Pricing

At the time of writing, the variant of the laptop we tested can be picked up from Best Buy for $1,999.99 or potentially even cheaper in an HP store sale, although the original MSRP was $2,329. This gets you an RTX 4070 graphics card, Core Ultra 9-185H processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. Cheaper loadouts are also available, with the RTX 4060 and Core Ultra 7-155H variant (with 16GB of RAM but the same storage) going for $1,699.99, and an RTX 4050 version (with the same specs besides this) going for $1,499.99.

In terms of how this compares to the market, it’s more or less in-line with the current pricing of the 2024 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, which has a similar display plus RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 variants for similar pricing. Compared to the typically overpriced Razer Blade 14, it’s considerably cheaper. It should be noted however that the TGP of the graphics cards in these competing laptops is higher, which typically translates to better in-game performance. More on this below.

Overall Design

The HP Omen Transcend 14 is a very nice looking laptop, at least the white version we were sent; being fairly minimalist but with some nice little details. We had some concerns after seeing the laptop at CES 2024 about the translucent RGB which surrounds each key on the keyboard, with it looking a bit cheap in comparison to the slick overall look of the device, but against the white color it looks absolutely fine.

The build quality on most of the main body of the laptop feels respectable, as it does on the keyboard, however there are some areas where the laptop feels cheap and flimsy: specifically the trackpad, the screen bezel, and to an extent the hinges. We were able to almost pull back the bezel on the top of the screen with a bit of force, the side of the trackpad closest to the user feels like it would break over time after one too many clicks, and the fairly noticeable screen wobble belies hinges which should feel sturdier. We can’t know for sure how these areas would hold up over time of course, but for this amount of money we’d have expected something a bit more reassuring.

Weighing in at 3.635lbs/1.649kg the laptop itself is fairly light, though considerably heavier than the 1.48lbs ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, however the power adapter on the Transcend 14 is quite a bit lighter than that on the ASUS laptop, so the combined weight ends up being quite similar (4.707lbs on the Transcend 14 vs 4.54lbs for the G14).

In terms of the dimensions the Transcend 14 has pretty much identical thickness to the Razer Blade 14 at the thickest point (18mm), with both being slightly (around 2mm) thicker than the 16.3mm Zephyrus G14.

Laptop weight: 3.635lbs/1.649kg, Power adapter weight: 1.0715lbs/0.486kg, Combined weight: 4.707lbs/2.135kg, Dimensions: 12.3″ x 9.1″ x 0.7″

Unfortunately, like a lot of ultraslim laptops of this size, the RAM is soldered on, so what you have it equipped with when you initially buy it is what you get. There is only one M.2 slot that is filled by the SSD you order the machine with, although this can be upgraded to a larger one at a later date. The max Wattage of the power adapter is 140W, and, as mentioned, the TGP of the graphics card is limited to 80W, even if you opt for the max-specced RTX 4070 model like we had, meaning that compared to other RTX 4070 laptop GPUs it will be considerably weaker.

The keyboard is your typical membrane, chiclet style affair, and we found it to be a very nice typing experience, with few typing errors thanks to the nice big keys and their placement. We didn’t experience any discomfort after a long period of use, and the sound of the keys is pretty quiet, whilst also still being quite satisfying. In terms of gaming we had no issues whatsoever with the keyboard, although some may obviously prefer to use a more gaming-focused mechanical board. The trackpad as mentioned, doesn’t feel the most sturdy in its construction but besides that we had no issues with it: it felt satisfying to click and responsive when moving the cursor.

The speakers were of a decent quality, certainly a lot better than your average gaming laptop, although compared to the amazing speakers on the 2024 version of the Zephyrus G14 (which have set a new standard for gaming laptops) they don’t compare. Peak volume on the speakers was fairly high with no noticeable loss of audio quality, the overall tone felt quite rich and warm, though as is often the case bass replication was very limited.

Webcam quality was good, with the maximum quality 1080p 30FPS video footage (with either 50Hz or 60Hz flicker reduction) being crisp and clear. The microphone quality was more mediocre, but still fairly serviceable. 

Screen

The 14-inch screen comes with the now typical (for 14” models) 16:10 aspect ratio that gives you a bit more vertical headroom: useful for reading documents, web pages, articles etc. The 2880 x 1800 resolution (typically referred to as 2.8K) gives a very sharp image indeed and from a subjective perspective the OLED screen really pops.

The 120Hz maximum refresh rate of the screen effectively caps the effective FPS you can enjoy in games to 120, though this is perfectly fine for the average gamer (serious competitive players would probably look elsewhere anyway) and we haven’t yet seen a 14-inch OLED panel go beyond this.

As you can see above, the laptop met HP’s claims of 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and showed 98% coverage of the Adobe RGB space as well, meaning you could comfortably use it for color-accurate work in these spaces, particularly given the color accuracy results below.

We conducted all our usual tests on the display, and you can see the results of these below.

Ideal values for each measurement are:6500K (White point), 0/m² (Black point), infinity:1 (Contrast ratio), 0 (average deltaE*00), 2.20 (gamma)

The results we recorded (on SDR mode) were:7000K (White point), 0.01/m² (Black point), 27680:1 (Contrast ratio), 0.62 (average deltaE*00), 2.30 (gamma)

These are extremely impressive results, with the contrast and black point being as top-notch as you’d expect with an OLED panel, but the other results being very good as well. We conducted the same test with HDR mode switched on, and all of these data points became worse, which is something to bear in mind, though it's possible that in-depth calibration could bring these in line a bit more.

Measured brightness levels were as follows:

These are solid results if you judge the Omen Transcend 14 by gaming laptop standards, though they don’t match up to the very bright panel on a MacBook Retina display. Still, for indoor use this is plenty good enough, and if it’s not too sunny you could still use the laptop outdoors.

Battery Life

We conducted our standard battery test on the Transcend 14: 2 hours of an HD YouTube video on fullscreen, with a period of viewing GoogleDocs and web pages until the battery runs out.

We set the brightness to 50% for the test, and otherwise set everything else within the onboard software and Windows settings to maximise battery duration (using integrated graphics only, disabling BlueTooth, etc.). WiFi was left on and utilised.

The HP Omen Transcend 14 lasted 11 hours and 13 minutes in this test, which is an impressive result for a gaming laptop, though it’s behind the MacBook range, with the MacBook Air capable of around 13 hours and the Pro around 17 hours.

Software

The onboard software the Transcend 14 comes with is the OMEN Gaming Hub, which is neither the best nor worst we’ve come across: it could definitely be made more streamlined and easier to navigate, with the power and performance settings on one screen rather than spread across multiple, but it doesn’t assault the eyes like those in some competing brands.

There are three ‘Power Modes’: ECO, Balanced, Performance, and three ‘Thermal Control’ settings: Max, Auto, and Manual.

Unfortunately, the big thing we found missing in the software was the inclusion of a MUX Switch to fully disable Optimus. Instead there is a dedicated ‘iGPU mode’ (if you want to maximise battery duration outside of gaming) and ‘Hybrid mode’, where the laptop automatically switches between the two based on workload. We can’t say for sure how much of a performance difference this makes: traditionally you would see around a 10-15% uplift with Optimus disabled instead off Hybrid mode, but supposedly the inclusion of DirectX CASO (Cross Adapter Scan-Out) now improves things a bit.

Performance & noise levels

In general usage, both ECO and Balanced power modes with Thermal Control set to Auto have near silent fans for the most part, and we’d recommend this when not gaming or running an otherwise intensive program.

For the purpose of our in-game benchmarking, we set both the power mode (Performance) and fan speed (Max) to their highest, as we do with every laptop we test. On Max the fans do become loud, though noticeably less than most other gaming laptops we’ve tested.

HP Omen Transcend 14 temperature results

The thermal results of the Transcend 14 were interesting. The CPU average, GPU average, and maximum GPU temps were all pretty standard for a gaming laptop, which is fairly impressive given how slimline the Transcend is. However, the max CPU temperatures on the Intel Core Ultra 9-185H processor are a concern.

Typically, thermal throttling on a CPU starts to occur around the 90-95°C point, and the high 90s is where damage can start to occur to the processor and potentially other components. As you can see, the max temps consistently pushed above 100°C on the Transcend 14, which points to thermal throttling occurring in every game we tested. Although the fairly reasonable average CPU temps indicates that when this high threshold is reached that the laptop does a reasonable job of bringing temps back down again, pushing the device as we did would likely cause damage to the component over the long-term, so it’s important to bear this in mind.

HP Omen Transcend 14 gaming benchmarks

The gaming results for the Omen Transcend 14 were a mixed bag and speak to some of the hardware limitations of this device. As mentioned there was considerable thermal throttling on the CPU and this seemed to negatively affect performance on CPU-intensive games like CounterStrike 2 and Far Cry 6. CS2 underperformed by about 10-25% when compared to another HP laptop we’ve tested: the Omen 16 with RTX 4060 and AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor, and similarly Far Cry 6 showed a performance drop of about 18-26% compared to this other laptop. In the case of Far Cry 6, whilst the average FPS was certainly good enough to enjoy the game even on max settings, the 1% and 0.1% lows represent significant frame-drops and stuttering in game, which we assume must be due to the weakness of the Intel Core Ultra 9-185H in these scenarios.

In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the laptop actually performed very well, with FPS scores on par with the Acer Predator Helios 16 we previously tested (which has a high-powered RTX 4060 and Intel Core i9-13700HX processor).

Doom Eternal, a GPU-intensive game, was a bit of a mixed picture: the average FPS scores were solid, coming in around 10% below the aforementioned Helios 16, which is still a good result, and half of the time the game appeared to run well with no stuttering. All of a sudden however the 0.1% lows suddenly dropped really low when testing on some settings, leading to noticeable stuttering. This could potentially be due to some conflict with our testing software or it could be because of the ‘Hybrid Mode’ and general Wattage settings in the onboard software reallocating power from the GPU when it shouldn’t. In some other laptops equipped with the Intel Core Ultra chips, reviewers like Jarrod’sTech have noticed strange performance drops as well, though this has not been universally reported so the jury is still out.

Should you buy the HP Omen Transcend 14?

So is the HP Omen Transcend 14 a successful attempt to bridge the creative/productivity and gaming laptop spaces? For the most part, yes. The 120Hz OLED display is terrific: having great color replication and accuracy, exceptional contrast and response times as you’d expect, and a solid peak brightness. The battery life, a big weak point on most gaming laptops, is pretty impressive, even if it won’t compete with a MacBook’s. The build quality isn’t up there with a Mac’s and neither are the speakers, but the benefit of being able to game on this slimline device is undoubtedly a massive plus point.

That being said, the gaming performance lags behind other dedicated gaming laptops of the same price point, not just thanks to the low TGP RTX 4070 graphics card (and possibly the lack of a proper MUX Switch) but also the performance ceiling imposed by the processor, which experiences substantial thermal throttling in gaming scenarios in performance mode. To an extent though you have to expect this, given it’s a thinner, more portable device.

The biggest reason why you might not want to pick up the Omen Transcend 14 is because there’s a competing laptop that does several things slightly better: the 2024 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. Whilst the screen, battery life, dimensions and (overall) weight are pretty much the same on the G14, it performs better in games on average, certainly those that are more CPU-intensive, has better speakers, and comes with a MicroSD card reader. At its original MSRP of $2,329 the Transcend 14 is $70 cheaper than the G14 with the same specs, meaning we’d opt for the ASUS device with this pricing. However, the HP store is currently running a deal where you can save 19% ($450) on the Omen Transcend 14, with a reduced price of $1,879.99, which is very nice indeed, or you can get it for $1,999.99 on Best Buy, either of which would tempt us.

Pricing

The MSI Raider 18HX A14VIG is nothing if not expensive, with a retail price of £4,699.99 (~$5,868.24 with 20% VAT) in the UK as of writing. It soars even above the rest of the best 4090 laptops in the market. It doesn't quite reach the heights of the top MSI laptop in the Titan but still on a high level, except maybe the Razer Blade seen at a similar price point.

Design

MSI gives a great overall build quality and design, the Raider 18HX comes with a robust design. The metal chassis is rigid and opposes flexing quite well. Although you might find the keyboard to bend under greater force, under normal utilization it's not affected greatly at all. Plus with such a large size, the keyboard is easy to use and doesn't compromise on much at all providing a top writing experience.

MSI Raider 18HX A14VIG, source: BGFG

In general, the look of the laptop is a lot more sleek, providing a more incognito gaming device. That's not to say it doesn't stand out from any basic devices considering the red highlights around the vents and the RGB around the outside. Although with the size of the thing, it's down to draw some eyes on you if you're out somewhere.

The weight of the model also makes it a bit harder to move around and get to places without a workout. Although it's not surprising considering that it fits both the i9-14900HX and an RTX 4090 laptop GPU inside of it. Plus all the cooling is capable of taming the 250W so it's unsurprising that h the thickness is a lot higher than most, as you can clearly see all the heatsinks adorning the inside and spitting out the heat of the parts.

MSI doesn't skimp on the connectors either, with so much real estate you can enjoy a whole slew of connectivity. This includes two USB-Type C connectors with Thunderbolt 4, one of which even grants PD3.1 charging. But there are also three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 choices, one SD card reader, an RJ 45, HDMI 2.1, and a combo 3.5mm audio jack.

The ethernet and video port are on the back of the laptop making them less in the way of your mouse or other accessories. The power connector is also on the rear, but that comes with its own problems, as it utilizes a custom plug for it. This also comes up with MSI center errors if it's not properly inserted, which is good for safety but does mean playing around with it so it is properly charging.

