If are you in two minds about whether to prefer a normal laptop or a gaming laptop then you are at the right place In this comprehensive post we are going to discuss the difference between a gaming laptop and a normal laptop?
However, gaming laptops are a smart piece of investment as there are many things you can do that you won’t be able to do on regular laptops.
You can use a gaming machine for work such as designing, editing videos, and playing games, and also it is capable of handling tasks such as machine learning.
At glance, it all seems fine with gaming laptops and there are no second thoughts on their performance abilities, usually, they are meant for graphical-intensive work.
Though the functionality and hardware manufacturer employs the identical to regular laptops but with few improvisations to boost things faster for a smooth experience.
Whereas normal laptops are good for day-to-day work like word and excel Processing, creating presentations, web browsing, watching movies, and working on basic software.
They are also suitable for taking notes, also these regular laptops are very portable due to their sleekness and weight whereas gaming laptops are slightly weightier, let’s dig into an in-depth comparison between gaming laptop vs regular laptop.
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Gaming laptop vs Regular laptop which is better in 2022?
Graphics processing unit:
As gaming laptops have separate graphics cards near the motherboard with their individual memory technique.
It has the capacity to deliver efficient performance while playing games or doing any graphically challenging work such as video and photo editing or working on graphics designing and animation.
Normal laptops too a built-in GPU but a large number of models come with a lower-powered GPU that is attached to its CPU.
In simple terms GPU is overall dependent on the CPU so it has to go through a long process before delivering images on the screen, therefore normal laptops are not preferable for intensive gaming sessions.
However, there are few regular business notebooks built with dedicated GPUs still they are not as efficient as gaming laptops’ GPUs.
As things like TGP and clock speed also play a big role in delivering smooth and crisp images.
The TGP comprehended as “Total graphics power” is pretty strong in gaming devices from 60watts to above 130watts, this results in a far better viewing experience, this is a major difference between these laptops.
The gaming laptop is a winner when it comes to video cards as it has an individual memory system, but it is not necessary for everyone.
It depends on users’ intent if your aim is to do, day-to-day regular tasks like data entry, presentations, the research you can opt for I-GPU instead of d-GPU.
Central processing unit:
The computer system will be brainless if it does not embed with the CPU, it has the sole responsibility to process all the information to run your system according to your needs.
For instance, choosing the right CPU is tricky and a lot depends on the kind of work you do, for example, if you are a digital marketer, you are pretty much fine with mid-budget laptops meant for day-to-day work.
Whereas a game developer needs a high-powered device to run demanding applications smoothly.
Gaming laptops are usually designed with high-end processors than normal laptops, as GPU machine needs the strong support of a processor to tackle all the demanding computing task on daily basis.
Regular laptops are not meant for heavy usage so the manufacturers use underclocked CPUs to serve the purpose to work on basic applications and files.
Moreover, as I said it’s a very complicated situation, and can make mistake by selecting the wrong device if you are not aware of the technical aspects of processors.
Though brands do mention in specifications that either laptop is meant for gaming.
A gaming laptop is equipped with a strong TDP of up to 45watts additionally even in a low budget gaming machines offer you a minimum of 4 cores.
Whereas in normal laptops, the TDP is 15watts and cores are dependent on the budget you will have the option of dual cores to octa cores.
For instance, high-end gaming laptops even offer up to 14 cores of processor support that makes them ultra-quick you can easily run multiple applications with over 20 tabs open for web browsing.
The letters such as H, K, HQ, HK, and HS, specifically used for gaming laptops, and for normal laptop processors model numbers ends with suffixes like U, T, G, or Y, however, to make you understand some of the processor’s examples as below.
Gaming laptops: Intel core i5 10300H, i7-11800H, AMD Ryzen 5600H, AMD Ryzen 5600H, i9-12900H.and AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX.
Normal laptops: AMD Ryzen 5500U,4500U, 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7, Core i3-1115G4, and Core i7-1065G7.
The gaming processors are 5 times faster than their counterparts keeping them above the regular laptops.
in case you are a creator, of streaming, professional design, or editing you must consider gaming laptops due to their capability to manage the pressure in any possibilities.
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Random-access memory:
The ram saves the temporary data in your system while working on the device, without this you won’t be able to perform a single task.
More ram means you can open multiple software, files, and tabs, and it increases the efficiency of your game or any other work.
The choosing right amount of ram is crucial for any type of computing system, the speed of the memory also needs to check, however, gaming laptops usually come with a minimum of 8GB ram whereas regular laptops start with 4GB.
