Gaming laptops have advanced significantly over recent years. Their performance now compares favorably with desktop PCs while often offering slimmer, more stylish solutions.
Finding a gaming laptop to suit your needs involves carefully considering its CPUs, GPUs and displays as well as features like cooling systems and durable construction.
Processor
Processor speed plays an integral part in gaming performance on laptops. For casual gamers, an Intel Core i5 CPU should suffice, but for high-fidelity titles or professional design work it is wise to upgrade to something with more cores such as an i7.
Graphics cards also play a part in frame rate and resolution; for instance, 4K gaming requires your GPU and CPU to push four times as many pixels to the screen at any one time.
Consider purchasing a laptop equipped with technologies like Nvidia G-Sync or AMD FreeSync that synchronize the display with the graphics card to prevent screen tearing and ghosting. Avoid touch screens as these can drain battery life significantly and shorten screen life significantly.
Graphics Card
Gaming laptops feature dedicated graphics cards to increase performance and enable higher setting games. For optimal performance, look for models equipped with NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics cards or higher.
The top gaming laptops feature high resolution and refresh rate screens to deliver an engaging, crisp gaming experience. Many models also boast low response times to ensure smooth and seamless gameplay even in fast-paced titles such as first-person shooters.
Your next consideration when purchasing a gaming laptop should be its battery life. Many gaming laptops need constant power in order to achieve optimal frame rates and can last only an hour or two on full charge without gaming, so finding one suitable to both your lifestyle and budget can be key.
RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory) is the storage area in which applications and data are loaded for processing by your CPU. RAM is crucial to gaming, making a laptop with at least 16GB memory a must for playing modern titles; adding more can assist productivity tasks like web browsing and streaming as well. Most laptops offer upgradeable RAM so you can increase its storage as needed later.
Not only should RAM be taken into consideration, but storage should as well. A fast SSD can significantly decrease load times while larger HDDs offer plenty of room for gaming – for optimal performance look for models with at least 512GB SSD and 1TB or higher HDD; hybrid solutions combining an SSD for operating systems and frequently-played games with larger HDD storage are also highly desirable.
Storage
Gaming laptops deliver PC performance in a portable, mobile form. Options range from 14- to 18-inch screens with resolutions up to 4K, graphics cards that support different frame rates and fast SSD storage such as 512GB or 1TB units, designed to speed load times and reduce lag.
Battery life is also key when considering gaming laptops; many gaming models tend to experience short runtimes, so we advise opting for models known for their extended durability.
The Asus Zephyrus G14 offers genuine gaming battery life with over two hours of uptime while running a discrete GPU at full power, in a sleek and attractive design with high refresh rate panel and soldered RAM slot and single SSD NVMe slot making it less upgradeable than other models.
Ports
Gamers often look for laptops with multiple ports and input options for connecting peripherals. Such machines typically include both USB-A and USB-C ports as well as HDMI/DisplayPort outputs to support external monitors, plus Thunderbolt 4 ports which support fast data transfers as well as docks/eGPUs.
Gaming laptops typically include multiple input ports for connecting keyboard and mouse peripherals, including programmable macro keys which allow users to assign complex commands or sequences with just a key press.
Gaming laptops often include software for system monitoring, performance profiles and fan control – such as Lenovo’s Vantage app that monitors CPU, GPU, RAM and HDD information as well as offering fan speed boost functionality.
Keyboard
Gaming laptops provide PC performance in a portable form factor. While heftier than tablets or Chromebooks, they’re capable of running expensive video games at full resolution and frame rates with no slowdowns or drops in performance. Gaming laptops feature specialty hardware and software designed to make them stand out; many come equipped with backlighting that allows customisation key by key.
The best gaming laptops feature high-refresh rate panels and advanced graphics hardware capable of supporting features like ray tracing and upscaling, along with good response times to reduce motion blur, ensure smooth gameplay, programmable macro keys for quick keystroke combinations, anti-ghosting capabilities with N-key rollover features, Cherry MX switches for maximum comfort, as well as response.
Cooling
Gaming laptops utilize powerful components that generate heat, so they must employ effective cooling systems in order to avoid thermal throttling. Most use multiple fans and heat pipes for efficient air circulation while some even offer liquid cooling solutions.
Some gaming laptops feature technology to sync the screen with its graphics card to eliminate tearing and ghosting, an especially helpful feature if you plan to game on an LCD panel, which cannot produce as smooth of an image as an OLED or IPS display.
Klim Tempest’s portable cooling pad clamps onto your laptop and utilizes three 120mm fans to force cool air into vents for your laptop’s cooling. Plus, two USB passthrough ports ensure connectivity is maintained when using it! While it doesn’t feature RGB lighting like other pads do, it provides excellent gaming on-the-go experience.
