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Finding the Right Portable Gaming Rig
Many find decent value in gaming laptops under $1,000—and cost even less if you know what you need and what you can live without. Remember, as with any tech purchase, the best laptop for gaming is one that fits your budget and delivers value at that specific price point. Shop for gaming laptop at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up.
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Purists will argue that you need a PC to truly play games, especially if you're a fan of pushing the levels of graphics quality beyond the capabilities of a mere gaming console. In this regard, the gaming desktop is still king, particularly when it comes to having the kind of components and horsepower needed to run 4K games smoothly and support virtual reality (VR) setups, such as the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. But if you want or need something you can tote around the house or over to your friend's place, we're here to help you choose the right gaming laptop.
How Much Should You Spend?
Gaming systems have higher-end components than run-of-the-mill consumer laptops, so their prices consequently will be higher, but the range across the category is huge: from under a grand to $5,000 and up. The best budget gaming laptops start at $800 and can go up to about $1,250. For that, you get a system that can play games at 1,366-by-768 resolution on high graphics-quality settings, or at a full HD (1080p) resolution with the details turned down some. Storage may be a hard drive, or a modest-capacity solid-state drive (SSD).
Want something better? Midrange systems give you smoother gameplay at high settings on a higher-quality 1080p screen, and should add support for VR headsets. These models will range in price from around $1,250 to $2,000.
High-end systems, meanwhile, should guarantee you smooth gameplay at 1080p with graphics details maxed out (possibly in concert with a special high-refresh screen; more on that in a moment), or might let you play at 4K resolution (if the screen supports it). A high-end model should also be able to power a VR headset and support additional external monitors. These machines tend to come with speedy storage components such as PCI Express solid-state drives, and they are priced above $2,000, often closer to $3,000. Some support QHD (2,560-by-1,440-pixel) or 4K screens, a hard drive to supplement the SSD, and ultra-efficient cooling fans as optional extras. Thanks to modern advancements, an increasing number of these are even fairly thin and portable. A few elite boutique models will support dual graphics chips. (Such rare-bird machines will be massive and expensive, with minimal battery life.)
Put the GPU First: Graphics Are Key
The main attribute that makes or breaks a gaming laptop is its graphics processing unit (GPU). We don't consider a laptop to be a gaming laptop unless it has one of these discrete graphics chips from Nvidia or (less commonly) AMD.
The dominant player in the field right now is Nvidia, which currently produces discrete mobile GPUs based on its 20-Series 'Turing' microarchitecture and 10-Series 'Pascal' architecture. The Turing platform debuted with desktop graphics cards in September 2018 and made its way into laptops by early 2019. Unlike the previous generation, Pascal, as of this moment all Turing GPUs available on laptops carry an 'RTX' designation rather than 'GTX,' a nod to the ray-tracing technology that the platform offers for enhanced in-game visuals.
For example, the successors to the high-end Pascal GPUs you've seen for the last few years, like the GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, are named GeForce RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 for both laptops and desktops. As with Pascal, the mobile chips can offer performance close to what you could expect from a desktop-PC graphics card equipped with the same-named GPU, though thermal constraints and other factors mean they're not quite as potent.
To make things slightly more confusing, the only exceptions to this are the recently launched GTX 1650 and 1660 Ti. These GTX GPUs are based on the Turing platform, but as more budget-friendly options, they forgo ray-tracing, thus the lack of RTX moniker. You're likely going to see these fairly often, especially the 1660 Ti (usually in the tier just below high-end GPUs), as it occupies an appealing space between the older GTX 1060 and RTX 2060.
Now that Turing has been available on mobile for a decent amount of time, the transition period from Pascal is essentially over. This means any laptop you're looking at with a 10-Series GPU is probably not the latest release—the manufacturer almost definitely has an RTX or 16-Series GTX model now. Nvidia's chief rival, AMD, sees far fewer laptops use its graphics technology. A handful of laptops offer AMD's Radeon RX 500 Series or Radeon RX Vega GPUs, often as an alternative to an Nvidia-based SKU or, more rarely, alongside an Intel processor.
