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Let's talk gaming laptops...

SHA

Member
I had a ROG-STRIX 3 with a 2070 (the full mobile version and not max-q) from 2020 to April last year. It played everything I wanted it to at 1080p 60fps (including big titles like Warzone etc.) However, the battery life was rubbish. Light browsing or watching videos was probably a couple hours at best and I couldn’t play games just on the battery as the device clearly didn’t get enough power to boost the frames. You could probably get away with indie games running OK on just battery but that was it.

The worst offender though? The fucking fans. When I first heard that they got quite loud I thought nothing of it, but I wasn’t prepared for how loud they actually do get. Headphones are essential basically. My wife would look over from the other side of the room and ask if there was anything wrong with the laptop it was so noisy. If you’re thinking of hooking it up to your TV and it acting as a better console, it’s going to be really loud (in most cases) and I imagine a laptop capable of pushing 4K is going to cost an absolute fortune.

I’m very aware that experiences differ from device to device but I sold that thing off at a huge loss and bought a desktop instead. My advice is check out a bunch of reviews for the laptop you’re interested in and really think about whether or not travelling with it is essential. If it’s not, I’d recommend a desktop all day long.
Could you imagine how many asus warriors on the internet just shielding the brand from any of its flows?, and they have the upper hand cause ironically, you can't find bad reviews and they speak only from their personal experiences but pretend they know much more than that, and the moronic likes just outnumbers reasonable comments despite not taking how expensive it costs to be in this hobby seriously.
 
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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Biggest issue imo is battery. A high end gaming laptop will last about 15 minutes on battery playing a demanding game. So as long as you plan to be plugged in all the time it's a fine choice. I use mine when I go on work trips, but it is not really a mobile device outside of the fact that it's easy to move around when not playing.
 
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JordiENP

Member
Laptops are amazing these day, I have an old msi from 2020-2021 with a 1650 and 16gb of ram that I use for some gaming. For example I can play Bayonetta 2 and breath of the wild at 4k. I tried Hogwarts Legacy and runs at 1080p medium-high with fidelity fx. Keep in mind this is an old laptop with a low end gpu and I can do all that.
 
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clarky

Gold Member
My gaming laptop gives me 3rd degree burns two-thirds of the time.
Honestly, it could be used as a smelter.
I use mine as a console, meaning I game with a pad, i couldn't imagine doing M+K on this thing.

On the plus side it keeps cheese on toast at the correct temperature while I game.
 

darrylgorn

Member
I had a gigabyte on my radar above, I'll look into the brands more.

I can only speak from my anecdotal experience of one purchase but it was throttling performance on one of the more recent bios updates so I had to downgrade. It actually works just fine but I'm generally not a fan of tampering with the bios.
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
So I should get a Steamdeck instead?
You want a device with specs similar to the PS5. For now, only a good laptop can fulfill your needs. New-generation games (the first major test will probably be Starfield) will likely be challenging for the Steam Deck. What I am referring to is a further date in the future. The handheld PC market is still relatively new, and it has a long way to go.
 
You want a device with specs similar to the PS5. For now, only a good laptop can fulfill your needs. New-generation games (the first major test will probably be Starfield) will likely be challenging for the Steam Deck. What I am referring to is a further date in the future. The handheld PC market is still relatively new, and it has a long way to go.

Any good recommendations when it comes to gaming laptops?
 

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
Any good recommendations when it comes to gaming laptops?
I'm sorry, I don't know the market that well. But with a Google search, you can find some good options, and there are likely to be helpful recommendations here as well. I don't think you'll encounter too many unpleasant surprises if you avoid buying an HP model. Especially, it's important to find a model with good cooling; otherwise, everything else becomes meaningless.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I can only speak from my anecdotal experience of one purchase but it was throttling performance on one of the more recent bios updates so I had to downgrade. It actually works just fine but I'm generally not a fan of tampering with the bios.
Aside from basic shit like messing with Device Manager, updating drivers or basic OS functions, I'm not the kind of guy to mess with BIOS!
 
