HP Pavilion i5 GTX 1650 8GB/256GB Gaming Laptop

Before I begin this review I need to emphasize that it is very important that you update the NVIDIA graphics drivers before any gameplay because the recent drivers (451.77 on up) contain some crucial performance enhancements. Please note that you will need to go directly to the NVIDIA's website and download and install the new drivers because the Windows update package did not include them for some reason. Having said that, the gaming aspect of this review will be based on three different modern and widely popular games that I've chosen - which are: 1). Call of Duty Modern Warfare, 2). Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, and 3). Tom Clancy's The Division 2. Set up was quick and straightforward, and all you really need to do is follow the Windows 10 installation prompts. After Windows 10 Home (64-bit) has been activated and the Wifi/internet connectivity is established, you can then proceed to install all of the system updates and patches. This process will take several minutes so be patient. After that's done you're ready to install your games. First up was Call of Duty Modern Warfare, but I immediately ran into problems and was unable to install it because there wasn't enough free space on the hard drive to accommodate the game's space requirements. As a workaround solution I plugged then my portable SSD drive and install the game on that unit. The gameplay was incredibly smooth and responsive, and I didn't experience any lag nor stuttering. The graphics were beautiful, and I was playing this game at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 on my 4K TV while the graphics were on the *preset* medium default setting. Next up was Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The space requirements for this game was considerably lower than Call of Duty Modern Warfare and I was able to install it directly on the laptop's hard drive this time. It is imperative that the newer NVIDIA graphics drivers are installed because they are able to support this games recent and advanced "Vulkan API." I tested and compared this gaming laptop with an earlier version of the drivers (the ones that were installed with Windows upgrade), and the performance was immediately noticeable and confirmed with the games internal benchmarks. Having said that, be sure to launch the game in Vulkan mode instead of DX11. During gameplay I was able to max out all of the medium settings to either 'very high' or 'ultra' and obtained an average FPS of 57. The resolution was set at 1920 x 1080 on the game was played on the laptops screen. The final game was Tom Clancy's The Division 2, and I was also able to install it directly on the hard drive as well. I first used the preset* medium default setting, and this was benchmarked at an average 67 FPS at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 - which was played on the gaming laptop screen. As with the graphics on the other games, I was very impressed with the detailed scenery and everything looked phenomenal. I continued to customize the graphics by maxing the settings to 'very high', and while I did experience lower FPS, the system performs quite well and I was quite satisfied with the overall output. The laptop's cooling system did an excellent job at dissipating the heat and it did so in a very quiet fashion. Pros: 1. Powerful system components that can play just about every modern game thrown at it 2. Superb graphics 3. Quick battery recharge time 4. Robust onboard speakers 5. Very fast startup Cons: 1. Limited hard drive space 2. Lackluster WebCam I will conclude by saying that this is a very capable and decent gaming laptop. It contains state-of-the-art components that can easily accommodate today's most demanding game requirements. This laptop appears to be very durable and is an excellent value for the money. I was satisfied with nearly every aspect of this gaming laptop's performance and I highly recommend it.