Need a new laptop for COH

[Jawbreaker]

I know I know, you can run it on a toaster.

The laptop I have now is on it's way out. It runs the game fine, but If I run with graphics settings maxed, it gets super hot. Also, even my max graphics setting don't look as nice as some other folk's screenshots. I'd like a new laptop that I can; 
1. Run at maxed out graphics settings without it cooking the finish off my table ( again.)
2. Run multiple instances without heating up at moderate graphics settings for farming, RP and screenshot/video projects

3. cost under $1000 on Amazon as I will be using a gift card to pay for a good chunk of it.

I'm computer illiterate with hardware so any suggestions would be best made with a link to an actual suggestion instead of a list of specs/graphics cards etc.

Thank you so much in advance!

[therealtitanman]

any new laptop can support an almost 15years old game.

now lowest spec can run 8 coh at once with no crash.

 

my suggestion is msi & asus which meant for gaming laptop.

1k can bought mid range gaming laptop.

i cant give you specification due to every region has slight different extra feature, board or chipset.

this 2 brand is famous with their gaming laptop.

Edited November 26, 2020 by therealtitanman

[Greycat]

Well, I'd throw some caveats into that "any new laptop." Chromebooks, for instance - forget it. (They're usually plainly labeled as Chromebooks, though. Typically from $100-600.) And I don't know right now if the new Apple M1 chip powered systems can - I'd *assume* through Rosetta II they can (built in, generally transparent,) but... well, new, so expect new and interesting bugs. 🙂

 

Quick search on Amazon for "Gaming laptop" with a range of $500-1000 brought up these three (one of which is *slightly* over) :

Link

 

I'm not sure why the MSI Modern is in there as a "gaming laptop," right offhand, since it looks more like one of the light, portable professional things. The Pavilion has a dedicated graphics card which will work fine for COH. Processor is fine, memory's fine and upgradeable, SSD should be, and it squeaks in under your budget. I'd probably look around for a few reviews (not on Amazon as well) and consider what else you want to run. Honestly this comes close to the specs of my Acer from... 2? years or so ago, newer processor than mine, but otherwise it's been fairly solid.

 

 

[EmmySky]

 

[Jawbreaker]

8 hours ago, Greycat said:

Well, I'd throw some caveats into that "any new laptop." Chromebooks, for instance - forget it. (They're usually plainly labeled as Chromebooks, though. Typically from $100-600.) And I don't know right now if the new Apple M1 chip powered systems can - I'd *assume* through Rosetta II they can (built in, generally transparent,) but... well, new, so expect new and interesting bugs. 🙂

 

Quick search on Amazon for "Gaming laptop" with a range of $500-1000 brought up these three (one of which is *slightly* over) :

Link

 

I'm not sure why the MSI Modern is in there as a "gaming laptop," right offhand, since it looks more like one of the light, portable professional things. The Pavilion has a dedicated graphics card which will work fine for COH. Processor is fine, memory's fine and upgradeable, SSD should be, and it squeaks in under your budget. I'd probably look around for a few reviews (not on Amazon as well) and consider what else you want to run. Honestly this comes close to the specs of my Acer from... 2? years or so ago, newer processor than mine, but otherwise it's been fairly solid.

 

 

Thanks Greycat! 

[Jawbreaker]

1 hour ago, EmmySky said:

 

Ooh lots of good info thank you

[Techwright]

I build and maintain business laptops and desktops (hence "Techwright"), but almost never work with gaming-quality laptops (unless the executive types decree they must have them...for business reasons, of course. ) .  That said, I know there are trends within companies that supersede functional choices.  To that end, I can make the following odds and ends observations:

 

1. Make sure you get all the types of connections and in the right quantities that you want.  There's a transition going on right now, with more and more laptops dropping certain connections in favor of USB-C.  If you have some peripherals with legacy connections, you'll need to take that into account in your search, or buy adapters.  

 

2. Like Point #1, make sure you have what elements you need.  People are still accustomed to DVD/CD drives in laptops, for example, but the trend in manufacturing is to drop those altogether in favor of USB-3 ports for external USB drives.  You may have to buy peripherals if you can't find what you need.

