Current Events > Recommendation for "gaming" laptop

(+) Yeah! (+)

Soliciting the gurus of CE - I put gaming in quotation marks as I really only need to run WoW with minimal lag/loading screen, not max resolution. I've been playing it on Lenovo/Dell Thinkpads (generally the laptops designed to be lightweight) and had a few instance of damage through my own clumsiness, so looking for the harder outer shell.

ETA My two cats love to run across the keyboard as well, so trying to minimize impact from them or fur

why does it have to be a laptop?

Asus ROG zephyrus g14 is pretty good

Robot2600 posted...

why does it have to be a laptop?

Maybe they need to use it for work? Even if they don't have a "good" reason, trying to convince people not to use a laptop is almost never productive, so why not just try to meet them where they are?

If you only need to run WoW, you an get an i7+Iris XE+16gb RAM. The Iris is intel's budget psuedo-gpu that gets away with a lot by virtue of VRAM. Basically it can run whatever the 360 could, typically at higher settings.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-full-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-natural-silver/6612253.p?skuId=6612253

I don't have a suggestion, but if you'll mostly be playing WoW or other games that aren't super graphically-intensive, then maybe a laptop with a decent iGPU would suffice?? it'd prob cost less than a gaming laptop w/ dedicated GPU, in case money is a factor

Idk, it might not be a good suggestion at all, so I guess take it with a grain of salt. Just a consideration, cus iirc things like the steamdeck are using an AMD card with iGPU and those are pretty solid at running games

Robot2600 posted...

why does it have to be a laptop?

Steam Survey has shown one of the most popular GPUs used on the platform is a mobile, laptop GPU. It's becoming the norm.

And honestly, I think laptops do well off enough to play all that a player needs ignoring the toppest most ultra settings for the latest of releases.

This coming from a man who played on a supposed ASUS gaming laptop in 2013. It did me well for eight years. Even managed Overwatch. We're entering an ever increasingly mobile market. Things are shifting.

Robot2600 posted...

why does it have to be a laptop?

I have a really nice dual monitor rig but often find myself in the living room (the aforementioned cats) or at other locations for a few days.

Rika_Furude posted...

Asus ROG zephyrus g14 is pretty good

Evening_Dragon posted...

If you only need to run WoW, you an get an i7+Iris XE+16gb RAM. The Iris is intel's budget psuedo-gpu that gets away with a lot by virtue of VRAM. Basically it can run whatever the 360 could, typically at higher settings.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-full-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-natural-silver/6612253.p?skuId=6612253

Thank you both!

BucketCat posted...

I don't have a suggestion, but if you'll mostly be playing WoW or other games that aren't super graphically-intensive, then maybe a laptop with a decent iGPU would suffice?? it'd prob cost less than a gaming laptop w/ dedicated GPU, in case money is a factor

Idk, it might not be a good suggestion at all, so I guess take it with a grain of salt. Just a consideration, cus iirc things like the steamdeck are using an AMD card with iGPU and those are pretty solid at running games

No that's a good point - I don't really need the guts of the "gaming laptop" as much as the outer exterior I've seen

do not settle for 16 gigs of ram for crying out loud wtf is this.

get 64 at least.

Asus

Robot2600 posted...

do not settle for 16 gigs of ram for crying out loud wtf is this.

get 64 at least.

It's a laptop, wtf is this post

even my recent gaming desktop only has 32

Robot2600 posted...

why does it have to be a laptop?

Even though TC already answered, there was always the possibility he played in person with friends. Every other week or so I have a get together with ~10 of my friends, and we play board games and fighting games. So we have set ups - my friend who hosts has his desktop, one friend brings his PS4, and some people, including myself, bring their laptops.

It's quite fun, and this coming Saturday is our next one ^_^

i got this guy since i was gonna be without my desktop for a while. its working nicely for everything i use (mainly helldivers 2 and elden ring) so long as ur willing to compromise on graphical quality. its been a very smooth time

Yeah laptops or at least portables like the ROG Ally are top stuff if you just wanna chill on the couch or bed and play something casual. Ive got a proper gaming desktop I use most of the time but sometimes I just wanna lay down or something

Dungeater posted...

i got this guy since i was gonna be without my desktop for a while. its working nicely for everything i use (mainly helldivers 2 and elden ring) so long as ur willing to compromise on graphical quality. its been a very smooth time

bro you know us normies can't read invisible ink

brutha i coulda sworn...

lol here

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-15-6-fhd-ips-144hz-gaming-laptop-13th-gen-intel-core-
i7-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-16gb-ddr5-512gb-ssd-obsidian-black/6576934

i hate gamefaqs. bridge the link

here gdi

https://tinyurl.com/yvn8ut85

MSI makes the best ones in my experience.

