A laptop with a graphics card and CPU that can withstand modern-day gaming can be difficult to find if you’re on a budget. At Manchester PC, we provide laptop repair in Salford and, over the years, have worked on hundreds of gaming laptops. This experience has given us extensive knowledge of gaming laptops.
However, with an increasing demand for gaming PC’s and laptops, companies are constantly bringing out new designs with the latest specs, so there’s something out there for everyone.
Contemporary gaming laptops have a lot of specifications that will make you want to keep them your primary choice of PC gaming, giving custom built PC’s a run for their money!
Most gamers wish to use their laptop for AAA titles, requiring the most up-to-date features, meaning this can be an expensive investment.
The important element to consider when purchasing your next gaming setup is the graphics chip available with the laptop – this will determine the overall gaming performance.
However, a variety of laptops to suit every budget are pretty easy to come by. Surprisingly, gaming laptops are currently well stocked – even with a chip manufacturing shortage due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you’re on the hunt for a new device, here are some things to look out for when finding the best laptop to suit your gaming needs.
The Processor
Most modern-day games require a lot of power from the processor. New laptops don’t come with a dual-core processor as most AAA title games require quad-core processors for their games to run at an optimal level.
The processor determines the laptop’s performance. It’s an important factor to consider if you use your device for heavy-duty tasks such as video editing or twitch streaming.
It’s recommended that you look for a laptop with an i7 or i9 core processor if you’re looking to spend a lot of time gaming on your device.
System Memory
The minimum requirements for RAM that you should consider when opting for a gaming laptop is no less than 8GB. It’s a great amount for moderate use and you can find laptops under £1000 that will meet these requirements.
It’s rare that a budget-friendly laptop will have 16GB RAM but a deep dive search could find you being very lucky. However, 8GB should be plenty for most people’s requirements.
Storage
Laptops will have either normal hard drives or SSD hard drives. There are plenty of brands that offer dual storage in their devices.
For gamers, it’s recommended that you look into laptops that have both drives as this will allow more room for game downloads as well as retaining your device’s performance quality.
In a gaming laptop, a dual drive has more benefits. With games requiring more storage space to compensate for the latest graphics and quality, your SSD will start to fill up quickly. Some games require up to 100GB of storage, therefore, having an SSD and normal hard drive will give you peace of mind on storage space as well as optimal gaming performance.
Screen Display
There are 4 main factors to a gaming laptop display that are important to keep in mind when looking to buy:
15.6 inches are the most common dimensions for a gaming laptop screen. It’s also the option most budget-friendly devices offer as you still get a generous screen size for a great price.
Others prefer a 17-inch screen as there’s more display surface for optimal immersion. However, it can become quite a heavy object to carry around as a mobile device as they can weigh up to 8 pounds more.
A 15-inch laptop can still be considered a challenging mobile device but is a lot more manageable. Smaller screens also result in a longer battery life, lasting up to 6 times longer than their larger counterparts before having to plug them into a charging port.
Overall, we recommend the smaller screen for budget-conscious buyers.
Display Details
It’s important to take note of the display panel’s refresh rate.
If the refresh rate is a noted feature on a laptop’s specs, it means that the refresh rate is higher than most devices. Most laptops tend to be at 60Hz which means they redraw the onscreen image at 60 times per second.
The higher the refresh rate, the better performance quality you will see when you play a fast-paced game on your laptop – like an online multiplayer game, for example.
Graphics Processor
This is an important feature that you might want to consider investing in. The graphics processor is the graphics chip of your laptop and will act as the backbone to your device’s gaming performance.
An entry-level gaming chip for those on a budget would be “Pascal” – based GTX 1050. This is commonly found in laptops that range from £700 – £800 and is a great starting point for all types of games.
If you’re wanting to experience the latest in ray-tracing technology, you’ll have to spend a minimum of £1000 on a graphics processor – a worthy investment that won’t require replacing for many years, however, the GTX 1050 will still provide you with an enjoyable laptop gaming experience.
Keyboard Lighting and Layout
A feature that is prominent with most gaming laptops is a colourful backlit keyboard. Whilst this isn’t an essential element of the device and can easily be disregarded when prioritising more important features, it’s still something to consider.
Almost all budget-friendly laptops will provide solid colour backlighting. The more money you invest, the more features are available from customising individual colours for keys to backlighting effects.
There are plenty of lighting options available on the market. Those looking for the cheaper end of the spectrum can still expect lighting features on their device.
Here is a top 10 list of the best value laptops for gamers on a budget:
- Acer Predator Helios 300 (2019)
- MSI Bravo 15
- MSI Alpha 15
- Asus TUF Gaming A15
- Dell G5 15 SE (2020)
- HP Pavilion Gaming 15
- Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i
- Acer Nitro 5 (2019)
- Lenovo Legion Y545
- Asus TUF Dash F15
For further PC or laptop guidance, tech support and repair enquiries from us here at Manchester PC, do not hesitate to contact us.
