I recently sold my PC. The whole thing went, the base unit, monitor, joystick, speakers, TrackIR, desk and chair.

Apart from a 2 year period, I have owned a PC since 1991 when my first games were Falcon 3 and the original B-17. I did notice that the original (1992) B-17 is about to be re-released on Steam. So I guess I've been PC gaming for about 30 years.

I still have my trusty 9 year old MSI laptop, which can run Win 11 very nicely, although not officially supported, but I've gone back to 10. I'm not a fan of 11...yet.

I'm still gaming, I just got back into World of Warships but the laptop struggles with it a little so it's time for a new one. From what I can see, the recent hardware shortages/price hikes have not had much impact on gaming laptops. I'm looking at RTX 3070 based models. I did once say I would never own another gaming laptop but back then I never foresaw my complete lack of interest in flight sims and certain genres of games, such as shooters. Although I did recently pick up Battlefield V, probably because it was less than 5 pounds and just another game to add to my growing collection of games I probably won't play.

Personally, I think the early to late 90's was the best time to be a gamer. My enthusiasm knew no bounds, as did my wallet. I dread to think how much money I have sunk into my hobby over the years.

Anyway, thanks for reading my rambling nonsense

If anyone has any thoughts on gaming laptops I'm all ears.

I don't have this issue myself but I was stunned to see how many friends I know have backlogs of 20 or more games which they haven't played yet. I think a huge factor behind that is EPIC which has given out a plethora of free games over the past couple of years and of course the ubiquitous Steam sales where you can sometimes pick up old games really cheap.

Interesting. We both started gaming at about the very same time in the very early 1990s. I too started with flight sims -- I got a free one included with an order of work-oriented software. Now, I have a couple hundred games installed (bought on super sales) that I'll probably not play (close to 100 additional that I have played).

But, to your point of Laptop Gaming. I only did a little of that along the way. I'd want a big (for a laptop) screen and a good GPU -- where you seem headed. Otherwise, you know more about Laptoping than I do

My PC gaming journey started with my purchase of "Jetfighter" from my local Radio Shack in 1989. I've been gaming ever since and my current flight sims are IL-2 BOS and DCS.

My current laptop is 17.3 inches. I'd like another that size even though it makes the laptop bulky. Mine is also heavy @ 8.5 pounds/3.8 kilos and it gets very warm when gaming. Too hot to have resting on my leg for instance. I recently overhauled it, swapped some drives, did a full clean and new thermal compound on both the GPU and CPU cooling systems so I know it's operating as well as to be expected.

However these modern laptops have thin bezels and I expect the technology to have come on in leaps and bounds since 2012. I saw some recent comparisons between gaming laptops and their desktop equivalents and the difference wasn't as great as I thought.

If you can afford it the Alienware gaming laptops consistently get great reviews.


If I travelled a lot I would consider getting a gaming laptop.

I used a gaming laptop from 2013 to 2016. Literally everyone said it was not a good idea but I thought it worked out beautifully. I think the brand was Lenovo, 17" and had a nVidia card, SSD and ran great. But it was hot and heavy. The power brick was about the size and weight of an actual brick. Laptop is a misnomer, without asbestos pants that is. My domestic situation had recently changed as I struck out on my own haha, and the logistical circumstances meant a desktop was less than ideal. So I bought the laptop with some reservations, but in the end it was perfect. It ran games like Metro Last Light and that sort of thing without breaking a sweat.

As long as you get the right components I can't see why it would be a bad idea to do so now. The main drawback as far as I was concerned was the small display, but you get used to it. At the time the video card was a 780M, the M designation meaning mobile. At that time the M designation meant it was less capable than a non-M 780, but not by much. Something to be aware of. You see the GTX-xxxx number and might assume it's the same as the desktop version, but I suspect it's not, quite. These laptops are also expensive comparatively, and I imagine especially so in the current pricing climate. Good luck!