I've had good luck with MSI. They make affordable laptops that last a long time. I'm still using mine after over 10 years, just not for games because it's outdated for anything recent.

Everyone here is going to give better suggestions, but I got overzealous with running my acer predator whatever gaming laptop on auto fan with 100 percent charged battery plugged in. (Some of this I was aware of but there wasn't a problem initially). I was playing Ghostwire:Tokyo on Ultra and I realized my laptop was getting hot but I only played it for a few hours mostly at a time..... blah...blah....I can still run Elder Scrolls Online on high but I have to make sure the fan is running louder than I want because it now gets to 90'c. I think I figured this out. If I don't. 90'c even if the laptop doesn't feel that hot is absurd!!!

It was just getting way too hot when I was playing ESO and even a couple other not so demanding games. I got it under control now, probably.

FL81 posted...

It's a laptop, wtf is this post

even my recent gaming desktop only has 32

Its a laptop, if you knew anything about laptops you'd know that they are absolutely horrible at memory usage. 16 gigs of laptop memory IS NOT the same as 16 gigs of desktop memory, and a massive problem with laptops these days is that many of them are configured so the memory is soldered on to the motherboard, which means, in plain English, you can't change them out without it being a massive headache, so its better these days to just get the extra memory from the start.

Also, pay very close attention to listings. ALWAYS check to see if it includes a graphics card. These 600 dollar laptops might seem great, but they don't come with a graphics card, so its useless for most gaming.

My suggestion, if your looking for a bare bones gaming laptop is to look for something like this:
https://shorturl.at/R7eKY

It doesn't have to be this exact laptop. I'm just using it as an example. It has a decent graphics card, 32 gigs of ram (usually they advertise 16 or 32, rarely do they advertise 24), and its only 1400 dollars. Yes, its more expensive than the 600 dollar one. But at the same time, your always going to pay more for portability. This same computer as a desktop would probably be around the 1000 mark if its on sale.

Another thing, my battery doesn't seem to be changeable, which doesn't matter to me. As I never had good luck with inserting new batteries into phones or laptops anyways even if I recalibrated them. It seems once the device learns the battery is shot bad, it thinks every further battery is the same.

Going back to the TC. This is why I spent likely more on this laptop because I wanted something better than just some winky do winky don't laptop. I'd at least like to try and run some graphic intensive games and see what happens. I can't imagine a 600 dollar laptop being that good for any sort of gaming unless it's indie titles. I know TC did say he just wanted to play WoW on minimum settings but still. Things have moved on since the eMachines, but that was literally just throwing money away.

Kamil posted...

Another thing, my battery doesn't seem to be changeable, which doesn't matter to me. As I never had good luck with inserting new batteries into phones or laptops anyways even if I recalibrated them. It seems once the device learns the battery is shot bad, it thinks every further battery is the same.

Going back to the TC. This is why I spent likely more on this laptop because I wanted something better than just some winky do winky don't laptop. I'd at least like to try and run some graphic intensive games and see what happens. I can't imagine a 600 dollar laptop being that good for any sort of gaming unless it's indie titles. I know TC did say he just wanted to play WoW on minimum settings but still. Things have moved on since the eMachines, but that was literally just throwing money away.

Batteries can be changeable on a laptop, but newer laptops have gone the route of placing them inside the chassis instead of the kind that is a simple pop and swap that you would see from the mid 2000s. I don't know why they went that route, but I'm assuming its to save on space since a bare battery without the fancy shell doesn't take up much room.

Ivany2008 posted...

Batteries can be changeable on a laptop, but newer laptops have gone the route of placing them inside the chassis instead of the kind that is a simple pop and swap that you would see from the mid 2000s. I don't know why they went that route, but I'm assuming its to save on space since a bare battery without the fancy shell doesn't take up much room.