As unfortunate as the non-standard connector is, it might be simpler as it does deliver 330W through it and even Thunderbolt 4 is limited to 100W. At least you get it for peripherals and some power delivery.

MSI Raider 18HX A14VIG, source: BGFG

Performance

Looking at what the laptop can do in terms of gaming and performance we put it through just a couple of tests. With a look at gaming capabilities in Cyberpunk 2077 as well as the performance capabilities in production with the use of 3DMark and Cinbench 2024.

We also found how much the MUX Switch can change the performance. Although MSI utilizes an AI performance option for changing it out you can set it to use the GPU, the CPU, or a hybrid of the two for graphics. As we find out it seems best discrete graphics are used.

MSI Raider 18HX A14VIG benchmarks, source: BGFG

We see the laptop be able to be a strong choice as a gaming laptop for Cyberpunk 2077. Running at native 4k makes it prettier and nicer to use on the display, but does limit its performance. As we pure rasterization drop it down under 60 FPS for both discrete and hybrid modes. That falls even more when using ray tracing but it also puts a bigger gap and shows off discrete mode giving you plenty more power.

But being an RTX 40 series card, you can also turn on DLSS 3 and benefit from improved performance and the utilization of upscaling to get more out of the game. That also comes with frame generation and improving the look of the game while using the technology.

Cinebench also shows the prowess of the machine as it soars in the GPU benchmark, this time though the hybrid combination boosts its capabilities and shows it has its benefits in certain scenarios. Although 3DMark is not one as again discrete soars to higher levels, especially ray tracing as seen in Port Royal.

Final words

Overall, the MSI Raider 18HX A14VIG is an exceptional piece of hardware. It brings with it plenty of power and performance from utilizing the top line of hardware available in the mobile sector. Which is unfortunately limited to what it can achieve and can be confusing considering the 4090 in this is nowhere near the RTX 4090 GPU as we saw in our review of the card.

However, the laptop comes with some drawbacks, mainly the cost and weight. The over £4,000 price tag is certainly not for everyone and is quite the desktop replacement for some. But also with a 3.6kg weight, it's not as mobile as most other laptops, but with the cooling and power inside of it, we wouldn't expect any less. But for the right person, it will be the right fit.

Can I play Manor Lords on my laptop?

Despite looking pretty exquisite, Manor Lords is actually not a massively demanding game, which is very nice to see. Below we've listed the official recommended specs for the game (it's always best to aim for these rather than the minimum specs, which will barely run the game), however do bear in mind that these are a guide meant for desktop computers. The GPU and CPU in a laptop are always lower-powered versions of the desktop variants (even if they have the same name), so this means you'll need to aim for one model/SKU above in order to achieve the same level of performance.

We have provided several examples down the page that will run the game to a good standard at FHD, QHD, and UHD resolutions.

Manor Lords recommended specifications (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for Manor Lords @ 1200p

The Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 with RTX 4050 laptop GPU will easily run Manor Lords at 1200p resolution (the same as 1080p but with a bit more vertical headroom) with solid FPS. Combined with the Ryzen 7000 series laptop CPU, it's a great value laptop that's a good option for less demanding strategy titles like this, but which can also play first person games on the lower settings. Besides this you get 16GB of the latest DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

An alternate model you may want to consider is the ASUS ROG Strix G15: this laptop is from the previous generation, but sports a display with a 300Hz refresh rate - a desirable quality for playing competitive shooters. Graphics wise you get an Nvidia RTX 3060 laptop GPU, which is actually slightly more powerful than the RTX 4050, though it doesn't have full DLSS 3.0 support.

Best gaming laptop for Manor Lords @ 1600p

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is one we had the pleasure of conducting detailed performance testing on that actually won out as our best overall gaming laptop in our WePC 2023 annual awards. When it comes to playing Manor Lords at 1600p resolution (again, basically 1440p but with more vertical screen space) we recommend the option equipped with an RTX 4060 laptop GPU and Intel Core i7-13700HX processor.

For the money you'll struggle to find a laptop with both these core specs and a superbly bright screen, top-notch battery life, plus a raft of other features that you'd more commonly see on a more premium-price device.

Best gaming laptop for Manor Lords @ 4K

A 4K gaming laptop is never going to be a cheap purchase, and even for a game like Manor Lords you'll still need some oomph to run the game at this resolution. This particular MSI Raider comes with an excellent 120Hz UHD+ display (4K/UHD but a bit taller), a RTX 4070 laptop GPU, and the latest gen Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, which is top of the line. The superb Mini-LED panel is very nice and bright, so you will enjoy a rich viewing experience inside and outside of gaming.

Final Word

We trust you are now equipped with all the info you need to know about the best gaming laptop for Manor Lords. If you didn't find what you're looking for here, do be sure to check out our other gaming laptop guides, organised by price point, brand, and more, in the dropdown menu above.

XMG laptops regularly feature in our best-of guides each year and we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing several of their models, however many people are still unaware of the brand and what devices they offer. Even those that are aware of them might not realise the full extent of the products they offer. Below we break down the best XMG laptops for each use case to help you work out which one is right for your needs.

Who are XMG?

XMG are a German company which chiefly serves the European market. Although the company does have a range of highly customizable desktop PCs, it’s primarily their laptop range for which they are best known. Most of their laptops are targeted at gamers and/or and high-end workstation users, though in recent years they have expanded into more general purpose productivity machines and creative-focused devices.

Typically XMG devices offer a great degree of component customization at the point of purchase, great bloat-free onboard software for advanced performance tweaking, and provide a stripped-back performance-focused experience, with some of the more superfluous bells and whistles being ditched in favour of a good performance/price ratio. The company also provides a high standard of technical support to their customers, plus is much more active on Discord and Reddit than competing brands, frequently volunteering in-depth technical information relating to their products.

XMG laptop ranges available in 2024

XMG Neo series: the highest performance gaming laptops, compatible with liquid cooling

The XMG Neo range are the most high-end gaming laptops that the company produces, and the ones we’ve most had the pleasure of reviewing over the years. Different generations have switched between using AMD Ryzen or Intel Core CPUs, but whichever model you pick you can rest assured that it comes with the most high TGP graphics cards available on the market. The onboard software allows for in-depth tweaking of the voltage for both the GPU and the CPU and in recent generations the lineup has come with a unique feature: compatibility with an external liquid cooling solution. 

The OASIS liquid cooling system plugs into the back of your device, running through internal pipes built into the laptop, and allows you to cut the fans down to a minimum to enjoy near silent running, or combine both fans and liquid cooling for maximum thermal performance. The OASIS system allows you to push the ceiling for thermal throttling higher, giving a slight performance boost, but the main advantage is that it should help improve the longevity of your laptop and its internal components, even when you push them to the max over longer periods. The system is an optional extra and you don’t have to purchase it to enjoy good performance, but in tandem with it the Neo is definitely a gaming laptop with one the best cooling systems we’ve tested.

Read our in-depth reviews and benchmarks of the XMG Neo 15 E21, XMG Neo 15 E22, XMG Neo 16 E23, and XMG Neo 17 E23 for more information. In terms of the latest releases, the Neo 17 E24 is pretty much the same as the previous model, just with a 14th gen CPU (the i9-14900HX), whereas the latest Neo 16 E24 has a completely redesigned, all-aluminium chassis, improved air and liquid cooling systems (with the latter now fully integrated with a wider contact area), a brighter display, an improved webcam, and a larger trackpad paired with an edge-to-edge membrane keyboard with four-row numeric keypad.

XMG Pro series: mid-to-high-end gaming workstations

The XMG Pro series are quite similar to the Neo range, although the available GPU options don’t go up to the highest SKUs available in the Neos (in the most recent line this is capped at the RTX 4070), you don’t get the option for the mechanical keyboard (membrane only) nor do you get the support for the OASIS liquid cooling system. The SD card reader is also limited to a Micro SD size (rather than the full-size one on the Neo range), however you do get a dedicated Mini-DisplayPort socket on the Pros which is not present on the Neos. 

The main reason you’d consider opting for an XMG Pro is that you get a cheaper laptop with more or less the same basic performance as the Neo, providing you’re content with the RTX 4070 being the highest graphics card you can go for.

XMG Focus series: mid-to-high-end gaming laptops for a cheaper price

At one point the XMG Focus line were a bit more clearly mid-range devices, however the recent updates have given them access to pretty much the same CPU and GPU options as the Pro series, plus similar RAM and storage capacity.

Differences that remain when compared to the Pro are a smaller battery capacity on the larger 17-inch model (73Wh compared to 80Wh), a completely plastic build for the chassis, rather than the partial aluminium build of the Pro line, different aesthetic design, slightly chunkier dimensions and a slightly heavier weight. These models are again available for cheaper though compared to the Pros.

XMG Core & XMG Apex series: mid-range gaming & creative models

The XMG Core and XMG Apex lines are both Ryzen-powered devices, which differentiates them from the current generations of most of the other lines listed above, that are Intel-powered.

These two ranges are similar l but the XMG Core 16 has a higher battery capacity (99Wh compared to 62Wh with the Apex), better build quality on the chassis, a higher max SKU graphics card (RTX 4070 compared to RTX 4060) and the option for a mechanical keyboard: in short it’s the more premium option overall. The Apex line does have the advantage of coming in a variety of different display resolutions, sizes and refresh rates, whereas the Core has one WQHD 240Hz option. All told, both laptops are solid mid-range gaming and creative devices that come with full-size SD card readers. 

A new XMG Core 15 has been released in 2024 with a Ryzen 8000 series laptop CPU.

Other XMG laptop ranges

Besides the above, there are a few laptop lines that have been put out by the company which are no longer active, although you may come across older generation models for sale.

The XMG Fusion was originally a partnership project with Intel to produce a slimline gaming laptop that could also serve as a mobile creative’s workstation device. This original collaborative device is a couple of years old now, but a new, redesigned XMG Fusion 15 E24 is now out! This comes with updated Intel 14th gen CPU options, either an Nvidia RTX 4060 or 4070, plus an edge-to-edge keyboard. It has the same 15.3”, all aluminium chassis as the XMG Core with a 16:10 display to give you more vertical headspace.

The XMG Ultra line is a once powerful, though now slightly older device. This range was designed to provide a larger, desktop replacement laptop for high-end workstation tasks, with an enormous 128GB max RAM capacity plus high-TGP RTX 3080 GPU and hugely powerful Intel Core i9-11900K processor.

Things to consider before buying an XMG laptop

Some of the defining features of XMG as a brand are as follows:

Great technical support

One of the best things about XMG as a company is the great standard of customer service they offer. More so than the bigger brands, the company has quite a reactive customer support department and product repair service, meaning if you have any issues with your highly-tuned machine, they should be able to sort it out for you in a way that won’t make you pull your hair out - a rare service in today’s market. Even when your warranty runs out you can have it repaired for a small fee.

Utilitarian aesthetics

XMG laptops are simple and understated in their design: much more suitable for the office place in appearance than many of the more garish ‘gamer’ designed machines. Since when did black ever go out of fashion? Plus the dark color serves as a nice backdrop to make that RGB pop.

High-TGP laptops

As mentioned, the XMG laptop range can be equipped with various different graphics card SKUs, but each of them has the highest TGP (Total Graphics Power) available for that particular type of card. Not all laptop GPUs are created equal, and you can have one mobile RTX 3070 Ti say with a relatively low TGP, and another with a higher one, and the performance difference between the two in games or other scenarios can be substantial. You can read our how many Watts does a gaming laptop use? page for a further explanation of TGP and what it means, but essentially, if you buy an XMG Neo device, you can be confident that it has the highest TGP available for that particular graphics card.

XMG is a brand which focuses on performance-first laptops for gamers and also those looking for powerful workstation devices. These laptops often feature in our best of guides each year due to their high TGP (Total Graphics Power) GPUs that are some of the most powerful around, in addition to their excellent onboard software allowing for granular tweak-ability and solid customer support, and we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing multiple iterations of their Neo range over the years. One question it’s impossible to answer in a review on a new product however, is how will it perform over time as the years go by?

Fortunately, we’ve retained the RTX 3070 mobile variant of the XMG Neo 15 we reviewed back in November 2021, which has been under regular use since this time, and decided to put it through its paces to see if it still passes muster. Although XMG do offer a ‘device check-up’ that you can pay €69 for which includes a replacing of the thermal paste and an update to the firmware, you’ll still want to make sure that your internal components will go the distance. 

As we discuss in our ‘how long will a gaming laptop last?’ article, these highly tuned devices (across all brands and manufacturers, not just XMG) are subject to a lot of thermal stress in a relatively small chassis, therefore frequently don’t last as long as you’d like them to, particularly given the high asking price they often command. Whilst you’d expect to get, at minimum, 4 years our of your laptop before it properly dies (though 7 years is the more desirable typical upper range), the performance of the laptop can degrade in a couple of areas before then, as thermal damage takes its toll on the internal components.

For this test we will be focusing on two areas: gaming performance (measured in FPS terms) and battery life longevity - which are areas where performance typically deteriorates over time. We’ll be conducting these tests as close as possible to those conducted in our original XMG Neo 15 2021 review, then comparing the old data with the new data and discussing the findings. Let’s dive in!

XMG 15 NEO E21 in-game performance longevity

For the comparative gaming benchmarks we re-tested three of the games in our original review of the XMG Neo 15: Doom Eternal, Far Cry 6, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. 

