A Gaming Laptop cannot replace a Gaming Desktop because portability has its own importance which cant be ignored. If you are planning to buy one, we are here to help you. 

This article is a guide which will help you through the fundamentals and assist you in selecting the best gaming laptop for 2022. After understanding these metrics you will be an expert in purchasing a fresh choice for you and your dear ones. 

When it comes to purchasing a new  laptop, it might be difficult to know where to begin. The display, CPU, Storage, Memory, battery life, input ports are all the things to consider.

We’ll go over each of these topics in greater depth later, but first, let’s review some of the fundamentals.

Key Features of Best Gaming Laptops

• Display: Your gaming experience can be influenced by screen size, resolution, refresh rate and Response time.  Which display factor is the priority for you if you are not using an external display monitor?

• CPU: The core part of a computer (the brain) for executing everything. Clock speed, response time, core count, cache are all the main features of the CPU which need to be explored before buying a gaming laptop. 

• GPU: One of the main components to be considered while purchasing a high in demand system, a computer processor that performs fast mathematical calculations to render visuals, images and animations. Which key feature of a GPU will you consider?  

• Memory and Storage: How much RAM will be enough for you and what kind of Storage do you prefer like SSD or HDD?

• Input Ports/Connections: USB ports with high transfer speed, or you plan to connect external devices like for audio, external storage. What kind of connections do you have to look for when picking the best gaming laptop?

Display : Key Features

Generally the display is the screen of the laptop but it have more features

Screen Size

Screen size is measured diagonally. Normally it comes in 11, 14, 17, 19 inches. Most gaming laptops have a 17 or 19 inch display and it is good enough. The bigger the screen size is , it will broaden the view area but the larger screen size will add weight to your system. You should choose the screen size according to your comfort. Thinner borders around the screen can allow a larger screen.

Resolution

Resolution is the number of pixels in a row and a column of the screen. Pixel is the basic unit of the display and it forms the graphics. Less number of pixels or low resolutions will result in low quality visual display and high resolution or more number of pixels will make good quality visuals. 1920 x 1080 is the best resolution for a gaming laptop. The more you go for high resolution, it will add the hardware cost too.

Refresh Rate

Refresh rate is the number of times per second that a new image is displayed on a display device. This is distinct from frame rate, which refers to how many images the device operating the display stores or generates per second. It is a frequency and measured in Hertz. Normally the gaming laptops have 60Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz or even higher refresh rates. If you go for a higher refresh rate, you will also need a good GPU.

OLED

Organic Light Emitting Diodes panels, which are available on some gaming laptops, feature pixels that generate their own light rather than relying on a backlight. As a result, they can attain deeper black levels and greater contrast than most laptop panels, which are typically LED-lit liquid crystal displays. A Display with an OLED is a better choice than an LCD.

Avoid Touch Screen

Touch screens on gaming notebooks are unneeded, even if they aren’t fundamentally awful (some 2-in-1 models notwithstanding). They deplete battery life and can cause the display to become excessively glossy.

External Monitor (an option)

Connecting a laptop to an external monitor is a simple approach to improve the portable PC experience. This enables users to take a laptop with them on the move and then return home to a screen with 4K resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, or an ultrawide aspect ratio.

Connecting a laptop to an external monitor with these specifications, you have to choose the CPU and Graphics card accordingly.

CPU: Key Features

The core component of a computer system (the brain) is a chip that processes the instructions. It sends and receives the addresses and data among peripherals. It has a Bus Interface Unit (BIU) and an Execution Unit (EU) for fetching the data and instructions from memory and IO devices, decoding and executing those instructions. 

The CPU features that are most important to you will vary depending on how you use your laptop, so knowing the basics is important.

Clock Speed

The clock speed of a CPU is measured in Hertz, which is usually expressed in gigahertz (GHz). The clock speed rate of a CPU is the number of clock cycles per second that it can accomplish. A CPU that runs at 1.7 GHz, for example, can complete 1,700,000,000 clock cycles per second. The more clock cycles a CPU can perform in a second, the more things it can get done. 3.4 GHz will perform 30 percent faster than the 2.6 GHz Processor of the same family. However, comparing the clock speeds of two CPUs from different families is pointless because modern CPUs have new features such as more work done in a single clock cycle, more cache memory, and more cores, all of which are speed factors to consider before purchasing a gaming laptop.

Core Count

Core counts in multitasking. The number of cores in a CPU is referred to as the processor core count. A core is a small processor that is embedded into a larger chipset and may do separate computations. More hardware cores means better performance but the modern Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology-enabled CPUs can operate more than one software thread per hardware core, allowing for even greater performance advantages.

Most processors may split a core into virtual cores called threads using a mechanism called simultaneous multithreading or, if it’s an Intel CPU, Hyper-threading (both phrases mean the same thing). Simultaneous multithreading is used by AMD CPUs with four cores to offer eight threads, while Hyper-threading is used by most Intel CPUs with two cores to produce four threads.

Some apps take better advantage of multiple threads than others. Lightly-threaded apps, like games, don’t benefit from a lot of cores, while most video editing and animation programs can run much faster with extra threads.

CPU Options

You can have a very powerful Core i7 CPU or even one that you can overclock, such as the Intel Core i9-9980 HK, depending on your budget. However, most games benefit more from a good GPU than a good CPU, thus a Core i5 processor would be sufficient. The Intel® CoreTM H processor series may be a good option if you need more cores and faster clock speeds. Intel recommends at least an Intel® Core™ i7 processor for gameplay.