My last laptop was from 2012/2015, (?) it was awhile ago, it also had a dvd drive too. I actually quickly accepted the no the drive built in. That's fine. Though my old beat up laptop still works. I used it to rip the latest Cure CD. I remember recently looking at my laptop to clean some fan vents and I was like where the fuck is my battery. I guess it's very interior as you stated.

I picked up a ROG ASUS G16 with a rtx 4070 recently. Some gaming laptop do give you options to upgrade yourself. I was able to upgrade the ssd (512gb to 2tb+4tb) and ram (soldered 16gb + added 32gb ram).

Overkill for WoW but worth it in the long run.

Thanks for the suggestions all - I concur, I don't mind spending a bit more to get more longevity/less margin for error.

As far as the case, is there such a thing as hard clamshells (like Otterbox) for laptops? So far all the suggestions have still had the slim/thin profile I worry I will dent with a can of tomatoes (don't ask)

Ivany2008 posted...

Its a laptop, if you knew anything about laptops you'd know that they are absolutely horrible at memory usage. 16 gigs of laptop memory IS NOT the same as 16 gigs of desktop memory, and a massive problem with laptops these days is that many of them are configured so the memory is soldered on to the motherboard, which means, in plain English, you can't change them out without it being a massive headache, so its better these days to just get the extra memory from the start.

Also, pay very close attention to listings. ALWAYS check to see if it includes a graphics card. These 600 dollar laptops might seem great, but they don't come with a graphics card, so its useless for most gaming.

My suggestion, if your looking for a bare bones gaming laptop is to look for something like this:
https://shorturl.at/R7eKY

It doesn't have to be this exact laptop. I'm just using it as an example. It has a decent graphics card, 32 gigs of ram (usually they advertise 16 or 32, rarely do they advertise 24), and its only 1400 dollars. Yes, its more expensive than the 600 dollar one. But at the same time, your always going to pay more for portability. This same computer as a desktop would probably be around the 1000 mark if its on sale.

Bro wants to play WoW, not clair obscur. If he didn't specify WoW, I wouldn't been recommending budgets

Edit: welp then i see the last post

Evening_Dragon posted...

Bro wants to play WoW, not clair obscur. If he didn't specify WoW, I wouldn't been recommending budgets

Edit: welp then i see the last post

Sorry! I should have put it in the original post

Robot2600 posted...

why does it have to be a laptop?

I knew some shit like this was gonna be the first reply. This board can't go offline fast enough.

Steam deck

KhlavicLanguage posted...

I knew some shit like this was gonna be the first reply. This board can't go offline fast enough.

To be fair, I bought a gaming laptop and I regret it. It wasn't even less expensive than a desktop, and it's become outdated with no easy way to swap out components. If I did it over again, I would buy a desktop.

Ruvan22 posted...

Soliciting the gurus of CE - I put gaming in quotation marks as I really only need to run WoW with minimal lag/loading screen, not max resolution. I've been playing it on Lenovo/Dell Thinkpads (generally the laptops designed to be lightweight) and had a few instance of damage through my own clumsiness, so looking for the harder outer shell.

ETA My two cats love to run across the keyboard as well, so trying to minimize impact from them or fur

If youre just playing low-end or moderately demanding games, you really dont need a gaming laptop. Most modern laptop CPUs with a good integrated GPU can handle plenty of games without breaking the bank. A solid Ryzen-based laptop will go far for this.

The trade-off is that many modern laptops are thin and not built to take abuse like the classic enterprise-grade Dell, HP, or Lenovo models. Those business-class machines are user-serviceable and have replacement parts readily available online, making them much easier to fix yourself. Any modern Used DELL/HP/Lenovo will do the job just fine.

If you want something truly built like a tank, look at a Dell Rugged, Getac, or Panasonic Toughbook with a decent CPU and integrated graphics. Theyre expensive, but theyre extremely durable and easy to service perfect if you need a laptop that can take a beating.

But If you still want to game... There are options
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt99vFUtnfA
https://www.reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop/

Evening_Dragon posted...

Bro wants to play WoW, not clair obscur. If he didn't specify WoW, I wouldn't been recommending budgets

Edit: welp then i see the last post

The general point I was making is that gaming without a graphics card is a very bad idea. Onboard graphics cards are all horrible for semi-modern gaming. It doesn't need to be a 5000 series card, even a 3000 series card in 2025 is still amazing. Just that you need to have one.