Since the time of the original review, all three of these titles can now utilise upscaling technology to improve FPS and/or quality (DLSS for Doom Eternal and FSR for the other two games). Given this tech was not switched on in the original review, we disabled it for the purposes of our re-test to make the comparison fair, but you should be aware that it frequently generates an FPS uplift of 50-60% or even higher, so you can squeeze substantially more performance out of this machine if you want.

We just chose to re-test the laptop at the native 1440p resolution this time, given any performance degradation should be visible across the resolutions. Optimus was disabled using the MUX Switch to guarantee full use of the dedicated graphics card. The performance preset in the ‘Control Center’ software was set to the maximum ‘Overboost’ setting, with Fan Boost also enabled, although in reality the Fan Boost is probably too loud to be viable in a real world gaming session.

Original game benchmarks (from when the laptop was new)

Game benchmark re-test (2 years + 3 months after purchase)

Analysing the results

As you can see in the above, there is no detectable deterioration in the gaming performance of this laptop relative to the original results. In fact, overall there’s been a slight improvement in the average FPS generated across most of the titles on most settings - this is likely due to general tweaks and optimisation improvements to the games and/or drivers running the laptop’s hardware that we were unable to account for. So overall, a very solid result!

XMG 15 NEO E21 battery longevity test comparison

We conducted the same standard battery test on the laptop that we used in the initial review, and indeed for all our laptop reviews: 2 hours of full screen, 1080p YouTube video playback, followed by general web browsing and word processing until the battery is fully depleted. For this test, Windows battery saving mode is switched on, the brightness setting was set to 50%, and within the onboard software we set the performance mode to ‘Balanced’ and made sure that Nvidia Optimus was enabled - allowing the laptop to utilise the iGPU to save power. WiFi was left on but Bluetooth was disabled.

The results compared against each other are as follows:

As you can see from the above, there has been a substantial reduction in the battery duration from the time of the original test: 54 minutes which amounts to an 18% reduction. The mileage you’d get in your particular model could vary from this of course, as it depends very much on how intensively you use your device, as well as what setup you choose within the ‘Control Center’ internal software for battery duration/charging speed/charging capacity.

One should realistically expect all laptops to show battery degeneration over the years, with gaming laptops being particularly susceptible. The above results are reasonably typical then, although we would have liked to have seen another year of use before reaching this level ideally. Still, you can always pick up a replacement battery for this laptop or other models relatively easy from bestware.com, where you can find all the XMG products for sale.

Comparable XMG laptops you can buy now

You may struggle to find a 2021 XMG Neo 15 with RTX 3070 for sale these days, given it’s an older generation device, however your first port of call should be the bestware outlet, which sells remaining stock of older models, and also tested b-stock/refurbished models. You may also find some refurbished models or second hand units on Amazon or ebay.

If you’re looking for comparable performance in a newer device, you’d likely be better off going for a newer-gen RTX 4060 laptop. XMG produce newer-gen XMG Neo 16 (16-inch) and XMG Neo 17 (17-inch) models that you can equip with RTX 4060 graphics cards, alternatively there’s the XMG Core which is similar to the 2023 Neo but equipped with an AMD Ryzen processor and lacking the XMG OASIS external liquid cooling compatibility (which we wouldn’t recommend for an RTX 4060 laptop anyway). You can read more about the differences between the Neo and the Core lines here. Finally, there’s the XMG Pro which is again similar to the Neo, except it only has a Mini-SD card reader (not the full size on in the Neo), doesn’t have the XMG OASIS compatibility, nor can you configure it with a mechanical keyboard; it is however cheaper.

Take a look at our best XMG laptop 2024 guide to learn more about the different variants you can buy.

Pricing

The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024 variant) with RTX 4090 that we tested sells for an MSRP of $3,899.99. According to the ASUS website this will only get you the 16GB RAM loadout, but we’ve seen the 32GB variant on sale for the same price on Amazon. You can also pick up the 2024 variant with RTX 4080 for $2,999.99. Alternatively the 2023 model with Intel 13th gen laptop CPU and RTX 4090 is available for $3,399.99.

Overall Design

The laptop is a primarily plastic design, but still feels sturdy and well build, with a matte finish covering the top of the chassis around the keyboard. The hinges for the display seemed fairly solid and there was only a bit of screen wobble when the laptop was moved, but nothing noticeable whilst typing or gaming.

Aesthetically it has the ‘gamer’ details common to the SCAR range, which might not be to everyone’s taste but equally they’re not particularly obnoxious. The RGB light strips across the front and rear of the laptop looks good, as does the keyboard backlighting and the color-changing logo on the lid.

The weight, which you can see below, isn’t light, but considering the size of the machine overall and the components within it it’s not too bad. It’s not particularly thick either when the lid is closed (though we wouldn’t call it slim), the main issue you’ll have with portability is finding a large enough bag for it, as with any 18-inch laptop.

Laptop weight: 3.10kg /6.83lbs, Power adapter weight: 0.954kg/2.1lbs, Combined weight: 4.05kg/8.937lbs, Dimensions: 15.71" x 11.57" x 0.91" ~ 1.21"

The back of the laptop comes off easy enough with a Phillip’s Head screwdriver and a bit of elbow grease, though we’d always recommend investing in a prising tool just in case when doing this kind of job. Both the two M.2 NVMe slots can be upgraded to increase the storage, and the RAM can be upgraded to a maximum of 64GB of DDR5.

The full-size keyboard and trackpad are pretty much your standard fair - nothing overly good or bad about them, though considering the price point of the device we would have liked to have seen a bit better quality. The chichlet-style membrane keyboard in particular could have been made to give a more satisfying typing experience, and ideally positioned a bit closer to the front of the laptop to improve comfort when using over long periods.

The speaker quality was also fairly middle of the road: it had quite a warm and rich sound, reasonable clarity, and wasn’t tinny, but lacked much bass replication. Clarity of the audio is helped by the placement of speakers beneath the screen, in addition to those on the (front) underside of the laptop. The peak volume was lower than most competing devices of this size however

In terms of audio input, the microphone was pretty decent in our test - certainly good enough for voice calls, however the webcam was surprisingly poor: capping at out 720p resolution and with pretty grainy quality thanks to its unimpressive 0.9 MP sensor. It also lacks InfraRed so you can’t use Windows Hello.

Screen

The screen measures 18-inches diagonally, with the 16:10 aspect ratio that is increasingly becoming the standard in many mid-range-to-premium gaming laptops. This is certainly our preferred aspect ratio as it improves the vertical headroom when you’re working/web browsing/viewing documents. 

The Mini-LED display has a 2560 x 1600 resolution, a 240Hz maximum refresh rate, and is overall a fantastically crisp, smooth and immersive display, particularly given its large size: it’s a real pleasure to game on.

ASUS claim the panel has both 100% sRGB and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, so let’s see what our test found:

As you can see on the graph above, we recorded 100% sRGB and 100% DCI-P3 gamut coverage, which supports ASUS’s claims. Additionally the laptop also covers 94% of the Adobe RGB space.

We recorded a color accuracy of 0.79 deltaE*00 variance, which is very good indeed. If you’re doing color-accurate work you want to aim for below the 2.5 ΔE* range, so this is well within those parameters.

Additional visual data points were tested (as shown in the chart above) and you can read the summary below. 

The peak recorded brightness was 515.7 nits i.e. 515.7 cd/m², which is what we’d expect for a Mini-LED panel. This is nice and bright and you’ll be able to use this device in outdoor environments, provided direct sunlight is not shining onto the screen. The minimum brightness setting achieved 29.6 nits and 50% brightness 168.9 nits.

Ideal values for the other measurements are as follows:

6500K (White point), 0/m² (Black point), infinity:1 (Contrast ratio), 2.2 (gamma).

The recorded results at 100% brightness were:

7100K (White point), 0.46 cd/m² (Black point), 1130:1 (Contrast ratio), 1.8 (gamma).

In summary, this is a solid Black point, and though the White point, Contrast, and Gamma could all be a bit better, they’re still fairly respectable.

Battery Life

We conducted our standard battery test on the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18, which encompasses two hours of continuous full-screen YouTube playback, with the time following this consisting of web browsing and viewing/writing documents. The laptop's brightness was set to 50% with Silent mode switched on. Battery-saving settings were activated in Windows, Bluetooth was switched off, but Wi-Fi remained on and in use. Additionally, the RGB lighting on the keyboard was switched off.

Unfortunately the ROG Strix Scar 18 performed very poorly: falling just short of the 2 hours mark. We tried running the test again without video playback and we only attained about 30mins of additional duration. This is quite a poor result, even with specifications of this power we would have hoped for a better performance, compared to similar laptops we tested it's about in line with the Acer Predator Triton 17X with (underpowered) RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9-13900HX and more than two hours below that of the XMG Neo 17 E23 with (high-powered) RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9-13900HX processor.

Software

The onboard software that comes with all ASUS gaming laptops is Armoury Crate, which offers a decent degree of tweak-ability, including a Manual performance pre-set that lets you manually set the Wattage of the GPU and CPU. The other three standard performance modes are Windows (which basically directs you towards the Windows power settings), Silent (low power usage and quiet fans), Performance (the balanced pick), and Turbo (with fans and wattage set to the max).

One feature that initially appears to be missing is the manual MUX Switch, although apparently setting the GPU mode to the maximum pre-set (Ultimate) functions as the equivalent. Call us cynics but we'd rather this be more explicit like it used to be within Armoury Crate, as we're always a bit unsure when it's vague like this if Optimus really is disabled at all times.

Although the level of granular control in Armoury Crate is respectable, we still hate the way it looks - it's a visually chaotic, poorly laid out, mess of a piece of software, and every year we hope that ASUS revamps it into a more user-friendly incarnation.

Performance & noise levels

As with every laptop we benchmark, we conducted our tests with the maximum fan and power pre-sets enabled, which in this case was Turbo mode from within Armoury Crate. When turning things up to this maximum pre-set, we’d say the fan volume was below average for a gaming laptop with these core specs which can often get ridiculously loud, which is not to say they didn't still get pretty loud, however with headphones on they’re tolerable to game on as long as there’s nobody else near you. On the lowest performance pre-set, the laptop was nice and quiet - barely audible at all, which is ideal for general productivity.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 temperature results

Comparing the results against those of the Acer Predator Triton X17 and XMG Neo 17 that we tested last year, which both come with Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics cards and Intel Core i9-13900HX CPUs, there's a decent temperature reduction across the board. The XMG Neo device has optional external liquid cooling which it can be paired with but we're just comparing the results without this in this comparison. Obviously these are laptops from a different brands with different cooling systems, so it won't serve as a direct comparison with the previous gen ASUS ROG Strix SCAR, but the core components are the same (in terms of the GPU) or very similar (the CPU). 

Maximum CPU temp was several degrees better across all these titles (excluding CS2 which had not been released when the previous games were reviewed) - whilst this might not sound like a lot, given the low 90s are where thermal throttling typically occurs, but the high 90s can cause damage to the processor, this is an important margin. The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 stayed in the low-mid 90s area. Maximum GPU temps and average CPU and GPU temps were typically around 5-10 degrees better in the newer laptop across all titles - a solid result for such a powerful device.

Throughout our testing, the external chassis of the laptop remained a reasonable temperature. There wasn’t any discomfort or sweaty palms when using either the keyboard or the trackpad.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 gaming benchmarks

Looking at the above FPS results we were a bit disappointed. The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 performed notably worse than the XMG Neo 17 we tested last year that came with RTX 4090 and i9-13900HX. XMG are known for having particularly high-TGP graphics cards in their machines, but given the SCAR is supposed to be the powerhouse of the ASUS range we expected it to compete, particularly with the newer processor.

Compared to the Acer Predator Triton X17 (a more slimline device with a weaker RTX 4090 that performs more like an RTX 4080, which the Strix SCAR 18 should beat) the results were more of a mixed bag, with the newer ASUS device performing better in Doom Eternal (a GPU–heavy game) and Far Cry 6 (a CPU-heavy game) in average FPS terms, although the 1% lows and 0.1% lows were frequently worse. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the Strix SCAR 18 performed worse than the Triton. 

Interestingly on Doom Eternal the 1% and 0.1% lows again displayed unusual behaviour - getting worse on average as the graphical presets were lowered (the opposite of what you’d expect), whilst the average FPS increased more in line with expectations.

It’s unclear exactly what the general underperformance is caused by. The lack of a manual MUX Switch could be one reason - potentially the automatic functionality in this area doesn’t perform as well as it should do. The other question mark lies with the new processor: we’ve seen other reviewers comment that the units they reviewed performed slightly worse than the 2023 version with i9-13900HX that they previous benchmarked with the same GPU.

In summary, this is undoubtedly a powerful laptop, but less so than you’d expect given the core specs.

Should you buy this ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18?

Whilst the 2024 ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 is by no means a bad laptop, we were pretty disappointed by it overall given the very high price point, and it's outperformed by many of its contemporaries that are available for a similar price. Gaming performance, as discussed, is underwhelming when compared to other RTX 4090 laptops released the previous year, despite the internal temps being some of the best we've seen in such a high-end gaming laptop. The bright Mini-LED display is top-notch for both gaming and creative use (thanks to its 100% sRGB & DCI-P3 coverage and high color accuracy), however the battery life and webcam quality are poor: a grainy 720p camera when you're paying this much is below what we'd consider acceptable. Most of the other features are respectable, whilst not being particularly impressive. You'll definitely have a good time if you decide to buy this laptop, but there are better value options out there, like the previous gen ROG Strix SCAR 18 with Intel CPU, ROG Strix SCAR 17 with Ryzen 9 7945HX, and XMG Neo 17.