All of that said, there are still some basic conclusions to be drawn about graphics performance. In general, the higher the model number within a product line, the higher the 3D performance. So an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 generally produces higher frame rates and higher-quality graphics than an RTX 2060 or RTX 2070. A single high-end RTX-class discrete GPU will let you play the latest AAA gaming titles on a 1080p screen with all the bells and whistles turned on, and be fine for powering VR play.
In the past, the power of an RTX 2080 would look like overkill for smooth gaming in HD, but several new factors can absorb that extra potential. An emerging trend among high-end machines is a high-refresh-rate screen built into the laptop, which allows for display of lofty frame rates in full to smooth out the perceived gameplay. You'll need a powerful graphics chip to leverage the benefits of a high-refresh panel with demanding games. You'll be able to identify machines like these by marketing lingo touting, say, a 120Hz or 144Hz screen. (A typical display on a laptop is a 60Hz panel.)
Many more expensive systems now feature these high-refresh-rate screens (144Hz is emerging as the most common), so they can display more than 60 frames per second (up to 144fps, in the case of 144Hz screens). This makes gameplay look smoother, but only high-end GPUs can push those limits, in many cases. Additionally, the aforementioned ray-tracing techniques (think real-time lighting and reflection effects) are demanding to run, and as more video games implement the technology, the more you'll wish you could flip them on. (For now, they're a factor in just a handful of AAA games, such as Battlefield V and Metro: Exodus.)
As such, there are multiple reasons to opt for a GeForce RTX 2070 or RTX 2080, even if playing games at a full HD (1080p) resolution doesn't look too demanding to you on paper. We'll spare you too many details here, but Nvidia is also implementing a rendering technique called DLSS to help ray tracing to run smoothly on less powerful hardware like the RTX 2060 with limited downsides, so you're not totally out of luck if you can't afford the top-end chips. (Again, this will need game-level support but is trickling out to titles as 2019 progresses.)
Nvidia's G-Sync and AMD's FreeSync technologies are more down-to-earth. They help increase the quality of the gaming experience and smooth out frame rates by letting the laptop screen refresh at a variable rate that depends on the output of the GPU. Look for support for one of those technologies if you're a stickler for perfectly rendered visuals. They are becoming more common, but tend to be in pricier machines, and G-Sync is far more common.
Picking a Processor
The processor is the heart of a PC, and in most current gaming laptops you'll find a quad- or hexa-core 8th Generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU based on the 'Coffee Lake' chipset. One major change for Coffee Lake is the number of cores: Even the previous 'Kaby Lake' generation topped out at four cores, so some of these new chips have two extra cores to work with. This brings more overall speed and much-improved performance on multithreaded tasks like media projects, but the upside for gaming is relatively minimal.
Theoretically, you may find a gaming laptop with an Intel Core i3 or one of AMD's CPUs installed, but those are uncommon: Systems with Intel Core i3 and comparable entry-level AMD processors are certainly capable of playing many games, but why limit yourself from square one? That said, if you have to make the choice between a high-end CPU and a high-end GPU, go for the graphics. For example, we'd recommend getting a Core i5 CPU over a Core i7 if the money saved could then go toward an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 GPU instead of an RTX 2060. Spending the money on the GPU makes more sense than spending it on the CPU if gaming is your main concern.
Look for Intel Core i5 processors in midrange systems, with Core i7 H, HQ, and HK processors in higher-end gaming laptops. The H-series processors are higher-power, and tend to show up in more expensive gaming laptops, while lower-power U-series chips are designed for thinner, more portable machines. They are quite different, in terms of thermal profile, as well as overall performance potential; a U-series Core i7 processor may not even have the same number of processing cores as an H-series Core i7 chip. U-series chips are uncommon in true gaming laptops, but they are out there. H is better.
