[Gaming][Buy It Smart] NVIDIA Geforce GT 940M vs NVIDIA Geforce GT 920M vs AMD Radeon R5 M330 vs AMD Radeon R7 M360 for the best Gaming Laptop under ₹50,000

With so many laptops out there in the range of ₹30,000 –  ₹50,000 it can be very hard to choose the right one. At first while you look at the specs of most new laptops, they have the same processor i.e. Intel i5 or i3 5th/6th Gen Processors. But if you look closer you will find the difference in the dedicated graphics card. Now to find out which graphics card performs the best can be very difficult for you. We will make it simply with this guide.

There are three most commonly found graphics card under ₹50,000. They are NVIDIA Geforce GT 940M, NVIDIA Geforce GT 920M, AMD Radeon R5 M330 and AMD Radeon R7 M360. AMD Radeon R5 M330 is most commonly used and NVIDIA Geforce GT 940M being the most rarest.

NVIDIA Geforce GT 940M
This graphics card is the most powerful of the lot. Often paired with 1080p screen this graphics card can run most of the recent games at respectable resolution. Most games released in 2013 or before run at 1080p. Games such as Far Cry 4, Mad Max, Metal Gear Solid V run at 1366 x768 @30FPS Medium Settings. GTA V and COD Black Ops III run at 1080p @30FPS low-nomal settings. New games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry Primal run at 1280×720 low settings. Although, for 60FPS gameplay you will have to reduce to 1366×768 resolution. This is the best graphics you can get for under ₹50,000. You can find this in AB series of HP laptops.

NVDIA GeForce GT 920M
Commonly found in budget laptops with 1366×768 resolution display, this graphics card can run only games released in and before 2013 smoothly. Games like Far Cry 4, Mad Max and Black Ops III run at lowest settings. GTA V however runs at 30FPS Medium Settings. Dirt Rally runs at Medium Settings at 30FPS.New games like Rise of The Tomb Raider and Far Cry Primal are unplayable. I would recommend this graphics card if you are a casual gamer and play games like FIFA 16, Counter Strike Global Offensive, DOTA 2,etc.

AMD Radeon R7 M360
This one is found in laptops with price range in between ₹35,000 – ₹50,000. While the model number might make you expect a performance similar to NVIDIA GT 940M, it’s actually in line with GT 920M. In some games like Far Cry 4 and Mad Max, the GT 920M performs better than this but only by a small margin. This graphics is an alternative to GT 920M. Performance is basically the same so you can’t go wrong with either. Though, I would recommend NVIDIA’s GT 920M over AMD’s R7 M360.

AMD Radeon R5 M330
The performance of M330 is below M360 as expected. It can run only a few recent games at playable FPS, like Call Of Duty Black Ops III and GTA V 1024×768 @30+ FPS. Other games such as Far Cry 4 and Dirt Rally run at 5-6FPS lower than GT 920M and R7 M360. However, Metal Gear Solid Performance is same as R7 M360. This graphics card is ideal for playing games released before 2013.

For 1080p gaming GT 940M is a good choice. Make sure that the laptop you buy has 1080p display in order to make the most out of this graphics card. While new games run at lowest settings, its best for playing game released in or before 2014.

The GT 920M and R7 M360 however are good only for gaming at 1366×768, unless the games which you are going to run are older than 2013. For older games the settings can be lowered to run at 1080p if you plan on connecting it to a 1080p TV.

The R5 M330 is not a very good choice for gaming unless you don’t mind trading graphics quality for smooth gameplay. It’s a very good choice for casual gamers or those who are on budget. However, it’s good if you can spend a few bucks more and buy a laptop with either GT 920M or the R7 M360.

NOTE:
1. All the FPS were measured at 1366×768 resolution gaming unless mentioned.
2. Games which run at 1366×768 medium settings can be made to run at 1920X1080 low settings.
3. You cannot run games at 1920X1080 on 1366×768 laptop display. You need to connect it external display which has a resolution of 1920X1080 if you wish to do so.
4. New games like Black Ops III, Far Cry Primal, Rise of The Tomb Raider requires 8GB of RAM. Hence make sure your laptop has one or whether there is empty slot to add one.

I found these two laptops to have very good Performance/Price ratio:
1. HP 15-AF 103AX
AMD APU Quad A8-7410 Processor @2.2GHz
2GB AMD Radeon R5 M330
Windows 10
4GB RAM
₹30,000

2. HP 15 ab219X
Intel i5-5200U 5th Gen Processor @2.2GHz
2GB NVIDIA Geforce GT 940M
Windows 10
8GB RAM
₹52,000

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