Performance over Resolution?

JustDewIt

Commendable
Aug 15, 2016
4
0
1,510
Currently choosing over two laptops

One has a i5 6300hq and a 940mx gpu but only has a 1366x768 screen resolution with a 15.6" screen.
While the other one has a i5 6200u and the same 940mx gpu but it has a 1920x1080 resolution with a 14" screen.

So is the lower resolution worth it for a better performance?
I mostly use my laptop for casual gaming (cs:go, dota 2,etc)
 
Solution
Most casual games only use 2 cores so if you want to save money then dropping the i5-6300HQ for a i5-6200u is possible with little difference in performance unless the game is CPU dependent.

Most games are dependent on the GPU so if you want to play games at 1080p you generally need a good GPU. However, CS:GO and Dota 2 are not very graphically intensive games so a nVidia 940mx should be decent enough to play games at 1080p.
You can always decrease the resolution of a 1080p screen to get better performance. The downside is that graphics and text will a little less sharp. When not playing games on my laptop (Dell Latitude 3540 - Core i5-4200u & Radeon HD 8850m) I use it at 1080p resolution. But if I play games on it, then I set the game resolution to 1600x900 to get a little better performance out of the Radeon HD 8850m which is a little faster than the nVidia 940m.

The loss in sharpness is not that of a big deal to me especially since it the laptop screen is small. If I were to do the same on my 24" monitor; using 1600x900 instead of 1920x1080, then the blurriness would be more noticeable because of the larger screen size; which means the pixels are larger.

If you have a friend / family member with a "gaming laptop" that has a 1080p, then perhaps you test out a game at 1366x768 or 1600x900 to determine if the graphics looks decent enough. Note that the blurriness increases the larger the difference between the screen's resolution and the resolution you use to play games.
 

JustDewIt

Commendable
Aug 15, 2016
4
0
1,510
I was wondering if ever the i5 6300HQ will be a good exchange for a lower resolution. Will it improve how the laptop handle games? or is the i5 6200U wtih a 1080p resolution enough for casual gaming?
 
Most casual games only use 2 cores so if you want to save money then dropping the i5-6300HQ for a i5-6200u is possible with little difference in performance unless the game is CPU dependent.

Most games are dependent on the GPU so if you want to play games at 1080p you generally need a good GPU. However, CS:GO and Dota 2 are not very graphically intensive games so a nVidia 940mx should be decent enough to play games at 1080p.
 
Solution