On the AMD side, the Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 processors have their own performance advantages in desktops and laptops, but they are far less common in gaming laptops than Intel's offerings.
Display Size: Do You Need a 17-Inch Gaming Laptop?
In terms of display size, a 15-inch screen is the sweet spot for a gaming laptop. You can buy larger 17-inch displays, but this will almost certainly jack up the weight to well beyond 5 pounds. We've seen 10-pound 'portables' in the gaming sector that will definitely weigh down your backpack. We recommend at least a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel native resolution) screen. Larger displays are capable of giving you higher-than-1080p resolutions, but choose wisely, as a resolution of QHD (uncommon), QHD+ (3,200 by 1,800 pixels, and even less common), or 4K (3,840 by 2,160 pixels, a bit more common) will boost the final cost twice: first for the panel, and second for the higher-quality graphics chip you'll need to drive it to its full potential. As mentioned, look for increasingly common G-Sync or high refresh rate screens (as discussed above in the GPU section) if you want smoother visuals.
Because they usually require dual GPUs for the smoothest gameplay at native resolution, 4K gaming laptops are still the exception, and still expensive. And keep this in mind: Only the most powerful graphics cards can render complex game animations at playable frame rates across the full screen at 4K, so a 1080p screen may actually be a better use of your money if all you do is play games. Generally, it's still not worth the cost to seek out 4K gaming at high frame rates, and even the beefiest laptops are limited to 'just barely' pushing the latest games at 4K and high detail settings.
Is Max-Q Right for You?
In an effort to produce sleeker, more portable gaming laptops, Nvidia launched an initiative in 2017 named Max-Q Design, a term borrowed from the aeronautics industry. In that scenario, it describes the maximum amount of aerodynamic stress an aircraft can sustain. Here, it refers to a combination of hardware and software modifications that allow higher-end graphics cards to fit into thinner chassis than traditionally possible. By limiting the power ceiling of cards like the GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2070, less heat is produced, meaning less room is needed for cooling and heat dissipation.
Max-Q machines are quickly becoming the norm among more powerful high-end gaming laptops, and even some mid-tier systems. Most of these are slim and much more travel-friendly than the average gaming laptop, while still allowing for gaming at 60fps or higher on high settings. It's even allowing for 17-inch laptops to significantly reduce weight and size. There are 17-inch GeForce RTX 2080-bearing laptops out there now that weigh only slightly more than five pounds and measure less than an inch thick.
There are, of course, tradeoffs. The Max-Q-tuned graphics cards are a bit less capable than the standard versions to keep the heat down, pushing fewer frames per second while gaming. The dropoff isn't always significant enough to be a dealbreaker, but it is measurable. Also, these laptops tend to be a bit pricier. If you value portability (ie, using your gaming laptop like a laptop) and visual appeal, though, Max-Q is the most consistent method so far for making possible relatively thin-and-light gaming laptops with top-tier power.
Stick With an SSD
You should definitely consider a system with a solid-state drive, since prices have fallen considerably over the past few years. SSDs speed up boot time, wake-from-sleep time, and the time it takes to launch a game and load a new level.
Go ahead and get a gaming laptop with an SSD, but make sure you configure correctly. A small-capacity (128GB to 256GB) SSD with a roomy (1TB or greater) spinning hard drive is a good start if you also download the occasional video from the internet. (Only thicker gaming laptops will tend to support dual-drive arrangements like this.) Higher-capacity SSDs (512GB or more) are available, but choosing one will increase the purchase price of your gaming rig by a bunch. SSDs are very fast, but in terms of capacity, your money goes much further with hard drives. Adding more SSD capacity can make the price rise very quickly.
