When it comes to selecting a gaming laptop, many questions arise. You’re probably looking for a low-cost, dependable model that will meet the majority of your gaming requirements. It shouldn’t cost the earth, but it also shouldn’t be a cheap piece of plastic. You’ll want it to be as thin as a powerful gaming machine can be so you can take it with you everywhere. Furthermore, special deals appear on the market daily, making it difficult to choose among the best gaming laptops for your budget if you don’t know what is most important to you in terms of value for money.
How to Choose the Best Laptops for Gaming
The most important thing is to understand what type of gamer you are and to carefully filter offerings so that you do not get lost. A 4K resolution screen is not required for even professional FPS gaming, and you don’t need a lot of cores in your processor to play most games. And, no, you do not require a MacBook. So, before we get into our top five best gaming laptops, let’s go over what you should think about.
Our Top 5 Selections
Now that we’ve established the rationale for selection, let’s take a look at some of the fantastic options available in the gaming laptop market today.
Alienware M15
Display: 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 240Hz IPS | CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H | GPU: Nvidia GTX 1070 / RTX 2060 / 2070 | RAM: 16GB DDR4 | Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
The Alienware M15 is a mid-range gaming laptop that sits between the M13 and the M17 in the Alienware lineup. Available configurations range from $1300 to $4300 and provide nearly all of the gaming options you could want. It comes in two colors: Nebula Red and Epic Silver, but only the lid is red; the rest of the body is black. The RGB keys on the keyboard are individually illuminated. The coolest feature is that you can add a 4K 60Hz OLED display to this laptop for as little as $150.
Acer Predator Triton 500
Display: 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 144Hz 3ms IPS | CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060/2070/2080 | RAM: 16/32 GB DDR4 2666MHz | Storage: 512GB / 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
Well here’s a model with Nvidia RTX GPUs. The price can range from $1800 to $2500 depending on the GPU model as well as the storage and RAM configuration. This laptop is ultra-thin, comparable to the MacBook Pro, and small, weighing only 4.63 pounds. It includes a 720p webcam and a standard gaming FHD display with integrated G-Sync and a 144Hz refresh rate. The RGB keyboard is illuminated unusually, with three distinct lighting zones: the arrow keys, WASD keys, and Predator Sense key all have a semi-transparent blue border. However, you cannot change the color on a per-key basis.
Lenovo Legion Y740
Display: 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 144 Hz G-Sync IPS | CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060/2070 | RAM: 16/32GB | Storage: 256GB SSD / 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
This high-end gaming laptop, which costs between $1700 and $2000 depending on configuration, comes with excellent RTX graphics cards, a 6-core i7 processor, 16 or 32 GB of RAM, and a 144Hz refresh rate on the Full HD display. There’s also a 720p webcam above the display, Nvidia G-sync built into the screen, and Dolby Vision HDR support. The majority of the ports are located on the back of the laptop, making it appear cleaner with no cables protruding from it. The RGB keyboard has an extra row of buttons on the left to manage the Lenovo Vantage software, which is a shame because you’ll find yourself pressing the Vantage launcher key instead of Escape regularly.
Gigabyte Aero 15x
Display: 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 144Hz IPS | CPU: Intel Core i7 8750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | RAM: 16 GB DDR4 2666MHz | Storage: 512GB PCIe SSD
The name says it all: this is another lightweight beast, a little heavier at 4.5 pounds than the MSI GS65 Stealth, but still very thin and beautifully designed. It also keeps up with its competitors in terms of battery life, which is very impressive. The laptop’s design is very nice, and the keyboard is one of the best low-profile laptop keyboards we’ve tested. The keys are slightly concave, with a short travel distance and a good rebound. Furthermore, the RGB lighting is adjustable on a per-key basis. The Aero 15X has three USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI 2.2 port, an SD card slot, mini-DP, Thunderbolt, and even an RJ-45 ethernet port.
MSI GS65 Stealth
Display: 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 240Hz G-Sync IPS | CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 | RAM: 32GB DDR4 2666MHz | Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
Indeed, marketed as a “thinner-than-a-dime” laptop, it is even thinner and lighter than the Predator Titan 500. (4.19 pounds). Furthermore, the keys on the keyboard are very evenly spaced, and the sound system is excellent, allowing you to hear all of the subtle environmental noises without the use of headphones. Finally, the battery life on this model is quite impressive for such a powerful machine.
