Laptop keeps crashing? Msian content creators share why gaming laptops are superior for work

So you’re looking to upgrade your laptop for work or school, and as you’re scrolling through shopping sites, you see a couple of gaming laptops for sale. You might be looking at those RGB lights, overclocked hardware, and extreme cooling; thinking those are for “gamers” only… right?

But what if we told you underneath the “gamer” label is a beast of a machine that can handle any work assignment thrown at it? Sounds wild, but it’s true. Together with our friends at Lenovo, we got in touch with two local content creators:

• Fatindesuu, a VALORANT streamer who also creates content for Youtube; and
• Nathasha Hashim (a.k.a Tashbunny), a content creator cum streamer who works for IGN

Since their work necessitates heavy-duty hardware, we figured they’re the best people to ask what to look out for when buying an all-rounder gaming laptop that will meet the demands of not only gamers, but also people whose work requires a powerful on-the-go PC.

Let’s start with arguably the most important component of any laptop: the processor, because…

1. Better processor means your laptop has more brain power

It’s called the processor for a reason – it provides the instructions and processing power the laptop needs to do its work. The better the processor (or CPU), the better the laptop can run or finish its tasks. In our interview, Fatindesuu mentioned that the processor is one of the main things she looks out for in an ideal laptop:

“It should definitely have high specs such as the latest GPU (graphics card), at least 32GB RAM with the latest processor that lets me game and stream at the same time.” – Fatindesuu

Because the processor works in tandem with the random-access memory (RAM) and graphics card (or GPU), a newer, more updated processor also allows a laptop to maximize the performance of the other two components. When you’re looking at which processor to choose, the two things to check out are the number of cores and the clock speed (measured in GHz).

Generally, you’ll want high enough clock speeds while also having enough cores for what you’re doing (at least 6 cores for professional work). Here’s another pro tip: gaming laptops are almost always equipped with top-of-the-line processors to handle the latest games; which means they’ll have no problem handling AutoCAD or that 50GB Excel sheet your boss asked you to edit.

2. The graphics card isn’t JUST for gaming

Yes, yes, it’s common knowledge that a good graphics card enables you to play more graphically demanding games, making it one of the central pieces of any gaming PC or laptop… but that’s not all it does. If you work in an industry where editing software like Photoshop or Premiere Pro are used often, a fast graphics card makes your life much easier by speeding up filter applications, rendering times and other processes where graphics are involved, especially on 4K displays.

“If I wanted a laptop for both content creation and gaming, I’d look for a laptop with great specs such as the NVIDIA® {GeForce RTX™} 30 series GPU, which helps a lot for gaming and video rendering.” – Natasha

Those who use their laptop for taxing processes like video editing, NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX™ 30 series might be something you’d wanna go for, while older high-end cards like the GTX 1070 still bops for average users. There’s a catch to this; graphics cards are going for prices that have people frothing at the mouth, and have been for the past 2 years or so due to the “C19 PandaMick” and the advent of cryptocurrency mining.

But just like processors, most newer gaming laptops usually come with either the 20 series or 30 series GPU built in, and are beefy enough to tackle both games AND handle graphics-intensive work.

3. More RAM = more programs running at the same time

RAM is basically your computer’s short term memory, but what does it do? Imagine this, RAM is like your shopping bag. The bigger your bag, the more groceries you can carry. However, if your bag is too small, the groceries won’t fit and your bag will koyak. Same thing with your PC, the bigger your RAM, the more tasks you can run before your PC koyak. Or in layman terms, the more tabs you can open on Google Chrome before it stops responding.

It’s hard to recommend any laptop with 8GB of RAM installed cause oftentimes, Chrome alone can eat up like 5GB of that precious, precious resource. In fact, according to Natasha, you really want a minimum of 16GB of RAM (which many gaming laptops have by default, by the way).

