6 gaming laptop features that matter most in 2024

Gaming laptops person gotten really, really good. It doesn’t return overmuch looking to find models that committedness high-performance parts, thin-and-light design, aliases sometimes both. It’s not excessively astonishing to spot gaming laptops coming astatine beautiful astonishing prices. But knowing what you’re really going to get earlier you deed that bargain button, and making judge you person your priorities sorted earlier you moreover commencement shopping tin prevention you from a full batch of fuss. 

Here, I’m going to break down immoderate of nan cardinal features you should beryllium paying attraction to erstwhile you’re shopping for a caller gaming laptop successful 2024. The marketplace has changed a lot, and making nan correct calls tin make a large quality betwixt getting a laptop that’s still kicking years from now and winding up pinch 1 that won’t moreover meet your demands today.

Looking to prime up a caller gaming laptop? Check retired PCWorld’s roundup of nan best gaming laptops disposable today.

GPU is key

Unlike pinch desktop PC building, wherever you tin brace conscionable astir immoderate CPU you want pinch your prime of GPU, nan gaming laptop manufacturers really return a batch of nan prime retired of nan matter. Most, if not all, awesome gaming laptop makers are going to put highly tin CPUs into their machines, and whether that’s a couple-generations-old Core i5 aliases nan latest workstation-grade chip, it’s astir apt not going to make nan biggest quality successful your gaming acquisition connected nan laptop. If you’re hellbent connected gaming astatine 1080p pinch debased settings and a attraction connected earthy framework rate, then you mightiness beryllium amended served by maxing retired nan CPU, but successful astir different cases, you should beryllium successful bully hands pinch immoderate options you’ll person available. 

This intends nan GPU is by acold nan much important constituent to consider. First, it should beryllium a discrete GPU. Integrated graphics person travel a agelong way, but moreover an RTX 4050 is going to person nan edge. Consider your target resolution, framework rates, and nan types of games you want to play, and past take a GPU from there. Bear successful mind that laptop GPUs are overmuch slower than their desktop counterparts overall, truthful don’t trust connected desktop GPU benchmarks. If you can’t find a reappraisal of nan laptop you’re looking at, cheque caller reviews of models utilizing nan aforesaid GPU to get a unsmooth thought of nan performance. Also support a keen oculus retired for nan “TGP,” aliases Total Graphics Power, of nan GPU a laptop is offering. The TGP tin alteration greatly successful laptops, and while a little wattage whitethorn mean little power and powerfulness draw, it besides will mean little performance. 

Finally, salary attraction to nan cooling nan laptop includes for that GPU. This is wherever reviews will beryllium particularly helpful. Without due cooling, a GPU’s capacity tin driblet hard. I tested a poorly cooled RTX 4090 successful 1 laptop that ran slower than a well-cooled RTX 4080 successful another, overmuch cheaper laptop.

Consider RAM capacity

You don’t get overmuch prime successful really accelerated aliases what type of RAM you’re going to get, but you perfectly should beryllium paying attraction to how much RAM you tin get. The first RAM capacity is 1 thing, but really overmuch much you tin adhd is possibly moreover much important. You don’t want 8GB. That’s conscionable not capable successful 2024. Ideally, you tin commencement retired pinch 16GB of representation and upgrade down nan statement to 32GB aliases much arsenic early games spot expanding demands. 

If a laptop has only soldered-on memory, you’ll look a trickier decision. 16GB whitethorn beryllium capable for immoderate time, particularly if you’re playing lighter games. But pinch galore caller AAA games calling for 16GB successful their strategy requirements, I don’t deliberation it’ll beryllium excessively agelong earlier 32GB becomes nan caller normal. With that successful mind, you whitethorn want to opt for nan other representation from nan get-go truthful that you don’t extremity up pinch a laptop that would different beryllium perfectly tin if it weren’t stuck astatine a representation dead-end.

If you find a laptop pinch upgradeable memory, past there’s nary harm successful conscionable getting 16GB today, arsenic you tin conscionable upgrade later (and different instrumentality of 16GB is astir apt going to beryllium cheaper a twelvemonth aliases 2 from now than it is today, particularly erstwhile DDR6 drives down prices of older RAM).

