Hi there would anyone be able to help me understand gaming laptop specs? I'm have no idea when it comes to this kinda thing and several hours spent reading "dumbed down" internet guides have only made me more confused haha.

I'd rather a laptop as I don't want to have to play at a desk; I like to use a laptop on a cooling pad on a table which wheels over my bed.

I'm looking at spending max £900 as I don't need to play on the best graphics settings so long as the game runs smoothly on medium-highish graphics and loads quicker than my current HP pavillion which used to do the trick on medium settings but is now lagging most of the time for group content.

Any help would be much appreciated

https://laptopunderbudget.com/best-gaming-laptops-1000-dollars/

 

Also check craigslist. There are lots of laptops and tablet types that sell for 100-300$.

1 terrabyte memory (dont try to game using external harddrives)

 

Geforce Nividia graphics card (required for smooth gaming, integrated graphics cards are a waste of your time and money)

 

8 gigabytes of RAM

 

other than that, your fairly safe. most nividia laptops come with a fair processor for your money, and since you are going budget, Im guessing you and I shop the same. these 3 requirements will put your laptop at roughly 700-900 dollars depending on screen size. tho screen size mean little if you can buy a screen and hdmi it, like your tv, or a 20$ flat screen with 144 ghz.

 

shop anywhere, but be sure to compare prices and stick with these 3, if you settle youll pay for it later, trust me

I'll do the OP the courtesy of actually noticing he was requesting information relevant to him - ie not $US.

 

Here's a link that shows the best gaming laptops for under £1000 in the UK.

 

https://www.techradar.com/uk/deals/cheap-gaming-laptop-deals-under-1000

 

All The Best

SWTOR is very CPU intensive. It only "requires" 2 cores/threads and works best with a fast processor. So, overall, you want a trade-off between CPU power and GPU power, with CPU speed being a bit more important than usual. More than 4 CPU cores is not needed.

For example, if it came down to a choice, in your price range, between one that has a better CPU and one that has a better GPU, go for the better CPU (for SWTOR).

If it comes down to a choice between 4 fast cores versus more slower cores, go for the faster CPU.

The above poster is referring to hard drive storage when they say "1 terabyte of memory". However, if you are concerned about loading times, overall system responsiveness, and you don't intend to load up your storage with lots of games, I'd suggest getting a 256Gig (or larger) SSD instead of a hard drive. You can add an external or internal hard drive later, for extra storage, if needed.

8 Gigs of RAM should be the minimum.

 

For graphics, SWTOR and many other games, have trouble with Intel on-chip graphics. It's best to get an nVidia or AMD based discrete GPU or a new AMD Ryzen based APU.

 

A word of advice. Laptops have rather limited cooling systems. Since SWTOR puts a heavy load on the processor, don't crank the graphics settings up too high to reduce overall heat generation (even if the GPU is capable of higher settings).

In that regard, a regular thickness laptop usually has better cooling than a "thin&light" unit.

Edited September 29, 2019 by JediQuaker

I'm having trouble looking at gaming laptops that aren't all in USD.

 

But if you can find a i7-9750H or i7-8750H intel processor, you will be in good shape. The graphics card you will want is probably a nVidia1660 TI, or slightly older but equally powerful nvidia 1060m. The 1050 TI and 1650's are garbage. For RAM, 8GB will do, but 16 is better. For hard drive, look for 256 or 512 M.2 NVME SSD drives. 512 is better.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Rion_Starkiller

Take a look at https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

 

You can either make you own custom build, following suggestions offered in the thread, or buy a prebuild gaming laptop. You should be able to find an option below £800.

 

I have a laptop from them, so can recommend.

Thanks for all the replies chaps. So I think I know the specs I want now but the thing that still confuses me is the graphics cards. I thought that with nvidia graphics cards the greater the number, the better the graphics. But when I look at the same models with the only thing difference between them being the graphics card, some of the lower number graphics cards are more expensive. How do I know which graphics cards are the best?

That depends on what sort of "lower numbers" you mean.

NVidia GPUs come in "series" with a fairly consistent number scheme. The series start with the same number - 7xx (older), 9xx, 10xx, 20xx (newest). The model numbers go sort of in tens like 50 (lower perf), 60, 70, 80 (higher perf).

Plus they add "Ti" and "super" to confuse things.

So, a 1080 would be numerically lower than a 2060, but the 1080 though slightly older, is a more powerful card than a 2060 and would cost more.

Let us know what GPUs and CPUs you're considering and we can give more details.

Edited October 9, 2019 by JediQuaker

Thanks for all the replies chaps. So I think I know the specs I want now but the thing that still confuses me is the graphics cards. I thought that with nvidia graphics cards the greater the number, the better the graphics. But when I look at the same models with the only thing difference between them being the graphics card, some of the lower number graphics cards are more expensive. How do I know which graphics cards are the best?

 

I have an 1060 that works great. A 1080 would also be great.

 

The next generation after that starts with 20... so 2060, 2080, etc. Those are more advanced, but much more expensive.

 

The next thing you need to look at is the amount of GB the card comes with. This is similar to why you want 8GB of RAM instead of 4GB of RAM.

 

So, if you have a 1060 with 6GB vs. a 1080 with 2GB, the 1060 will deliver far better performance (and probably more heat to your laptop too, lol).

 

I wouldn't get a graphics card with less than 3-4GB.

A word of advice. Laptops have rather limited cooling systems. Since SWTOR puts a heavy load on the processor, don't crank the graphics settings up too high to reduce overall heat generation (even if the GPU is capable of higher settings).

In that regard, a regular thickness laptop usually has better cooling than a "thin&light" unit.

 

This is a great post. I ended up having to undervolt, but now I can finally enjoy "Very High" settings while keeping temps under 80C. I could probably play on Ultra if I had fans on MAX the whole time.

 

It makes me laugh when manufacturers say you can play VR on 1080p. Yeah, right. Maybe if you want your laptop to turn into a smoking husk...

nVidia gfx cards go like this:

 

Older:

• 960
  
• 970
  
• 980
  

 

Newer

• 1050
  
• 1060
  
• 1070
  
• 1080
  

 

Newest

• 1650
  
• 1660
  
• 2060
  
• 2070
  
• 2080
  

 

 

So if you get a 900 series gfx card, they are just starting to become dated, but if you get a great deal, then go for it, especially if it's a 970 or 980. If you get a 1060 or higher, you will be in good shape. I don't recommend the 1050's or 1650's though. On a personal note, I have a laptop with a 960 (resolution/screen is 1080p ) and I can run the game on high settings, but not quite ultra.

 

*Important note: A 1080 will outperform a 1660, 2060, and will likely be on par with a 2070.* Likewise a 1070 and 1660 ti are near equal. It's all relative though... different games have different needs.

 

FYI: "TI" typically means the graphics card is overclocked and made to outperform their regular variant in all ways.

 

Here is a great site to help you compare graphic card performance: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1660-Ti-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1070/4037vs3609. This is the 1660 ti vs 1070 (desktop versions)

Edited October 10, 2019 by Rion_Starkiller

Actually the 980m (M means it's a laptop version of the gfx card) doesn't even perform as well as the 1660 TI. So I think I would avoid all the 900 series all together. https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-980M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1660-Ti-Mobile-Max-Q/m15596vsm789578

 

Seriously, get a 1660 TI or a 2060. They are the best bang for your buck. I don't know much about the AMD Radeon Vegas. I'll let someone else chime in on those. Though you can do some comparisons on the site I have been linking: gpu.userbenchmark.com

Edited October 10, 2019 by Rion_Starkiller

Ah right that's it all making sense thanks very much all