# How powerful does a laptop's graphics need to be to play Steam games

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-powerful-does-a-laptops-graphics-need-to-be-to-play-steam-games/716201>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 28, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-powerful-does-a-laptops-graphics-need-to-be-to-play-steam-games/716201 "2015-03-28T13:44:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-powerful-does-a-laptops-graphics-need-to-be-to-play-steam-games/716201/1 "2015-03-28T13:44:24Z")

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I am in the market for a new laptop. I would prefer to keep it under $500 for one with a 1TB HD and that can play my STEAM games. Orcs must die 1 & 2, Tom clancy games, TF2, L4D2, etc.

How powerful does a laptops graphics have to be to play those games? Do you need a dedicated graphics card or will integrated do the job?

On a website I saw a laptop deal that has integrated AMD Radeon R5 HD, but I have no idea how powerful that is.

I’m trying to use [passmark](http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/)but I don’t see that card listed. What is a rough numerical value of Passmark G3D of what I would need for my needs (to play PC games that are several years old, and the graphics don’t have to be amazing)?

FWIW my current laptop which plays games fine has an AMD Radeon HD 6750M, I think that is about 1300 points on passmarks scale. Do I need something that strong or is that overkill?

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**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-powerful-does-a-laptops-graphics-need-to-be-to-play-steam-games/716201/2 "2015-03-28T14:44:26Z")

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I use a desktop for gaming, but when putting together a system I use the [Graphics Card](http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html)and [CPU](http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html) Hierarchy Charts from Tom’s hardware. These are very pragmatic comparisons based on general performance rather than cutting edge performance differences. Laptop representation takes a back seat, but the R5 is on there and pretty far down the list. [Anandtech Bench](http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Notebook/778) is pretty useful for direct comparisons.

Googleing “laptop gpu comparison chart” I found [this](http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html) which should allow you to compare with your current system.

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-powerful-does-a-laptops-graphics-need-to-be-to-play-steam-games/716201/3 "2015-03-28T23:30:51Z")

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Bear in mind that even on a notebook with a dedicated GPU the notebook CPU horsepower is going to make a noticeable difference. A $500 limit for a new 2014-2015 notebook with a discrete, decently powerful GPU is going to be a stretch. That price range is usually i3 or i5 with integrated CPU-GPU MBs. You might want to see if those setups will run your games OK.