Most of us do some research before buying a laptop. The internet helps us but most of us will narrow down to a laptop with the best sounding specifications or a laptop that’s part of a great deal. If you are someone who has been using an older laptop, for browsing the internet, and binging on YouTube videos, you could still manage to live with a dated laptop. Some of us play the latest games and need to edit videos and photos, work on the next big project. Choosing a laptop purely based on a spec sheet may not always be advisable. You need to know exactly how well it will run.
So, how would you choose your next laptop? You don’t want to repeat old mistakes, right? There is one way!
UserBenchmark is a free software that you download and run. Try it. It identifies the strongest and weakest components on your laptop. The tool takes a couple of minutes to run and it generate scores. If all your components are marked in green, your laptop should be delivering a top-notch performance. However, if there are components are marked in orange, or red, they indicate a below average performance, which means you really should think of upgrading.
Hope you’ve run the UserBenchmark tool, because we have compiled a list of the latest hardware and the performance you can expect. This should help understand the kind of software you can run and performance you can expect. Hopefully, it makes your next laptop purchase simpler and worthwhile.
How much faster are processors today?
Entry-level processors
Laptops with latest entry-level processors are great most of light computing tasks. Such laptops can let you browse the internet smoothly as well as stream YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime content. However, as these processors have limited computing power, they can have a hard time handling heavy software. If you are someone who regularly multi-tasks on your laptop, choosing a laptop with a mid-range processor should be a good option.
Some of popular entry-level processor models include Intel Core i3 7020U, 7100U, and 7130U. Similarly, AMD also has a bunch of processor models such as the AMD A6 9200, 9226 and Ryzen 3 2200U. Laptops with these processors should be 20 to 30 per cent faster than the older generation processors and are good for home users.
Mid-range processors
Most students and working professionals will find laptops with mid-range processors to a great choice. Some of the popular Intel mid-range processor models are Intel Core i3 7100U, 8250U, and 8256U. Mid-range AMD processors also come built into laptops. These models include the AMD Ryzen 3 2200U and Ryzen 5 2500U.
Laptops with these processors can handle most productivity software such as MS Office, Tally, SAP, Apache OpenOffice and more. Similarly, these processors can also handle Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse, Atom, MS Visual Code and other IDEs to work on C++, Java, Lisp, Prolog and Python code easily. In fact, mid-range processors are 35 to 40 per cent faster than previously mentioned older entry-level and today’s processors, which can give laptops better multi-tasking capability and an overall better performance.
Laptops with mid-range processors can be a sweet spot for gamers too, as these laptops can handle games such as Dota 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and even Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) in HD resolution. If fact, you can choose a mid-range processor laptop with a graphics card to play most of the games between HD to Full-HD resolution.
According to UserBenchmark, mid-range processors are approximately 30 to 40 per cent faster than older generation mid-range processors so you can get a lot more performance.
High-end processors
If your daily computing involves using CPU-intensive software and games, you should choose a laptop with a high-end processor. These processors have 40 per cent faster multi-core performance than mid-range processors. This can really be helpful while performing complex tasks such as video and photo editing, audio editing, rendering heavy computer graphics scenes and even compiling large software projects.
High-end processors coupled with a powerful graphics card can make a laptop a great gaming machine. If fact, it should let gamers to play the latest, popular titles such as Fortnite, Apex Legends Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds even on the highest graphics settings. Similarly, these laptops are also suited to designers who need to use software such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, AutoCAD, SketchUp and others.