Starting retention and upgrade options

After GPU and memory, retention should beryllium your adjacent consideration. Thankfully, nan stakes are a small little dire. For nan astir part, retention is upgradeable. Even if you onshore connected a strategy pinch room for only 1 drive, that tin almost ever beryllium upgraded, moreover if it’s a hassle to do so. 

With that successful mind, see what games you play often, really overmuch room you want for others, and conscionable really overmuch bigger modern games are getting. A 128GB thrust will hardly clasp a afloat system, and 256GB won’t connection up overmuch other room for moreover a azygous bigger game. If you person 1 main crippled you play, a 512GB thrust mightiness do nan trick. If nan laptop has an other M.2 slot (you’re not apt to find 2.5-inch slots connected laptops successful 2024), you tin surely settee for a smaller footwear thrust and conscionable popular successful a bigger SSD to service arsenic a record and crippled repository. That quiet M.2 slot besides intends you don’t person to settee for immoderate thrust nan shaper will springiness you and tin alternatively opt for 1 among one of nan best SSDs disposable whenever you upgrade.

A show to fresh your needs

If you scheme to conscionable link to a value gaming show astatine location for astir of your play and only trust connected nan laptop’s show erstwhile you’re connected nan go, past this mightiness not matter. But if you scheme to crippled connected nan built-in display, it’s worthy making judge you’re getting a bully one. 

Given that moreover nan biggest laptops have, astatine most, 18-inch displays, you tin get by pinch a 1080p show without excessively overmuch pain. You tin alternatively attraction connected color, sheet type, and refresh rate. 

For a colorful monitor, you should beryllium looking to spot adjacent to 90 to100 percent sRGB advertised, aliases spell for 100 percent DCI-P3 for a gorgeous upgrade. If you spot a laptop’s colour only advertised arsenic immoderate percent of NTSC (such arsenic nan communal 45 percent NTSC), you’re going to extremity up pinch a very drab show that doesn’t bring your games to life.

If you don’t spot a sheet type listed pinch a product, it’s apt a basal LCD show pinch reasonably debased quality. IPS and UWVA show panels are astir equal, and they tin connection decent clarity. You’ll find plentifulness of laptops utilizing these 2 sheet technologies. OLED has a immense advantage for opposition and pixel consequence time, making for punchy and responsive gaming, but it usually comes pinch much artillery life drain.

You tin find 120- to 144Hz displays rather commonly among gaming laptops, while 165Hz and 240Hz are besides becoming much common. The faster nan refresh rate, nan smoother your gameplay tin look, though slower OLED displays tin sometimes look arsenic soft arsenic faster LCDs.

Finally, a speedy statement connected MUX switches successful 2024. While you mightiness find them and beryllium capable to spot immoderate use while gaming connected nan laptop’s soul display, nan preamble of CASO means they’re acold little basal for maximizing performance.

Ports are a large woody still

Regardless of whether you’re utilizing your gaming laptop arsenic a desktop replacement aliases gaming connected nan spell pinch it, you’ll want to guarantee you’ve sewage nan correct ports to thief pinch nan job. 

For outer show connections, beryllium connected nan lookout for HDMI 2.1 arsenic good arsenic USB-C ports that mention DisplayPort support (often listed arsenic “DP Alt Mode”). USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 tin besides beryllium highly handy, arsenic they not only fto you link retired to hubs that multiply your larboard options, but they tin besides grip nan show output astatine nan aforesaid time. 

In 2024, USB-A ports aren’t ever a given, but it tin beryllium very adjuvant to person a mates connected platform for connecting mice and headphones. If you tin debar it, don’t trust connected Bluetooth for connections to your gaming peripherals — nan latency is conscionable excessively high.

Battery life doesn’t person to beryllium awful

A laptop should beryllium portable, moreover if you only scheme to usage it lightly erstwhile you’re distant from powerfulness outlets. Ultrabooks person made leaps and bounds successful artillery life, but gaming laptops still person a penchant for burning done their batteries successful grounds time. That is, if nan discrete GPU is enabled. Many gaming laptops springiness you nan action to disable nan discrete GPU, and that tin beryllium a boon to artillery life. I’ve seen immoderate laptops that mightiness spell 2 hours usually agelong person to 8 hours pinch nan GPU turned off. Unfortunately, not each laptops grip artillery savings equally, moreover if they person akin components and artillery capacities, truthful beryllium judge to cheque reviews for artillery life measurements. 

Further reading: The champion gaming laptops nether $1,000