Is a 12.5 inch screen too small for gaming?

[Sean2257]

I'm debating whether I should purchase the Razer Stealth when it releases January 29th. I've wanted a Razer laptop for quite some time but the only thing stoping me, was the price tag. I'll most likely be getting the UHD one with 256 GB SSD. Has anyone had an experience gaming on a laptop around this size? How is it?


Before any calls me stupid for even considering purchasing a gaming laptop, yes, I'm aware they cost double the price of a Desktop, with less power. Regardless of this, I would still like one!

[just.kamk /idle]

You still gonna need the external GPU, or you will have a very hard time getting any demanding game to run.

12.5" is by far too small.

[Sean2257]

Yeah, I was gonna get the Core as well. I think a 14" would be perfect, but unfortunately 12.5" is the only screen size

[Glistening]

I wouldn't play on anything less than 15". I currently have a 17".

[_I_]

its its a 12in 1080p screen, it will be small, but look very sharp
if its a 720p or lower it will look like crap

[Wholesome Wych]

Originally posted by _I_:

its its a 12in 1080p screen, it will be small, but look very sharp
if its a 720p or lower it will look like crap

It's 3840*2160

@OP
If you want to actually game at that resolution, you'd need to keep it docked.
I haven't tried gaming on a laptop that small, but I have tried a tablet that is nearly as large (10.5" screen, 2560*1600). It works fine for tablet games, which are designed with a tablet UI in mind. I'm not sure how well it would work with Windows UI.

[76561198188152325]

12.5" is good for a game like LYNE. Thats about it.

[_I_]

where do you get a 4k 12in display?

[Scott (Australia)]

13.3" minimum for gaming at a much lower resolution.

Ultra HD requires 3x-4x the GPU horsepower to get equivalent frame rates to 1920x1080.

[doggo (rekto)]

I dont think it is :P short reply

[Wholesome Wych]

Originally posted by _I_:

where do you get a 4k 12in display?

Here[www.cnet.com]
You can get a GPU enclosure for it, so that you can actually run games on it.

[Spider Pig]

Originally posted by ComfyBuffalo815:

IHas anyone had an experience gaming on a laptop around this size? How is it?

I've gamed on an 11.6" screen before (Alienware M11x). The problem is that a screen that small is just too small in general... not just for gaming.

If you're on a budget, do not buy a Razer laptop. Do not buy a first-gen Razer laptop. If you want gaming, you can get some decent gaming laptops for $1000-$1200 that run something like an nVidia GeForce 960M on a 15" 1080p screen. That is going to be a lot more reasonable as a gaming laptop than whatever Razer is planning on releasing.

[Wholesome Wych]

I did a bit more looking around. The one OP is planning on getting is $1399USD for:

• i7-6500U
  
• 12.5" 4k touchscreen
  
• 256Gb PCIe SSD
  
• 8GB RAM
  
• Intel HD 520

To get any sort of gaming performance, you need to get the Razer Core, an external GPU enclosure, which isn't out yet.
Also, it doesn't come with a GPU, so you need to get your own.

Doesn't seem like such a great deal TBH.

[Sean2257]

I was also looking into buying a MSI GE72 Apache 027. It has great specs for the price and I wouldn't have to haul around a Core if I wanted to play some games. My only concern is the build quality. Quite a few reviews have mentioned this.

[Spider Pig]

Originally posted by ComfyBuffalo815:

I was also looking into buying a MSI GE72 Apache 027. It has great specs for the price and I wouldn't have to haul around a Core if I wanted to play some games. My only concern is the build quality. Quite a few reviews have mentioned this.

Let me put it this way...

Do you actually *NEED* a gaming laptop? Or do you really just want a gaming PC, and think that it would be a nifty nice-to-have feature if that gaming PC was portable?

An example of someone who NEEDS a gaming laptop: A road warrior professional who is hopelessly addicted to PC gaming, and spends a lot of evenings in hotel rooms.

An example of someone who does NOT need a gaming laptop: A student that likes PC gaming, and needs to take their laptop to class. They need a laptop, but they don't need to play games when they are on the go.

If you don't need a gaming laptop, don't buy one. It will be pretty obsolete in 2 years, and you won't be able to salvage or upgrade it in any meaningful way. So if you spend $1200 on a gaming laptop now, you need to be OK with the idea of throwing that laptop in the trash 2 years from now.

[Sean2257]

I just really like the idea of being able to game on the go. I've had my current laptop for about 5-6 years and it's really slowed down. I'm from Ireland myself, and over here I'd pay roughly €1700-€1800 ($2000) for a laptop of similar specs.