My current GPU is GTX670M (no longer supported by Nvidia).

Like I said things have moved on as demonstrated in this video. You can skip through and just look at the comparison graphs.

Yikes! Yeah the 670 is really outdated now.

I've used laptops for gaming from 2013 to current and will be going back to a desktop for my next rig.

IMO, laptops are inferior for most forms of gaming.

Yeah they're somewhat handy, but a {typically much cheaper} tablet has them beat in that regard.

My PC gaming started in 1986 with "Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer," and shortly thereafter "Thexder" and the original "Gunship."

Flight sims have always been coupled with PCs, and imagine what console kids might have thought had they known about the awesomeness we PC gamers got to experience in the late 80s through Microprose sims... They would have thrown out their Nintendos. While simplistic compared with modern standards, those Microprose sims are still fun as heck to play and they're essentially what we'd call an "action game" nowadays rather than a simulator. They did, though, do a pretty good job of capturing the essentials of military technology at the time.

I can't use a laptop for gaming. They overheat and eventually melt and malfunction because of the toll this takes on their components.

I also started simming again this year with DCS and IL-2 BOS after taking a very long break. I never stopped simming, per-say, even the time I spent alpha testing Star Citizen was "simming" of sorts, given the fidelity they are shooting for. Same goes for Elite Dangerous. I would be bored without a PC, unless of course I had limitless funds and a few private planes to play with...

For me the ONLY reason to get a laptop is the portability so hence my comment about getting one only if I travelled a lot. And when it comes to sims like auto racing or flight sims the laptop is inferior for obvious reasons to a desktop. Not exactly easy to connect a HOTAS or steering wheel & pedal setup to a laptop and use it comfortably.

They're also inferior for FPS games, because they limit your options as far as hand positioning and screen position as compared to a desktop.

I have a dedicated gaming desktop, but it is getting a bit old now, so I should look into upgrading it. I still get decent performance in DCS with higher settings, but the Marianas map is a real FPS killer. It's got an i7-6700K Quad-Core 4.0GHz, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB. A laptop wouldn't make much sense since I have rudder pedals, a Thrustmaster Warthog and other controllers plugged into it.

I also have a Lenovo gaming laptop that's solidly mid-range, but I don't do much gaming on it, and it gets used more for video editing than anything else. I have other laptops for just general travel and stuff, as well as a Surface Pro tablet (it used to be handy back when you didn't have to take tablets out of your bag at airports, but since you do now, I usually just bring a real laptop).

I've been pondering pushing the button on a laptop for a few months now. Good to hear MSI makes good stuff Chucky, as I may just push the button on one now before Christmas. Price just dropped at WalMart.com to $999 for a MSI Katana GF76 11UD-001 17.3" Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-11800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB Memory, 512GB NVMe SSD, with Windows 10.

Not much more than a decent NV video card for a new desktop build.

I just bought a very similar laptop as a Christmas present for my 11 year old son. Same graphics card, proc, with SSD and a 1TB mechanical drive. Should be good for what he wants to do with it. I hope. It's an Acer, for $1099. Smaller display though, 15.3".

Not sure the mobile 3050 will be up to the task, but too late now! I could always blame Santa Claus of it doesn't work out.

Yeah, am worried about the 3050 also, one of the reasons I am hesitating.

Nixer,I've been looking for a while now and MSI keeps coming out at the top of my list. The 2 year warranty is a plus as most only offer 1 year. The fact mine has lasted 9 years makes me hope they still build them with that quality.

I still haven't purchased mine yet, I need to give Santa a few prods in the right direction.

I've seen 3060 laptops for not much more than some 3050 ones. You have to watch out for the wattage the GPU can use. For instance, a lower wattage 3070 could be beaten by a higher wattage 3060.

This guy is a one-stop for all about gaming laptops https://www.youtube.com/c/JarrodsTech

Cool link Chucky, thanks.

If you're going to be gaming with a laptop then a stand that provides cooling is important IMO.