Whether you’re considering buying an Alienware gaming laptop or creative machine then each of the picks here are high-quality items. We’ve selected a range across the different sub-lines within the Alienware brand, covering different display sizes and budgets.

Are Alienware laptops good?

Alienware laptops are almost always premium-grade machines, with some of the best build quality around. The quality of the display on an Alienware laptop is usually always top-notch in terms of color gamut, brightness, and contrast, and most have good response time too, though this depends on the specific model. Alienware gaming laptops usually come with some of the highest model graphics and CPU hardware, capable of churning out high frame rates in the latest games, though these aren’t necessarily the highest TGP options available compared to the best of the competition. You can always be sure of a good quality product when you buy Alienware, though not necessarily that it’s the best value for money.

In each of our selections below we'll tell you everything you need to know about whether they're worth your hard-earned cash. If you want more information on the brand, have a read of our things to consider when buying an Alienware laptop section below.

Best Alienware laptops 2024

A beautiful & powerful slimline 4K model

The larger Alienware X17 R2 with its 17.3-inch display is a terrific device - both for gaming and creative purposes. Although the company hasn't updated this size in the line-up for a couple of years now, meaning it is limited to 12th gen Intel Core processors, the i9-12900H and 12900HK are still great performers, and when paired with the RTX 3080 Ti GPU in particular, are ideal for 4K gaming. This remains a fantastic device without many direct competitors out there in terms of such a slimline, elegant device that also has such high gaming performance.

You get great immersion in-game that you get with a 17.3” display, and given the relatively thin design, the increased size disadvantage doesn’t hamper the portability of the X17 too much. The 4K option is definitely the one we'd go for, although a high-refresh rate FHD variant is also available.

The keyboard is a joy to use and the trackpad is also great and responsive. The selection of ports is good and includes a microSD card slot. The motherboard is of the flipped variety however, which makes RAM and SSD upgrades after the point of purchase very difficult - less than ideal (best make sure you have enough when you initially buy it). It's also, despite its slimline form factor, still fairly heavy, though this is to be expected with this amount of power.

For the battery life, you can expect around 3-4 hours of general, non-game usage for the RTX 3070 version at least (with brightness set to mid-settings and battery saver on) which is fairly poor, though not much worse than the majority of other gaming laptops with this amount of power.

The best option for competitive gamers

The Alienware m18, whether you opt for the latest 2024 variant with Intel 14th gen laptop CPU, or the previous year's Ryzen 7000 series laptop or Intel 13th gen options, packs a weighty punch with its RTX 4080 graphics card, delivering outstanding performance for gaming at maximum settings. Given the 'Raptor Lake Refresh' 14th gen CPU performance uplift is pretty negligible over the 13th gen models, there's not really much reason to pick the newer, pricier model, and we'd instead recommend the AMD version with Ryzen 9 7845HX processor as listed here.

Sporting a 1200p 480Hz display (the highest refresh rate on the market), it caters to competitive online gamers with lightning-fast refresh rates that ensure smooth gameplay. You definitely won't need a faster screen than this, and to be honest it's way beyond what anyone would reasonably require. perhaps even exceeding the needs of most users.

Beyond speed, the display impresses with its color accuracy, covering 100% sRGB and 97% DCI-P3 coverage, with a Delta E color accuracy of around 2.00. This means you can also engage in color-accurate work alongside gaming within the sRGB gamut. The display's solid contrast and (fairly average) 350 nits of brightness make it suitable for indoor use.

The build quality, as with most Alienware machines, is great. and the laptop offers ample options for RAM and SSD upgrades and a diverse array of ports including an SD card reader. Whilst the battery life, ranging between four and a half to five hours of general use, is on the poorer side of mediocre for a laptop of this power, it's not terrible. Given its 18-inch size and weight, it's not the most portable option, but if you're willing to overlook that, the Alienware m18 stands as a top-tier gaming machine.

A great 14-inch Alienware gaming laptop

The Alienware X14 is the brand's sole 14-inch gaming laptop, and there have been a few iterations of it now over the last few years. With the max power GPU coming in the form of the RTX 3060, this laptop won’t compete with the likes of the Razer Blade 14 for the title of most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop, instead presenting more of a rival to the ASUS Zephyrus G14. Fully boosted, the X14’s RTX 3060 comes with a TGP of 85W, which is slightly ahead of the existing 2021 version of the ASUS Zephyrus G14 with 80W RTX 3060. Like the new versions of the Zephyrus G14 and Razer Blade 14 due in 2022, the X14 comes with a MUX Switch to disable Optimus, which should give it a further boost in performance.

In terms of the display we have a 1080p IPS panel with a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz, which matches the refresh rate of the upcoming Zephyrus G14, but with the more conventional 16:9 aspect ratio, instead of the 16:10 screen of the ASUS machine. The 7ms stated response time is not as good as the 3ms claimed by ASUS, but the real response time for both these machines is likely to be significantly different, so we’ll have to wait for testing to find out. As far as we’re aware though, only the Alienware X14 will come with G-Sync, which is great to see in a laptop of this size.

Another area the X14 might have the edge in is its color gamut: Alienware claims a whopping 100% DCI-P3 coverage, which is very impressive if accurate, though we’ll have to wait until testing is done to confirm this. The stated 400 nits peak brightness will similarly be impressive if true, and we can expect a good contrast ratio to boot.

All in all, the multitude of different spec options for the Alienware X14 might give it the edge over the competition, with the RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti options giving more budget friendly Nvidia options, particularly with the new Zephyrus G14 being equipped with AMD CPUs. One of the major potential downsides we see is the pricing: Alienware laptops don’t come cheap and it will be interesting to see how competitive they manage to be.

The most affordable Alienware gaming laptop

The Alienware m16 has undergone a 2024 makeover, emerging as the Alienware m16 R2 with notable enhancements such as a redesigned thermal solution and a more portable, smaller profile design, but it also has some drawbacks over the previous R1 iteration, so it might not be the best options for you depending on your priorities. We've kept the R1 with Intel Core i7-13700HX processor listed here as our pick overall, but have a read below for the breakdown of the pros and cons of both.

The R2 has the new Intel Core Ultra H processor (specifically the Intel Ultra 7 processor 155H) which doesn't perform any better in-game, but does offer a couple of extra hours of battery life thanks to its improve efficiency, meaning you can get around 5-6 hours with battery saving settings on, as opposed to the 3-4 on the R1.

Unfortunately, the display quality of the R2 takes a hit, featuring a peak brightness of only 287 nits, along with 98% sRGB and 70% DCI-P3 color replication, whereas the R1 achieves around 350 nits (which is reasonable), 100% sRGB and 97% DCI-P3. You may also be able to pick up the R1 for around $100 cheaper on Amazon, depending on the seller. The display on both has a 1600p resolution with 165Hz or 240Hz max refresh rate options.

There's a good array of I/O ports on both generations, including Thunderbolt, build quality is again great and both are nice looking devices. Regardless of which one you pick, both options are actually reasonably priced for RTX 4070 devices, which makes a change from the norm for a Alienware laptops.

Things to consider when buying an Alienware laptop

Are Alienware laptops expensive?

In a word: yes, though this doesn't mean some models aren't good value. Alienware laptops don’t really cover the low or middle price ranges, only offering high-end products that cost a pretty penny, though older models do sometimes make good mid-range options once the price has come down. One of the main critiques of Alienware laptops is that they are overpriced compared to the other options in the high-end gaming laptop market, which can perform to the same standard for less money, though this isn’t always the case, and often these competing machines skimp in areas such as build quality compared to Alienware.

Alienware laptop battery life

Alienware laptops have historically been well known for being very demanding in terms of voltage use, usually resulting in low battery life even when not gaming, requiring them to be plugged in most of the time. ‘Desktop replacement’ is a common adjective used to describe Alienware laptops for this reason, however recent models have bucked this trend. The Alienware X17 for instance, has very respectable battery life, despite being both a slimline and high powered machine.

Best Alienware laptop FAQs

Final Word

This has been our guide to help you find the best Alienware laptop for your needs. Hopefully, you have found the right model for you, but if not, why not check out our other gaming laptop brand guides listed above or see our best gaming laptop guides for different price ranges under the dropdown menu on the top of this page. Finally, be sure to have a read of our main best gaming laptop page for the best models across all price ranges and brands.

We continuously strive to update our buying guides by incorporating the latest products available (as long as they're worthy). Be sure to return periodically to see if any new entries have met our rigorous standards. For those who like to conduct thorough research before making a purchase, we encourage you to delve into the Things to consider when buying an MSI gaming laptop section located further down this page; it contains valuable insights to assist you in making an informed decision. If you want to make a quick purchase though, then we'd recommend the MSI Raider GE78HX or MSI Raider GE67HX if you're looking for something high-end, or the MSI GP66 if you want something slightly more affordable.

Is an MSI laptop good for gaming?

In short: yes. Micro-Star International is a Taiwanese company that has been manufacturing various computer components since 1988, but today they most are well known for their premium and mid-range gaming laptops. MSI’s high-end models are regular features on our best gaming laptop under $2,500 page, and some of them often make it into our more mid-range price guides too. Of course, not every MSI laptop makes it into our best of lists, and some models are definitely better than others in terms of performance and value.

Best MSI gaming laptop in 2024: reviews

A unique MSI gaming laptop with OLED display

The MSI Raider GE67 HX is a unique proposition - coming with not only high-end Intel 12th gen CPU options and, high-TGP RTX 30-series graphics cards - but also a 15.6" 240Hz 1440p OLED display! This is quite simply the most powerful OLED laptop on the market, and perfect for gaming.

You can opt for either an RTX 3070 Ti or RTX 3080 Ti GPU or a Intel Core i7-12800HX or Core i9-12900HX CPU, and though all of these are now previous gen options, they're still very powerful and will make short work of any AAA games at the native QHD resolution. The high refresh rate means you can indulge in competitive gaming, and the OLED display lends itself to creative use and viewing tv/film media,

You get the standard high build quality that you get with all MSI Raiders, plus the latest DDR5 RAM, a great selection of ports, and 1TB of SSD storage.

The only downside of this fine machine is the asking price for the RTX 3080 Ti versions, but the RTX 3070 Ti variant is actually now quite affordable. Either way, considering what you get for the money, we think it's definitely worth a buy.

A hugely powerful 17-inch desktop replacement device

The best all-round RTX 4090 gaming laptop we’ve seen so far is the MSI Raider GE78 HX, which comes with the highest TGP variant of the RTX 4090 graphics card, as well as the top-of-the-line Intel Core i9-13980HX processor. This makes it the most powerful MSI gaming laptop you can currently buy, indeed it's a contender for most powerful laptop across any brand, and it will absolutely demolish anything you throw at it.

The 240Hz 1440p 17.3″ display is great for immersive gaming at a high enough refresh rate to give you the edge in any online competitive shooter, although its larger size and 6.83lbs / 3.1kg of weight does mean it’s not the most portable of devices, and it certainly is not cheap, but it comes with the additional features and design quality that mark it out as a more premium product all round, assuming you don’t mind spending a bit extra. Undoubtedly one of the best mobile gaming platforms money can buy.

Adding to the gaming experience is the display: the 240Hz refresh rate is high enough for even competitive gaming, and the response time comes in at around 3.5ms grey-to-grey, which is up there with the very best on the market, and ensures maximum responsiveness in twitch shooters. The screen has 99.5% sRGB coverage, meaning you could easily use this laptop for color work in this space.

A great value gaming laptop with 15-inch display

The MSI GP66 Vector is essentially the updated version of the GP66 Leopard listed below, but with a few minor tweaks.

The primary difference is that it comes with the Intel 12th gen CPU options, as well as later gen Nvidia 30-series GPU options (i.e. the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 Ti). These GPUs both have nice and high TGPs, making them among the more powerful options available. The 1080p version fo the display now comes with a 360Hz maximum refresh rate, which is ridiculously fast, and there is also a 1400p 165Hz option.

The Vector also comes with a USB-C port and a mini-DisplayPort connection (both welcome additions). The laptop still doesn't come with a MUX Switch or G-Sync, and the former in particular is missed. Battery life still isn't great, the aesthetics are sub-par, and the speakers could definitely be better, but ultimately this is still a solid, more affordable option for those looking for a high-end model that won't break their bank account.

A more affordable older gen 15-inch gaming laptop

This MSI GP66, also known as the MSI GP66 Leopard, is an old warrior with previous gen core components, but with recent price reductions offers great value for money. It was never the most high-specced MSI gaming laptop in terms of additional features, that honour goes to the MSI GE66 Raider, but it provided a way of getting similarly powerful core components at a much cheaper price: forgoing the inclusion of certain ports, having a less developed wi-fi card, and a shorter battery life to reduce costs. It also lacks a MUX Switch and the additional perfomance boost this gives, but nevertheless is still a top-notch upper-mid gaming performe, if you go for the RTX 3080 version. There are different Intel processor options, with the Intel Core i7-11800H CPU being the most common, and solid value for gamers with great FPS performance, even if it seriously underperforms AMD machines in terms of battery life.

Adding to the gaming experience is the display: the 240Hz refresh rate is high enough for even competitive gaming, and the response time comes in at around 3.5ms grey-to-grey, which is up there with the very best on the market, and ensures maximum responsiveness in twitch shooters. The screen has 99.5% sRGB coverage, meaning you could easily use this laptop for color work in this space.

The 720p webcam and in-built mic are pretty mediocre. There are no real complaints about the membrane keyboard or the trackpad, but both are merely adequate. Battery life when doing undemanding non-gaming tasks (a mix of web browsing, Word processing, and watching YouTube) comes in at between 3 and 4 hours, which is a bit disappointing, but fairly typical.

