Is my laptop capable of rendering HD graphics?

[cave hermit]

So about one year ago, I bought my first dedicated gaming computer so I could get into PC gaming: an Acer aspire laptop. It seems to run pretty nicely (I still don't know why I bought a laptop instead of a desktop, but this was my first time actively choosing a computer to buy; before my parents would just buy crappy Vaio laptops for me. I guess that's why I chose a laptop; because I never knew anything else :p), but I have no clue if I've been playing in HD or not. I have a Nvidia Geforce GT 650M with 2 GB. Does that mean games I play will run in HD, or how does HD PC gaming work?

[Soylent_Merchant]

Its a pretty decent laptop gpu, should do okay on most non- recent games

[_I_]

will you be playing games on the laptop screen, or a hdtv @1920x1080?
most laptops are 1366x768 or 1600x900

the 650m can play most games on med settings on the laptop res, but if you try to do 1920x1080 it should be on lowest settings

[cave hermit]

I just play on my laptop screen, which is 1600x900. So am I capable of playing in HD? Does HD even work on my laptop screen, or...

Also, I'm completely clueless as to what I'm supposed to look for in a gaming computer; I chose a good laptop by dumb luck. So I'm guessing the three important things are the processor, RAM, and the video card. What's the priority for these things? And how do you know what's a good processor/video card? I can't seem to find any solid information on how to pick out processors/video cards.

[Soylent_Merchant]

processors for gaming( please note lower end processors can still work but these are ideal for gaming) And these are desktop parts
Intel- i5( preferably the i5 3570k) and i7( laptop i7's are equal to desktop i5's)
Amd- Fx 8000 series- 8120,8320,8350

Ram-4 gb. is enough, 8gb. reccommended, 16gb. overkill

Gpu ( Most important in gaming pc!!!!!!!)
Theres too many to go over


So in order of importance greatest to least
gpu,cpu, Ram

However having a high end graphics card with a crappy cpu is not reccommended either, its all about finding a balance. I tend to buy a better cpu, and upgrade my gpu overtime.But thats a personal preferance.


Also a laptop i7=desktop i5
laptop i5=desktop i3

[SHON]

Just as long as you play games at your monitors native resolution then you're good to go.

[Rove]

HD has many different definitions. Basically HD just means someone's idea of a popular format. Some people call 720p HD and some call 1080p HD. One day people will probably be calling 4K monitors "HD". It just stands for "High Definition" and as such it is a very subjective term that constantly changes with the technology and depends on who is using it. I am unsure if there are "official" standards of "HD" and if there are perhaps there are multiple different standards for it from different "official" organizations?

It's better to go by the exact sizing. Your monitor is 1600*900 and that means that you can play anything at 1600*900 and lower. You can not play at 1920*1080 unless you get a monitor that has that many pixels. Technically that is 1920 pixels times 1080 pixels. You are good to play at 1600 pixels times 900 pixels.

My advice is to save up to buy a desktop and get a monitor then. You can put together a relatively nice system including montior, speakers, keyboard & mouse, tower and Windows 8 64bit for under $1000 and a entry level system including that for about $500~, if you only need the tower then $300 can do entry level and $500-600 can do a pretty decent system.

If you would like me to post some builds for a desktop tower I would be happy to. Just state your budget and what, beyond basic tower, you might want included.

Also you can make your own on PC Part Picker[www.pcpartpicker.com]