GPU : Key Features

The graphics processing unit (GPU) is utilized in a variety of applications, including graphics and video rendering. They’re mainly renowned for their gaming ability,  playing a great role in high resolution and smooth frame rate gameplay. 

A Gaming laptop must have a discrete graphics chip from Nvidia or AMD. The higher the number in a GPU series, the more powerful it is in general. An Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, for example, will deliver greater frame rates and graphics quality than an RTX 3070, and so on.

Frame Rate and Resolution

Make sure your gaming laptop’s GPU and CPU can render the right resolution of your screen or external display at consistent frame rates.

Display Refresh Rate

If you have a 144Hz screen, you’ll need a GPU that can consistently achieve 144 frames per second (or greater) to get the most out of it.

Ray Tracing

Ray tracing is the process of creating images by following the passage of light through pixels.  It produces higher-quality images with a higher degree of realism, but it takes longer to finish and requires more computational power. As a result, ray tracing is commonly used to create still photographs and games require faster rendering, so ray tracing is not a good option.

Storage ‘SSD or HDD’

SSDs outperform the old HDDs in most data read /write operations. SDD electronically reads and writes data while HDD uses mechanical plates driven by a motor and a moving drive head. Due to this the access speed of the SSD is much faster than the HDD and it is good for gaming but it is expensive as well due to higher manufacturing cost. SSDs have a longer life span due to electronic read write operation. 

You need the storage for games installation. If you are planning  to play fewer games, then install them on SSD and increase the storage by connecting a TB HDD alongside. After loading a game it doesn’t matter whether it is an SSD or HDD. So always choose a gaming laptop that has both SSD and HDD devices for storage. If you are tight on price, consider obtaining a laptop with a modest 128GB SSD with a large 1TB HDD.

If you have enough budget, you could go straight for a 256, 512GB or 1TB SSD and use it to install games. 

Having enough single SSD without an HDD is better because it reduces the weight and processes less heat.

RAM ‘Space for running processes’

It is the primary memory of the system which temporarily stores the programs during the processing. The CPU uses RAM for rapid and frequent access of data and programs. It does not store permanently like SSD or HDD but it is much faster than these secondary storage devices. 

Additional RAM allows a PC to run more processes at the same time and to switch between programmes more quickly while background services are running. 

8GB of RAM is the minimum requirement from many modern games packages. However 16GB provides more speed and allows resource intensive games with multiple background apps and streaming software. If you go for 32GB it will be ideal then, adding into the cost.

Input Ports

More ports mean more ways to increase a laptop’s capabilities. Keep in mind that some gaming laptops may have fewer ports in order to attain a smaller form factor, so take that into consideration while comparing.

Make sure that your gaming laptop must have the following ports.

HDMI and DisplayPort

These ports are useful to connect to an external monitor or HD Television as gaming experience is amazing on big screens. These ports provide you the connectivity to external display devices, so be careful, some laptops have very few ports to reduce form factor.

Thunderbolt3 technology

A very fast data transfer port may send and receive data more quickly than USB 3.1 and provide power. This connection is particularly beneficial when using numerous monitors or sending huge volumes of data to external devices. So look for this option while purchasing a new gaming piece.

USB

This port is used to connect different peripherals to the laptop like mice, keyboard, headset, external storage etc. USB 3.1 is a higher data transfer speed than 3.0.

Audio

Most of the laptops have 3.5mm audio jack for headphone and speakers. Or compatible USB port audio input and output. 

Ethernet

RJ-45 port enables you to connect to a fast and dedicated wired internet connection instead of only relying on Wi-Fi. So it is a plus point. 

SD

You can expand your storage using an SD card or transfer the data easily and quickly using this port.

Other Features

There are some other important features as well which should not be forgot while choosing a new gaming device.

Gaming Mouse and Keyboard

Laptops come with touchpads and built in keyboards but you can maximize your gaming experience by connecting the gaming mouse and  keyboard with ‘switches and backlights’ through USB ports.

Design

When it comes to laptop design, consider the tradeoffs between power, pricing, mobility, available ports, and performance-enhancing additions. Thin shaped laptops may have less ports and vice versa.

Wireless and Bluetooth connectivity

Accessing the internet everywhere you need Wi-Fi connectivity. Most of the laptops come with this technology today but cross check it while purchasing. Bluetooth is also effective in connecting devices like Bluetooth speakers to attain desktop audio experience. 

Cooling

Laptop while utilizing its maximum resources during playtime produces considerable heat. Checking the laptop cooling mechanism is difficult, so you need to see the reviews of different people on cooling of the laptop which you are interested in. 

Battery

Gaming utilizes maximum resources of your system like, GPU, CPU, RAM, cooling fan and so on. It means that it will consume power more. So be focused on connecting your laptop to ac power while playing games. The long battery backup is not an important thing to consider in gaming laptops. 

Which Gaming Laptop is fit for you?

When buying a gaming notebook it is important to think about your plan to use. Look for a better CPU and GPU because these are two main things that cannot easily be upgraded. 

If you have an external monitor with an excellent resolution at home, then focus on RAM and Processor instead of sticking to the display size, resolution and refresh rate. 

Storage can be upgraded later on and ultimately you will have to connect your system to an AC power through adapter, so battery is not much important thing to consider. 

Look for necessary input ports like USB, HDMI and DisplayPort in your best gaming laptop. 

Look for the features you want, examine them thoroughly and enjoy.

____________________________________________________________________________________

References www.intel.com