A 14-inch MSI gaming laptop

The MSI Cyborg was introduced to the company's gaming laptop range in 2023 as a budget option, however 2024 is the first year it's become available as a 14-inch device - making it the company's first foray into the 14" gaming laptop space. Available with GPU models up to the RTX 4060, it maxes out with the same Intel Core i7-13620H processor that the previous 15-inch generation had.

The screen resolution is 1920 x 1200, meaning it has the additional vertical space that a 16:10 screen provides (particularly welcome on smaller devices). The refresh rate caps out at 144Hz, which is plenty for a gaming laptop of this power, and the company claims 100% sRGB color replication (though we'll have to see if this rings true in independent testing).

The laptop continues the blue sci-fi styling on the keyboard and translucent finish that characterised earlier models. New features include an MSI AI Engine that analyzes your behaviour and the applications used and automatically adjusts various system settings that are best for your needs.

Relative to the rest of the 14-inch market this is the cheapest available, though you'll have to make some sacrifices in terms of build quality. Whilst thicker in its dimensions than other machines of a similar size, it does have the unique feature of coming with an ethernet port - which is not something any other 14" gaming device has.

An all-AMD MSI gaming laptop with 240Hz screen & excellent battery life

This MSI Delta 15 is a 15-inch all AMD laptop from MSI, that enjoys the high battery life that AMD processors tend to bring, along with great FPS performance in games and great specs almost entirely across the board. Of the few complaints we’ve got with this laptop, these only extend to the slightly plasticy build quality and the poor onboard microphone. Besides this, it’s an impressive piece of kit.

The MSI Delta 15 is a great mid-range AMD model, and one of the rare few MSI laptops that come with an AMD processor and graphics card. In terms of FPS performance in gaming, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M when combined with the Ryzen 7 5800H CPU performs somewhere between an Nvidia RTX 3060 and a RTX 3070, depending on the game, which at this price you can’t complain about.

The color gamut of the display is respectable, covering around 97% of sRGB, meaning it can be used for light color work in this color space. Brightness is decent, though nothing to write home about, and the same is true for the contrast ratio. The 240Hz refresh rate of the screen however is great, more than enough for competitive gaming on a laptop with core components of this power level. Similarly, the response time of the screen is also very good, at least with overdrive enabled, coming in at around 5ms grey-to-grey, which is as good as you can expect at this price point.

In terms of battery life, the Ryzen CPU really shines, extending the lifespan to around 11 hours in non-strenuous, non-gaming general use (web browsing and word processing and the like). This is far above what Intel models will be able to manage in this price range or any other, and is a contender for the best battery life you’ll find in any gaming laptop. The 720p webcam is adequate for a gaming laptop, though the inbuilt mic is certainly less so, and isn’t great at isolating external noise. The keyboard and trackpad won’t set the world on fire either, with the keys feeling slightly stiff and the trackpad a touch loose, but both do the job. Speakers are about average for a gaming laptop, which is to say not great, but still about average vs the competition.

Besides this, the only other real downside of this device is the rather plasticy build quality, but even this isn’t terrible. All told, this is a great mid-range option and well worth your money with the specs we’ve recommended.

Things to consider when buying an MSI gaming laptop

If you want to know what to consider when looking for a mobile gaming device in general, regardless of subcategory, have a quick look at this same section on our best gaming laptop guide. The below points will be a quick summary of what you need to be aware of when shopping for a MSI models specifically.

What products do MSI make?

MSI make a range of computer components, desktops and laptops, though they are mostly focused on targeting the PC gaming market, either through their graphics card AIBs, desktop gaming PCs, or their laptop range.

In terms of MSI gaming laptops, the company tends to focus its efforts on the mid-range to high-end price points, with high powered core components, although they do also produce one or two budget laptops, and previous generation models of higher-specced machines can often be found at reduced prices, making them worthy budget options.

MSI gaming laptop model names

As with most laptops, MSI models come with a confusing array of names that can be difficult to distinguish when you’re shopping for a specific product.

Most MSI devices have a codename that starts with 2 letters: the G is almost universal across all the gaming laptop ranges, but the second letter signifies the specific model range/line and there is often an accompanying brand name before or after which matches it. For instance the GP66 Leopard, the GE66 Raider, the GS66 Stealth, and Katana GF66.

MSI laptops also tend to have two numbers, the first of which signifies the size of the laptop, and the second its generation. The GP66 and GE66 for instance are both 15-inch laptops, whereas the GP76 and GE76 are both 17-inch machines. The older versions of these machines, which usually come with Nvidia 20-series GPUs, come with a 5 at the end, e.g. the GE65, whereas the 30-series laptops have a 6 e.g. GE66.

There are however other laptops that fall outside of this convention, such as the MSI Alpha, Bravo, and Delta ranges, which are all AMD-powered machines, that end with either a 15 or a 17 to signify the size of their display.

Which is better ASUS or MSI?

This is a difficult question to answer when it comes to gaming laptops. Both of these brands feature heavily in our best-of lists across a variety of price points. Overall, ASUS are really impressing us this year with their range of upgrades across all laptop types: from mid-range gaming devices, to workstation machines, however, the MSI GE76 Raider remains one of the most powerful high-end models we’ve ever seen, and our top pick for best premium gaming laptop in the 17-inch range.

What is better Alienware or MSI?

Alienware laptops are almost all premium devices, so are of a consistently high quality, whereas MSI laptops cover a wider range of budgets; that being said there are still some fantastic premium MSI laptops at the high-end of the quality and budget scale. Overall we'd say MSI laptops offer better value for money, and the most powerful of them will usually outperform Alienware laptops in terms of gaming FPS or workstation software output. That being said, the best Alienware laptops tend to have unbeatable design quality, and truly excellent displays, plus a unique design aesthetic.

Final Word

This has been our buyer’s guide to the best MSI gaming laptop in 2024. We hope that you’ve been able to find the right MSI machine for you, if not, either leave us a comment below to suggest an alternative that you’d like us to consider. Please also have a look at our other guides to the best gaming laptops across different brands and price points (including best gaming laptop under $1,000, $1,500, and $2,000), which you can find listed in the site menu at the top of this page.

MSI gaming laptop FAQs

We make sure all our guides are as up-to-date as possible with the latest available models, assuming we consider them worthy of inclusion, so you can be confident that you're getting the very best for your money. We've briefly listed our top three picks below if you're short on time, otherwise read ahead for our individual product reviews, plus a greater array of options at this price point and our 'things to consider' section, detailing what you should bear in mind before you buy.

Is the best gaming laptop under $1,000 worth buying?

The $1,000 mark is where we typically recommend people start looking if they want a laptop capable of gaming but are looking for a reasonable price that won't break the bank. $1,000 is the lower end of the mid-range gaming laptop price range, and anything significantly below this is what we would term a budget gaming laptop. For $1,000 you will be able to play the latest AAA games on the market, even the most demanding ones, on at least the lowest settings. Most moderately demanding games will be playable on medium settings at a solid frame rate, and for older titles you may be able to crank the graphical pre-sets up to the max.

Best gaming laptop under $1,000 2024: reviews

The best gaming laptop under $1,000 with a bright 16:10 display

We did an in-depth review of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 and were very impressed with it. The particular unit we tested came with a more powerful RTX 4060 GPU and Intel Core i7-13700HX processor plus 1600p screen, which obviously costs more money, however this RTX 4050, i5-13500HX, 1200p versions is still well worth your time. That being said, we've seen renewed 1600p models with RTX 4060 GPUs on sale for $999, which is terrific value if you can find it.

As with the version we tested, the GPU output punches above its weight when compared to other RTX 4050 machines, and the inclusion of Advanced Optimus - a rarity at this price point - helps to squeeze more performance out of the device when gaming. You get a great selection of ports with this machine - the best of any on this page - including a MicroSD card reader, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, three USB-A 3.2 and two USB-C 3.2 ports.

The 16:10 aspect ratio of this display gives you additional vertical headroom, making it a great option for a general productivity laptop on the side, as it's better for viewing web pages and documents. As with the version we reviewed you get an impressive 500 nits of brightness, which is by far the best you'll get at this price point and is good enough to be used outdoors. sRGB color replication is around 97% and the accuracy isn't bad either - meaning you could use it for creative work in this color space in a pinch - it certainly looks great to game on. Besides the 165Hz max refresh rate you also get G-Sync - which also isn't common at this price point and a welcome addition to reduce screen tearing.

A great all-round laptop for the money with an RTX 3060 GPU

This HP Omen 16 is one of the best all-round gaming laptops for under $1,000 that's currently available. This 16-inch screen laptop comes with a 144Hz maximum refresh rate and an impressive 400nits peak brightness - which is above what most gaming laptops at this price point manage. In terms of color replication you also get about 99% sRBG gamut, which is again above the typical average. Although the color accuracy isn't good enough for use as a creative machine for color-accurate work, it's still reasonable at around 4.17 average deltaE.

The RTX 3060 graphics card is a great performer from the previous generation of laptops - a solid mid-range graphics card that should be able to run most games on low-medium settings. Similarly the Ryzen 7 6800H is a solid performing CPU. This laptop can get a bit loud under strain, though you can tweak some of the performance settings in the onboard software to mitigate this a bit. The memory is also DDR5, which is nice. Finally you get a nice selection of I/O ports with this device, including 2x USB-A, 2X USB-C, and an ethernet port.

A great all-AMD laptop with 240Hz display and great battery life

Although this MSI Delta 15 is a couple of generations old now, it still gives solid in-game FPS performance for the money, and is one of the best all-round gaming laptops on this list. The combination of the AMD Radeon RX 6700M graphics card when combined with the Ryzen 7 5800H CPU performs somewhere between an Nvidia RTX 3060 and a RTX 3070, depending on the game, which is good for the price. Besides this you get an unusually great battery life and very high max refresh rate.

The color gamut of the display is respectable, covering around 97% of sRGB, brightness and contrast are decent, however the 240Hz refresh rate of the screen is great, more than enough for competitive gaming on a laptop with core components of this power level. Similarly, the response time of the screen is also good, at least with overdrive enabled, coming in at around 5ms grey-to-grey, which is as good as you can expect at this price point.

You can expect a battery duration of around 11 hours in non-strenuous, non-gaming general use (web browsing and word processing and the like), which is one of the best results we've ever seen in a gaming laptop. The 720p webcam is adequate for a gaming laptop, though the inbuilt mic is certainly less so, and isn’t great at isolating external noise. The keyboard and trackpad won’t set the world on fire, with the keys feeling slightly stiff and the trackpad a touch loose, but both do the job. Speakers are about average for a gaming laptop, which is to say not great, but still about average vs the competition. Still, considering what you do get, this device is well worth your money.

An underpowered RTX 4060, but still an RTX 4060 laptop

The MSI Cyborg was a new addition to the MSI gaming laptop roster in 2023. It's an affordable machine that aims to take on the likes of the Acer Nitro 5 and the ASUS TUF A15 in the budget gaming laptop space. It also comes with blue sci-fi styling on the keyboard and an unusual translucent finish underneath and on the sides of the laptop, with the words 'MSI True Gaming' etched in. It might seem a bit of a wasted effort to put such a design where you're least likely to see it, however if you're a fan of little details on your products, then this may tickle your fancy.

Ultimately the biggest draw for us, and the reason it's the top pick on this list, is that it's the cheapest RTX 4060 laptop (assuming you pick this loadout) that we've seen so far, though it must be acknowledged that by the standards of other RTX 4060 laptops it's underpowered - you'll probably only get a slightly better output than some of the other top devices listed here. The Intel 12th gen laptop CPU it's paired with (the Intel Core i7-12650H) is an older gen model but it still performs well. Later models are available, with Intel 13th gen processors, although within this price range these are limited to RTX 4050 GPUs.

One of the main benefits of this device is the high RAM and storage loadouts available, far above what you'd normally expect at this price. At the time of writing you can get 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, which is very nice indeed.

The colors, brightness and contrast of the display won't set the world on fire, but they're good enough for gaming, and the 144Hz max refresh rate is ideal for components of this power. Performance on both the keyboard and trackpad is respectable for the price. You also get a numpad on the keyboard, which could be a bonus or a drawback, depending on your priorities (personally I like the extra functionality it gives when using the machine for work as well as gaming).

Another great affordable option from Acer

The Acer Nitro 5 is another great choice that we've had the pleasure of benchmarking, and it's a fantastic budget pick. The RTX 4050 and i5-12500H perform better than you'd expect, and you can actually get good average FPS in newer games on medium-high settings. If you like the look of this device and are willing to spend a bit more money you can also pick up an RTX 4060 version with Intel Core i7-12650H, which will net you performance superior to any other pick on this page. The color replication of the screen isn't the best, but it's good enough for gaming, and the overall build quality plus keyboard and trackpad and webcam are of a respectable standard for a budget machine.

You can get the standard 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD you'd'd expect at this price point, but we'd recommend upgrading these to at least a 1TB SSD as to do so is relatively cheap. You could even get 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD plus 2TB HDD for not much more money, if you plan on using your laptop for memory heavy creative uses, like to open a lot of tabs in your web-browser, and want to install a lot of games on your device.

The biggest downside of this device is the battery life, which caps at a maximum of 4 hours of general use, even with all battery saving settings enabled. If you can put up with this though, it's a solid affordable pick.

Also consider

At the time of writing, this new MSI Thin GF63 model is a bit out of the price range of this guide, though we're still putting it here to give you the option of a 40-series laptop with 16GB of RAM, in contrast to the two above.

