinguishable from premium business laptops and impeccable quality. The screens and keyboards are especially good. And instead of creating new software, the company has slightly changed its standard Vantage laptop app. You can now see information about CPU, video card, memory and storage usage, and there’s also a button for speeding up fan rotation.
  • Asus – ROG’s premium gaming lineup boasts a striking design and excellent performance. The ROG Gaming Center app provides easy access to device information such as temperature, memory and storage usage, as well as customizing performance profiles and RGB backlighting.

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