And while you can easily upgrade your RAM, there are two things to take note of before you buy the cheapest one and stick it into your laptop:

• The type of RAM (usually DDR4 or DDR3); and
• The RAM speed (measured in MHz)

Firstly, DDR4 RAMs aren’t compatible with laptops that use DDR3, and vice versa. Using the wrong type of RAM is kinda like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Then there’s the RAM speed, which is pretty straightforward – lagi tinggi, lagi cepat, lagi bagus.

4. SSDs are race cars, HDDs are Kancils

A lot of y’all might not know that laptop storage drives come in two variants: the hard disk drive (HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD). Both of them do the same thing – they store your documents and programs – but how they do it is massively different. Long story short, programs load and run WAY faster on SSDs. The gap between the two is like comparing a Lamborghini and a Kancil. When asked which type of hard disk Natasha prefers, her brief answer was:

“SSDs. They’re just faster.”

That means less time for a large file to be saved, less stutters in games, and less waiting overall. That’s one of the reasons why gaming laptops with SSDs not only can run multiple programs at the same time, but also run them fast.

5. Bonus: Gaming peripherals are also on another level

Gaming gear normally comes decked in RGB lights that look cool, but there’s more to them than sheer flashiness. For example, good gaming mice have highly accurate sensors, and the ergonomics factor can lessen the strain on your wrists as you’re clicking through the day. Same goes to keyboards; mechanical gaming keyboards tend to last a LOT longer than your average membrane ones.

A pair of quality headsets though can go a long way for both entertainment and work – Fatindesuu highlighted that the importance of comfy headsets cuz she has to wear them for hours at a time while she grinds out content:

“{The headsets} have to have comfortable ear cups with memory foam pads…” – Fatindesuu

As a bonus, gaming headsets come with mics that are, on one hand, great for screaming at your teammates during a gaming session, and on the other, great for virtual meetings with your colleagues where you don’t have to scream, since the mics are typically superior in terms of sound quality.

Gaming laptops are great for gamers and industry professionals

Yes, if you’re a gamer, gaming laptops give you the added benefit of being able to play games whenever and wherever you are, but architects, animators, content creators, interior designers; anyone whose work requires a laptop that’s powerful enough to handle anything thrown at it will find that gaming laptops tick boxes they didn’t even know existed before:

“I think that gaming laptops are great for work because of their portability and power. Working on the go is something I have to be able to do because of the nature of my job which is juggling a day job, content creation, hosting and casting so I sometimes have to be editing a video on the fly.” – Natasha

And while there’s no shortage of gaming laptops you can pick from, the Lenovo Legion line of gaming laptops (also available on Shopee and Lazada) comes with everything you need for that work-play-balance.

The Legion 5i Pro comes with the NVIDIA^® GeForce RTX™ 30 series graphics card, 8 core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processor and up to 32GB RAM. What’s more, the AI performance engine with enhanced tuning ensures you get optimized performance for both work and gaming, and it’s optimally cooled via the Legion Coldfront 3.0 thermal system.

And if you’re looking for more bells and whistles, the Legion 7 comes with a larger 80 Watt-hour battery, Lenovo Q-Control, and Rapid Charge Pro technology. It’s also cooled with the Legion Coldfront 2.0 thermal system that leverages Vapor Chamber cooling and six-point thermal sensory array, and is packed with Premium Dolby Atmos speaker system for a superior audio experience.

If that’s not enough, the customizability of each Legion model’s hardware offers a dash of futureproofing should you ever need it. You also get access to Legion Ultimate Support – a specialized team of gamers that offers 24/7 tech support. So whether you need recommendations on the best settings for a framerate boost while gaming, or software optimizations to smooth out any kinks in work programs you’re using, they’ve got your back.

The Lenovo Legion 5i Pro and the Lenovo Legion 7 are operating on Windows 11. Play the latest games with graphics that rival reality. Play with players on console. Play with the peripherals that you love. When it comes to playing your way, Windows 11 makes it happen.

Before we wrap it up, we’d like to give a big shout out to Fatindesuu and Natasha for taking the time to answer our many, many questions about laptops and gaming peripherals. Check out Fatindesuu’s TikTok channel here, and Natasha’s socials here!