Buying a laptop can be a daunting task, especially given the insane number of choices you’ll have across price and performance ranges. If you’re buying a laptop for the first time or aren’t well-versed in the language of CPU core clocks and GPU VRAM types, among other things, it’s very easy to make the wrong choice, one that might come with a big price tag.
Depending on what you’ll be doing with your laptop, your hardware requirements, and, by extension, your laptop’s price tag can vary greatly. The best part? It’s nearly not as complicated as it seems to be.
CPU and GPU Wattage
If you’re buying a high-performance laptop, chances are you’ve already zeroed in on the CPU and GPU combination you want. While CPU clock speeds, cores, and threads are common knowledge, often advertised as a lead selling point by the manufacturer, wattage is another important number often overlooked.
CPU wattage, a concept that also applies to GPUs, is denoted using TDP (Thermal Design Power) or, inthe case of GPUs, TGP (Total Graphics Power). They measure the maximum power your CPU and GPU can draw from the system.
Generally speaking, the higher the power draw, the more powerful the CPU/GPU. However, a higher power draw can negatively impact battery life, so when it comes to laptops, the TDP or TGP is often reduced (compared to the components' desktop counterparts) to balance performance with optimal battery life.
For example, you might see two laptops with an i7-13600K having identical specs. But if one has a lower TDP, the latter will perform better, albeit at the cost of battery life. This also extends to GPUs; two laptops with identical RTX 4060s will perform differently if there’s a TGP difference between them.
Memory and Storage
Next in line is your RAM and storage. At the time of writing, the best RAM you can get is DDR5. However, there’s more to RAM than just RAM type. Memory frequency makes a big difference.
Regardless of the RAM type, each RAM stick comes with a specific frequency: the speed at which the memory works. The higher this number, the better the RAM will perform and the more expensive it will be.
5200MHz is a good speed to aim for here. Around 32GB of 5200 MHz DDR5 RAM is more than enough for just about every game and most professional workloads. If you’re doing some really heavy lifting, though, you might need to bump it up to 64GB (heavy video editing, 3D design programs, etc.). On the flip side, you’re able to get by with 16GB memory as well, but be sure not to go below that, even if you have to step down memory speed to fit your budget.
As far as storage is concerned, 1TB NVMe SSD is the minimum you should aim for. If your laptop comes with a 2.5-inch SATA SSD slot, feel free to use it for mass storage or backups, but making it your boot drive isn’t a good idea. HDDs in 2023 are a strict no for a high-performance laptop.
The Display
Another important part of a high-performance laptop is a good display, something that’s often overlooked. The display is what you use the most in a laptop (or any computer for that matter) and should be up to the mark, especially if you’re using your laptop for professional work like photo or video editing.
High-end laptops, irrespective of brand, usually have good displays. That said, there are a few minimum benchmarks you should aim for. For starters, Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution might not cut it in the future. It might be okay if you have a weaker GPU, such as the RTX 4050, but we don’t recommend it unless you have to cut corners according to your budget.
You don’t necessarily need a 4k OLED display on a 15-inch laptop. QHD (2560 x 1440) is a good sweet spot, as you’ll be able to use the display to its full potential with most, if not all, modern GPUs.
Another important thing to keep in mind is the refresh rate,which is a different measurement to frame rate. 120Hz is the bare minimum here as it’ll be helpful when gaming and enhance your general user experience, whether you’re editing a video, running simulations, or just browsing the internet.
Last but not least, try to find a 16:10 aspect ratio display if you’re able to. It might not seem like much of a difference on paper, but that little extra vertical space can do wonders for productivity—whether reading a long article or having extra timeline space on Premiere Pro.
Thermal Performance
The thermal performance of a laptop is difficult to judge unless you already have the device in your hand, so reviews are your best bet here. Manufacturers can pack powerful components in a thin, light chassis, but cooling them properly can be challenging.
High-end CPUs and GPUs emit a lot of heat; the more power they draw, the higher the heat draw becomes. This means that most, if not all, high-performance laptops will run hot to a certain degree.
The hotter your laptop runs, the higher the chances of running into issues like thermal throttling and the machine being uncomfortable to use unless kept on a desk. Poor thermal performance can also affect the longevity of your machine. Hence, finding a laptop with a good thermal solution is a must.
As mentioned before, judging a laptop’s thermal performance can be difficult by just looking at the specs. However, some thermal solutions, such as liquid metal and vapor chambers, work better than traditional cooling solutions used in low- and mid-tier laptops.
The Keyboard
While most gamers and other professionals in need of a high-performance laptop might have an external keyboard they like to use, the onboard keyboard on your laptop also needs to be good.
Read the specs to find out what kind of keyboard the laptop you’re considering has. Mechanical low-profile switches are the gold standard here, but the main thing here is key travel and the feedback you get.
Around 1.2 to 1.5mm of key travel will be more than enough for a comfortable typing experience. Chances are the keyboard will also be backlit, but we recommend not sweating too hard over RGB, as it’ll also significantly affect your laptop’s battery life.
The Port Situation
Most modern laptops are dropping different ports in favor of USB-C, and for good reason. you may connect just about everything to it and even charge your laptop at the same time if it supports power delivery. However, depending on your use case and how often you travel with your laptop, having a few extra ports on hand is not a bad idea.
First, a dedicated HDMI or DisplayPort is handy as you don’t have to always carry a dongle around. The same goes for an Ethernet port—as important as having good Wi-Fi is, a straight-up wired Ethernet connection beats everything. Last but not least, be sure to have at least a couple of USB-A ports for connecting flash drives and other peripherals handy as well.
The truth is the ports you require on your laptop will largely depend on your specific use case. Carefully consider what you’ll be plugging into your laptop. USB-C charging is also a good thing to consider, as lugging around a heavy power brick can quickly lead to back pain.
In such cases, a Thunderbolt 4 port (or at least a USB-C port with Power Delivery) becomes a must-have. We have a quickexplainer on USB Power Deliveryfor your reference.
Battery Life
If you’re going to be on the move, battery life is critical. Now, bear in mind that most high-performance laptops won’t give you amazing battery life, but they do have software utilities that allow you to change the so-called “Performance Mode” of your laptop so you may extract the most out of your battery.
Laptop batteries are measured in Watt-hours (Wh). The bigger this number, the better the battery life. However, this also comes at the cost of weight, as batteries tend to be some of the heaviest components inside your laptop.
Laptop batteries typically top out at 99Wh, but these are almost exclusively found in 16-inch or bigger laptops, which will be a hassle to carry. If you’ll be traveling with your laptop, we recommend a 14-inch or similar device. Sure, you won’t get the most powerful components. However, you will see better battery life than laptops with higher wattage CPU/GPUs. 60Wh to 70Wh is a good spot to aim for if battery life matters to you.
Be Careful When Shopping for High-Performance Laptops
When buying high-end laptops, it’s easy to get lost in the marketing glimmer and not read the fine print. While most, if not all, modern laptops do come with good hardware that’ll perform well regardless of your use case, being aware of what you want and the workloads you’ll be running on your computer can help cut through the clutter and pick out the best laptop for you.
That’s where reading the fine print becomes important, as that’s often where the difference between laptops that look identical on paper lies. And in some cases, that difference might be what you need.