See How We Test Laptops
Remember: Get Enough Memory (But Not Too Much)
Before we forget, let's talk memory. In a gaming laptop, look for at least 8GB of RAM. (In practice, no self-respecting model will come with less.) That will give you some breathing room when switching back and forth between your gameplay window and your messaging app, but we'd save researching game tips for when you're not playing, as each successive browser window you open eats into your RAM allotment.
For a high-end system, we recommend 16GB, so you can have more than one gaming session, your messaging app, several websites, a webcam program, and your video streaming program open simultaneously. A midrange gaming laptop should function fine with 8GB of memory, but be aware that many new laptops are not upgradable. You may be stuck with the amount of memory you order. For an investment-grade gaming laptop, 16GB is the ideal target; for most folks who aren't extreme streamers or multitaskers, more than that is overkill.
Buying the Best Cheap Gaming Laptop
If you're shopping for a gaming system on a limited budget (in this case, between roughly $800 and $1,200), you're going to need to make some sacrifices. Maximizing power while staying within a limited price range is the goal, but you'll have to accept that some of the components won't be comparable with the more expensive laptops you'll see while browsing. That said, $1,200 is a reasonable ceiling for what some buyers are ready to spend on a gaming laptop, and you can still get a solid system for that much or less. (Check out our side roundup of the best cheap gaming laptops.)
The main drop-off will be the graphics, since the dedicated graphics chip is one of the most expensive components in a machine and the major factor in a computer's gaming prowess. The graphics chip almost single-handedly defines the class of laptop you're dealing with, so it's important to pay attention to that part when browsing options. Fortunately, even the less powerful GPU options these days are quite capable.
Even before the launch of Turing, and still today, budget systems were equipped with true lower-tier Nvidia Pascal GPUs like the GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti, with the GeForce GTX 1060 as highest 'inexpensive' option. Currently, Turing graphics options have not yet hit the value levels seen on Pascal. The GeForce RTX 2060 is the entry option for 20-Series GPUs, and while it's definitely less expensive than a GeForce RTX 2070 or RTX 2080, it's no budget-grade GPU. The more value-focused GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and GeForce GTX 1660 recently launched on desktops, but those GPUs have not yet made their way to laptops, so you'll have to opt for an older 10-Series chip or a GeForce RTX 2060 for now.
With the GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti, you'll be able to play smoothly at 1080p, just not at the very highest settings in newer games. That's less true for the RTX 2060 if you go that route, as it's impressively capable in 1080p/full HD, but even there you'll have to accept dialing down a few settings for 60fps gaming in some titles. Virtual-reality gaming may be a stretch in this price range, but the GTX 1060 is the least-expensive VR-capable mobile GPU, so some laptops at the higher end of this price range will (just) get you in the door.
Processors are the next biggest difference. You'll likely get a capable Core i5 instead of a faster Core i7. Still, some of the benefits of an i7 machine aren't a major factor for gaming, but instead benefit video editing and other creative uses, so an i5 will do the job. The newest generation of these chips are fast and efficient at a base level, and won't be too much of a bottleneck for gaming. On the AMD side of the fence, in the rare gaming laptops you'll find based wholly on AMD core technology, gamers will see mostly graphics solutions based on the serviceable-if-aging Radeon RX 560, RX 570, and RX 580 paired with one of several AMD FX or Ryzen CPUs. Outside of the graphics card and processor, the other components should actually be closer to more expensive machines than you'd expect.
As far as storage is concerned, the price margin between hard drives and SSDs is narrowing, but hard drives hang on more stubbornly here than in other gaming-laptop classes. A 1TB hard drive with maybe a small boot-drive SSD alongside is common in budget laptops, but watch for models that are hard-drive-only; we strongly prefer an SSD boot drive, even in this price range. The display will almost certainly be 1080p, as 1,366-by-768-pixel panels are now reserved only for cheap non-gaming systems and increasingly uncommon. The RAM will likely top off at 8GB in budget laptops, but you will find some (more ideal) 16GB laptops in this range.
What Else Do You Need to Up Your Game?