Additionally, the frequency of memory speed is highly optimized for multi-tasking, there are many regular laptops that also have good speed to give you a good multitasking experience.
Yet gaming laptop offers solid performance, there are 16GB to 32GB ram available in the gaming laptops making them beast you can run any heaviest applications smoothly.
Both types of machines come with 8GB-16GB ram, the selected memory depending on what kind of work you do, the ram in a gaming laptop definitely has the edge in terms of efficiency.
I would suggest always picking 8GB laptops no matter what device you choose, additionally, modern equipment comes with an upgradeable slot for the future which is also needed to consider during your decision-making.
Though gaming laptop has more efficient and larger ram support, regular laptops too offer you 8-16GB ram up to 3200Mhz speed with an upgradable slot makes it tie.
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Screen quality and refresh rate:
The big difference between a gaming laptop vs regular laptop is its screen refresh rate, the manufacturers have to make the display frame rate faster.
As modern latest games are fast-paced so the screen needs to refresh faster to deliver smooth visual quality.
The regular laptops come with a 60hz refresh rate which is not recommended for gaming yet it is pretty much enough for daily work.
But for gameplay, you must have a minimum of 120hz, however, the gaming machines come up to a 360hz refresh rate making them an ideal choice if you want to play games.
Additionally, if you are a designer then color accuracy is a very essential aspect of your daily routine, though few gaming laptops do come with a 100% Srgb color gamut.
These are quite expensive, and in normal laptops, there are few options below 1000 dollars but again as a design professional, you also need a dedicated GPU.
It can become a pretty tricky situation, but you can also manage with eternal monitors that have higher color accuracy.
The higher refresh rate is only needed if you are in too high-end gaming where you play Esports or multi-player games.
Additionally, for the latest video play, you must have a good frame rate to run it on 60FPS at mid-high settings, for normal tasks 60hz is more than enough.
A gaming laptop is a better choice if you want to play games, otherwise for normal work 60hz is pretty much fine.
Even you can easily watch high-resolution videos just make sure the screen comes with Full HD resolution and not HD quality, however just due to their higher refresh rate gaming laptop has the upper hand over regular laptops.
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Battery life:
Gaming laptops have high-powered components, as a result, it also consumes a lot of battery and has average battery life even during normal usage they can last between 3-4 hours, and while gaming they even drain a lot quicker.
Whereas regular laptops deliver long battery backups above 5 hours to even 10 hours, however, all this depends on the intensity of your work, and it’s quite evident that these machines will have longer battery backup.
As it has underclocked processors with integrated GPU that do not put a lot of stress on the device.
If you need a high processing system you have to sacrifice in terms of battery backup, moreover, if you are a frequent traveler or student and do not run any heavy applications then regular machines are preferred for your day-to-day activities.
Cooling technology:
Both laptops have their own cooling technology as inner components heat while operating, furthermore, the hardware functionality and system has largely different.
Gaming laptops use a lot of power from their CPU and GPU, especially while gaming or rendering big 3D videos or files.
The manufacturers have to add extra fans and pipes to control heating, and regular laptops do heat but comparatively, it stays quite cool.
Also, the gaming laptop has a dedicated GPU that generates heat so to control the gaming device it is furnished with an advanced cooling system.
For instance, gaming laptops do have improved and better venting systems yet they heat up more than their counterparts while gaming temp. can go beyond 80-85 degrees which is to some extent acceptable.
Though gaming laptop has advanced technology yet it generates a lot of heat so victor is the normal laptop.
Design and build:
The build material is mostly used similarly in both types of machines, for instance, expensive laptops have better quality than lower-range laptops, the major difference is their design and look.
The gaming laptops come with a lot of funky designs with a lot of cuts, and sharp shiny logos with stunning lighting that creates a nice game studio environment, the regular laptops have a more aesthetic and sophisticated professional look that you can carry for client meetings.
Keyboard:
Furthermore, the beauty of the gaming machine they are equipped with multiple fancy colors on the keyboard with advanced technology used for making keys as responsive as possible so there should not be an issue of pressing buttons harder during your gameplay.
Some of the high-end devices let you set up color according to your liking, though on a low budget you will have a single-color backlit keyboard yet it will have far better quality keys compared to regular laptops.
Additionally, modern normal laptops are also designed with backlit support but mostly they will have white color keyboard lights that you can not adjust to different colors.
Portability:
A large number of users purchase a laptop for its portability and ease of carrying anywhere, both options solve this issue of portability, as desktops are worked on electricity it restricting you to one place.
