Finding a suitable and affordable gaming laptop is a difficult task, when there are so many options are available in the market. Having a laptop with the right functionalities is as important as choosing the right boosting services like the boost in overwatch. You may just decide on a budget and buy whatever a giant manufacturer like Dell, HP or Lenovo is selling for that price.
Technical specifications of a gaming laptop are the reason why they have become important for professional gamers. For this reason, you need to think carefully about what you want from your laptop before rushing to buy. If you have made the decision to buy a gaming laptop, we recommend you to check this buying guide, so that you get the best value for your hard-earned money.
1. Select a Size
When considering a laptop for gaming, the size, and weight matters a lot. A high-performance laptop requires a large screen to accommodate the heat dissipated during intensive gaming. A 15-inch laptop screen is ideal for gaming whereas 17-inch display will be fantastic for the better gaming experience.
A 17-inch laptop makes a good replacement of gaming PC however, but you may have to compromise with the portability. It is advisable to avoid buying small screen gaming laptops. If you look for portability and ease of use then don’t go for screen size less than 14 inches.
2. Screen Resolution
The size of the screen is not everything, you’ll also need to check the screen resolution of your gaming laptop. A professional gamer always prefers a large and high-resolution display. However, when it comes to a cheap but good gaming laptop, the resolution of 1920×1080 is a good and affordable option.
If you are one of them who want very sharp images while playing gaming, the laptops with 4K and 3K resolution are the most suitable option for you. Keep in mind that running games at the higher resolution, such as 4K, requires high-end graphics like GTX 870/880M which is a bit expensive. If you want to achieve playable FPS, go for the laptops with 1080P.
3. CPU
Processor or CPU is the most important part of the gaming laptop. Highly intensive games like battlefields or Watchdogs use a lot of power hence you need a powerful and latest processor which can handle them with ease. We recommend you to go for Intel Core i7 quad-core processor if you want to enjoy lag-free gaming.
If you don’t want to spend too much on a gaming laptop, you can go for the dual-core i5 processor as well. The i5 processor though would reduce the speed of gaming. Don’t go for AMD quad-core processor as they are slow as compared to Intel’s quad-core processor.
4. Graphics
Like CPU, the GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) is the essential deciding factor when buying a gaming laptop. It manages all the graphics-intensive tasks like rendering textures, storing different frames for the monitor. If you’re serious about games, then you’ll need a laptop with NVIDIA Geforce GTX graphics chipset.
The high-end gaming laptops featured with GTX 1080 or GTX 1070 graphics. You can also go for GTX 1060 or GTX 1050 as they are capable to handle enough gaming pressure.
5. RAM and Storage
To run gaming smoothly, you should buy a laptop with at least 8GB RAM. The more is the RAM, better is your gaming experience on a laptop. There are many best affordable gaming laptops that usually provide plenty of RAM to handle multitasking with ease.
For gaming laptops, SSD storage is an essential need. It will make your laptop boost faster and feel more responsive. However, you can’t just settle for a small SSD storage as you have to store your games and other programs in your pc. We would recommend you getting both SSD and HDD with minimum 1TB disk space.
6. Battery Life
Along with the other features, the battery life should be your priority if you want to play games without breaking your sweat. You can’t expect 10-15 hours from a gaming laptop as they consume more power during intensive gaming sessions. But a laptop with 5-7 hours battery life would be a great choice to buy.
Some of our top budget gaming laptops
Acer Predator Helios 300
It is one of the best budget gaming laptop you should consider for yourself. This laptop offers many high-end features at a very reasonable price.
Key Specs:
- It has Intel Core i7-8750H 6-Core Processor.
- It boasts Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6 GB VRAM.
- There’s 15.6″ full HD (1920 x 1080) display, 16GB RAM and 256GB of SSD.
- The laptop provides all the essential connectivity ports with 7-hours of battery life
Price: You can buy it from Amazon at $1000.
HP OMEN 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop
This is another powerful gaming laptop which comes with many astounding features. It is capable to play all the latest games like Fortnite, PUBG, and Overwatch with no lagging issue.
Key Specs
- It is powered by Intel Core i7-8750H Processor and 16GB RAM
- This gaming laptop featured with a 15-inch full HD display, 128GB SSD and 1TB of the hard drive.
- The battery life offers up to 6-hours of playback time.
- It also comes with RGB lighting backlit keyboard to customize your gaming.
Price: It is available at $1199 on Amazon.
Final Words
Now, you’ve gone through all the essential tips for buying a gaming laptop. The latest processor, high-end GPU and sufficient amount of RAM are the crucial factors for a good gaming laptop. You should look for an affordable laptop if it keeps all the above-mentioned points.