Given that high-end components tend to drain battery life, don't plan on taking any of these gaming rigs too far from a wall socket very often. Cutting-edge ports like USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 are beneficial now, and will only be more so down the road, but look for at least two USB 3.0 ports so you can plug in an external mouse and a hard drive for your saved media files.
If you mean to attach a VR headset to your GeForce GTX 1060-or-better rig, look for the right loadout of ports to accommodate it; you'll need a well-placed HDMI video out and enough USB ports for the hydra-head of cabling. Other video ports, like DisplayPort or mini-DisplayPort, will be helpful if you want to play games on an external display, but they aren't absolutely necessary if your laptop's screen is large enough.
To round out your PC gaming experience, check out the best dedicated keyboards, mice, monitors, and headsets for gamers. Otherwise, let's dig in to the best currently available machines we've tested to date.
Best Gaming Laptops Featured in This Roundup:
MSI GS65 Stealth (2019) Review
MSRP: $1699.99Pros: Sharp design. High-quality, portable build. Better-than-60fps gaming at appealing price via GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU. 144Hz display. Long battery life for a gaming laptop. Solid port selection. Per-key backlighting.Cons: 512GB of storage in tester unit is a little tight for gaming. A bit of lid flex.Bottom Line: MSI's GS65 Stealth delivers better-than-60fps gaming performance and a premium, portable build with long battery life. With no real flaws, an appealing price, and power topped only by pricey alternatives, it's our top midrange gaming laptop.Read ReviewRazer Blade 15 Advanced Model (2019) Review
MSRP: $2299.99Pros: Portable, spiffy design. High-end build quality. Hits well over 60fps while gaming with its RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU. 144Hz display benefits from high frame rates. Per-key RGB keyboard backlighting. Good battery life.Cons: Garish lid logo. Runs hot while gaming. White 'Mercury Edition' costs extra.Bottom Line: The 2019 Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model takes last year's slick, winning design and adds peppy, muscled-up Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. It's our top recommendation in its class.Read ReviewAlienware Area-51m Review
MSRP: $2106.99Pros: Astounding graphics and general computing performance. Desktop-class processor. Nvidia RTX 2080 GPU. Built-in eye tracking. Comfortable keyboard. 144Hz display. Excellent component access for upgrades.Cons: Heavy, bulky. Requires two power bricks. Expensive. No 4K display option. Very short battery life.Bottom Line: Packing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics chip and a desktop-class Intel Core i9, Alienware's massively rejiggered flagship, the Area-51m, is the best-performing gaming laptop we've tested, a monster in every sense a laptop can be.Read ReviewAcer Predator Helios 300 (2018, 15-Inch) Review
MSRP: $1299.99Pros: On-point performance for the price. Solid construction. 144Hz display. Touchpad and keyboard are superior to other gaming laptops in its class.Cons: Battery life is brief. Color scheme follows the crowd.Bottom Line: With its part-metal build and GeForce GTX 1060 graphics, the Acer Predator Helios 300 is a compelling midrange gaming laptop in a premium suit.Read ReviewAcer Predator Triton 500 Review
MSRP: $1799.99Pros: Good value given components and panel. Slim, compact design. Restrained, classy lighting. 144Hz display with Nvidia G-Sync. Top-end gaming performance at 1080p.Cons: Loud fans under load. Short battery life. Close in performance to at least one RTX 2070 we tested.Bottom Line: High-end GeForce RTX graphics and an advanced feature set in a trim bod make Acer's Predator Triton 500 a worthy gaming laptop. Just a few modest issues keep it from RTX-laptop alpha status.Read ReviewAlienware m15 Review