 

3.  Odd statement, sure, but side ports for power and Ethernet wire connections tend to be greater physical space hogs than connections in the back.  That's because we tend to work in a side-to-side layout on desks, and wires don't do pure 90-degree bends, so the arc of the wire moving to the back and over a desk causes a lot of left-right space lost, as opposed to a wire running straight out the back of the laptop or dock, and then straight over the back end of the desk.

 

4. Speaking of ethernet wiring, a lot of laptop companies are forgoing the traditional ethernet port in laptops for...you guessed it...a USB-C port.  This is in a silly quest to have bragging rights for the skinniest laptops, since traditional RJ-45 ports are thicker than USB-C.  But it forces the user to utilize an ethernet-to-USB_C dongle (adapter), and the company might not always ship such with a laptop, forcing a purchase.  We had to get Dell ones at work for about US$36 a pop.  And I've yet to work with one of these adapters that maintains a firm connection to the ethernet's RJ-45 clip, which can lead to confusion if it loosens, severing signal, but still looking attached.  As gaming is best over wired connection, this may prove important.  Those adapters are pretty fragile, too, so if you go that route, take especially good care of it.

 

5. I prefer metal chassis over rubberized ones.  Simply put, they're more durable.  We've some users who are brutal on company laptops, and rubberized surfaces come back looking deeply scratched and destroyed, while aluminum chassis, though suffering the same abuse, have only a few scratches.

 

6. Batteries - it used to be all laptops had a pop-out battery, usefully for replacement on the fly, or even for popping out to drain the laptop of residual static charges when it started acting squirrel-y.  I've fixed many laptops that way, popping a battery out for a minute while the power cable is disconnected. I'm seeing more and more models that are sealing the battery into the laptop, however, necessitating an A+ certification to open the laptop without voiding any warranties, not to mention its just nasty business towards those not trained to go inside the device.  I theorize it is just greed to send the laptop in for repairs or hire an A+ tech.  I see business laptops need battery replacements under consistent use about every 2-3 years, while laptops may function 5 to 9 years, so this becomes a problem.  If they're out there, consider a laptop with a hot-swappable battery.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Techwright

[Jawbreaker]

3 hours ago, Techwright said:

I build and maintain business laptops and desktops (hence "Techwright"), but almost never work with gaming-quality laptops (unless the executive types decree they must have them...for business reasons, of course. ) .  That said, I know there are trends within companies that supercede functional choices.  To that end, I can make the following odds and ends observations:

 

1. Make sure you get all the types of connections and in the right quantities that you want.  There's a transition going on right now, with more and more laptops dropping certain connections in favor of USB-C.  If you have some peripherals with legacy connections, you'll need to take that into account in your search, or by adaptors.  

2. Like Point #1, make sure you have what elements you need.  People are still accustomed to DVD/CD drives in laptops, for example, but the trend in manufacturing is to drop those altogether in favor of USB-3 ports for external USB drives.  You may have to buy peripherals if you can't find what you need.

3.  Odd statement, sure, but side ports for power and ethernet wire connections tend to be greater physical space hogs than connections in the back.  That's because we tend to work in a side-to-side layout on desks, and wires don't do pure 90-degree bends, so the arc of the wire moving to the back and over a desk causes a lot of left-right space lost, as opposed to a wire running straight out the back of the laptop or dock, and then straight over the back end of the desk.

4. Speaking of ethernet wiring, a lot of laptop companies are forgoing the traditional ethernet port in laptops for...you guessed it...a USB-C port.  This is in a silly quest to have bragging rights for the skinniest laptops, since traditional RJ-45 ports are thicker than USB-C.  But it forces the user to utilize an ethernet to USB-C dongle (adaptor), and the company might not always ship such with a laptop, forcing a purchase.  We had to get Dell ones at work for about US$36 a pop.  And I've yet to work with one of these adaptors that maintains a firm connection to the ethernet's RJ-45 clip, which can lead to confusion if it loosens, severing signal, but still looking attached.  As gaming is best over wired connection, this may prove important.  Those adaptors are pretty fragile, too, so if you go that route, take especially good care of it.

5. I prefer metal chassis over rubberized ones.  Simply put, they're more durable.  We've some users who are brutal on company laptops, and rubberized surfaces come back looking deeply scratched and destroyed, while aluminum chassis, though suffering the same abuse, have only a few scratches.