The gaming machines are quite heavy the average weight is between 2kgs to 2.20kgs puts stress on your shoulders while going outdoors.
Still, it’s understandable as under the device you have few extra components compared to regular laptops, the features such as graphics card, and extra fans to cool your laptop makes it a little bulkier.
There are thin and light gaming laptops available nowadays that can weigh up to 1.70kgs but those are more like creator laptops.
As thin gaming laptops are made with MAX-Q graphics card to lighten the weight and also consumes less power which results in better battery life.
Regular laptops are meant for professionals who have to carry the device with them, so to make them portable brands keep them as light as possible and design too very sleek so they can fit into the backpack easily.
Connectivity and ports:
Gamers need multiple connectives so they can connect to other accessories and external monitors.
Therefore, gaming devices are equipped with almost all the ports such as display, HDMI, USB type C, and other USB ports.
Still, a lot depends on a budget in the higher range you will get an SD card reader and fast wireless connectivity with the latest technology.
Usually, normal laptops too come with decent ports but they will have a smaller number of USB ports compared to gaming laptops, also for wireless support, you get the latest wif-6 and Bluetooth 5.1 technology almost on all gaming laptops depending on price and model.
Budget and pricing:
Finally, the budget and pricing is the key factor between a gaming laptop vs normal laptop, if you have decided to set up a gaming machine then as of now you must have a minimum budget of around 650-700 dollars.
For streaming or playing the latest titles you need to spend above 1100-1200 dollars, the normal laptops are quite budget-friendly ranging from 300 to above 1000 dollars.
Moreover, to get a good laptop I will suggest spending 500 dollars or above, as in this range laptops are available with a good CPU, 8GB ram and SSD drives to keep the loading system fast.
Overall gaming laptops are more expensive than their counterparts as it takes a lot of effort and research to make robust machines.
Additionally, as I have discussed above these types of devices have extra hardware added by the manufacturers making them powerful to work on heavy tasks.
It is completely depending on your purpose for playing games you need a dedicated graphics card with good support from screen refresh rate, CPU, and Ram, yet from a budget point of view, regular laptops have the upper hand.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Are gaming laptops good for everyday use?
Yes, gaming laptops are usable on day to day basis, as it has sufficient power to handle all the task in fact they are a pretty strong contender for those who have to open more than one application, file, and web tabs.
There are a few drawbacks of gaming laptops as we have discussed above, they are quite heavy and battery life is pretty low compared to other laptops meant for businesses.
Can you use a regular laptop for gaming?
Yes, if your laptops meet the requirement to play games you should always check the system requirements for a particular video game, but do not consider the minimum requirement as they will run it with a lot of lag and stuttering always go with recommended settings.
However, games like Roblox, Fortnite, and Valorant, are compatible with regular machines, but if you want to play modern titles released after 2018 then you need a dedicated gaming laptop as new games require graphics cards, a CPU with plenty of support from memory.
Can you upgrade a normal laptop to a gaming laptop?
The laptops come with upgradability options for hard drive and ram, this too depending on each model.
Unfortunately, you cannot replace the CPU and GPU in laptops however you are left with very limited options for upgrading normal machines for gaming.
If your laptop features such as a processor from AMD Ryzen 5500U or 10th gen intel core i5 with an upgradable ram slot then you can optimize your regular device to play casual games, but again for the latest video games you must need a proper gaming setup.
Does a gaming laptop reduce battery life?
The gaming laptop is meant for heavy work where you can work on big applications and gaming to very computing-hungry task, the CPU and GPU drains a lot of battery even on regular use.
It consumes your laptop’s battery which definitely affects the overall hours of the laptop, but somewhere you have to manage either with performance or battery and in gaming machines you have to sacrifice its battery backup.
Is a gaming laptop better than a regular laptop?
This is depending on your purpose if you are going to use it for normal official tasks then regular laptops are better than gaming, but if you do a lot of editing, gaming, or run heavy software like blender, and AutoCAD then a gaming laptop is worth your needs.
Final words:
So, in this detailed guide we have discussed gaming laptop vs regular laptop, well a lot of factors make gaming laptops a better choice but it does not mean regular laptops are not worth it, as I said it’s thoroughly about your needs and aim.
However, if your battery life and portability matter then regular laptops are better than gaming devices, whereas for demanding tasks normal laptops are not worth buying.
I am sure this post help you to make your decision as we have covered each point in this post still if you have any query post your comments we will guide you.
