Gaming laptop or NUC?

[Joter]

Budget gaming laptops and NUC´s have similar CPU and GPU.
It´s seem that for nearly the same money, i can´t get a keyboard, a screen and a battery.

Is there any way to compare there performance. How should I compare them? My needs are watching videos in 4k and light gaming.
Thanks

 

[Aikouka]

I'm not sure what you mean by light gaming, but Intel's NUCs only use integrated graphics, which aren't the most potent GPUs. The NUC GPUs are also not their best integrated solutions (HD 4400/4600 vs. HD 5000/5200). So, I'm not too sure if that's what you mean by a budget gaming laptop, as I'm used to them having low-end dedicated GPUs (e.g. GTX 960M). I don't know if you can get a good, direct comparison, but you can always look at the ratings for individual items.

 

[TeknoBug]

The new wave of 5010/5200/5500U CPU's are actually quite good and capable with that HD5500 which is leaps and bounds ahead of HD4000/4400/4600 and even 5000. I like my NUC, small and quiet and a space saver and doesn't suck electricity when it's on all day.

With mine (i3 4010U) I can play a few games like PES 2015, Assetto Corsa, Archeage just fine, and play the rest via Steam in-home streaming from my gaming PC.

 

[kierwest]

Don't go with a NUC. It uses integrated graphics that are pretty sub par. If you truly want to game on a laptop, get something with a dedicated gpu.

 

[Joter]

Thanks for your replies. After studying the market I decided to go for a laptop with dedicated graphics. I'll try to assure a 4k@60fps with a laptop under $800 (gtx 9series). I think this way I'll get a smooth htpc which I can actually move around.

 

[SithSolo1]

What display(s) are you going to be outputting video to?

I ask because I can't think of any laptops off the top of my head with HDMI 2.0 ports which is needed if you plan to use 4k@60hz on most 4k TVs. If you are using display port to a monitor then thats fine but very few 4k TVs have display ports on them.

 

[Joter]

Eurocom laptop is the only one with hdmi 2.0 and this one is quite expensive. I'm still stuck with a CRT; muy next tv for sure will be a 4k with display port

 

[LongeCrK]

I've recently purchased an asus ZenBook UX303 gaming laptop and I must say I'm pretty happy with it.

Had to get rid of some bloatware, but other than that, it's a pretty decent machine to run most games.