While the desktop remains supreme among many PC gamers, sometimes you just need something a bit more portable. A gaming laptop is a rig on the go, with the power to play games in a size you can take with you.
But when youre buying a gaming laptop, youre not just looking at specs. Youre looking at a whole computer, including a built-in keyboard and display. Here, we explain all of the decisions youll have to make when buying a gaming laptop so you can get the best one for your needs and budget.
Quick Tips
Get a good GPU: Most games are GPU-dependent, and you cant upgrade these in laptops. A good GPU will ensure your laptop plays games at high settings for a few years.
Consider upgrading later: Many, though not all, gaming laptops let you upgrade your RAM and storage.
Pick resolution or speed: The fastest 144Hz displays only come at 1920 x 1080 resolution right now, so a 4K screen will be slower.
Get a good keyboard: You dont want to play your games on something mushy or stiff.
Battery life will probably be bad: Very few gaming notebooks get 8 hours or more on a charge, and you need the power supply to get the best performance anyway.
What GPU do you need?
While some games use the CPU, the majority of games are still GPU-bound, so this is one of the biggest decisions you make when buying a gaming notebook. At the moment, the majority of gaming notebooks come with Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX GPUs, so well be using those here (sorry, AMD).
Nvidia's desktop RTX 20-series Super cards have just released, as have AMD's Radeon 5700 and 5700 XT. But at the moment, there are no announcements of either coming to laptops.
Nvidia's RTX 20-series "Turing" GPUs have finally made it to laptops, and the first have just come out, though there are still plenty of gaming notebooks with older 10-series GPUs inside. The RTX models command a premium. In the meantime, if youre looking for a deal on a current-generation gaming laptop, keep an eye on our Best Tech Deals page.
While the RTX cards are designed to handle ray tracing, Nvidia recently announced a driver in April that will add some ray tracing functionality, and we'll test that when it shows up.
Entry-level gaming: If you dont need to play on the highest settings, you can go for a GTX 1650, which will let you play most games, albeit on middling settings. An GTX 1660 Ti will give you a bit more power, and we generally think its noticeable and worth the investment. A laptop with these cards will roughly cost you between $800 (£700) and $1,100 (£900).
Mainstream Gaming: Nvidias GeForce RTX 2060 is a good middle-of-the-road card that will let you play most games on high settings. Its also considered the minimum standard for virtual reality, so its the lowest you should go for your Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. Expect laptops with these cards to fall between $1,100 (£1,000) and $1,500 (£1,350).
VR and the Highest Settings: An RTX 2070 will let you play through just about anything on high settings, while the RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti are the most powerful 20-series cards out there and will allow for smoother VR and special effects. These are the cards that will let you start pumping up effects like Nvidia Gameworks. Laptops like this can start in the high 1K $/£ range, and, depending on what other specs you need, go over $3,000 (£2,700). But with the new RTX series, you can play ray-traced video games and get faster frame rates. An RTX 2070 or RTX 2080 may even be enough for you to play games in 4K.
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