How to Pick a Gaming Laptop - Avoid These Mistakes!

💻 This video covers what you need to know so you don’t make mistakes buying a gaming laptop!

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How To Pick The Best Gaming Laptop Timestamps:
0:00 Don’t Make a Mistake Buying a Laptop!
0:12 *1. GRAPHICS (GPU)*
0:52 1.1 GPU Power Limits
2:05 1.2 GPU VRAM
2:40 1.3 Budget Laptop GPUs
3:26 1.4 Best Mid-Range Laptop GPUs
4:14 1.5 High-End Laptop GPUs - Worth It?
5:07 1.6 RTX 40 Series Laptops
5:21 1.7 Boost FPS with DLSS, FSR & XeSS
6:01 1.8 Ray Tracing
6:21 *2. PROCESSOR (CPU)*
7:13 2.1 Best Gaming Laptop CPUs Right Now
7:42 2.2 Intel or AMD CPU?
8:14 2.3 CPU Power Limits
9:26 2.4 Are Last Gen CPUs Still Good?
9:40 2.5 i5 vs i7 / Ryzen 5 vs Ryzen 7
10:09 2.6 i7 vs i9 / Ryzen 7 vs Ryzen 9
10:55 2.7 The Best Laptop CPU - Worth It?
11:20 2.8 Gaming Laptop CPU Buying Advice
11:42 *3. MEMORY (RAM)*
11:55 3.1 Get Dual Channel Memory
12:19 3.2 The BIG Problem with Laptop Memory
12:48 3.3 DDR4 vs DDR5 in Gaming Laptops
14:01 3.4 How Much Memory For Gaming Laptop?
14:29 3.5 More Important Things Than Memory Size
15:23 3.6 Memory Overclocking / XMG in Laptops
15:39 *4. STORAGE*
15:58 4.1 How Much Disk Space For Gaming?
16:47 4.2 How Many M.2 Slots?
18:02 4.3 PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 SSDs?
18:41 4.4 Are PCIe 5.0 SSDs Worth It?
19:28 4.5 2.5” Drive Bays - Say NO to HDD!
20:15 *5. SIZE & WEIGHT*
20:34 5.1 Portability vs Features
20:56 5.2 The Best Size Sweet Spot
21:05 5.3 Look & Feel / Design
21:29 *6. SCREEN*
21:39 6.1 Best Screen Size
22:04 6.2 Best Screen Resolution
23:05 6.3 Aspect Ratio
23:33 6.4 Best Screen Refresh Rate
25:00 6.5 Screen Response Time
26:08 6.6 Screen Brightness & Color
27:16 6.7 Panel Type - IPS, OLED, TN?
28:09 *7. MUX SWITCH - Boost FPS in Games!*
28:15 7.1 How Optimus Works
29:53 7.2 The MUX Switch Problem…
30:19 7.3 G-Sync
30:35 7.4 Advanced Optimus (Automatic MUX)
31:26 *8. PORTS*
32:06 8.1 Type-C Charging / Connecting a Monitor
32:48 8.2 2.5Gb Ethernet - Do You Need It?
33:11 8.3 HDMI - Watch Out For This!
33:49 *9. BATTERY*
34:01 9.1 Battery Sizes
34:26 9.2 Battery Life - Intel vs AMD
35:24 9.3 Performance on Battery Power
36:14 *10. KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD*
37:10 *11. OPERATING SYSTEM - Windows or Linux?*
38:26 Save Money on your Gaming Laptop
38:46 Best Gaming Laptops in 2022

Disclosure: Purchases made through store links above may provide some compensation to Jarrod'sTech.

[fuzzybunny]

one of the best parts of these videos is the fact that major factors of the hardware not listed on specs when buying are adequately explained. great advice!

[monesh]

After close to a decade on YouTube and this is one of my first comments because this video deserves it. Absolutely thorough in his explanation and any noob can follow through and grasp everything there is to know about gaming laptops. Respect for the effort!