The RTX 4050 laptop GPU in this machine hits significantly harder than the RTX 3050 Ti of the previous generation, around 29% more on average in fact, although this figure isn't based on the performance of this specific laptop (see our RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop page for more details on this). Although it doesn't quite match up to the power of an RTX 3060 laptop, it's not too far off and this is before you factor in the additional FPS boost that DLSS 3.0 will bring in those games that support it. This upscaling boost could easily mean comparable performance in such titles.

You get the same Intel Core i7-12650H CPU (one of the best performers in this price range) as you do in the MSI Cyborg, the typical 512GB SSD and 144Hz screen.

The design dark metal with a red keyboard and accents, similar to the older MSI Thin GF65 above, which may suit some tastes more than the Cyborg's coloring. Ultimately the big plus compared to the top two though is that whilst the graphics card might not be as powerful, you don't have to mess around upgrading the memory on this model if you're after 16GB. It's DDR4, rather than DDR5, however currently the performance difference between the two is negligible.

Things to consider when buying a gaming laptop under $1,000

For an in-depth list of what to consider when looking for a gaming laptop in general, have a quick scan of this section on our best gaming laptops page. Below is a quick summary of what you should bear in mind when shopping to a $1,000 budget specifically.

Realistic expectations of gaming performance

Gaming laptops are expensive on a price-to-performance basis. You pay a very significant mark-up when buying a gaming laptop compared to a desktop PC, purely for the convenience of being able to carry it in your bag: it is after all quite difficult to cram in all those same components and keep them from overheating into a fairly narrow space.

Consequently, when you start looking at gaming laptops under $1,000, you cannot expect to run the latest AAA titles on the highest graphical settings and get great performance. Less demanding titles will run well however and/or newer games on the lower graphical pre-sets. If this is too low for your needs then we would advise you take a look at our best gaming laptops for under $1,500 page, or alternatively consider a desktop PC you can build yourself or a prebuilt computer, for under $1,000.

Resolution & refresh rate

Under $1,000 your choice is usually limited to 1080p/1200p (FHD/FHD+) resolution screens, although some 1440p and 1600p models are becoming increasingly available at this price point. FHD is still the standard resolution for competition gaming anyway, which many people on higher budgets would choose regardless. Furthermore, it is arguably of limited benefit to get a higher resolution display unless you are looking for a laptop with a screen size above 15 inches.

144Hz laptop models are what you'll usually find for this amount of money and, with the type of CPU & GPU setups you're going to be working with, this is a sufficiently high refresh rate displays to match the FPS they will be outputting.

Hard drive & RAM

It’s rare to find a gaming laptop in this price range that comes with a hard drive (usually an SSD – i.e. Solid State Drive) above 512GB, although some do exist. Fortunately, most laptops can be upgraded in this area, and a better / additional SSD put in to increase the storage capacity. You should check to make sure that the laptop you want does indeed allow you to do this before you purchase it.

It’s a similar story with memory capacity – most will max out at 16GB RAM, although again this is usually an easily upgradeable component.

Port selection, connectivity & webcam quality

Typically ports and sockets are one of the things which get sacrificed in more budget-priced laptops. It’s rare to find Thunderbolt support or SD card readers for instance in laptops under $1,000, although they do crop up on occasion, and you won't get many USB-C ports. You may or may not get an HDMI port to attach to an external monitor.

Webcam quality will rarely be good in gaming laptops at this price point, given it's something even high-end gaming laptops often sacrifice and in some cases you might not even find a webcam included at all.

Final Word

This has been our guide to the best gaming laptop under $1000 in 2024. We hope you have found it useful in making your choice as to which laptop to buy. If you didn’t find what you want here, we have other laptop guides for different budgets which can be found in the dropdown menu at the top of this page, including the best gaming laptops under $800 and best gaming laptops under $1,500 if you're looking for something a bit cheaper/more powerful. If you need more power more cheaply than a gaming laptop can provide, have a look at our guides on mid-range gaming desktop builds for under $1,000 and also the best pre-built gaming PC for under $1,000.

Best gaming laptops under $1000 FAQs

We are here to help you find the best mobile gaming station for this competitive online shooter. We will guide you through the laptop requirements to achieve the highest level of performance in Apex Legends while also figuring out if your current laptop is enough to run Apex Legends. However, if you opt for new hardware to play the game, we will show our list of the best gaming laptops for Apex Legends for different settings and resolutions.

Can I play Apex Legends on my laptop?

We have listed the desktop requirements for Apex Legends below, provided by the game designers. While the game designer’s page offers both minimum and recommended specs of the game, we always recommend staying away from the minimum specs, as they barely run the game. On the other hand, the recommended specs usually manage 60FPS at 1080p. 

Also, you need to understand that laptops and desktops are vastly different in terms of power. Desktops have a bigger chassis that caters to graphics chipsets and processors with bigger outputs. So, if you want desktop-level performance, aim for one SKU above. We have provided several examples down the page that will get the job done.

Apex Legends recommended specifications (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for Apex Legends @ 1200p

If you want to play Apex Legends at 1080p resolution with excellent framerates, look no further than this particular Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop, sporting an RTX 4050 laptop GPU. 

It will likely be the best choice for you to run Apex Legends, as it comes with a Ryzen 7 7000 series laptop CPU boasting impressive performance, paired with 16GB of the latest DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

However, you can also check out the ASUS ROG Strix G15 if you are unsure about this Lenovo model. While the ROG Strix G15 is from the previous generation, the laptop sports a display with a 300Hz refresh rate - a desirable quality for playing competitive shooters. In addition, the laptop is equipped with an RTX 3060 laptop GPU - not quite the latest generation offering but gets the job done.

Best gaming laptop for Apex Legends @ 1600p

Our next pick for running Apex Legends at 1600p is the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 gaming laptop with an RTX 4060 laptop GPU. 

We had the pleasure of reviewing this particular laptop and considered it one of the best of 2023. While the Predator Helios Neo 16 has excellent hardware under the hood, it is also value for money with a bright screen, a CPU and GPU combination that is way over its value, a good battery life, and a solid port selection. So, if you want something great for playing Apex Legends but also needs to be affordable, we don’t see any reason not to buy Helios Neo 16.

Best gaming laptop for Apex Legends @ 4K

A 4K gaming laptop won’t be affordable and will definitely be overkill for a non-graphically intensive game like Apex Legends.

That said, this particular MSI Raider comes with an excellent 120Hz UHD+ display, and the RTX 4070 laptop GPU is value for the money. Still, it cannot be considered cheap. With this particular MSI Raider, you are getting a niche high refresh rate that will complement a competitive shooter like Apex Legends, a Mini-LED panel that is nice and bright for a soothing gaming experience.

Final Word

That’s all there is! We just hope our comprehensive guide is helpful enough to guide you toward the best gaming laptop for Apex Legends. A laptop that meets all your requirements and also fits right within your budget.

While Nightingale isn’t a graphically demanding game, if you want to play it at maxed-out settings with excellent framerates, you have to be ready to spend some dough for the ideal gaming laptop.

Can I play Nightingale on my laptop?

We have listed the recommended system requirements for Nightingale below. However, there are a few things I would like to suggest.

First of all, we suggest you completely avoid the minimum system requirements for Nightingale. While they will run the game, it won’t be enjoyable. You have to set the settings to the lowest and still, you will barely get any framerates. The second is understanding the disparity between laptop and desktop graphics cards. There’s a vast difference in power - of course, the winner is the desktop.

You have to remember this while making the purchase and go for at least one level higher specs than the recommended specs to play the game at 1080p comfortably. Our three gaming laptop picks for Nightingale are listed below.

Nightingale recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for Nightingale @ 1200p

Let’s start with the ASUS ROG Strix G16, which comes with an RTX 4060 laptop graphics card and an Intel Core i7-13650HX processor - a dynamic combination of CPU and GPU for comfortable gaming; yet, the laptop is surprisingly reasonably priced, making it a solid contender for our list. 

At 1200p, the laptop delivers superb performance with seamless gameplay and high framerates. The laptop also sports a 165Hz refresh rate screen that guarantees smooth visuals, best for both fast-paced shooters and more relaxed gaming experiences. In addition to exceptional CPU and GPUs, the laptop sports 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD - good enough to make any gamer’s dream come true.

Best gaming laptop for Nightingale @ 1600p

Our second pick for running Nightingale at 1600p is the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16. We recently conducted a review of this laptop and consider it one of the best gaming laptops for this resolution with more than a decent battery life and an extraordinary selection of ports. 

The laptop comes with an RTX 4060 paired with an Intel Core i7-13700HX processor. The CPU and GPU combination delivers a phenomenal performance, making it one of the best models we had the pleasure of reviewing. In addition, the laptop is plenty bright, with a peak brightness of 500 nits. The colors are vibrant, and to top it all off, the battery life of this laptop is also pretty great.

Best gaming laptop for Nightingale @ 4K

Our final pick is the MSI Raider GE68HX for enjoying Nightingale at 4K resolution. The laptop sports an Intel 14th-generation laptop CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU, making it an extremely powerful machine. 

The 4K gaming laptops are expensive, but with this laptop, you are getting bang for your buck. Besides the latest laptop CPU and GPU, the laptop also delivers a 144Hz Mini-LED display alongside a ridiculous 64GB DDR5 RAM and 2TB SSD. The best part is that with this laptop, you will annihilate Nightingale at 4K alongside all the upcoming AAA titles.

Final Word

And that’s all I have for you today. With any luck, you should be well-versed with the best gaming laptops for Nightingale, making it easier to pick the best one from your list that suits your needs the most. However, if you are still not convinced, take a peek at our best gaming laptop page for more recommendations.

Can I play Palworld on my laptop?

Below we've laid out the official recommended specs for the game, which you can read more about on this Palword system requirements guide. There's a couple of key things to note in terms of how these translate to laptop performance. First of all, laptop GPUs and CPUs are never as powerful as their desktop counterparts, as system requirements are written with desktops in mind, you need to aim for one model higher for each usually to achieve the same performance. Secondly, even on a desktop these specs will usually only get you an average of around 60FPS at 1080p resolution - higher resolution and FPS will take more power and money.

Take a look below for our suggested picks for running the game at different resolutions, also do check out our best graphics settings for Palworld and also best GPU for Palword and best CPU for Palworld if you're thinking of going desktop.

Palworld recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best gaming laptop for Palworld @ 1200p

This particular variant of the ASUS ROG Strix G16 has a 165Hz 1200p display (basically the 16:10 version of 1080p) and plenty of power under the chassis to keep this game purring at a solid FPS. The laptop comes with an Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU in a tasty combination - which will easily get you high FPS at this resolution.  Besides this you get 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD, all available for a pretty reasonable price compared to similar laptops of this power.

Best gaming laptop for Palworld @ 1600p

If you want to up the resolution a bit then this ASUS ROG Strix G17, sporting an AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptop CPU and RTX 4080 graphics card comes highly recommended. The ASUS ROG Strix G17 is one of our top picks for this year and the previous year in terms of bang for buck. If you opt for the higher-end Ryzen 9 7945HX processor, you'll have the most CPU currently available in a laptop. variant. In addition, the ROG Strix G17 brings a vibrant 1440p display with a 240Hz refresh rate, alongside 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.

Best gaming laptop for Palworld @ 4K

Playing anything at 4K resolution is going to be a pretty demanding experience for your computer, particularly if you're playing on the highest graphical settings. Whilst Palworld isn't crazily demanding, it still requires some of the most powerful laptops in the game at this resolution, and they don't generally come cheap. The option we recommend if you've got the cash is the MSI Titan 18 HX, which his a top tier performer. it comes with the RTX 4090 laptop graphics card - the most powerful laptop GPU on the market, plus the i9-14900HX processor and a 18-inch mini-LED display boasting a 120Hz refresh rate. Alternatively you may want to consider the alternate recommendation of the Razer Blade 16 with an RTX 4090 GPU and a 4K 120Hz display, though this is less powerful. Check out our 4K gaming laptop guide for more options.

Final Word

And there we go. Hopefully you now know all there is to about the best gaming laptop for Palworld, and have decided which is the best model for you. If not, do check out our various other price guides under the Laptop section in the dropdown menu at the top of this page.

Skull & Bones is a moderately demanding game, so if you want to run the game at maxed-out settings, you will need something a bit more powerful, especially at higher resolutions.

Can I play Skull and Bones on my laptop?

Here, we have the system requirements for playing Skull & Bones for every major resolution. It is important to note all the listed system requirements for Skull & Bones are based on a desktop, not a gaming laptop.

While the game publishers don’t explicitly clarify, the recommended system requirements are only good for running the game at 1080p with more or less 60FPS on average, that is also if you are running the game on a desktop. It is a completely different issue if you are opting for a gaming laptop.

Laptops and desktops are vastly different in power, primarily due to the size of these machinery. With greater space, desktops are equipped to handle more potent CPUs and GPUs, compared to gaming laptops. So, when you are making the purchase, aim for a model higher in both respects to get the same level of performance.

Skull & Bones recommended system requirements (desktop)

Skull & Bones 2K system requirements (desktop)

The following specs will enable you to play Skull & Bones at 1440p/1600p resolution at 60FPS. 

Skull & Bones 4K system requirements (desktop)

This is the top-end spec for running Skull & Bones smoothly at 4K/UHD+ with 60FPS easily. 

Best affordable gaming Laptop for Skull and Bones @ 1200p

Starting with the ASUS ROG Strix G16 for playing Skull & Bones at 1200p resolution (i.e. 1080p but with more vertical headroom). The Strix G16 is an excellent gaming laptop with an Intel Core i9-13980HX processor and Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card. 