If you're okay with med/high 1080p/60 settings 7th gen gaming and min/low 720p/30 settings 8th gaming there are plenty of used Latitudes, Pro/Elitebooks, and Thinkpads recycled from offices on eBay for around $200. Despite their use case modern ones have decent enough specs for gaming, so long as they have at minimum a 4 core CPU, 16 GBs of RAM, and either an Iris Xe or Vega 7/8 igpu. 10/11th gen Intel run kinda hot and the 12th/13th models ending in P are trash. Ryzen 4000 is fine, but the 5400/5600/5800 series have not insignificant single core performance gains. The one common issue is the screens are usually 250 nit 45% NTSC which look fine until you see a 400 nit 100% sRGB. The other caveat is that the battery life on average will be around 80% of it's total capacity.

Anecdotally I picked up a used Thinkpad with a 5800u and I'm pleased with it's performance. It can handle Doom 2016 at low/med 720p around 60ish fps with lots of dips which is still way better than I expected. I also tried an Elitebook that had a solid feeling aluminum body and pretty good upward facing speakers, something I have no idea why is so uncommon. Screen was noticably grainy though so I passed on it.

If you're looking for something with a dgpu you're going to pay a premium. Personally I don't see the point unless you are serious on using it as a desktop replacement.

If you're interested in longevity, Framework laptops are specifically designed for easy DIY replacement and upgrading of parts but I have no 1st hand experience with them.

superbot400 posted...

If youre just playing low-end or moderately demanding games, you really dont need a gaming laptop. Most modern laptop CPUs with a good integrated GPU can handle plenty of games without breaking the bank. A solid Ryzen-based laptop will go far for this.

The trade-off is that many modern laptops are thin and not built to take abuse like the classic enterprise-grade Dell, HP, or Lenovo models. Those business-class machines are user-serviceable and have replacement parts readily available online, making them much easier to fix yourself. Any modern Used DELL/HP/Lenovo will do the job just fine.

If you want something truly built like a tank, look at a Dell Rugged, Getac, or Panasonic Toughbook with a decent CPU and integrated graphics. Theyre expensive, but theyre extremely durable and easy to service perfect if you need a laptop that can take a beating.

But If you still want to game... There are options
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt99vFUtnfA
https://www.reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop/

Thanks for the post/video - I didn't realize that most modern laptops were thin

Board_hunter567 posted...

If you're okay with med/high 1080p/60 settings 7th gen gaming and min/low 720p/30 settings 8th gaming there are plenty of used Latitudes, Pro/Elitebooks, and Thinkpads recycled from offices on eBay for around $200. Despite their use case modern ones have decent enough specs for gaming, so long as they have at minimum a 4 core CPU, 16 GBs of RAM, and either an Iris Xe or Vega 7/8 igpu. 10/11th gen Intel run kinda hot and the 12th/13th models ending in P are trash. Ryzen 4000 is fine, but the 5400/5600/5800 series have not insignificant single core performance gains. The one common issue is the screens are usually 250 nit 45% NTSC which look fine until you see a 400 nit 100% sRGB. The other caveat is that the battery life on average will be around 80% of it's total capacity.

Anecdotally I picked up a used Thinkpad with a 5800u and I'm pleased with it's performance. It can handle Doom 2016 at low/med 720p around 60ish fps with lots of dips which is still way better than I expected. I also tried an Elitebook that had a solid feeling aluminum body and pretty good upward facing speakers, something I have no idea why is so uncommon. Screen was noticably grainy though so I passed on it.

If you're looking for something with a dgpu you're going to pay a premium. Personally I don't see the point unless you are serious on using it as a desktop replacement.

If you're interested in longevity, Framework laptops are specifically designed for easy DIY replacement and upgrading of parts but I have no 1st hand experience with them.

Good points about secondary market - my only worry is having had the BIOS/OS go out on a couple of secondary laptops in the past

One last bump for CE, I suppose these are my thoughts:
*Run WoW with minimal lag (and loading if possible), graphics aren't that important
*Some kind of hard exterior given my past history with the Thinkpad type laptops
*Don't mind spending a little more but not aiming too

Sorry I lied - one last bump (this is the last I promise)