Budget gaming laptop...what are the most important components?

[Jennie]

Hi, I'm looking into getting a a gaming laptop on a budget, trying to stay under 800.00. Found this one that seemed almost perfect:ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop FX504 15.6” Full HD IPS-Level, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H (up to 3.9GHz), GeForce GTX 1050, 8GB DDR4 2666MHz, 256GB M.2 SSD, Gigabit WiFi, Windows 10 - FX504GD-NH51
The only concern I had was the graphics card was 2GB vs. many of the other I looked at were 4 GB. The 4GB had 1 TB HDD, which I know is not as good as SDD. If I get both SDD and the 4GB the price increases a lot. Thoughts? What are the most important factors? I plan to play rpg's and MMORPG like elder scrolls and such.

 

[Corwin65]

Take a look at this page - https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294967288+4294818187+594+82+593&NTX=&NR=&filterProperty=&NTT=&NTK=all&page=1&sortby=pricelow&SortNow=Go

 

[Jennie]

Thanks, yes both of those are within budget but have HDD storage as opposed to SSD. I was told SSD is superior. Is it better to 4 GB graphics card with HDD or is a 2gb graphics card with SSD a better deal in terms of performance.

 

[Corwin65]

I'd go with the 6 GB 1060 and SSD - https://www.microcenter.com/product/513696/g3-15-3579-156-gaming-laptop-computer---black

 

[GreyCatz]

Hi, I'm looking into getting a a gaming laptop on a budget, trying to stay under 800.00. Found this one that seemed almost perfect:ASUS TUF Gaming Laptop FX504 15.6” Full HD IPS-Level, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H (up to 3.9GHz), GeForce GTX 1050, 8GB DDR4 2666MHz, 256GB M.2 SSD, Gigabit WiFi, Windows 10 - FX504GD-NH51
The only concern I had was the graphics card was 2GB vs. many of the other I looked at were 4 GB. The 4GB had 1 TB HDD, which I know is not as good as SDD. If I get both SDD and the 4GB the price increases a lot. Thoughts? What are the most important factors? I plan to play rpg's and MMORPG like elder scrolls and such.

Generally speaking, always go for the components that can't be upgraded (CPU and GPU). In your case, get the better GPU and upgrade the HDD to an SSD later on.

An SSD will make the computer boot faster, open applications faster, and copy large files faster. In terms of gaming, it really doesn't matter that much which kind of hard disk you use.

 

[jsmithepa]

I was told SSD is superior.

It is, but not the most important component (you specifically stated), for gaming.

So ^he's right CPU and GPU should be your top priorities.

 

[hang-the-9]

You can't upgrade CPU or video card, if you get a system with a faster video card, you can always upgrade to an SSD later. Or just save a bit more and get a system with both a faster video card and SSD. Most people that know how to work on systems would just get the better video card and swap in their own SSD.

 

[captaincharisma]

SSD's are still a premium when it comes to laptops of any type so with your budget you should try to avoid one especially for a gaming laptop.

CPU and GPU are priority and get at least 8GB of ram. later down the road you will be able to upgrade the storage to SSD and increase the RAM