I'm sorry, I don't know the market that well. But with a Google search, you can find some good options, and there are likely to be helpful recommendations here as well. I don't think you'll encounter too many unpleasant surprises if you avoid buying an HP model. Especially, it's important to find a model with good cooling; otherwise, everything else becomes meaningless.

I hardly play graphically intense games

So that's why I've been looking at lower specs

I still game on 1080p 60 FPS

I mostly play JRPGs and mostly Japanese games

I'm interested in Starfield and Baldur's Gate III, Hogwart Legacy, Resident Evil 4 Remake, though. Mentioning these games since these are more graphically intensive
 
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Krathoon

Member
From my personal tests, no. The games I tried have only used about 10GB RAM at most.

I’m not sure if manufacturers are still using slow RAM, but when I bough mine last year, it was common knowledge that replacing your stock RAM, even with identical speed/timing modules, would give a significant performance boost. I did this and gained 10-20% performance with in-game benchmarks.

To make a long story short, you want memory modules that have chips on both sides, not just one. The easiest way to guarantee this if the manufacturer doesn't explicitly state the layout, is to buy 16GB SODIMMs. So, getting 32GB with your laptop may be worth it.
Some games are starting to require more ram. Hogwart's Legacy is the main culprit.
 

Krathoon

Member
Laptops are amazing these day, I have an old msi from 2020-2021 with a 1650 and 16gb of ram that I use for some gaming. For example I can play Bayonetta 2 and breath of the wild at 4k. I tried Hogwarts Legacy and runs at 1080p medium-high with fidelity fx. Keep in mind this is an old laptop with a low end gpu and I can do all that.
Oh Yeah. You will be amazed what you can run on them. I ran Cyberpunk on an old laptop.
 

Hydroxy

Member
I would say this is the kind of laptop specs you will need to target to get a good experience on your 4K tv and this should be fine for gaming for next 3-5 yrs.
 

_Justinian_

Gold Member
Maybe consider getting a cheap laptop for work and a Steam Deck with a dock to use at home? How much traveling are you planning on doing?
 

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
I hardly play graphically intense games

So that's why I've been looking at lower specs

I still game on 1080p 60 FPS

I mostly play JRPGs and mostly Japanese games

I'm interested in Starfield and Baldur's Gate III, Hogwart Legacy, Resident Evil 4 Remake, though. Mentioning these games since these are more graphically intensive
Until the last sentence, I thought Steam Deck or ROG Ally would be suitable for you. You can play many games from the PS4 era and earlier on these consoles. In the case of next-gen games, ROG Ally seems to provide better performance( can deliver over 60 fps in Diablo 4 and Resident Evil 4 Remake, near 60 fps in Hogwarts). However, you should still be prepared to lower the settings, experience FPS drops, and play some games at 30fps or below. Especially upcoming games like Starfield and beyond may put a strain on these devices. Perhaps waiting for ROG Ally 2 or Steam Deck 2 would be a better option for you? I think you can decide based on Starfield's performance.
 
I have a Lenovo Legion 5i Pro, 2021 version. i7-11800H, RTX 3070 Laptop. I upgraded it to 32 GB of RAM myself and added a second SSD.

I like it quite a bit for what it is, I realize that my gaming desktop with a 3090 sucks down ~600W of power going full tilt and occupies a full tower case and weighs around 40 lbs. And that's just the tower, it doesn't include the TV it's connected to.

So when I look at my Legion and it fits in a backpack, weighs around 5.5 lbs, and pulls at most ~150W at full load with a 3070 Laptop, I understand that a gaming laptop necessarily cannot be as powerful as a gaming desktop because you know the laws of physics and shit.

I've played many games quite comfortably on the Legion, recently Hogwarts Legacy, Portal RTX, and Diablo IV. I can't sit there and max out every setting with RT enabled like I can on my desktop but it's portable and I can take it places whereas my desktop is a boat anchor which sits permanently in my house.

