gaming laptop best buy
independent review
The greatest gaming laptops are among the most technologically rewarding items available. These slim little technical marvels pack all of the power of a desktop gaming PC into a form factor small enough to fit into a messenger bag and take with you on the go.
And they're just getting better, with AMD's Ryzen 6000-series mobile CPUs now competing with Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake processors. AMD's mobile GPUs will also be pitted against Nvidia's latest RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 Ti mobile GPUs. And if we've learned anything in this market, it's that competition is good for us, the customers.
The latest gaming laptops are becoming more portable while maintaining all of the high-end features seen in high-end gaming PCs (opens in new tab). Multicore CPUs, high-end GPUs, and fast NVMe SSDs are all on the table. Under the hood, you'll also find a lot of RAM and super-fast refresh panels. There are also gaming laptops with mechanical keyboards, such as the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15. (Opens in new tab).
Here are the gaming laptops that offer the finest blend of performance, portability, and pricing out of the hundreds we've evaluated over the years. Whatever you're looking for—a high-end RTX 3080 Ti-powered powerhouse or a portable compact device—there should be a laptop here for you, and we'll keep updating this list with new models as they become available.
1. Razer Blade 15
CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 and Core i9
GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: Up to 32GB DDR5
Screen: 1080p @ 360Hz, 1440p @ 240Hz, or 4K @ 144Hz
Storage: Up to 1TB SSD
Battery: 80Wh
Dimensions: 9.25 x 13.98 x 0.78 inches
Weight: 4.63lbs
VIEW AT AMAZON
2. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
GPU: Up to AMD Radeon RX 6800S
RAM: Up to 32GB DDR5-4800
Screen: 14-inch IPS 1600p @ 120Hz
Storage: 1TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0
Battery: 76Wh
Dimensions: 12.28 x 8.94 x 0.73 inches
Weight: 3.79lbs
3. Razer Blade 14
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX
GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: 16GB DDR5-4800
Screen: 14-inch 1080p @ 144Hz or 1440p @ 165Hz
Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Battery: 61.6Wh
Dimensions: 0.66 x 8.66 x 12.59 inchesWeight: 3.92lb
VIEW AT AMAZON
4. Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (16" AMD)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3070
RAM: Up to 32GB DDR4
Screen: 16-inch 165Hz 2560 x 1600
Storage: Up to 2 TB M.2 SSD
Battery: 86Wh
Dimensions: 14.01 x 10.4 x 1.1 inches
Weight: 5.4lbs
VIEW AT AMAZON
5. MSI GS66 Stealth
CPU: Up to Core i9 12900H
GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: Up to 32GB DDR5-4800
Screen: 15.6-inch 1080p 240Hz or 300Hz
Storage: Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD
Battery: 99.9Wh
Dimensions: 9.76 x 14.1 x 0.77 inches
Weight: 4.63lbs
6. Acer Predator Helios 300
CPU: Up to Intel Core i7 12th Gen
GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
RAM: Up to 32GB DDR5-4800
Screen: 15.6-inch IPS 1080p @ 240Hz
Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
Battery: 58Wh
Dimensions: 10.01 x 14.23 x 0.9 inches
Weight: 5.51lbs
7. Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (2024)
CPU: Up to Intel Core i9 12900H
GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: Up to 32GB DDR5-4800
Screen: 17.3-inch 1080p @ 360Hz or 1440p @ 240Hz
Storage: Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD
Battery: 90Wh
Dimensions: 11.1 x 15.55 x 0.92 inches
Weight: 6.39lbs
What's the most important gaming laptop component?
When it comes to gaming, the graphics card is the apparent answer, but things have recently gotten a little more difficult. Because GPU performance is now so reliant on cooling, it's important to know what watts a graphics card can handle and what chassis it can fit into.
As previously stated, an RTX 3080 crammed into an 18mm chassis will perform significantly worse than one housed in a much larger case with more area for high-performance cooling.
Should I worry about what the CPU in a gaming laptop is?
What you want to do with your laptop will determine this. An AMD Ryzen chip with 8 cores and 16 threads will allow you to do a lot of work on the road, but it won't help you much in terms of gaming. That's one of the reasons Intel released the Tiger Lake H35 processors; they're quad-core, 8-thread CPUs with a high clock speed to give high-end gaming performance when partnered with the RTX 3070.
What screen size is best for a gaming laptop?
This will, without a doubt, have the biggest impact on the build you choose. The size of your laptop is largely determined by the size of your screen. A 13-inch display will be a thin-and-light ultrabook, whereas a 17-inch display will very certainly be a workstation. You're looking at the most common size of gaming laptop screen, which is 15 inches.
Are high refresh rate panels worth it for laptops?
While you can't ensure your RTX 3060 will achieve 300 frames per second in the latest games, you'll notice a difference in overall look and feel when using a 300Hz monitor.
Should I get a 4K screen in my laptop?
Nah. 4K gaming laptops are overkill; they're fine for video editing with 4K footage, but they're not the best option for gaming. Because of the usual 1080p resolution, even slower mobile GPUs can almost always achieve high frame rates, while 1440p panels are steadily making their way into laptop lineups.
A 1440p screen is the ideal combination of high resolution and good gaming performance. A 4K notebook, on the other hand, will overwork your GPU and strain your eyes as you squint at your 15-inch display.
Where are the laptops with AMD graphics cards?
We'll take your guess as good as ours. The RX 5000-series cards were available in a few gaming laptop SKUs, although they were scarce. However, AMD has stated that the RX 6000 and Big Navi mobile GPUs will be available in gaming laptops in the first part of this year, but we have yet to see them in the labs.
