Graphics Cards Questions

paulyron · August 17, 2022

Using an old dell xps 15 9550 for many years.

Specs are

windows 10 pro

i5-6300hq

1tv nvme ssd

32gb ram

intel hd graphics 530

nvidia geforce gtx 960m

1. I play online poker on this laptop. I also use some software that uses a decent amount of cpu and ram as well related to it. Back then I had no issues at all on this laptop. But now these poker clients seem to make it where you need a fast computer in order for the lag and freeze. My laptop has tons of freezing/lagging issues and I believe a new laptop with faster processor will maybe fix the issue? Is my processor still good nowadays or not? What about my graphics card?

2. Now if i were to get a new laptop, i should get at least Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 right? Or Intel i5 or i7? What generation i5 or i7? Heard 11th is not that good and 12th is recommended? Is i9 way unnecessary? Is it also true Ryzen processors have a better battery life than intel processors? Whether its ryzen 5 or intel i7?

3. What about graphics card? I read there is intel uhd graphics, intel iris xe graphics. These are the cheaper and weak ones right? But then I read about 3050/3050ti. Then there is a big difference between that and the 3060 right? Read lot of people say always pay more for 3060 vs 3050? Then I read there is 3070 and 3080 and 3090. Now for online poker, which graphics card should I make sure the new laptop has? Should it be minimum 3050? Or is that too much already? What about AMD RX6700S? Is that way too much and not necessary?

paulyron · August 17, 2022

4. Is 32gb ram always recommended? Had upgraded from 8gb to 32gb a a while back. Also what about ddr4 vs ddr5? Big difference? Should I take out the 32gb ddr4 on my xps and put it in the new laptop which will probably have 16gb? Or better buy a new laptop with 32gb configured? But that always cost more right and you having to open the laptop up? If i get new laptop configured with 16gb ddr5. What is best option to upgrade it to 32gb ram? Use my old 32gb ddr5 or buy enough for 32gb ddr5?

5. Also the more stronger a graphics card, the weaker the battery right? However, does it make difference if you don't use tha gpu and use the default graphics card? Would battery be much better this way? I use my current xps 15 9550 with 2 external monitors plugged in almost 100% of the time. However even though that is the case, I would not want my laptop to have poor battery of say 1-2 hours only if using it unplugged. Or say if i have a power outage and need to continue playing online poker but don't want to have only have 1-2 hour at the most on my laptop. My current setup has it where I could maybe get 2 hours at the most on my xps 15 9550. and I have 2 PW7015L powerbanks where it probably give 1.5 hours on each so maybe 5 hour total backup? So if I get gaming laptop, how would i get more battery backup if the laptpo battery is poor?

6. Should I avoid gaming laptop or not? I am looking at getting the current dell xps 15 9510 or 9520 or one of those gaming laptops on best buy like lenovo 7 slim or lenovo 5 legion or asus g14 or g15. But the battery is always poor on any gaming laptop no matter what? What if you just web browse and youtube? Some reviews seem to say the asus ones could last 8 hours or more if you only youtube? Or that is incorrect? How many hours of battery do most gaming laptop have when not gaming? Also all gaming laptop gets hot right? And that also increases chance of laptop going bad?

PDifolco · August 17, 2022

For gaming I'd say use a laptop only if you cannot do otherwise, ie have no space for a desktop or have to move with your PC

If you already use it with fixed monitors why getting a laptop? Even if you're student or such you can buy a good gaming desktop and a budget laptop with no dGPU for around same cost than a "gaming" laptop (ie $1,500)

Because a laptop is like +30% more expensive for 30% less performance, small screen, meh keyboard, has poor upgradability, poor thermals, battery can stand at most 2 hours of gaming etc...

Now whatever the platform, you don't need 32GB RAM unless doing heavy video editing or such, 16GB is fine for gaming/office, and currently DDR5 is still much more expensive for not much more performance, but this should change quickly as price already dropped and AM5 is coming

paulyron · August 23, 2022

On 8/17/2022 at 3:34 AM, PDifolco said:

For gaming I'd say use a laptop only if you cannot do otherwise, ie have no space for a desktop or have to move with your PC

If you already use it with fixed monitors why getting a laptop? Even if you're student or such you can buy a good gaming desktop and a budget laptop with no dGPU for around same cost than a "gaming" laptop (ie $1,500)

Because a laptop is like +30% more expensive for 30% less performance, small screen, meh keyboard, has poor upgradability, poor thermals, battery can stand at most 2 hours of gaming etc...

Now whatever the platform, you don't need 32GB RAM unless doing heavy video editing or such, 16GB is fine for gaming/office, and currently DDR5 is still much more expensive for not much more performance, but this should change quickly as price already dropped and AM5 is coming

I need laptop because I travel with it. Well I can't bring a desktop when traveling.

So which of those gaming laptops would you recommend? What about the xps 15 9510 or 9520?