Gaming Laptops? Not The Best Idea, But It Works
Limited room sizes, constantly being on the move, or simply liking the portable size of laptops can lead to a lot of strange ideas, namely playing high performance-demanding games on laptops. The portable computers aren't as customizable as desktop computers and have some heating issues, but there's a few ways to make it happen if you search for the right device or get the proper repairs. Whether you're looking for a gaming laptop or need to repair a gaming laptop, here's some insight into how they work and how to keep them viable.
What Is A Gaming Laptop?
First, gaming needs to be defined. Although the video game industry has exploded into many great genres, these gaming laptops are designed to play games with high resource demand. Even though there are great games with lots of fun-loving players such as Puzzle Pirates, Candy Crush and other browser/mobile device games, this is more about games such as the Battlefield franchise, Dying Light, the Dragon Age franchise and other modern games with high graphical spectacle as of 2016.
These games are programs with high, specific demands for resources. In a desktop computer, a video card is added as a small, graphics-dedicated computer board of sorts that does most of the game-related heavy lifting for the rest of the computer. A gaming laptop has a dedicated graphics processing unit--a GPU, as opposed to a central processing unit or CPU--which also includes coding to interpret instructions that the game can't run without.
The most basic difference between a gaming laptop and a "normal" laptop is the inclusion of a dedicated GPU. The standard GPU is called an integrated GPU, which only has basic graphical performance for playing videos. The videos are of high quality as long as the laptop is built with modern standards for the time, but this is irrelevant to the specific instructions and much higher demand of games.
What Can Go Wrong With A Gaming Laptop?
Electricity is a powerful, complex resource that is often hidden from view. Electricity is transferred into information, and as computers become more complex, more electricity is managed--albeit with many advances in reducing electrical cost and other dangers. Still, electricity is a source of heat, and these higher-performing gaming laptops generate a lot of heat.
With heat comes accelerated wear and tear. The risk of a burnout is low as long as the laptop is used properly according to the safety manual, and any early burnouts can and should be replaced within warranty. Unfortunately, not following the safety manual is part of modern laptop usage.
Blocking the vents by placing the laptop on a blanket or other surface that can be sucked against the vents can lead to high temperatures that burn away at heat transfer material. Keeping the laptop in dusty areas and not taking it in for regular cleaning can cause similar problems, as dust both increases temperatures as an insulator and can cause small burns to weaken electrical connections.
Modern computers are designed to slow down or shut down at critical temperatures to avoid burnouts, but it's still a gradual wear and tear issue. Information may not arrive on time after a while because of a worn away circuit, leading to delays and crashes. Thermal paste can become brittle and crumble away, leading to higher temperatures at faster rates, which means automatic shutdowns or automatic speed reductions.
Take your gaming laptop in for regular maintenance, and if you're in the market for a new gaming rig, allow laptop repair specialists to find something that suits your needs.