Modern gaming laptops are very nice things, they do cost more than the equivalent desktop and obviously sacrifice some power for portability but if you have a use case for a portable gaming PC and you aren't willing to go all the way down to the Steam Deck's form factor then yes there is a reason why gaming laptops are popular.

I'm typing this post on the Legion BTW
 
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Krathoon

Member
Oh yeah. A 3070RTX laptop works totally fine. It runs all the current games at high settings.

I am more of a retro gamer. So, I do not obsess with running things at 4K. Totally fine with 1080p.
 

SNG32

Member
Budget?

Also ten years for a laptop is unrealistic imo.
I still have my 1070 laptop kickin around and it still works great. Only thing that needs to be replaced is the battery. I use it as a stationary music producing computer that I have a monitor for. I bought another gaming laptop that’s a 3070 a few years ago and still runs everything at high settings. Both are ASUS.
 
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clarky

Gold Member
I still have my 1070 laptop kickin around and it still works great. Only thing that needs to be replaced is the battery. I use it as a stationary music producing computer that I have a monitor for. I bought another gaming laptop that’s a 3070 a few years ago and still runs everything at high settings. Both are ASUS.
Point proven. Your 1070 gaming laptop no longer is used for games, after what 7 years?

Edit: And your 3070 is a little over 2 years old if you bought it at launch, so it should still work great. I'd be pissed if it didn't.
 
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SNG32

Member
Point proven. Your 1070 gaming laptop no longer is used for games, after what 7 years?
I was playing street fighter 6 on it yesterday. It’s still good at playing pc games on medium to high settings. Only reason why I got a laptop with the 3070 was to run the RPCS3 emulator since I needed a better cpu and emulation is big on cpu.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Ive been looking at getting a gigabyte aero due to the OLED screen and 3070ti, I already have a good desktop PC so more interested in the aluminum build and the screen.
 

Rhazkul

Member
Overheating and cooling will be a huge issue with such a beast. Depending where you live it can be a huge problem. We had around 90 (30-35c) Degrees here recently and my laptop was idling at 158 (70c). It would bump to 194 (90c) if i watched some streams or played some games. The fan was working constantly.
So, you better have some AC (i haven't) or move your setup into the basement if you don't want your laptop to melt away.
 

chlorate

Member
I had an Acer Predator 17 that lasted for five years of heavy gaming. The graphics card started to glitch out on it in year five and then I kept it around as a streaming/Microsoft Office box until the power supply died. Great computer overall
 
Until the last sentence, I thought Steam Deck or ROG Ally would be suitable for you. You can play many games from the PS4 era and earlier on these consoles. In the case of next-gen games, ROG Ally seems to provide better performance( can deliver over 60 fps in Diablo 4 and Resident Evil 4 Remake, near 60 fps in Hogwarts). However, you should still be prepared to lower the settings, experience FPS drops, and play some games at 30fps or below. Especially upcoming games like Starfield and beyond may put a strain on these devices. Perhaps waiting for ROG Ally 2 or Steam Deck 2 would be a better option for you? I think you can decide based on Starfield's performance.

Sigh fine I'll just upgrade my PC

Looking at 3070 for the GPU and that new AMD Ryzan CPU that recently released. Forgot the name
 

UnNamed

Banned
I really don't need it, and my 2017 laptop with 1070GTX and 7700HQ still do its job just fine.

But a new laptop with a 4080 would tease me.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
OLED screens will not last as a PC screen, you're going to have your Windows taskbar burned in after a year of use

I agree, but if you don't intend it to be used as a PC - I have an OLED laptop which I mainly got to use for media consumption and light gaming - the screen is gorgeous (probably best display I've ever seen - it's a full 4k OLED w/ 500 nit dolby vision in a 14" form factor - it is unbelievably clear) and I love it.

