ThinkPads are a unique breed of laptops that can be easily regarded as the “Jack of all trades” due to their ability to be versatile for both casual and professional use.
However, there is no denying the fact that even the most flagship grade Thinkpad, fails to achieve stable frames due to its hardware limitation.
In fact, they lie on a more affordable spectrum to fulfill your everyday needs, whether it’s oriented toward educational operations or boosting office productivity.
And even though its name tag might sound appealing, not all the glitters are gold here, henceforth, making it unfit for leisurely purposes even if it means light to moderate gaming.
If you are still pondering the fact that “Are ThinkPads Good For Gaming?” and want a thorough explanation, scroll down below and glance at my esoteric knowledge.
Are ThinkPads Good For Gaming: Fact Or An Elaborate Sham?
Videogames of all the things in the digital world, push the limit of hardware to its full extent regardless of the device they are played on to deliver the maximum possible frames and graphics configurations.
Gone are the days when games tend to run on bare minimal requirements with little to no effort, nowadays each update, rolled out with newer content is more taxing than its previous iteration.
Henceforth, here is why Thinkpads fails to be a worthy contender in this field,
1. Proper Cooling Solution
Even the newest lineup tends to lag behind its competitors such as Razer or ROG laptops that offer better processing power with much more robust cooling solutions.
Raw power can only make a difference if there is no thermal throttling involved and that is only possible if you are running a desktop or a laptop that has optimal cooling efficiency that works round the clock to keep the benchmarking numbers pumped.
You might own a Thinkpad with lofty hardware specifications and a higher processor core count, but the lack of a cooling technology would no doubt put a halt on your leisure to a bare minimum in less than an hour.
2. Lack of Dedicated Graphics Card
Don’t even think about emulating high-end AAA games without a dedicated graphics card since it’s the most crucial element to play them, matter of fact, even indie game developers have stepped up their standards and are now developing games that are resource hungry.
In other words, If not all, plenty of the ThinkPad laptops have got the simple Intel Graphics backing, whereas almost all such laptops favor NVIDIA’s Graphics support, for it is way better than any other. Hence your visual expectations won’t be, perhaps, met perfectly.
As mentioned above, Thinkpads might be an ideal companion for your everyday needs but they fail to provide ample graphical resource power to be used for gaming.
Despite the small screens and way substandard graphics performance, most ThinkPad laptops are unnecessarily pricey.
3. Refresh Rate Problems
Visual clarity and a higher refresh rate drive the gaming community right now as the industry standards for gaming evolved, so are the requirements for a higher refresh rate.
Unlike other laptop brands, Thinkpad is still pretty much stuck on its loomings 60hz refresh rates as they are much more oriented towards productivity and business-related operations, where these elements are quite irrelevant.
Furthermore, You will find almost every ThinkPad laptop with a 16-inch or even smaller screen i.e. quite insufficient for those seasoned gamers.
4. Storage Issues
Except for a few new models, almost all of the Thinkpads have critical lower storage specifications to be suitable for everyday gaming.
And there are barely any future-proofing options, so you are pretty much stuck with what you own, which might not be ideal even for light to moderate gaming.
5. Fancy Aesthetics
Last but certainly not least is its capability of having fancy aesthetics.
While this factor may not directly contribute to your gaming sessions, having flashy LED lights all around your gaming laptop and RGB keyboard is something that integrates a cosmetic value and certainly holds a placebo effect to tune yourself into the game you are playing.
Having flashy aesthetics and RGB lights emitting is certainly a factor that a true gamer looks forward to because let’s be honest, who would like to play games on a boring, typical laptop nowadays?
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s take a look at some related FAQs.
Can a Lenovo Thinkpad run GTA 5?
Grand Theft Auto V is a graphics-intensive game and even meeting the minimum requirements will result in an extremely lag-filled experience.
It is clear that Lenovo Thinkpads are nowhere near ideal for emulating the graphics of GTA V.
Is the Lenovo Thinkpad good for gaming?
The Thinkpad series from Lenovo isn’t quite known to produce an outstanding gaming experience due to its integrated Intel UHD graphics card, which is why you cannot consider Lenovo Thinkpad fit for gaming.
My Verdict
Succinctly saying, if it’s merely the power and competency that you need, the ThinkPad range leaves no stone unturned in compelling you to go for it. But not only that proves enough for a gamer.
In ThinkPad’s arena, since it’s a business people-oriented laptop range, the focus is mainly on improving security and privacy intactness by introducing novel security features. No doubt it’s good, but I think it’s more of a businessman’s concern rather than a gamer’s.
Hence paying high bucks just for these features but still not getting your visual craves satisfied, in my opinion, makes me believe otherwise in the fact that “Are ThinkPads Good For Gaming”.
Henceforth, as per my personal experience, would suggest that, if you are a schoolboy, a college or university chap, a businessman, or any other person who has not to do much with gaming, and who plays games quite seldom, I don’t hesitate to say that ThinkPad is the best option for you.
It’s perfect for your needs and can thoroughly satisfy your part-time gaming craves as well.
But if you are sort of an expert gamer, hungry for those top-class and graphics-intensive games, and into a gaming session all the time, you should instead go somewhere else.
