Why Choose a Custom Notebook for Gaming?

If you’re shopping for a new laptop and you’re going to be using it for gaming, consider buying a custom notebook. Sure, if you’re mostly going to be using the laptop for general browsing and document tasks and just going to be gaming casually, and playing games that may be a few years old, you’re probably going to be fine with an off-the-shelf laptop. But if you want to play the latest games (including the ones that come out after you’ve bought your laptop), and if gaming performance is important to you, a custom laptop will be the best bet.

If you’re buying a laptop form Dell or HP they will have a limited selection. Especially if you’re buying from a store like Best Buy, since their selection of computers is geared towards less tech-savvy consumers. If they do have notebooks that could be used for gaming, they’ll tend to be their top-of-the line offerings and will be expensive. 

Probably the most important component to consider when looking for a gaming notebook is a discrete graphics card. Just like desktop computers, not all laptops have discrete GPUs (graphics processing units), and many don’t need them. They make do with integrated graphics processing chips, like the Intel HD Graphics, and the Iris Pro. These types of graphics solutions share memory with the CPU, and may even be on the CPU itself. This is fine for general multitasking, graphics processing (like video editing) and 2D gaming. If you’re going to be 3D gaming with an integrated graphics processing unit, you’re going to have to turn the graphics settings down.

Discrete graphics cards have their own memory and processors and allow gamers to experience amazing visuals, even in a notebook. However if you’re shopping for a notebook from a big box manufacturer, discrete GPUs in laptops may come bundled with things you don’t need, like i7 processors and large SSDs.

With a custom-built notebook, you can find a laptop that has a high-grade discrete mobile GPU, like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M, for much cheaper than what you’d find at Dell or HP. These computers will allow you to play all the games you want at high graphics settings, and save you enough money so that you can build your collection of games.

If you’re concerned about technical support for your custom computer, don’t worry. Just like with the other guys, custom PC makers have dedicated support departments where you can call in for technical support, and send your computer for warranty service and repairs.

How to Build a Quiet Custom Gaming PC

Computer components produce heat. We all intuitively know this, whether from feeling our phones after playing a game or showing someone a video, touching the bottom of our laptops after watching a movie, or noticing the air coming out of our desktops. The more we push our components, the more electrons are running around in the wiring, and the more heat they produce. This is obvious as we all can hear the fans in our custom gaming PC spin up as we play games or watch movies (or gasp, use Google Maps on Chrome!).

You may be surprised to learn that watt for watt, computers produce the same amount of heat as space heaters. However, those that have studied physics should note that energy must be conserved, and in a computer the electricity is not used to convert to any other type of energy and thus it is converted to heat. The light energy is absorbed by surfaces and turns into heat, as does sound, and the kinetic energy from the fans.

Speaking of sound and fans, there’s a lot of effort that goes into keeping our PCs cool. High temperatures will damage sensitive (and expensive) components in a custom gaming computer, so fans work to bring in cool air and keep hot air out. This makes a lot of noise especially during a long and intense gaming session.

This is not ideal for those that like quiet, or have roommates, or are trying to stream their gameplay to twitch. No one wants to hear your computer fans drone on and on. There are a few solutions to this noise problem that people use to build custom quiet gaming computers.

One of the most popular is to use liquid cooling. This uses pump, tubing, radiator and coolant to extract heat from your CPU (and/or other components) and is similar to the cooling system in your car and air conditioner. 

Another option is to use quiet fans that are designed to operate without producing much noise. Obviously they are not cheap, and can sometimes be quite large as they may spin slower but still need to move a volume of air. Currently Noctua is the best known provider of quiet fans.

The best method is to combine the abovementioned tactics into a dampened computer case. These cases use different materials to contain the noise inside of the computer. The exterior of the case is usually build out of something like steel and may be a unibody construction to keep noise from escaping. Foam padding may absorb sound, like what you may see in a music studio. Lastly, filtered and hidden fans draw and push air through screens that are hidden around the edges or bottom. This makes it so that dust doesn’t enter the computer, which means that heatsinks will be cleaner and more efficient, which in turn means less work for the fans. 

If the noise volume of computers is off putting you or making you avoid gaming or for example is disturbing work in a science lab or graphic design studio, consider looking into ways to make your computer quiet. Who knows, maybe these technologies will soon make their ways into custom laptops!

Budgeting a Custom Gaming PC Build

When shopping for a custom gaming PC it can be easy to become overwhelmed and think that a custom gaming computer will be extremely expensive. When you’re learning about the components that will go into your computer you (if you’re anything like me) will often compare similar graphics cards, RAM, motherboards etc. and as you’re comparing more and more parts, you convince yourself that you need the most expensive, high performance, option. 

It’s easy to get carried away when configuring a custom gaming build, like those here: http://www.avadirect.com/mini-custom-gaming-pcs. When I’m putting together a computer on somewhere like PCPartsPicker or Newegg I often end up dreaming about the best computer I could possibly build instead of realistically putting together a configuration I could actually afford. There is definitely a difference between window shopping and actually preparing a computer that you intend to purchase.

For one, consider what you’ll use the computer for. Specifically, which games will you play? Consider that some of your favorite games may be a little older. I mean, who doesn’t love to fire up Portal every now and then? However, you should also consider that this computer will also need to play new games that are released several years into its lifespan. And just because you’re into simulations and strategy games like Cities: Skylines and Kerbal Space Program, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be playing the new Star Wars: Battlefront, Fallout 4 or Half Life 3!

When choosing parts for your custom gaming computer it’s easy to convince yourself that you need the highest performance parts available. However, this isn’t always true. Consider the processor. Sure, the Intel i7 is the top of the line (well, except the Xeon processors which are for servers and workstations), but do you really need it? Most often the answer is no. If you’re playing graphics intensive games like first-person-shooters, your computer will need lots of graphics processing performance, but not so much general processing. For these games, even if you have multiple GTX 980s, an i5 will be just fine. If you’re playing simulations games like Kerbal Space Program, then your computer will need more processing power, and less graphics performance. However, if your computer is able to output a frame rate that is higher than the refresh rate of your display, this doesn’t matter. Additional processing power will make your computer output higher FPS, but your monitor won’t be able to display the additional frames and you won’t see any benefit.

So it doesn’t always make sense to get the highest performance components. Myself, I prefer to get an Intel i5 (a K version so that it is easy to overclock) and the best graphics card I can afford.