[GridNomofTheShyulk]

Jarrod works so hard.
Thanks for including so many timestamps!

[squidigin]

In my experience, you should prioritise airflow. I got a laptop that looked amazing on paper, but thermal throttles bc there’s barely any holes for air to go in/out. Doesn’t seem too bad at first, but causes serious, almost irreparable hardware damage over time

[lapin_noir]

I'm not looking to buy a gaming laptop at the moment, but this video is a really amazing guide! Loved how you covered all the hidden "gotchas" that manufacturers like to sneak in.

[Patriqu]

The cooling solution is also super important (more and thicker heatsinks, better fans, thermal paste applied) if you play demanding games at high fps because heat dissipation is more efficient. A bigger laptop size helps maintain lower temperatures inside the case.

[jfloww]

As someone who is fairly new to computers as a whole, this was extremely helpful to figure out what to consider when buying a laptop. You made it so easy for people like me who have a basic understanding of computer parts, but need more details to truly know what to look for. Thank you so much!

[thatotherandrew_]

This is it - the ultimate response to the age-old question of "what do you need to look for in a gaming laptop". Thank you for making the world of laptops a better place!

[Protobeans]

This is why I love Jarrod's videos. He always goes well in depth without making it hard to understand.

[fractalelf]

As someone who has owned around 12 gaming laptops, the #1 criteria is repair process. You can dance around on specs, airflow, screen brightness all that jazz but these things are out of date fast and most will have a support issue within two to three years. The rest amounts to matter of taste ultimately. The only other hard criteria is get 32 Megs of RAM and the best GPU you can afford.

[saigudbai]

Been gaming on laptops for 20 years because I travel for work. This guy is giving very good information. You will always be limited by temp and many times cpu bottlenecked on a laptop compared to a desktop or new gen console. Only get a gaming laptop if you absolutely need to have your gaming rig traveling. I also just focus on games that are a bit older so I can enjoy better fps. I can play Witcher 3 at 140fps and love it.

[Beefy-Tech]

Watched so many of your videos before shooting the shoot on a laptop for myself and my gf, but you made the process significantly easier. Thanks to you we made the right choices bro, so keep up the good work👍

[digitalwabbit]

Very in depth and informative as usual ! Also i was able to pick up a G15 advantage edition for 1100usd a couple days ago thanks to your videos, its definity going to be a massive jump from a 1050ti to a 6800m

[cruxmalik]

I watched way too many of your videos to help me purchase a new gaming laptop. I ended up getting the legion 7i 3070 ti 32gb /2tb from the sale. I got nearly 1300 off with rakuten too. 2k was a great deal and it will keep me satisfied for what I need for years to come.

[Jesse-cxsi]

Damn, homeskillet. This may be the most in-depth breakdown I’ve seen in years. Muchas el thankuous! Danke. Merci, et al. 👍

[Zemtex]

Man you got by far the best laptop review channel. I have watched you for years. The amount of information and detail that you bring up and talk about is top level.

[FarmStrong]

its not fair how they advertise gpus in laptops. I have a $2000 Legion 7i with a 3070ti that smokes my buddies $3600 Asus with a 3080ti...

[BanjoJeff]

I'm pleased to see a Linux segment! As a gamer and Linux-focused software engineer I'd love to game on a Linux laptop, but (aside from the tinkering) there's too many compromises aside from the performance. Most come down to third party software support: worse battery life even when not gaming due to imperfect handling of the dGPU; RGB tools, fan controls, peripheral (particularly wireless) configuration tools, etc. I revisit Linux laptop gaming every couple of years and I am due another go, so I hope your Linux gaming video will touch on some of these areas.

[ktaru]

Legion 5 (2021) R7 4000 series RTX 2060 so far no issue, have used it 24/7 for almost a year

[joshmosh-sxej]

I got a 2022 model Acer nitro with a 3060, i5 and 16gb memory for a great deal in the UK (£800) as I was looking for a work station for remote work that I could use for moderate gaming also. It was a great deal and is a lot of bang for its buck, especially at that reduced price!