Some of the popular Intel high-end processor models include Core i5 8250U, 8300H, i7 7700HQ, 8550U and the latest Core i9 8950HK. Similarly, you can also look for AMD processors such as Ryzen 5 2500U and Ryzen 7 2700U. Most of the high-end processors are 50 to 60 per cent faster than previously mentioned mid-range processors.
| Laptops with entry-level processors | Laptops with mid-range processors | Laptops with high-end processors |
Dedicated graphics cards are no longer only for gamers
Integrated graphics solutions
Integrated graphics solutions were never known for their gaming performance, however things have widely improved in recent years. According to UserbenchMark tests, newer generation of integrated graphics are roughly 37 per cent faster than most of the older generation integrated graphic solutions. This can be good for casual gamers to play slightly older games such as Minecraft, Counter Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike Source, Civilization V and more. In fact, you can also manage to play some newer games such as Dota 2 and Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (the mobile version) but you will need to tweak down the game’s graphic settings to run them smoothly.
The newer generation of integrated graphics can even play 4K videos, which was a limitation in older generation integrated graphics solutions. These performance improvements make streaming videos from YouTube, Netflix and other platforms a lot smoother. In fact, some of the high-end integrated graphics solutions have performance at par some entry-level dedicated graphics cards.
Remember, integrated graphics are embedded within laptop’s processors to make them affordable, however this design limits overall performance. If you are into gaming, using designing software, and do heavy multi-tasking, it is advisable to look for a laptop with an entry-level graphics card.
Entry-level graphics card
If you frequently play few games, laptops with an entry level graphics card are good to start with. Typically, prices for such laptops can range between Rs. 30,000 to 50,000 so you don’t need to spend too much. According to UserBenchmark’s reports, laptops with entry-level graphics cards are 25 per cent faster than most integrated graphics card laptops. In fact, such laptops can run popular games such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2 and more, even at high resolutions. However, if you are planning to play some of the newest gaming titles such as Fortnite, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you will need to tweak the graphic settings down to get smoother, playable frame rates.
Laptops with an entry level graphics card can also be a good starting point for designers. As dedicated graphics cards reduce the load on the laptop’s processor, they help improve performance in video compression software, image editors and even 3D modelling software. Of course, an entry-level graphics card may not support heavy software such as Adobe illustrator, Adobe After Effects or render complex 3D models on SketchUp smoothly, but it should pretty much handle some basic tools like Adobe Lightroom, Blender 3D and Sony Vegas Pro.
If you are a student, such laptops are good to work on simple 2D and 3D models, however, complex models requires more computing power to render. Future upgrades can include more powerful hardware, to be used in professional environments.
Mid-range graphic card
Laptops with a mid-range graphics card can really be a balanced choice for most gamers. These laptops typically fall between the price range of Rs 50,000 to 80,000 which is great if you are looking for a good mid-range gaming laptop. They are great for playing high-end games such as GTA V, Apex Legends, Fortnite and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 at full HD resolutions, which a laptop with entry-level graphics card just cannot achieve. If you’re an office user, you should really consider such laptops as they as they have a mix of other powerful components, which are also great for office tasks as well as the occasional weekend gaming session.
According to UserBenchmark’s reports, mid-range graphics cards are 40 per cent faster than entry-level graphics cards. In fact, their performance figures are very close to last generation’s high-end graphics cards, so you get last generation’s high-end gaming performance at a much lower price.
Similarly, designers with a decent budget can also opt for such laptops, as mid-range graphics cards can smoothly run high-end designing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Audacity, AutoDesk 3D Max, Cinema 4D and more. If you’re a professional on a budget, these laptops offer great bang for your buck.
High-end graphic cards
High-end graphics card laptops are truly meant for gamers who do not want to compromise on gaming performance. Laptops with such graphics solutions are approximately 70 per cent faster than most mid-range graphic cards laptops. These performance improvements are huge and can run most high-end games even at 2560 x 1440 resolutions.
In fact, you can also dive into the world of VR games such as Fallout 4 and Skyrim with these laptops. You will need a compatible VR headset for that though. If you are someone who wants fine detail in-game and the latest visual effects, the latest laptops running NVIDIA’s GeForce 20-series GPUs are the ones to consider. These solutions come with RTX (Real-time Ray Tracing) support. In simpler words, this technology can make your game look more realistic and helps deliver a great gaming experience. Currently, there are not too many games with RTX support, however investing in such laptops can always be a futureproof option as more titles launch.