6. Batteries - it used to be all laptops had a pop-out battery, usefully for replacement on the fly, or even for popping out to drain the laptop of residual static charges when it started acting squirrely.  I've fixed many laptops that way, popping a battery out for a minute while the power cable is disconnected. I'm seeing more and more models that are sealing the battery into the laptop, however, necessitating an A+ certification to open the laptop without voiding any warranties, not to mention its just nasty business towards those not trained to go inside the device.  I theorize it is just greed to send the laptop in for repairs or hire an A+ tech.  I see business laptops need battery replacements under consistent use about every 2-3 years, while laptops may function 5 to 9 years, so this becomes a problem.  If they're out there, consider a laptop with a hot-swappable battery.

Wow thanks so much, Techwright! I would have never thought of any of those considerations! 

[wolfshadow31]

I've got three ROG gaming laptops, and all run CoH great.  My oldest(bought in 2015) is an ROG 750, with i7 core 4700, 16 Gig RAM, 4Gig video card.  I bought a ROG Strix in the summer, i7 core, 16 gig Ram, 4 Gig video card, and just recently bought another Strix so my nephew can play CoH with me too.  I went with downgrade over the other strix, its an i5 core, with 8 Gig of ram, but everything else the same.  I havent noticed any performance issues with the downgraded one over the higher end one for CoH.  The specs for CoH are pretty light for new computers.  But, in saying that, I bought my mom a desktop computer last Christmas, and it was more suited to a non-gamer.  Its got Intel onboard video, and it is laggy even with settings on low.  So As long as you have decent amount of RAM, and a dedicated video card, I cant see why a budget type laptop wouldnt run CoH with no issues.  

[Hyperstrike]

Just went for a look:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i7-9750H-MaxxAudio-Keyboard-AN515-54-728C/dp/B08777BH1B

Acer Nitro 5.

9th Gen i7.
NVIDIA RTX 2060.
144hz 15" monitor
16GB RAM (Expandable to 64GB)
256GB NVMe SSD with another NVMe slot for expansion and a hard drive bay.

Color reproduction isn't PERFECT.
But it's a damn nice laptop at a damn good price.

[Techwright]

2 hours ago, Hyperstrike said:

Just went for a look:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i7-9750H-MaxxAudio-Keyboard-AN515-54-728C/dp/B08777BH1B

Acer Nitro 5.

9th Gen i7.
NVIDIA RTX 2060.
144hz 15" monitor
16GB RAM (Expandable to 64GB)
256GB NVMe SSD with another NVMe slot for expansion and a hard drive bay.

Color reproduction isn't PERFECT.
But it's a damn nice laptop at a damn good price.

Noticing 10% of the owner/reviewers gave it 3 stars or less.  That's not shabby.  Usually I get concerned when that 10% is in the 1-star category.  That said, there are some patterns showing in the negative reviews.  Multiple users commented on:

1. ) system overheating (or excessively noisy fans, which is a symptom of overheating).  The problem could be a design flaw in how heat is conducted out of the laptop, or the assembly team might just not be applying enough thermal paste.  The consideration here is that some are reporting that even old games are overheating their laptops.  This was by far the most commonly reported problem.  I've not had to work with them in years, but there's cooling pads and devices designed specifically to pull heat from laptops.  Using one of these might keep the heat from doubling, as one user reported.

2) garbage keyboard - several reported this, though their details were lacking.

3) faulty screens - arriving with lines through the screens.  Apparently Acer's QA team isn't very good at catching these.

4) batteries not very good - some of the reviewers, even 4-star ones, are point out that the batteries are not holding a charge well.

 

I'd re-emphasize that this amounts to 10% of the reviews, which should mean 90% of the reviews are generally favoring the device.

[Hyperstrike]

9 hours ago, Techwright said:

Noticing 10% of the owner/reviewers gave it 3 stars or less.  That's not shabby.  Usually I get concerned when that 10% is in the 1-star category.  That said, there are some patterns showing in the negative reviews.  Multiple users commented on:

1. ) system overheating (or excessively noisy fans, which is a symptom of overheating).  The problem could be a design flaw in how heat is conducted out of the laptop, or the assembly team might just not be applying enough thermal paste.  The consideration here is that some are reporting that even old games are overheating their laptops.  This was by far the most commonly reported problem.  I've not had to work with them in years, but there's cooling pads and devices designed specifically to pull heat from laptops.  Using one of these might keep the heat from doubling, as one user reported.

2) garbage keyboard - several reported this, though their details were lacking.

