New to laptops, need a quiet one, is that possible?

Zargon01

Active member
Hi all

I am in need of a modest gaming laptop, that will last 2-4 years playing mostly strategy stuff like, civ 6, tropic 6, Anno 1800, total war etc etc not fps stuff, mostly 2d games like the above.

Firstly please what specs would everyone suggest? and is there a way to get one that wont drown out the rest of the room with fans, thereby preventing my exile to another room by my other half as she attempts to watch such stimulating programs as X factor, Bake off , strictly etc etc .

I welcome all suggestions. Thanks.
 

Zargon01

Active member
Yep it astounds me how its still going. I ideally want a laptop that actually acts as a "lap" top. For example could I sit next to someone whilst their brain is leaking out their ears watching X factor and not drown them out with fan noises? Would a 14 inch one be a viable option? I appreciate the graphics cards are relatively feeble, but does that matter for strategy games? (excluding total war). budget 1k-1.5k
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Do you already have a desktop that could be upgraded with a GPU?

And / or

a laptop that is suitably quiet, even if it can't run games itself?

I'm wondering whether a desktop and using

would be a good solution? i.e. run the games on a desktop somewhere else and just play them on any old (cheap, low spec, quiet laptop) while TV is happening.
 

Zargon01

Active member
Good idea but no, I have a desktop , but I need to get rid of it, no room. Hence the laptop. I guess then I am a little stuck. sounds like you cant get performance without noise, even on no 3d stuff. Our the 14 inch laptops any good?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The 14" laptops all have Intel HD graphics, except for the Fusion which has MX250. Intel HD graphics are a write off for most gaming, while the MX250 might play some older, less demanding games on medium at 1080p. It's not a gaming GPU.

Intel HD graphics will be fine on 2d pixel art games, of course. Though it depends what you mean by 2D. Civ 6 isn't 2D, Anno 1800 is absolutely not 2D, and Tropico 6 isn't either.

2D games means usually means stuff like:
419150-6e13421b-0548-4147-b132-65bdca30929bjpg-c75535_1280w.jpg


You could get a more powerful laptop, and where quiet gaming is needed, turn the game settings down, cap the framerate, and adapt the power and cooling profiles accordingly - which should reduce load on the system and the need for cooling. Under full load, any decent gaming laptop is going to involve a certain amount of noise almost by definition (high end hardware under load produces heat, it's a laptop so it has small fans, and small fans need to spin faster to move a given amount of air).

Just as long as you also get the chance to use it at full steam as well - otherwise no point buying the expensive hardware.

Noise is tricky as it's subjective what people find annoying, and we all notice different kinds of noise. I could probably run a gaming laptop next to my partner while watching TV and they would tune out the noise, while I get bothered by the sound of our NAS with its slow HDD, positioned in another room...

Also, and this is I grant you a slightly weird plan, if your gaming laptop could live in a different room, there's nothing stopping you in-home streaming from the laptop to another. You could easily get a decent gaming laptop and an ultra light quasi-tablet which will be (near) silent within £1500.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
For instance, you could get something like:

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 120Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1

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1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Optimus X Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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United Kingdom - English Language
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Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
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FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
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BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
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Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo NH55RDQ (6GB RTX-2060, i7-9750H, 120Hz N4)
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STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
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Price: £1,189.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/optimusX-15/QhgxA5J2qR/

Which is pretty beefy. Run the games at lower settings when you need to be quiet as a mouse. And if that's not quite quiet enough, get a cheap, low spec laptop for under £300 and stream the games to that. Assuming you have somewhere else to stash the main laptop, and you'll still get to use it full power.
 

Zargon01

Active member
Thank you , that is really really helpful, appreciate it. I never entertained streaming but I think the answer lies there. I have a crappy 14 inch £200 fusion laptop that could act as my pc when I wish to be social, I can throw the main laptop (no room for a desktop ) on a table somewhere out the way where it can be as loud as it wants. I assume you need some kick arse internet connection for steam streaming?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Your internet connection doesn't matter for streaming in the same house.

Your PC runs the game, and via Steam it streams it over your home network to another system, letting you see and control it.

This means the speed of your home network connection needs to be alright. A wired connection is ideal, but you can do it with one/both systems connected to the network via wifi of course.

Your new laptop will have a decent wifi card. If your old laptop has terrible wifi - or your router has poor coverage - there are still perfectly affordable options to address those e.g. a new wifi card or USb adapter for your laptop, a new router or a range extender for your wifi.

Streaming is compressing video, so you can notice some loss of fidelity. Witcher 3 running at very high settings will see loss of definition in very dark colours when we stream it in-home. But if the alternative is having the Optimus on your lap and playing games at majorly turned down settings to try to keep it as quiet as possible, you're probably still getting a higher fidelity gaming experience from streaming. Civ 6 plays fine - you can tell it's compressed like you can a youtube video if you stare at it, but if you're just playing it, it's fine. The Division 2 was basically fine. And if you get a bit of latency in your gameplay, that's not a massive deal for strategy titles, especially turn based or where you can pause the action.

Since you currently have a gaming PC and a laptop, you can test it out for free. Maybe try it with both the PC and the laptop using a wired connection to test the best case scenario, and see if it's acceptable to you. Then see how your laptop gets on with streaming over wifi.

Most other regulars on here will be able to give much better advice on improving your home network (if needed) than I can :)
 

Zargon01

Active member
That's all great advice again thank you (yes I got the 2d thing very wrong lol). The house in question has an insanity fast internet connection so networking won't be needed. So would that eliminate the need for a network option?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Sorry one more question. Would this machine allow me to play 4k if I plug it onto my 4k monitor?
No, you need serious power to game at 4k.... really you need a 2080ti desktop graphics card to remain at 60fps on most games, that card alone costs over £1k.
 

Zargon01

Active member
That's surprising, my 1080 gtx holds its own with civ 6 on 4k. I thought a 2060 was roughly on par with that?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The 2060 desktop is on par with a GTX 1080. However, 2 things:

The laptop RTX 2060 is weaker than a desktop one by a fairly large margin.

Civ 6 at its higher settings is significantly less demanding than some of the other titles you've mentioned

anno-1800-3840-2160.png
civilization-vi-3840-2160.png


And anything after Total War Rome II is probably out at 4k higher settings.

Obviously you can manage your game settings, 60fps might not matter so much in some titles as others, or you might not care so much, and you can doubtless run most titles at pretty high settings at 1440p on your 4k screen, but you should be prepared for the limitations of the hardware in the face of higher settings 4k gaming.

For instance if we take The Outer Worlds, a hot RPG that came out this month:
2160.png
 

Zargon01

Active member
Thank you, that is very helpful. There is a huge difference, I will have a think. Certainly it seems heat and noise would prevent it being on my lap next to someone watching crap factor.
 
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