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Gaming Notebooks Hardware Field GuideWhat you will need for the ultimate laptop gaming experience. Mobile Processing PowerWe detail exactly what you will want to look for in gaming notebooks in order to have the best mobile gaming experience. If you are not aware already, gaming notebooks are growing in popularity at an alarming rate, and the processing power in mobile gaming machines is simply astonishing. The sheer size of the entertainment industry, ever increasing demand for gaming & entertainment on the go, and lower than ever prices is driving this laptop gaming revolution with a golden hammer. While this is sweet
music to gamers ears everywhere, we advise you to not run to
your local etailer or retailer with money in hand just yet. Trust us, we’ve seen individuals all too often purchase a laptop with a specific purpose in mind like gaming, to only fall over backwards in disappointment as they fire up their favorite title for the first time. Our goal here is to help you purchase the perfect gaming notebooks so that you stay on your feet and have the best laptop experience period. If you want to play in the big leagues, you are going to need the right gear to compete, and we are going to show you what to look for. Once you finally pick the perfect hardware you will be off on your way to what we like to call gamers delight. So let's move on, shall we? Gaming Hardware 101
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Hands down the most
important component in kickass gaming notebooks is
a powerful graphics card. Games in general are some of the most graphic
intensive applications out there, and an integrated graphics card just
won’t cut it.
Fast my friend, fast as you
can afford! This is a necessary component
to pay attention to when searching for gaming notebooks. Definitely do
not overlook a fast processor for you will need it to crunch all that
in game AI.
| CPU Buying Guide We take a look at laptop processors. |
Memory/RAM:
Get as much as you can
afford. Memory is on the top list of must buys
along side the video card and processor. All are equally important for
gaming notebooks if you want to play with the big boys. Without memory
you games will come to a crawl.
We recommend at a bare minimum 2GB of memory for a gaming rig. If you can afford the 4GB maximum that current Windows versions support we highly recommend you cough up the dough. Windows Vista which is bundled with most systems these days uses by itself a large chuck of memory so 4GB will do you well.
If you have a choice for memory speed when customizing gaming notebooks, the rule of thumb is usually to get the fastest speed that they offer.
There's
a catch though, definitely do not spend the cash if the premium for
faster chips is too high, for this extra money may be better spent on
more memory capacity instead or even another component upgrade.
Storage/Hard Drive:
A must for any gaming or multimedia rig is a large fast hard drive. Games themselves are huge and will require gigabytes of storage, and when it comes to speed games are demanding so a hard drive with a fast spindle speed is a must.
When juggling multimedia chores such as video and audio editing a large fast hard drive will be very beneficial to your productivity. We recommend at the absolute bare minimum a 5400 RPM drive, though if you have the money and option definitely go for one with a 7200 RPM spindle speed if you want maximum performance.
In fact some gaming manufactures even offer what’s called a solid state hard drive these days. These drives actually don’t have mechanical parts inside and instead store information on a special type of memory.
Solid-state hard drives are much faster than a traditional hard drive but do keep in mind that while they are faster they are also currently limited in storage capacity and more expensive than their mechanical counterparts.
Now
if money isn't an option and you're spending for the ultimate gaming
laptop, and multiple hard drives is an option then you can always pick
up a solid state as a storage drive for your games. This may
not be a bad idea if ultimate performance is your ticket, and
being a second drive you won't be hindered by the solid state drives
lower storage capacity.
Screen:
Many of
you are going to be buying pre-configured gaming notebooks
these days. Depending on the model these pre-configured gaming
notebooks will typically have either a 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050, or 1920
x 1200 pixel screen resolution.
Because of their pre-configured nature however the screen pixel resolution is determined by the manufacturer and thus you will have limited flexibility. It’s either one configuration or another with pre-configured machines, and often there is in fact no choice in between.
With pre-configured gaming notebooks a lack of flexibility is honestly just something that has to be dealt with, though on the plus side the lack of flexibility does normally lower the overall price of the notebook. In the end your wants and needs will be the determining factor when going this route.
On the other hand if you want ultimate flexibility, customizing a laptop is honestly the only way to go. Price does come with this flexibility of course, but for many of you especially all you hardcore gamers the premium will be worth it.
Because you’re not limited to pre-configured choices when customizing a laptop of course, you have flexibility with almost every aspect of the notebook including the screen. In fact you may be surprised to find out that a better screen doesn’t always cost a fortune either.
For example we configured a custom machine online and for only $100 more we were able to up the screen resolution on a 17-inch laptop from 1440 x 900 to 1680 x 1050 pixels. This is a good price/performance balance in our opinion, especially for a gaming notebook. The top end screen with the 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution was substantially more, but because we were customizing we had this extra flexibility.
On another note, be careful if you are thinking of pairing the highest resolution screen with a lower performing graphics card. Remember, you will need a graphics card powerful enough to drive games at higher resolutions, and honestly the lowest performing graphics card may not perform up to par.
Also, casual gamers you may want to look out for the highest resolution screen for it may not be your best option. On screen elements such as text are going to be smaller and it may be harder for you to read during routine day to day tasks such as word processing and Internet surfing.
If you guys have the option, a mid-range screen such as one with a 1680 x 1050 resolution and a mid-range graphics card may in fact be a perfect balance between price and performance.
Of
course the choice is ultimately determined by what the manufacturer is
offering, but if options are available things will on the other hand be
up to you. And balance is often the key.
Wireless:
Wireless networking
capability in today’s mobile world is a must, and
gaming notebooks are no exception. Having a fast wireless connection is
great if want to setup a wireless LAN party with friends, play the
latest online games, or even download huge game updates &
patches
to keep your online gaming experience bug fee.
We recommend you get the most 802.11 standards offered by the gaming laptop you are configuring. Standards include 802.11 a/b/g/n, and all are backwards compatible with each other. Wireless N is the newest standard and it offers longer range and faster data rates over previous standards. If wireless N is offered grab it, for the price increase is negligible and it will come in handy when all networks eventually switch over to the N standard.
Bluetooth is
also another wireless standard that is a great addition to a gaming
laptop if say you want to hook up a high-tech wireless gaming keyboard
to give you that competitive edge over your opponents.
CD / DVD Drive:
For gaming notebooks we
currently recommend you purchase a laptop with
at least a DVD burner. DVD burners are normally the default optical
drive for most notebooks these days including gaming notebooks, but
still do not overlook your options just in case.
As of this writing we personally don’t feel it is currently worth the price premium for next-gen Blue-Ray or HD DVD drives. As of now most if not all PC games as far as we know are distributed on DVD media anyways. Of course expect this to change one day for games are getting bigger than ever and larger capacity storage will be a must.
If you are spending for the ultimate gaming rig however and cost isn’t an issue, we personally recommend Blue-Ray over HD DVD for we believe it will be the dominant next-gen standard.
In the end though the
choice is up to you.
Final Thoughts:
While we've only touched base on gaming laptop components, we are confident that if you follow this simple yet effective field guide you will be on the correct path to the ultimate gaming notebooks.
As a final note remember while you are shopping for gaming notebooks to never rush into a purchase without doing a bit of research from various sources. All to often we see people fall for the wow factor when in fact there are better gaming laptop deals out there.
Happy gaming and best of luck finding the perfect gaming notebooks.
Be sure to check out our Laptop Ratings and Best Laptop Guide for more important shopping advice.
See also:
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