3) faulty screens - arriving with lines through the screens.  Apparently Acer's QA team isn't very good at catching these.

4) batteries not very good - some of the reviewers, even 4-star ones, are point out that the batteries are not holding a charge well.

 

I'd re-emphasize that this amounts to 10% of the reviews, which should mean 90% of the reviews are generally favoring the device.

And, since this is Amazon, if there's a problem, returns are fairly simple

[Thrones]

I'd suggest looking at Costco, over the past 3 years I've purchased 4 mid-low range laptops from them for under $800 each. The covid quarantine really highlighted to our family how old everyone's computers were. Everyone had my hand me down laptops and desktop computers, the oldest of which was the laptop I originally played CoH and WoW on when they released. They have a great return program and they do price matching within 30 days if you find the laptop you just purchased goes on sale. 

[Hyperstrike]

In the end, your budget will determine what you get.

[Techwright]

On 6/19/2022 at 6:32 PM, Hyperstrike said:

In the end, your budget will determine what you get.

 

What I want

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I can afford

Edited October 18, 2022 by Techwright
restore picture that was lost

[Ukase]

On 11/26/2020 at 1:43 AM, Jawbreaker said:

I know I know, you can run it on a toaster.

The laptop I have now is on it's way out. It runs the game fine, but If I run with graphics settings maxed, it gets super hot. Also, even my max graphics setting don't look as nice as some other folk's screenshots. I'd like a new laptop that I can; 
1. Run at maxed out graphics settings without it cooking the finish off my table ( again.)
2. Run multiple instances without heating up at moderate graphics settings for farming, RP and screenshot/video projects

3. cost under $1000 on Amazon as I will be using a gift card to pay for a good chunk of it.

I'm computer illiterate with hardware so any suggestions would be best made with a link to an actual suggestion instead of a list of specs/graphics cards etc.

Thank you so much in advance!

So...I thought I needed a new video card because I would see costume contest winners (while I wouldn't win, place or show) and wondered if it was my graphics setting. SG had a contest to find certain items, and the only way I could find them was on max settings. 

In any event, because of the wafer shortage (and crypto-mining) driving GPU prices up, I went to a cyber-cafe and took a look at the game with top of the line specs. There really isn't that much difference. I mean, if I look at your screenshot with your top end machine on my mid-tier machine, I'm still not seeing what you see - but there's just not that much difference. 

Now, if you have a bottom-tier machine, I wouldn't expect there to be a great deal of difference there, either. But, I would definitely try to find one of those places that lets you play video games on their PCs to get a look at how things would be before you shell out the loot IF the only reason is to play CoH. 

Now, if you're going to stream Netflix and do other stuff, then by all means, go ahead and upgrade your system. But just to play coh? That's a bit of an over-reaction in my opinion, whatever that's worth. 

[Hyperstrike]

1 hour ago, Ukase said:

So...I thought I needed a new video card because I would see costume contest winners (while I wouldn't win, place or show) and wondered if it was my graphics setting. SG had a contest to find certain items, and the only way I could find them was on max settings. 

In any event, because of the wafer shortage (and crypto-mining) driving GPU prices up, I went to a cyber-cafe and took a look at the game with top of the line specs. There really isn't that much difference. I mean, if I look at your screenshot with your top end machine on my mid-tier machine, I'm still not seeing what you see - but there's just not that much difference. 

Now, if you have a bottom-tier machine, I wouldn't expect there to be a great deal of difference there, either. But, I would definitely try to find one of those places that lets you play video games on their PCs to get a look at how things would be before you shell out the loot IF the only reason is to play CoH. 

Now, if you're going to stream Netflix and do other stuff, then by all means, go ahead and upgrade your system. But just to play coh? That's a bit of an over-reaction in my opinion, whatever that's worth. 

You can pretty much run CoH on any SOC (like most Intel on-chip graphics, like the AMD Ryzen 7 58003DX

[DoctorDitko]

I'd definitely go with Asus over Acer, if all else is similar. Better QA, for one thing, and better construction.

 

(If it wasn't for gaming, I'd pick a Framework. Amazing company, great ethics, but they don't offer a discrete GPU.

I really enjoyed putting mine together, though. It's the last release of the older model, so it's an 11th-gen Intel CPU, but still good enough for CoH.)