I'm not sure it'll ever get burn in with my usage because I'd just use my desktop or hook it up to an actual monitor if I intended on using it as a PC. Basically it gets opened, then I launch youtube or netflix or whatever, perhaps Emudeck or Diablo 4.

But even so - mine and I imagine others has software built in to help drastically improve the time before burn in happens, like it automatically dims and blurs the taskbar when not actively used (and you can tap a key to instantly dim the screen like 40% and toggle on power save so that will also greatly prolong the display when using it for PC stuff). I imagine I'll personally never see burn in, and I'm treating it like a larger tablet - I doubt I'd keep it before replacing it more than 4-5 years.
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
Sigh fine I'll just upgrade my PC

Looking at 3070 for the GPU and that new AMD Ryzan CPU that recently released. Forgot the name
Search "8gb vram" on google :( Don't buy a graphic card with less than 12gb vram(such as 3070, 4060, 4060 ti 8gb version). Wait for 16gb version of 4060ti if you can.

I'm waiting for the 5000 series, but I currently own a 3060 Ti. I couldn't wait much longer. So don't mind the advice I gave, don't postpone your enjoyment too much. Life is short.
 

Matt_Fox

Member
I would say this is the kind of laptop specs you will need to target to get a good experience on your 4K tv and this should be fine for gaming for next 3-5 yrs.

Thanks for this... I've been looking at options and I seem to be settling towards MSI. Seem like the brand with good quality to cost ratio.
 

IAmRei

Member
im always positioned my laptop as working device as well, but my work and gaming in PC is heavy usually, and of course, sounding like a jet while playing games as well. i'm using A15 TUF asus, quite enough for me
 

Hudo

Member
So, I've been using a Macbook at work from time to time. Gotta say, Apple know a thing or two about making good laptops. If their proton fork works out, we might be able to actually get gaming going on these things.
 

nashman

Member

Just bought this for my son. It showed up and DL Cyberpunk right away to test. Just to test, hes not allowed to play it lol. With everything at Ultra with pycho raytracing (no pathtracing) DLSS on (balanced) it averaged 50 fps at 1080p! Pretty damn good. Ran it again at medium with only RT shadows DLSS on, and it was 144fps(screen is 144max).

Yes the CPU and Ram will eventually hinder AAA games at even medium settings but I think he'll get a few years of AAA at med/high 60-100 fps so were happy. He mostly plays AA games and doesnt mind 1080p anyways. So we good for alooooong time.

As for the design, its well built , nice rgb and the fans so far have been very quite.
 
MSI does have a pretty good reputation. I may get a future laptop from them.
Some of their newer models are very nice but historically, they had some build quality issues and are hard to find good sales on. Imo Lenovo and Asus are consistently the best bang for the buck.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member

Just bought this for my son. It showed up and DL Cyberpunk right away to test. Just to test, hes not allowed to play it lol. With everything at Ultra with pycho raytracing (no pathtracing) DLSS on (balanced) it averaged 50 fps at 1080p! Pretty damn good. Ran it again at medium with only RT shadows DLSS on, and it was 144fps(screen is 144max).

Yes the CPU and Ram will eventually hinder AAA games at even medium settings but I think he'll get a few years of AAA at med/high 60-100 fps so were happy. He mostly plays AA games and doesnt mind 1080p anyways. So we good for alooooong time.

As for the design, its well built , nice rgb and the fans so far have been very quite.
Thats a nice laptop.

I was scoping out earlier in the page a Canada Computers 3070ti 2400p laptop for the same price. But the screen refresh is 60 hz. Your laptop has a slightly better gpu (I had to google the specs and most of the time 4070 wins), higher screen refresh but a 1080p screen.

I'll wait a bit. Maybe get one later in the year. But for $1800 I have an idea what specs a gaming laptop will have. Who knows maybe in 3-4 months the specs will edge up a touch, or these same laptops will be a couple hundred cheaper. Maybe Ill just wait till Black Friday. Cheers!
 
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