In the market for mobile technology, finding an inexpensive laptop for games is quite simple, you just need to find out what affects the system performance and get acquainted directly with the internal elements of the device. In this article, the reader will learn about the features of mobile technology and the intricacies that you need to know before making a purchase. Naturally, the user will be offered laptop models in different price classes that are able to cope with demanding games.
Features of the mobile device market
“Advise an inexpensive laptop for games” - it is this phrase that leads a potential buyer to the segment of expensive mobile devices, the cost of which starts at 60,000 rubles and has no limit. There are frequent cases when the seller offers products of the budget segment, in which there are many interesting solutions that can demonstrate the launch of the game application to the buyer. However, the performance of such devices is often not enough even for a comfortable pastime with your favorite toy at minimum settings. The conclusion is obvious - you can’t trust anyone, and the sellers themselves need to ask the questions correctly. And for this we need such knowledge:
- basic principles of the laptop, which affect system performance;
- means and possibilities of improving the speed of work;
- Matching the requirements of games to computer elements.
The inner world of a mobile "friend"
Any potential buyer who selects an inexpensive gaming laptop for himself in the market should know that the mobile platform has some differences from a personal computer. We are talking about three main components: a processor, a video adapter and a motherboard - they are soldered together at the factory and are not removable. Accordingly, there can be no question of any improvement in the laptop by replacing these elements. This means that the user should initially focus on the performance of these three components.
As for RAM, the laptop should have at least two slots for installing it (ideally, 4 slots). But there are no special requirements for the hard drive, because SSDs are rarely installed in low-cost devices. In any case, the magnetic disk must be removed, as it will slow down the operation of the entire system.
Features of the choice of processor
A powerful inexpensive laptop for games should have the appropriate chip, which will have time to process the game data. Accordingly, you need to focus on multi-core processors. Two physical cores on one platform are enough for half of the toys that are relevant on the market, but IT experts recommend setting the minimum requirements for a laptop at 4 cores. This step subsequently (after several years) will be correct, because every day new games appear on the market that require more and more resources.
In the media, you can find user reviews who assure others of the possibility of installing a more powerful processor in the laptop by soldering into the motherboard. This scenario is possible, but new problems arise: who will do it and where to get the crystal (only such processors are used in retail).
Selection recommendations
An inexpensive laptop for entertainment and games can actually be built on an affordable AMD platform. A10, A8 crystals and the new FX-88x line will cope with any task. There are negative opinions in the media regarding the overheating of the AMD processor, however this problem arises more through the fault of laptop manufacturers who do not provide the crystal with decent cooling.
But for the work of demanding applications related to 3D-modeling, video processing and complex mathematical calculations, you need a more powerful Intel processor. Representatives of the Core I5 and I7 line will perform any task, and in gaming applications they will not even heat up. True, for such a pleasure the user will have to pay about 3-5 thousand rubles.
Gaming power indicator
You will have to deal with the study of the market of video adapters to users interested in how to choose a laptop for games. It is unlikely to be affordable to buy the most productive device, but it is quite possible to get closer to perfection. First of all, you need to drop all models that do not have a discrete graphics card. The second criterion is the modification of the graphics accelerator.
Experts recommend fans of Nvidia to focus on at least the seventh generation of the GTX series of video adapters. It is important to pay attention to the second figure in the marking, which determines the positioning of the video adapter on the market. This figure should correspond to six or be higher (GTX x6x). For example, games such as the GTX 780M, 960M, and 980M are suitable for games.
Fans of AMD Radeon are a bit more complicated, as the manufacturer has developed a "zoo" of video cards that have the same chipset. In order not to get confused in the markings, experts recommend focusing on modifications of R7 and R9. If the marking of the video card is four-digit, then you need to strive to ensure that the second digit in the designation is more than seven (for example, 7950M, 6990M, 6800M).
When you want to save
A good laptop for games can be inexpensively purchased only if you abandon the extensive functionality, amenities and decorations in favor of high performance. First of all, this concerns the operating system - licensed Windows costs about 10,000 rubles, and for many buyers this is a third of the price of a laptop.
The second criterion is the diagonal. It is clear that 12-inch devices are easier to transport, and 17-inch laptops are more convenient, however, the choice of custom sizes leads to higher prices for goods. It is better to focus on the golden mean - 15-inch devices.
You can also save money on choosing a laptop with a morally outdated display. A mobile device with a TN + Film-matrix and a resolution of 1366x768 dpi will cost several thousand cheaper than a gadget with IPS and FullHD. True, in this case, the color rendering quality in games will not be the best.
Sought after brand
The cheapest gaming laptops on the domestic market in the price category of 30,000 rubles are presented by HP. The user is invited to purchase a device on an AMD platform with an A10 processor that has four physical cores. In addition, the buyer receives a gaming video card of the Radeon R7 line and 4 gigabytes of RAM with a terabyte magnetic disk.
There are a lot of variations in this price range - the manufacturer balances between the amount of RAM and the modification of the video card. Experts recommend focusing on the power of the graphics accelerator, because the memory can always be bought, and the video adapter cannot be replaced.
Interesting offer
Good products on the domestic market are presented under the Lenovo brand. The Chinese manufacturer offers an inexpensive gaming laptop with a modern display that supports FullHD format. A processor with four AMD A10 cores, 8 gigabytes of RAM, a capacious magnetic drive and great functionality for multimedia and entertainment. It confuses only in an inexpensive device (35 000 rubles) a discrete video adapter. The manufacturer has equipped all of its products with a graphics accelerator based on Radeon R5.
The specified video card can handle most demanding toys, but it is unlikely to achieve a high frame rate at maximum settings. There are few options: reduce the quality in games or look for a more productive device in the domestic market.
Serious representatives
The best gaming laptops can be inexpensively purchased in the middle price segment (up to 50,000 rubles) under the Dell, Asus and MSI logos. True, all of them will be equipped with AMD processors with four cores, have 4 gigabytes of RAM and have a mid-level gaming graphics card Radeon R7 (or Geforce GTX 960M). You can play on such mobile devices at maximum settings and with a large number of FPS (40-60).
But fans of Intel processors will have to add about 5-10 thousand rubles to the indicated cost in order to behold the Core I5 crystal in the system. But it's worth it, because the performance of the laptop is significantly increasing. A powerful processor makes the game video adapter fully reveal its potential, and this is a completely different performance in games.
Finally
You can choose an inexpensive laptop for games on the domestic market, but first it’s better to determine the requirements for resource-intensive games that must be run on a mobile device. At least this approach will allow a compromise between the cost and performance of the laptop. In any case, to achieve the goal (the purchase of an inexpensive device for games), high financial costs can be avoided at first. In the future, the user will still have to buy a solid-state SSD hard drive and increase the amount of RAM, because all resource-intensive dynamic games are limited by the data transfer speed between the storage (disk) and the processor.