[Hyperstrike]

5 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

I'd definitely go with Asus over Acer, if all else is similar. Better QA, for one thing, and better construction.

 

(If it wasn't for gaming, I'd pick a Framework. Amazing company, great ethics, but they don't offer a discrete GPU.

I really enjoyed putting mine together, though. It's the last release of the older model, so it's an 11th-gen Intel CPU, but still good enough for CoH.)

Yep.

[tidge]

A few random thoughts for the old(er) thread... no real advice, just some observations.

 

I recently upgraded an older Lenovo laptop with a GTX 1050TI video card, it plays CoH fine, but with a 15" screen. The upgrade was to install two SSD and max out the memory to 32 GB (not really necessary, but while I was in there, and before any supply chain issues crept in) The upgrade cost was $200, which would have been much less if I passed on the memory. I did not find the disassembly to be particularly easy, but once the case was apart the installs were quick. The only real issue is that I needed to scrounge one extra metric screw to mount one of the SSD. This was not to get a gaming laptop per se, it was mostly as an exercise to avoid generating e-waste and to keep a working laptop in the family pool. I also did not need two SSD, but they were relatively cheap. I didn't configure the system for any sort of redundancy if one should fail, but that was in the back of my mind as something to possibly play with.

 

After that experience... I definitely would eyeball cases slightly more seriously than in the past. I don't like the trend of low-profile/thin/minimal connectors on laptops. I regularly use a more modern Lenovo think pad (not for gaming). It only offers 2 USB ports (not together), only accepts power through a single USB-C connector, and has a low-profile ethernet port that requires an adapter to use. I'm surprised it still has a 3.5MM jack (as well as an HDMI port, but that's presumably because they don't want it to be too hard to connect to an external monitor)! The earlier advice from @Techwright regarding I/O is worth paying attention to. The USB placement is problematic, as any external drive that requires power from multiple USB ports (e.g. an external Blu-Ray drive) will need some serious rigging to make work on such a laptop.

 

On the subject of "office employees" requesting "gaming laptops" from their corporate IT departments... years ago I would have always rolled my eyes at such a request, but no longer. There are a wide variety of business applications that otherwise "casual" PC users will find become much easier for them if they have laptops with healthy amounts of video resources typically associated with "gaming laptops". I'm not simply referring to applications like CAD design or video editing... there are many commercial browser-based applications that rely on raw video-processing power to display information in a browser. I don't get a voice in what sort of laptops we contract at work, but I've got applications that work MUCH better in systems with higher-end video resources than with more typical "business model" laptops.

[Hyperstrike]

15 hours ago, tidge said:

A few random thoughts for the old(er) thread... no real advice, just some observations.

 

I recently upgraded an older Lenovo laptop with a GTX 1050TI video card, it plays CoH fine, but with a 15" screen. The upgrade was to install two SSD and max out the memory to 32 GB (not really necessary, but while I was in there, and before any supply chain issues crept in) The upgrade cost was $200, which would have been much less if I passed on the memory. I did not find the disassembly to be particularly easy, but once the case was apart the installs were quick. The only real issue is that I needed to scrounge one extra metric screw to mount one of the SSD. This was not to get a gaming laptop per se, it was mostly as an exercise to avoid generating e-waste and to keep a working laptop in the family pool. I also did not need two SSD, but they were relatively cheap. I didn't configure the system for any sort of redundancy if one should fail, but that was in the back of my mind as something to possibly play with.

 

After that experience... I definitely would eyeball cases slightly more seriously than in the past. I don't like the trend of low-profile/thin/minimal connectors on laptops. I regularly use a more modern Lenovo think pad (not for gaming). It only offers 2 USB ports (not together), only accepts power through a single USB-C connector, and has a low-profile ethernet port that requires an adapter to use. I'm surprised it still has a 3.5MM jack (as well as an HDMI port, but that's presumably because they don't want it to be too hard to connect to an external monitor)! The earlier advice from @Techwright regarding I/O is worth paying attention to. The USB placement is problematic, as any external drive that requires power from multiple USB ports (e.g. an external Blu-Ray drive) will need some serious rigging to make work on such a laptop.