It stands out as one of the most powerful gaming laptops in this price range for its exceptional specs. In addition, the laptop has a stunning display with a 165Hz refresh rate, which is plenty for a game like Skull & Bones. There’s also 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD for the best performance.

Best gaming laptop for Skull and Bones @ 1600p

Our second pick for running Skull & Bones at 1600p is the ASUS ROG Strix G17, sporting an AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptop CPU. The ASUS ROG Strix G17 is one of our top picks for the best RTX 4080 laptop in 2024. In terms of power, it is reasonable, especially if you look at its more powerful Ryzen 9 7945HX variant. In addition, the ROG Strix G17 brings a vibrant 1440p display with a 240Hz refresh rate, alongside 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.

Best gaming laptop for Skull and Bones @ 4K

Playing Skull & Bones on 4K will be demanding, and you need to enter the realm of premium gaming laptops for a top-tier performance. The MSI Titan 18 HX comes victorious as our choice for this segment. It is also an excellent gaming laptop with the latest Nvidia RTX 4090 laptop graphics card - the most powerful laptop GPU on the market. In terms of the rest of the specs, the Titan GT77 doesn’t disappoint with its powerful Intel 14th gen laptop CPU - the i9-14900HX and a 18-inch mini-LED display boasting a 120Hz refresh rate. However, the laptop also comes with a high-end price tag, so alternatively you may want to consider the alternate recommendation of the Razer Blade 16 with an RTX 4090 GPU and a 4K 120Hz display, though this is less powerful. Check out our 4K gaming laptop guide for more options.

Final Word

And that’s all we have for you! We hope our comprehensive guide was enough to help you find the best gaming laptop for Skull and Bones - a laptop that suits your needs and budget.

Helldivers 2 isn't the most demanding of games, however if you want to run it for high FPS on max settings, particularly on the higher resolutions, you may have to spend a bit of dosh in order to get the ideal machine. Read below for our top picks.

Can I play Helldivers 2 on my laptop?

Below we've listed the recommended system requirements for Helldivers 2, though there are a couple of things you should be aware of. Firstly we generally advise you to avoid the minimum system requirements as these often barely run the game - certainly not to a state that you would find enjoyable, even on the lower settings. Secondly, laptop graphics cards and processors are always less powerful than their desktop counterparts; given the below recommended specs are with desktop computers in mind when gaming at 1080p, it's generally advisable to aim for one SKU above with laptops, and an additional one higher when you increase to the next major resolution. See below for a discussion of our three picks.

Helldivers 2 recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for Helldivers 2 @ 1200p

The ASUS ROG Strix G16 boasts a potent combination of an RTX 4060 graphics card and an Intel Core i7-13650HX processor, and yet is available for a surprisingly reasonable price. making it an excellent value proposition for gaming enthusiasts. At its native 1200p resolution, this laptop delivers impeccable performance, ensuring seamless gameplay with high frame rates. Its 165Hz refresh rate guarantees smooth visuals, catering to both fast-paced shooters and more relaxed gaming experiences. Additionally, it comes equipped with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

Best gaming laptop for Helldivers 2 @ 1600p

We recently conducted an extensive review of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 gaming laptop featuring the RTX 4060, and it stands out as one of the best models we've had the pleasure of getting our hands on. The combination of its GPU and Intel Core i7-13700HX processor delivers impressive in-game FPS performance, surpassing expectations for a laptop in this price range. Moreover, its vibrant 1600p display offers excellent quality and boasts a peak brightness of 500 nits, ensuring usability even in outdoor environments. To top it all off, the battery life of this laptop is commendable.

Best gaming laptop for Helldivers 2 @ 4K

This variant of the MSI Raider GE68HX comes equipped with the latest Intel 14th gen laptop CPU, as well as an Nvidia RTX 4080 laptop GPU, making it a very powerful machine indeed. Although it costs a pretty penny, considering you get a 144Hz Mini-LED display as well alongside the frankly ridiculous 64GB DDR5 RAM and 2TB SSD, it's not too bad, relatively speaking, for a 4K gaming laptop. And you can rest easy in the knowledge that it will annihilate any game you throw at it for years to come.

Final Word

With any luck, you should now we well-versed in what the best gaming laptop for Helldivers 2 is for your needs. If you're still not convinced, please do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the other gaming laptop guides in the menu above this page for some more models.

The particular unit we were sent comes with an i7-13700H Intel 13th gen laptop processor, RTX 4070 laptop GPU, and 165Hz 1440p display, though other options are available. Let's see how it measured up in our tests!

Pricing

The MSRP at the time of writing is around the $1,650 mark for this particular model, though it can be picked up on sale for a couple of hundred dollars less if you’re lucky. For this you get a 15.6-inch 165Hz 1440p screen, plus an RTX 4070 GPU and Intel Core i7-13700H processor. For a gaming laptop with this graphics card, this is a notably low price - being more akin to what you'd see an RTX 4060 machine, however, it should be noted that the graphics cards in Gigabyte laptops tend to be a bit less powerful than others with the same GPU SKU.

Additionally, there’s a variant that comes equipped with the more powerful Intel Core i9-13900HX processor that’s available for more money, or you can pick up the 17-inch Gigabyte AORUS 17 which apparently has similar specs, but with a higher 240Hz refresh rate, though we can’t say for sure what other differences there may be as we haven’t tested this model.

Overall Design

Looks are obviously subjective to a degree, but we think that the Gigabyte AORUS 15 is a very nice looking device: striking a good balance between ‘gamer’ details and remaining a tasteful laptop for office use. The RGB backlighting on the keyboard is solid, and there’s a nice underlight beneath the display that shines downwards when you’re viewing the screen.

The laptop feels weighty but very well built overall, particularly considering the price point. The back of the lid and the bottom of the device are metal, with the upward facing surface of the chassis around the keyboard a more matte-feeling, plastic material. The rear of the laptop behind the hinges that houses the exhaust ports and rear sockets is made of a lighter plastic. There’s a fair bit of screen wobble when you move the laptop, but this isn’t really discernible when you’re just typing away, even if you’re pretty heavy handed, so shouldn’t pose a problem.

Laptop weight: 2.413kg/5.32lbs, Power adapter weight: 0.575kg/1.27lbs, Combined weight: 2.988kg/6.59lbs, Dimensions: 14.17" x 10.7" x 0.82"

If you want to upgrade the RAM or SSD on the laptop you’ll need a T6 Torx screwdriver to remove the 12 six-pointed star screws. We initially tried and failed to take off the bottom panel of the laptop by ourselves: after removing the screws, we simply could not find a seam to prise it apart despite much effort. After looking online for others who had done so however, we came across this video, found the best purchase point, and after liberally jamming in numerous plastic prying tools finally managed to wedge it open - in short, more difficult than it should be, and you need to make sure you have the right tools or you’ll likely damage the chassis.

The keyboard is your standard membrane offering but is of a decent quality. Larger-handed people may find it a touch on the cramped side but besides that there isn’t much to complain about it. The trackpad felt sturdy; a bit more slippery to the touch than we would have liked, but quick and responsive to inputs.

The speakers produce a loud peak volume, with okay sound quality though not amazing - there was some detectable fuzziness on the higher frequencies. Overall, we'd say the speakers were slightly above average for a gaming laptop, though this isn’t a particularly high bar. In terms of the microphone the audio quality was fairly poor, being quite muffled, and the webcam picture, despite being 1080p resolution, was not great either, though it does at least come with InfraRed enabling the Windows Hello security feature.

Screen

The display measures 15.6” diagonally in the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio. This is the classic gaming laptop monitor size, which doesn’t have the headroom of the increasingly common 16:10 models which are particularly useful for general productivity, but it’s still a decent size.

The 2560 x 1440 resolution on our particular model creates a very nice, crisp image, and the 165Hz maximum refresh rate is solid for a 1440p model like this - good for single player titles or fast-paced online gaming.

Gigabyte claim the display has 100% sRGB and 100% DCI-P3 coverage, so let’s see what our testing found:

As you can see above, we recorded a 100% sRGB and 100% DCI-P3 gamut coverage, which supports Gigabyte’s claims. Besides this the laptop also covers 89% of the Adobe RGB space.

We recorded a color accuracy of 1.39 deltaE*00 variance, which is very good – well within the sub 2.5 ΔE* range you want to aim for when doing color-accurate work on a screen.

Additional visual data points were tested for accuracy as shown in the chart above and summarised below. 

The peak recorded brightness was 311.6 nits i.e. 311.6 cd/m², which is about middle of the road for a gaming laptop of this price - not great, not terrible.

Ideal values for the other measurements are as follows:

6500K (White point), 0/m² (Black point), infinity:1 (Contrast ratio), 2.2 (gamma).

The recorded results at 100% brightness were:

6400K (White point), 0.26 cd/m² (Black point), 1210:1 (Contrast ratio), 2.2 (gamma).

To summarise, the Black Point and Gamma are very good for a laptop in this price range. The White Point is solid and the Contrast Ratio is pretty decent for an IPS panel.

Battery Life

We conducted our usual battery test on the AORUS 15, which begins with two hours of continuous full-screen YouTube playback, with the remaining time browsing the web and typing up documents. The laptop's brightness was set to 50% with ECO mode switched on. Battery-saving settings were activated in Windows, Bluetooth was switched off, but Wi-Fi remained on and in use. Additionally, the RGB lighting on the keyboard was switched off.

In this test the laptop lasted to about the 4 hours 30 minutes mark, though you could likely squeeze an additional hour out of it if you didn’t watch the full screen video. This is a fairly mediocre result, and compares particularly poorly against the recent Ryzen-powered laptops like the HP Omen 16, which achieved a ridiculous 14 hours, but is even beaten by the Intel-powered Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 which got 7 hours (though this has a less powerful GPU).

Software

The onboard software for the gaming laptop is the Gigabyte Control Center, which you’ll need to download if it isn’t installed already, as things like the function key shortcuts for the brightness controls won’t work without it.

As far as this kind of software goes it’s pretty decent - with a design that’s uncluttered by the bloat you often see on some ASUS laptops for instance. You get your standard RGB controls, and four Fan Control pre-sets (Power, ECO, Turbo, and Normal), the MUX Switch, and battery charging controls. More unique to Gigabytes devices however is the AI Nexus section with AI Boost and AI Generator functions. The AI Boost effectively acts like an auto overclocking feature that manually sets voltage allowances plus fan speeds, thus cannot be used in conjunction with the other pre-sets.

One thing we did find irritating however was that the software seemingly demanded updates for various features almost every time we opened it, which also seemed to prompt the laptop to restart of its own accord if left idle for a short while. Hopefully this will not continue throughout the laptop’s life, but we are unable to comment on this, given the limited time we had to test the device.

Performance & noise levels

As with every laptop we benchmark, we conducted our tests with the maximum fan and power pre-sets enabled, which in this case was Turbo mode from within the Gigabyte Control Center. You may be able to get additional performance from the AI Boost function, but as this becomes a variable outside of our control that can fluctuate within the same game or between games, we manually set it to Turbo mode.

As is often the case, on this maximum setting the fans were too loud to be useful in an environment with other people around, but if you’re gaming alone with some headphones on then they might be tolerable. For everyday productivity use the Normal and ECO settings were perfectly fine, being barely audible unless the laptop was put under strain.

GIGABYTE AORUS 15 temperature results

The internal temperature results you can see above were pretty impressive - both for the CPU temps and the GPU. Average CPU temperatures in particular were very low, and the only title which may have displayed a bit of thermal throttling was Doom Eternal with its low 90°Cs max CPU temps. These results are well below the level that would cause degradation to the internal components over time though, which bodes well for the longevity of the laptop.

In terms of external temps, we had no issues with the keyboard getting too warm during our playing time. Some warmth was noticeable on the chassis after an extended session, however we'd say this was below the average of what you'd typically expect from a gaming laptop, so another good result.

GIGABYTE AORUS 15 gaming benchmarks

The above results were impressive considering the asking price of the laptop at the time of writing; although a more powerful RTX 4070 laptop GPU may have performed better in some titles, they would almost certainly have cost significantly more. 

Comparing the results of the gaming benchmarks against those of other laptops we’ve tested in a similar-ish price range, they were revealing about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the device. In particular comparing them to the Acer Predator Helios 16 with RTX 4060 and Intel Core i9-13700HX is useful. In Doom Eternal, a particularly GPU-heavy game, the Gigabyte AORUS 15 performed between 31-47% better with Ray-Tracing switched off, with the difference widening as the graphical pre-sets and resolution was turned higher. With Ray-Tracing on the gap became even wider, with the RTX 4070 machine achieving an uplift as high as 56% at 1440p resolution on Ultra settings. In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a somewhat GPU-intensive game, the difference was also impressive in favour of the Gigabyte Aorus 15, though less pronounced. The uplift compared to the RTX 4060 Acer Helios 16 was only 10% on the lowest settings at 1080p, but increased all the way up to 1440p at max settings, with an impressive 32% improvement.

In the more CPU-intensive titles the AORUS 15 performed solidly but was less impressive: in Far Cry 6 the Intel Core i7-13700H Gigabyte machine performed around 5% worse than the Helios 16 across most graphical pre-sets, with the Acer machine having a slightly more powerful i7-13700HX. At 1440p resolution on the highest pre-sets however, the AORUS jumped ahead with a 15% uplift, perhaps indicating a bottlenecking effect of the weaker GPU on the competing device. Although we didn’t test CS2 on the Acer machine as the game hadn’t come out at that point, we did in our recent HP Omen 16 review (a RTX 4060 laptop available for a similar price). Compared to this laptop, which comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor, the AORUS 15 performed between 7-19% better across the various settings.

