Mark Pickavance examines the gaming
laptop and wonders if it’s possible to get one on a budget
Gaming with a portable system is a desirable thing to do. If
you’re away on business, holiday, or would just like to not be stuck where your
desktop PC resides, it’s an attractive option
.
Gaming with a
portable system is a desirable thing to do
The snag, as you’ve probably already guessed, is that they
aren’t cheap, because the power needed to run games smoothly at decent resolutions
costs more than a simple office workhorse, and it also impacts on other design
aspects such as battery life and screen size.
Working for you in this equation is that the cycle of games
needing more and more GPU power appears to have abated, with the most recent
games working on video technology that doesn’t need to be cutting edge.
The focus of developers appears to be returning to
playability and online interaction, rather than increasing levels of detail.
So what constitutes a ‘gaming laptop’, and what should you
look for when purchasing one?
What features to keep in mind
You’re in the market for a gaming laptop, but what aspects
of the design do you need to focus on? Here are some of the critical
considerations.
Gaming laptop
Video/Audio
I’ve added some reference grids to show what each of the
mobile GPU technologies have at their disposal, both with the latest series and
the prior one. Obviously more stream processors, better memory technology
(GDDR5 not DDR3) and bandwidth all play a part in delivering a better
experience. It’s worth asking yourself what types of games you play most or are
likely to do on the mobile computer.
Look for bandwidth
of greater than 25GB/s, gigaflops of better than 250 and 1GB of video memory or
more.
If you like role-playing games or strategic titles, the
demands made on the GPU compared with an FPS or flight simulation are
dramatically less. Look for bandwidth of greater than 25GB/s, gigaflops of
better than 250 and 1GB of video memory or more.
Processor
The move these days is towards quad-core and even higher,
but frankly most games don’t actually exploit multiple cores well. Therefore
I’d recommend that if you’re offered fewer cores but a higher clock speed, you
should generally take it, with the proviso that you have at least a dual-core.
In that generalization you should also factor in the ability to Hyper-Thread,
allowing a single core to process two threads simultaneously.
The CPU will feed
the GPU, so the faster it is, the more data will arrive at the GPU and the game
will be smoother
The CPU will feed the GPU, so the faster it is, the more
data will arrive at the GPU and the game will be smoother, but going for the
highest-specification CPU will bump the price up dramatically. It will also
reduce battery life, if you’re likely to be limited by that.
Memory/Storage
I wouldn’t buy a computer with less than 4GB of RAM these
days; memory is so cheap, it would seem a silly saving to have less. More than
4GB is possibly gilding the lily, because unless the title is specifically
64-bit, then it can’t access more than 2GB of memory anyway.
As for hard drive storage, that’s a choice that needs to
reflect how many games you’re likely to install and how big some of those
titles might be. The operating system will likely take up 30GB, and once you’ve
loaded your favourite app selection and a few games, 200GB can be eaten up
rather quickly. As such, I wouldn’t consider a drive smaller than 320GB, and
500GB is a more realistic goal. Unless you have money to burn, don’t consider
SSD technology, though you might want to consider 7200rpm units over the usual
5400rpm ones that most laptop makers use. The faster drives, and hybrid designs
like the Seagate Momentus XT, do reduce loading times.
Display
The size of a gaming display is a double-edged sword, I’ve
decided. From one perspective you’d like a 1080p (1920x1080) panel, so you get
exactly the same resolution that you’re most likely using on your desktop
system. However, most gaming systems come with less, with 1366x768 being a
popular choice.
The size of a
gaming display is a double-edged sword
That cloud has a silver lining, though: with less pixels to
process for each frame, the GPU will have less work to do and will therefore
achieve a higher frame-rate than it would at 1080p. As there are only 50% of
the pixels on the lower-resolution panel, that could make a big difference to
how smooth games play or what other quality features you can activate while
still retaining playability.
Other Features
Beyond having a decent processor and a good mobile GPU, what
else is a necessity? An optical drive is probably a must, as games still
generally come on disc, though you could network one from another PC in a
pinch.
What you can’t fudge are external connections, specifically
USB, of which you’ll want a few for mice and other peripherals. If you’re an
online gamer, then a LAN port is always useful, as wi-fi tends to introduce
additional lag to your connection.
And if you end up with a powerful model, you might also want
to use HDMI to send the video to a bigger screen such an an HD TV.
Those are the critical hardware needs, but it’s also useful
to consider what happens to your laptop if there is an unfortunate accident or
failure. Most hardware makers offer a basic return-to-factory warranty, usually
for the first year of ownership. You can purchase an extension to that, and
depending how much you’re spending overall, it might well be worth the
additional investment.