 

On the subject of "office employees" requesting "gaming laptops" from their corporate IT departments... years ago I would have always rolled my eyes at such a request, but no longer. There are a wide variety of business applications that otherwise "casual" PC users will find become much easier for them if they have laptops with healthy amounts of video resources typically associated with "gaming laptops". I'm not simply referring to applications like CAD design or video editing... there are many commercial browser-based applications that rely on raw video-processing power to display information in a browser. I don't get a voice in what sort of laptops we contract at work, but I've got applications that work MUCH better in systems with higher-end video resources than with more typical "business model" laptops.

Had a similar situation with my mom's HP laptop.
The thing was an i7 spec unit.
It had a failing HD in it, so it was dog-*POOP!* slow.

It was 8GB of RAM and a 1TB drive.

She'd been worried about needing to buy a new laptop to travel.  But every time I talked about simply repairing and upgrading, I got waved off.

Finally got sick of it.  So I bought another 8GB and a 1TB SATA SSD.

Popped the thing open, put in the RAM and the new drive.  Then...

"Oh.  There's an M.2 slot in here t0o!  And I happen to have another 1TB M.2 drive!  *CLICK!*"

After reloading and restoring her data, the thing SCREAMS now.  And battery life actually went UP.

She likely won't need a new laptop for another 5 years MINIMUM.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Hyperstrike

[tidge]

2 hours ago, Hyperstrike said:

After reloading and restoring her data, the thing SCREAMS now.  And battery life actually went UP.

She likely won't need a new laptop for another 5 years MINIMUM.

 

Feels good, doesn't it?

 

Aside from risk of physical damage, the main thing on my mind about extending the lives of the rescued laptops is battery life expectancy. The added memory was "just a thing", but between the extra memory and the SSDs (and dividing the functions between the SSDs) the laptop has become my preferred tool for audio processing (at the hobby level).

[Hyperstrike]

1 hour ago, tidge said:

 

Feels good, doesn't it?

 

Aside from risk of physical damage, the main thing on my mind about extending the lives of the rescued laptops is battery life expectancy. The added memory was "just a thing", but between the extra memory and the SSDs (and dividing the functions between the SSDs) the laptop has become my preferred tool for audio processing (at the hobby level).

For travel, a laptop is fine.

But I'm a frickin' screen real estate junkie.

 

 

 

[Techwright]

11 hours ago, tidge said:

On the subject of "office employees" requesting "gaming laptops" from their corporate IT departments... years ago I would have always rolled my eyes at such a request, but no longer. There are a wide variety of business applications that otherwise "casual" PC users will find become much easier for them if they have laptops with healthy amounts of video resources typically associated with "gaming laptops". I'm not simply referring to applications like CAD design or video editing... there are many commercial browser-based applications that rely on raw video-processing power to display information in a browser. I don't get a voice in what sort of laptops we contract at work, but I've got applications that work MUCH better in systems with higher-end video resources than with more typical "business model" laptops.

I welcome your other perspective, as it has not been my own experience.  Most companies I've worked for tend to hold onto legacy software as long as possible.  We're grappling with some issues at my new company right now because they've been retaining software that refused to upgrade and remains tied exclusively to Internet Explorer, while a database program we're trying to force out dates to pre-2008, as near as I can tell.  That's not to say everything is archaic at these companies, but when graphics or added processing power are truly needed it is almost always the engineering department or marketing department that are asking for the power computers.  Some executive ask because they want the shiny, the perceived prestige. That or they think it makes their video golf game better.  I only wish I were making any of that up. 🙄 

[Hyperstrike]

3 hours ago, Techwright said:

I welcome your other perspective, as it has not been my own experience.  Most companies I've worked for tend to hold onto legacy software as long as possible.  We're grappling with some issues at my new company right now because they've been retaining software that refused to upgrade and remains tied exclusively to Internet Explorer, while a database program we're trying to force out dates to pre-2008, as near as I can tell.  That's not to say everything is archaic at these companies, but when graphics or added processing power are truly needed it is almost always the engineering department or marketing department that are asking for the power computers.  Some executive ask because they want the shiny, the perceived prestige. That or they think it makes their video golf game better.  I only wish I were making any of that up. 🙄 

Most people, if they're not actually gaming, don't need a "gaming" laptop.

But spec'ing for an SSD, more than base RAM and a APU generally pays more dividends.
In terms of acceptable performance AND equipment longevity.

If someone requires something with dedicated graphics units, they're generally better off on a workstation.
Mostly because actual graphics performance in the mobile space is an absolute ripoff for professional setups.