Can you game on a mid-range laptop?
Avid gamer Stuar t Andrews puts the combination of mobile processor and integrated Intel GPU to the test in four games
Laptop manufacturers love to make big claims about performance, and that often involves the ability to play PC games. Gaming laptops have entered the mainstream over the past few years, and if you see one with an Intel processor with an HQ suffix and a discrete mobile GPU, you can be confident it will play the latest games. But what about our fleet of bargain laptops, all of which feature an Intel processor with a U at the end – denoting power efficiency rather than power – and Intel’s integrated GPU. Can you expect any action at all?
The answer is a big, fat “it depends”. We tested four games on four laptops, covering the range of Intel processors you’re likely to see in a mid-range laptop. All of these use an Intel HD 620 integrated graphics unit, except for the eighth-generation Core i5-8250U with its UHD 620 integrated GPU. This has a slight advantage because it can boost up to 1,150MHz rather than 1,050MHz.
One of the most common questions I’m asked by potential laptop buyers is “will it play Minecraft?” The good news is that most modern laptops can. Even a lowly Core i3-7100U can run the Mojang classic at a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution with the frame rate rarely dropping below 30fps ( see the graph
below). Move up to a Core i5 and you’re nearing 60fps at times, with occasional drops below 50fps. With the new Core i5-8250U you’re laughing; frame rates of 60fps (the maximum refresh rate of the panels) are easily yours for the asking.
Our second title, Grid Autosport, gives a good feel for how the CPUs handle older and less demanding 3D games. The Codemasters racing game came out in 2014 and still looks good, thanks to a heavily optimised version of the EGO engine that powered the
DiRT rally games of the last console generation. It’s playable on all four CPUs with medium detail levels at a reduced 1,280 x 720 resolution, and silky smooth on the Core i5-8250. In fact, there’s enough headroom there to push the resolution up to 1080p and still get a playable 40fps frame rate.
The 2013 post-apocalyptic first-person shooter (FPS), Metro: Last
Light, is more demanding, with visuals approaching the quality of a modern console FPS. Even at 1,366 x 768 with low detail settings, none of the seventh-generation Core CPUs can deliver a playable 30fps frame rate, but the Core i5-8250 just about manages it.
What about a more recent, more demanding title? Rise of the Tomb
Raider came out at the tail end of 2015 but remains one of the best-looking games around. Sadly, it’s too much for any of our mid-range laptops. Even at 1,366 x 768 on the lowest setting, none of them can push the frame rate much beyond 17fps. When we tested (rather optimistically) at 1080p/Low, none could exceed 10fps.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t game on a mid-range laptop. Some genres demand neither cutting-edge visuals or flawless, fluid motion, and if you want to play action RPGs such as Diablo 3, strategy games such as
Civilization VI or Endless Space 2, or even MMORPGs such as World of
Warcraft and Guild Wars 2, then most mid-range laptops will accommodate you. Just be prepared to tweak a few settings here and there.
If you want to play today’s blockbusters, then you’re out of luck. You’ll either need to buy a proper gaming laptop or divide your budget between a laptop and a console; you can pick up an Xbox One S for under £230.
“One of the most common questions I’m asked is ‘will it play Minecraft?’ The good news is that most modern laptops can”