Gaming Laptops - Four Factors To Check Before Buying

Gaming laptops are becoming more and more popular
with the computer buying public. Once a true gamer
wouldn't dream of buying a laptop for gaming, but
now that laptop performances have increased a hundred
fold since the first laptops came on the market, even
some die-hard gamers are switching over to the other side.

Even so, many gamers still favor Desktop PCs for gaming,
mainly because they're cheaper but mostly because PCs
are much easier to upgrade. Notebook computers are not
very suitable for upgrading so your system can go out
of date very quickly.

Regardless, if you're in the market for a gaming laptop,
there seems to be new systems coming on stream almost
daily. So you shouldn't have a problem finding a laptop that
will meet your needs, as long as you keep a few factors in mind.


Here are four major features you should check before
buying your gaming laptop:



Graphics Card

Besides buying the most RAM you can afford, you must
check the your laptop's GPU (graphics processing unit)
since your gaming system will be handling heavy visuals,
graphics and 3D video you need a very robust video card
that can get the job done. Many recent laptops now sport
dual graphics with either SLI technology (NVIDIA)
or CrossFire technology (ATI). Regardless, you should
check to see if you have at least 512MB of video RAM,
many now have 1 Gig of RAM or more. Most gamers go with
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M, 9800M and ATI Radeon HD3870
or higher ones as they hit the market.

Some recent laptops now sport 3 GPUs such as the Toshiba
Qosimo X305-Q708 which has a couple of GeForce 9800M GTS
cards via SLI configuration, plus it also has a GeForce 9400M
for quieter operation.


Processor

You need a powerful processor to perform all those
applications with ease, we now have dual-core processors
in most gaming laptops. Higher end models now sport
quad-core processors which will deliver more than
enough power to handle most games. You should get
at least 2GHz processing speed, and many processors
go higher such as the Intel Core2 Extreme X9000
processor which has 2.8GHz. Keep in mind, some
systems can be overclocked, such as the Asus W90Vp-X1,
at an amazing 3.28GHz.



Display

Another consideration for a gaming laptop is the all
important display, native resolution and sound quality.
Obviously, you want the best display so check the
actual quality of the images on your laptop. Is there
any glare? Are the colors brilliant and true? Are the
images sharp and clear? Many gamers now go with bigger
displays of 17, 18 or even 20 inches and look for a system
that gives HD playback. Note if you have 1080p display
which will give you true High Definition. Many high
end laptops come with WUXGA (Widescreen Ultra eXtended
Graphics) 1920x1200 with 16:10 screen aspect ratio.

Sound is also important in gaming so you want the best
speakers and sound quality. Many systems are now sporting
HD or Blu-ray Drives so this is something to check for
if you want superior viewing visuals and sound.



Hard Drive

Since games, videos, music... all take up a lot of space,
most gamers go with as large a hard drive as they can
afford. At least 200GB of space, and many go for even
more up to 1 TB terabyte of space. Solid State Drives
are not yet common in gaming laptops but it is something
to consider since these can last longer because you
have no moving parts like you have in a hard drive.
Higher end gaming laptops now have Solid State Drives
but cost is still an issue.

Also remember to check the speed of your hard drive,
7200 RPMs is faster than a 5400 RPM system. Since
top performance is your ultimate goal, getting the
fastest hard drive speed is essential. For this reason
many gamers go with a SATA hard drive(s) which
gives the best performance.


There are a few other things you might want to check
out when buying a gaming laptop. One being style and
looks; most of the higher end laptops will have plenty
of style and pizzazz. If the style and flash of your rig
is important to you, than it is something to consider
when buying your system. Perhaps, another less shadow and
more important issue is warranty. Does your spectacular
looking rig have a good warranty should things go south?
The more expensive the rig, the more you should check the
warranty, even buying an extended warranty for your brand
new gaming laptop. Years of happy worry-free gaming should
be your ultimate goal.



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For a handy online Laptop Guide featuring the latest top
gaming notebooks, click here: best gaming laptops
For the latest laptop discounts and bargains try here:
cheap laptops
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins. This article may be
freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.