As high-end graphics cards are faster, they are also very useful while using high-end designer software. If you a designer using most of the high-end designer software mentioned earlier, laptops with high-end graphics card can drastically improve your project’s rendering performance.
| Laptops with… | |||
| Integrated graphics | Entry-level graphics | Mid-range graphics | High-end graphics |
Does more RAM mean more performance? How much?
RAM is definitely one of the most important components on your laptop. In fact, the overall laptop performance can depend on how well the RAM and CPU work together. The more RAM your laptop has, the easier it is for the CPU to deliver superior performance. Remember, every software requires some amount of RAM to run on a laptop. If your laptop is short of RAM, software will either run slow or bring the laptop to a halt.
Laptops usually come with RAM ranging anywhere between 4GB to 32GB. Most entry-level laptops today come with 4GB of RAM, which can be good for everyday browsing and movie playback. However, for an office user who keeps switching between windows and software such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Skype and more, it is advisable to choose a laptop with at least 8GB RAM to get a solid performance. Even programmers should look at 8GB of RAM as a starting point, since IDEs and compilers can consume large amounts of RAM.
Similarly, even designing software such as Autodesk 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D, Adobe After Effects requires more RAM to run smoothly. In fact, rendering projects on such software can take hours and may take up all the time. It’s ideal to have a laptop with anywhere between 8 to 16GB of RAM. There are also some laptop models with upgradable RAM options. These can be good if you don’t want to spend too much right now, but wish to upgrade the RAM in the future if necessary.
If you are a gamer, having a laptop with more RAM can always help. Latest gaming titles such as Battlefield V, The Witcher 3, Batman: Arkham Knight, Rise of Tom Raider requires at least 8GB of RAM to run. However, if you want to play newer games smoothly at highest graphic settings, you’ll need a laptop with 16GB of RAM and if the budget is not a constraint, 32GB gaming laptops are also a thing. While not critical today, they can be a great futureproof buy that will run years.
Remember, just having extra RAM won’t let you run games on your laptop. To play most high-end games smoothly, it’s important that your laptop has a combination a of good CPU and GPU.
| Laptops with 4GB RAM | Laptops with 8GB RAM | Laptops with 16GB RAM | Laptops with 32GB RAM |
SSDs are the future but how faster are they than your old laptop’s hard drive?
Let’s talk about storage. Before we dive in, let me ask – how important can storage be while choosing a laptop? We are sure most us decide on a laptop with higher storage capacity to save more and more data, right? But this approach may not get you far.
Laptop storage capacities have really improved in past years, and today, you can find most of the laptops with at least, a 1 terabyte drive (1TB). It’s not just their capacities, even their speeds have improved drastically but if you compare them with the speed of SSDs (solid-state drives), they are nowhere close.
Laptops with SSDs can really boost the overall performance of your laptop. Typically, a laptop with a hard drive can takes 40 to 50 seconds to boot up, but a laptop with a SSD can boot up anywhere in around 10 to 15 seconds. Every second counts and being able to load software in a second, helps a lot at work.
In fact, it’s not just the boot time. SSDs have great sequential read and write speeds, so they can copy humongous files in seconds, boost gaming performance and also reduce rendering times while using high-end graphics software working on projects that run into several gigabytes.
The future of storage is definitely solid-state, but remember SSDs usually have lower storage capacities, and are best for installing OS and essential software. To save music, movies and other large files, hard drives remain a viable option.
| Laptops with solid state drive (SSD) | Laptops with hard disk drive (HDD) |
Remember, choosing the right laptop requires an understanding of your computing needs and going with the right set of specifications. While UserBenchmark lets you compare laptop scores, these numbers are estimates and may vary in real-world usage.
To choose the best, we always advice you to look across laptops and narrow down to the one that best suits your needs. If you are wondering where you can look for a really wide range of laptops, it’s at our website www.reliancedigital.in or at your nearest Reliance Digital store.
