I’m looking for an ok gaming laptop around 1.5k ish.
Won’t be playing anything crazy, more indie and Dead by Daylight sort of games as I have a PS5 and I play most AAA titles on there.
I want the laptop for some Steam games and streaming them to my iPad and phone.
Came across this laptop and saw some decent reviews. I don’t mind the build and body since it’ll sit on my study desk most of the time. Battery isn’t a big factor for me either as a result.
What do people think? Anyone has any experience?
Not a PC gamer so still learning about specs and things to look out for. Apologies for the noob question.
Thanks for the help in advance!
https://www.centrecom.com.au/gigabyte-g5-kd-156-144hz-i5-114…
Nobody answered so I'll give it a go…
Short answer (tl;dr) - It's fine to purchase given your needs. Buy it and enjoy your gaming on it for the next few years.
Long answer - if gaming is your goal, then you're looking mainly at CPU and GPU that'll determine how long your laptop will stay relevant when it comes to minimum/recommend specs for future games.
regarding CPU:
- the laptop is Intel 11th gen (released last year), fine for your budget as the latest 12th gen (current gen) laptops will cost $2k+
- this laptop is an i5 processor which is fine for gaming, you'd only want the i7/i9 processors (more processing cores) if you were doing CPU-intensive stuff like video editing for YouTube
regarding GPU:
- for your budget, the RTX 3060 is the sweet spot… it's a bit overkill for 1080p gaming though but it'll future-proof your laptop for longer
- the next step up is the 3070 but it'll cost you $2k+
- you could step down to a 3050 as I can see they cost around $1,200 so you'd save a few hundred dollars but you'll compromise fps… if you have the budget to spend then don't step down and stay with the 3060
some advice regarding laptop longevity:
- I've used plenty of laptops and any repair technician will tell you that laptops usually break down well before their technical specs become obsolete… it's due to heat as the motherboard or something on it will usually fry and overheat a few years after purchase (usually 1-2 years after warranty, funny how the timing works out that way…)
- The key to maintaining laptops working for well beyond their lifetime is heat management, specifically heat dissipation
- Running laptops flat on a desk is the worst thing you can do to it, the vents will blast hot air onto the surface and it'll heat up the entire underbelly of your laptop and it'll eventually wear out your components
- Make sure you keep your vents clear, either by hanging them off the sides/edges of your desk or elevating the laptop (a stack of books work fine) so the hot air doesn't circulate back to the bottom of your laptop
- Aussie summers exacerbates the heat problem, 30+ degree bedrooms aren't great for heat management and if you're gaming in the peak of summer I'd consider looking into additional laptop cooling options (like cooling pads, if they actually work)
Hope this helps, the laptop you're looking at will do fine.