MSRP: $1299.00Pros: Slim design. 144Hz display. Strong HD gaming performance. Good battery life for a gaming laptop.Cons: Build quality doesn't feel quite as premium as some competitors. Chunky top and bottom screen bezels. Ho-hum touchpad.Bottom Line: The Alienware m15 makes good on its slim form with lots of gaming grunt and long battery life. It's a very solid 15-inch gaming laptop, though a few bits-bezels, body materials-need sprucing up.Read ReviewAsus ROG Zephyrus S Review
MSRP: $1999.00Pros: Super-slim design with powerful components. Sturdier build than predecessor. Capable of 60fps maximum-quality gaming, if only just. Narrow screen bezels. 144Hz display refresh rate. Multiple USB-C ports.Cons: Short battery life undermines portable form. Keyboard and touchpad design take getting used to. No G-Sync support. GPU can't leverage 144Hz screen in many games.Bottom Line: The Zephyrus S is among the most portable gaming laptops you can buy, but short battery life means you can't stray far from an outlet. On the charger, though, it's an attractive and capable high-end machine.Read ReviewLenovo Legion Y740 (15-Inch) Review
MSRP: $1679.99Pros: Attractive, compact build. Strong general and gaming performance matches that of more expensive machines. 144Hz display with Nvidia G-Sync. Plenty of storage, with discrete SSD and hard drive. Customizable per-key backlighting.Cons: Poor battery life. Design may be too plain for some at this price.Bottom Line: With short battery life as the only real shortcoming, the 15-inch Lenovo Legion Y740 is a potent gaming laptop that, while not inexpensive, matches the performance and features of pricier machines.Read ReviewLenovo Legion Y740 (17-Inch) Review
MSRP: $1619.19Pros: Top-end 1080p-gaming pep via Max-Q GeForce RTX 2080 graphics. Solid build quality. 144Hz display with G-Sync. Customizable per-key backlighting. Plenty of storage. Good per-component value.Cons: Big footprint and heavy versus other Max-Q laptops. Short battery life. Plain design given the price.Hiatus coyote tour. Q-Tip lends his voice for collaborative verse on the track that is featured exclusively on the re-released album. 'Lace Skull' is a song that explores what it is to be vulnerable. 'Nakamarra sweet red earth will hold you like the strength you bless to me true we engage humility/ watch me struggle with your words however truthful they may be we'll see in time/opening our hearts and nurturing our minds to shine.'Bottom Line: The battery life is brief and the body is hefty, but Lenovo's Legion Y740 delivers fine value among big, high-powered gaming laptops, with speed and features that rival more expensive machines.Read ReviewMSI GS75 Stealth Review
MSRP: $2099.00Pros: Thin and light for a 17-incher. Attractive aesthetic. Greater-than-90fps gaming performance. 144Hz screen. Good battery life for class. Ports include USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3.Cons: Performance very similar to top non-Max-Q Pascal GPUs. Display only full HD. No G-Sync support. 512GB drive a tad tight for gaming.Bottom Line: With a spiffy thin design, lots of pep for 1080p gaming, and surprising battery life, MSI's GS75 Stealth is a solid early entry in the GeForce RTX gaming-laptop stakes.Read Review
A gaming laptop’s second most important component is its central processing unit (CPU), which is responsible for keeping your computer running. It’s the chip that processes all the data and executes all the commands.
While a gaming laptop’s GPU is dedicated to rendering video, the CPU is responsible for everything else, from the operating system to every last game of Solitaire. It can be difficult to keep up with CPU technologies because they evolve rapidly, but in general, consider the following when deciding what type of processor you’ll need.
- Brand: Most laptop CPUs are made by Intel, although AMD’s newest processors (dubbed “Ryzen”) are a popular favorite among gamers. Think twice about buying a gaming laptop with a CPU that isn’t made by Intel or AMD. Off-brand CPUs rarely perform as well.
- Generation: Most CPU manufacturers release new iterations of their best chips regularly, and each generation of chip is given a code name. For example, Intel replaced their popular “Skylake” CPUs with the “Kaby Lake” generation. When shopping for a gaming laptop, buy one with the most current CPU you can afford.
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