Help with gaming laptop specs

[FreeLitres]

I've decided I want a gaming laptop.

I've mainly been playing APEX Legends my Xbox One X but I've never really got used to using controllers as my early gaming was all keyboard and mouse on a PC.

I've never had a proper gaming PC or laptop. I like the idea of having a reasonably powerful gaming laptop with decent graphic and a screen refresh rate that at least puts my system on par with the typical players in the game. One thing that has driven me to want a better laptop I had tried playing APEX on my general HP laptop but it was a shambles around 15 fps on lowest graphics settings.

From my research, I think I need;
RTX 3060 or 3070 graphics (I read it's a decent step up from 3050)
16 Gb RAM, preferably DDR5
144 or 165 Hz screen refresh

I've seen laptops around the £1000 - £1500 price mark

I'm going round in circles though. The things that ruin the specs of proposed laptops are;

Most have only 512 Gb SSD hard drive. Is that enough? Isn't that full after windows, Steam, a few games, etc?
Battery life looks dire on many models, around 3 hours.
Reviews talk of excessive heat and fan noise on most models
Is a 15" screen enough for gaming?

So, do I need 1 Tb SSD? Is 3/4 hour battery life enough or a pain? Are they really that noisy?

[rustyuk]

Any decent gaming laptop will be heavy so it's not something you carry around that much. With this in mind, battery life doesn't really matter as it will 99% of the time be plugged in.

They all make a noise as the heat generated is an issue. Hard-drive wise 512gb isn't really big enough.

I've had a few gaming laptops over the years and to be honest you are better off with a desktop if you have the space.

[FreeLitres]

rustyuk said:

Any decent gaming laptop will be heavy so it's not something you carry around that much. With this in mind, battery life doesn't really matter as it will 99% of the time be plugged in.

They all make a noise as the heat generated is an issue. Hard-drive wise 512gb isn't really big enough.

I've had a few gaming laptops over the years and to be honest you are better off with a desktop if you have the space.

I had ruled out a PC due to space, but after your post I'm warming to the idea. I could keep the PC down the side of my desk and leave the monitor at the back of the desk when I'm using the space for work.

Does to work out more expensive buying the PC, monitor, mouse all separate?

Where is the best place to get a gaming PC and hardware? Is Currys not the one?

[Jenny Tailor]

FreeLitres said:

...stuff...

Where is the best place to get a gaming PC and hardware? Is Currys not the one?

Looking forward to the responses to this one. ( Big Clue - you couldn't have picked a worse option )

Those in the know will be likely on tomorrow - and point you in the right direction.

[Drive Blind]

as a rough guide 1080p monitors are £100 on amazon, 1440p are 200 and 4K are 300.

select your monitor spec first, this will then dictate which graphics card you will need, then build the rest of the pc spec around that.

[Brainpox]

FreeLitres said:

Where is the best place to get a gaming PC and hardware? Is Currys not the one?

https://www.scan.co.uk/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/
https://www.box.co.uk/
https://www.cclonline.com/
https://www.awd-it.co.uk/


https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/ can help you find components and the cheapest places to get them.

If you want someone else to build it https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ is quite reputable.

[Heartworm]

Brainpox said:

If you want someone else to build it https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ is quite reputable.

I've used these guys a couple times with no issues, about to order a new desktop from them if I can decide on a spec

[Griffith4ever]

Monitor arm clamped at the back of the desk and your setup will use the same space as laptop (pc case on floor)... as that will be the keyboard and mouse. Better than a gaming laptop, cheaper per spec, quieter, faster, upgradable.

[Tycho]

What's your internet connection like? If it is good then you could try out GeForce Now for a month or so on your current laptop. I've been playing BF2042 on my Macbook Air and via my Android phone connected to a monitor and it works really well.