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SvennoJ on 12 October 2025
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firebush03 said:

Also, to follow up my thread, yeah… PC is sounding very enticing. Getting to play everything that I can on my PS5 and more at similar (if not better) performance, alongside the added benefit of Steam, emulation (for retro games), free online, and simply having a nice PC to work on my studies with, it seems like a no brainer at this point.

The only remaining issue: Portability. The reason I love my MacBook, iPad, Switch 2, and iPhone so much is because I can very easily pick up everything I need, carry it in a bag, and move it elsewhere with an easy set up.

That said: How are gaming laptops? I don’t like the lack of freedom that comes in customizing specs and such, but this would easily be the most affordable option, as I could simply sell my MacBook and PS5 for a very nice $2,000 gaming laptop.

Gaming laptops cost roughly twice of what you can get in a desktop with better cooling.


I have a Predator Helios 300 GTX 1060 which I bought at the end of 2017 (for CAD 1,800). I played a lot of Elite Dangerous on it as well as FS2020 at very high settings (but low fps around 18-24 fps, don't need high fps for a flight sim), Halo Infinite ran at 72fps indoors, 48fps outdoors (144hz 1080p screen hence the odd v-sync numbers) and FH5 ran at 72fps and it still works fine for most games. (But not the latest, Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl is still unplayable at the lowest settings)

So not bad for an almost 8 year old laptop, comparable to the lifespan of a console.

BUT: Gaming laptops run hot and the fan can be pretty loud, nah is very loud at full speed. You'll likely want to disable turbo for demanding games otherwise throttling kicks in which will slow down your game a lot frequently.

Like here in FS2020, where the temp spikes is where I enable Turbo, then you can see the dips from throttling when the CPU reaches over 90c


With Turbo disabled it purs along, at lower fps of course :/ In the 20s instead of low 30s with the settings I used.


You can disable Turbo with ThrottleStop which I also use to slightly undervolt the CPU. (Lower voltage less heat) Factory settings have the voltage higher than needed. (It suggests what voltage to use)




So gaming laptops can be a lot of fun and can produce great results

But you have to manage heat next to other settings for heavy games.

And still running it extensively at 80c-85c has broken the keyboard (gets really hot at the top where the function and number keys are), next to keys wearing out over the years from heavy use. So I now use a mechanical keyboard on top of the laptop keyboard :/

But it still works. Upgrading to 32GB was very easy. So much nicer as another big part of slowdown is virtual memory caching which Windows does when half of your RAM is in use. (Which you can see in the resource monitor under hard faults/sec at the bottom)


Ironically my next laptop will be a Mac lol. I've had enough of Windows, had to do a full re-install in 2023 when updates stopped working completely. I just want something snappy now for the internet and Windows + Firefox ain't it. (Probably also my ISP which sucks) 

A Predator Helios with Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + GTX 5060 now costs CAD 2,200 and if you want older models I see an Acer Nitro I7-13620H + RTX 4050 on sale for CAD 1,100. 

Here are some recommendations from the experts https://www.pcmag.com/ca-lists/top-gaming-laptops-ca

Compared to MacBooks they are quite affordable! But far less reliable ;)



And one more thing, forget gaming on battery power. Unless you play simple / retro games, it needs to be plugged in or the battery will drain within an hour. My laptop now almost 8 years old only lasts 15-30 minutes now on battery.