Should you buy this GIGABYTE AORUS 15 with RTX 4070?

For the price point, the GIGABYTE AORUS 15 is one of the finest gaming laptops we've reviewed in 2023; it's not without its flaws, in particular the battery life, webcam & mic quality, plus the reboot issues we had with the onboard software, but in the core areas that matter most to gamers, namely the in-game FPS performance and the vibrancy of the display, it excels. If you're after something with a bigger screen, high peak brightness, and superior battery life we'd recommend the aforementioned Acer Predator Helios 16 instead, though the RTX 4060 version that's priced similarly will be trounced by the RTX 4070 Gigabyte AORUS 15 in GPU-heavy games, plus runs a lot hotter than this impressively cool device. Indeed, you'll struggle to find another laptop this powerful for the money. Put simply, the GIGABYTE AORUS 15 is a great gaming laptop, well worth a buy, and we highly recommend it.

Pricing

The variant we tested of the HP Omen 16 comes with a 1TB SSD and 16GB of DDR5 RAM, which at the time of writing sells for an MSRP of $1,599.99 on the HP Store. RAM and storage upgrades are currently not available on the HP store, and we had trouble finding the laptop for sale on the site of other online retailers, so for the time being it seems like this is your lot. The standard pricing is about the same as other RTX 4060 laptop models on the market, though some of these have seen price drops over the Q4 2023 deals period, whereas those for the Omen 16 haven't been as large. We will have to see if any of these discounts persist into the new year.

Overall Design

The laptop is constructed from black plastic all over with a soft matte feeling on most of the surfaces other than the bottom. Build quality is good for the most part, though there is quite a bit of screen wobble when you move the laptop; fortunately when you’re typing this is barely noticeable, however it does raise questions about the integrity of the hinges over time. It has a pleasingly slimline design and is pretty light for a 16-inch machine, and the weight we measured is pretty much exactly what HP claimed.

Laptop weight: 2.375kg/5.236lbs, Power adapter weight: 0.747kg/1.647lbs, Combined weight: 3.122kg/6.88lbs Dimensions: 14.53" x 10.21" x 0.93"

Technically, you can open up the back of the laptop if you have a small enough Phillips head screwdriver to upgrade the RAM and M.2 SSD, however we had a very difficult time doing so - finding a crack to prise open to create an opening was a nightmare, and you'll have a job managing it without breaking it. We recommend wedging it open around the ethernet port (taking care not to break it) then going around the seam from this point and popping the clips. Utilise suction cups if you have them.

The RGB on the HP Omen 16 is pretty underwhelming. It’s limited to keyboard backlighting and there are 4 zones of key RGB you can control, which roughly splits the keyboard into thirds and then has a final zone for the WASD keys. The ‘effective’ peak brightness is pretty low, and upping it to the maximum using the controls in the onboard software merely turns it white after a point, rather than actually making it brighter.

The keyboard doesn’t include a numpad, though still has an awkward off-centre keyboard placement with the majority of the board off to the left, meaning your right hand rests on the trackpad. Although fine for gaming where you’re primarily just using the WASD keys, for typing it can be a bit annoying, as it forces you to either center your head to the left of center of the screen or stay central but extend and raise your right arm more than your left in a rather uncomfortable position. The trackpad feels sturdy enough and of reasonable quality, although it does feel a slight bit slow to respond.

The speaker quality was actually quite impressive for a gaming laptop, with a loud peak volume and crisp sounding audio that didn’t seem to lose its quality even on the high settings. The decision to place the speakers on the slight upcurve on the sides of the laptop, rather than directly underneath as so many laptop manufacturers seem to do, definitely helps with this. Bass replication of course is limited, as with almost every laptop with the exception of MacBook range. The 1080p webcam picture quality and audio from the mic were both respectable for this tier of gaming device - passable for office use.

Screen

The screen is 16.1-inches, measured diagonally as is convention with the classic 16:9 1920 x 1080 resolution, which means you don't get quite as much vertical headroom as you would on a 16:10 model for viewing web-pages and documents, but it's still a nice sized display. The panel has a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz, and a (claimed) 7ms response time. it also comes with FreeSync support.

HP also claims the screen has 100% sRGB coverage and a peak brightness of 300nits - so let's see if this was borne out in our testing:

As you can see above, we recorded a 97% sRGB gamut coverage, which falls short of the 100% claimed by HP, but is still quite good enough for a gaming laptop.

The recorded color accuracy had an Average deltaE*00 variance out of the box of 1.43, which is surprisingly good - significantly below the sub 2.5 ΔE* you want to aim for when engaging in color-accurate work on a display.

We tested various other visual data points for accuracy as well, which you can see above. The peak brightness matched the claimed 300nits, in terms of the other results:

Ideal values for each measurement are as follows: 6500K (White point), 0/m² (Black point), infinity:1 (Contrast ratio), 2.2 (gamma).

The recorded results at 100% brightness were: 6286K (White point), 0.29 cd/m² (Black point), 1030:1 (Contrast ratio), 2.3 (gamma).

So to summarise, the Black Point and Gamma are very good for a laptop in this price range with an IPS panel. The White Point and Contrast Ratio are a bit mediocre, but not bad.

Battery Life

We performed our typical battery test, which involved two hours of continuous full-screen YouTube playback, followed by web browsing and typing documents for the remaining duration. The laptop's brightness was set to 75% (which equates to 161cd/m²) with ECO mode switched on. Battery-saving settings were activated in Windows, Bluetooth was switched off, but Wi-Fi remained on and in use. Additionally, the RGB lighting on the keyboard was switched off.

We got a whopping 14 hours of battery duration in our test, which is the highest battery life we've ever recorded in a dedicated gaming laptop by a substantial margin, and supports the 10 hours 45mins video playback duration that HP claim. It's well above what you'd normally expect, even for a mid-tier device, and outperforms many dedicated productivity devices that have core components which are no way near as powerful. A hugely impressive result which boosts the usefulness of this device for general productivity.

Software

The onboard software for the laptop is called the OMEN Gaming Hub, and it offers a reasonable degree of functionality for a mid-price gaming laptop, though is a bit of a bloated mess and not the easiest to navigate.

You get the standard GPU, CPU & RAM system monitoring data plus three Power Mode’s (ECO, Balanced, and Performance) with the Performance option allowing a good degree degree of fan control (Max and Auto pre-sets plus a Manual mode that allows you to set different RPM on a fan curve). Under Graphics Switcher you can turn the MUX Switch to turn Optimus On (Hybrid) / Off (Discrete) for an additional performance boost, which is always a welcome addition, although like the majority of non-premium laptops this requires a system restart. There’s also a Network Booster section, which allows you to monitor you bandwidth usage at any given moment, and create custom blocking/restriction profiles - not something you usually see in other gaming laptop software, so this is a plus.

Performance & noise levels

We conducted our benchmarking on the maximum Power Mode pre-set, which in this case was Performance mode, with the fans set to Max. We do this for every laptop for consistency, though in reality the high level of fan noise this produces will be a bit much for scenarios where you're not using headphones or are surrounded by other people. With the Power Mode set to Balanced and the fans set to Auto, the fan volume is pretty reasonable, and suitable for general use when web-browsing etc., though it will become more audible when you're in strenuous gaming scenarios.

HP Omen 16 gaming benchmarks

Compared to previous generations, the HP Omen 16 performed at least 15% better in average FPS than the highest-powered RTX 3070 we tested (in the XMG Neo 15 E21), but it performed substantially better in Doom Eternal in Ray-Tracing scenarios, showing around 35% - 45% uplift on low and high settings with RTX on and a whopping 156-165% increase on Ultra Nightmare settings. Compared to the RTX 3070 Ti model of the same series of laptop (the XMG Neo 15 E22), it still outperformed in Doom Eternal by between 8-40%, again particularly with Ray-Tracing on. It’s unfair to compare the Assassin's Creed Valhalla results as the introduction of FSR has substantially improved the performance in this title since we tested either of these models. Interestingly Far Cry 6, a CPU-dependent title, showed underperformance of 5-15% relative to the XMG Neo 15 E22 with Intel Core i7-12700H, though still very much outperformed the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX-equipped XMG Neo 15 E21.

Compared to the other RTX 4060 laptop we tested, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16, the laptop performed similarly in GPU-focused games across most settings, such as with Assassin's Creed Valhalla and in Doom Eternal, though in the case of the latter the Omen 16 performed around 2-8% better on low and high settings, but underperformed by around 10-13% on Ultra Nightmare - this suggests some sort of cap/bottleneck, possibly from the CPU (temperature results were actually superior so it’s unlikely to be due to thermal throttling). Again, the CPU-reliant Far Cry 6 underperformed relative to the other laptop (which is equipped with an Intel Core i7-13700HX processor), getting between 17-25% lower FPS across the different settings. This points to the relative weakness of the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS in gaming when playing those titles that lean on it.

So should you buy this HP Omen 16?

This 2023 HP Omen 16 equipped with Ryzen 7 7840HS processor and RTX 4060 graphics card is an impressive device in several ways, though it does have a couple of weak points that, at current pricing, may make it less worth your money compared to impressive picks from other brands. Ultimately it depends on what your priorities are and how bothered you are by its foibles, specifically the off-centre keyboard and the lower performance of the CPU.

An alternative we'd consider is the aforementioned Acer Predator Helios Neo 16, which comes from a far superior 1600p G-Sync display with excellent peak brightness and color replication, plus a more powerful i7-13700HX processor, and far less annoying keyboard placement; however on the downside the battery life is not as ridiculously good as in this HP laptop, the build quality around the display is pretty flimsy, it's thicker and the power adapter is quite pretty hefty - making it less portable overall. Ultimately, which device you pick from these two depends on your priorities and what price you can buy either of them at.

Pricing

The Acer Predator Triton 17X 17.0" gaming laptop comes in one variant as far as the core components are concerned, all units are equipped with an Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU. There are however two different RAM and SSD loadouts available, with the base model coming with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, with an MSRP of $3,799.99, and the 64GB and 4TB SSD option costing substantially more. We have already seen price reductions on the Triton 17X however which makes the cost more reasonable, and we’d advise waiting until you see it on sale at some point in Q4 2023 before picking one up.

Overall Design

The laptop comes in a one off-black color variant which looks nice enough if a bit uninspiring. There’s an embossed silver logo on the lid plus light up RGB on the chassis, in addition to the RGB backlighting of the keyboard, which is decently bright. There’s a large ventilation grill above the keyboard along with a button that allows for quick switching between the performance presets.

Laptop weight: 3.05kg/6.72lbs, Power adapter weight: 1.25kg/2.76lbs, Combined weight: 4.30kg/9.48lbs Dimensions: 21.9mm x 380.35mm x 280mm (H x W x D)

The Acer Predator Triton 17X is predominantly made from CNC-milled aluminium, which makes it feel very durable, however it’s definitely not light - the substantial weight limits its portability quite a bit despite the slimline form factor, although it’s still a couple of hundred grams lighter than other RTX 4090 laptops with the same screen size. The build quality appears to be great overall however - screen wobble is minimal and the hinge joints feel sturdy. The one issue we did notice on our unit was that the power cable didn’t seem to ‘click’ into the socket particularly well and so was prone to come loose on occasion when the laptop was moved.

The keyboard on the Acer Predator Triton 17X is a chiclet-style membrane keyboard, however the keys have decent travel and feel nice and responsive - we’d certainly say it’s one of the best membrane keyboards we’ve used on a gaming laptop for both gaming and typing. We would however have liked to have seen a full-sized keyboard with a numpad on a device of this size to improve its usefulness in productivity tasks - though this might be a plus to you if you don’t use the numpad and would rather have more space. The individual key backlighting is nice and bright, and there’s a good range of effects and lighting control within the onboard software.

The touchpad is of a good quality - feeling sturdy, smooth, responsive and with a satisfying click. There’s also a fingerprint reader in the top left.

The internal webcam of the laptop has a 1080p max resolution, but caps out at 30 FPS. Image quality is respectable but the microphone quality was average at best, which is a bit disappointing but it’s still serviceable.

The speakers on the Triton 17X were loud and produced audio of decent quality. The sound was somewhat tinny, and didn’t have much bass replication, but was still above average. They’re certainly not as good as MacBook speakers when it comes to audio quality or bass replication, which remain the best of any laptop by a substantial margin, but by the standards of gaming laptops they’re pretty solid.

Screen

The screen is exactly 17-inches, as opposed to the 17.3” models that you normally see. Along with the 16:10 aspect ratio, you get a lot of screen real estate, and it’s an enjoyably immersive experience when gaming, plus gives you a load of space for general productivity tasks. The 2560 x 1600 resolution (and 178 ppi) makes for a nice crisp image. 

The 250Hz maximum refresh rate is also slightly higher than the more common 240Hz, but makes relatively little difference to the viewing experience. Either way it’s a great refresh rate, and sufficient for anyone’s needs - from competitive gamers to those interested in single player titles.

The color gamut coverage was impressive and meets the claims of Acer regarding 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage, with an Average deltaE*00 variance (color accuracy) out of the box of 3.32 (which isn’t great - you ideally want sub 2.5) but which improved to 0.58 after calibration, which is excellent - ideal for design work in either of these color spaces. You also get 97.2% coverage of the Adobe RGB space. 

We tested various other visual data points for accuracy as well (although we had trouble measuring Black point & contrast ratio - more on this below).Ideal values for each measurement are:6500K (White point), 0/m² (Black point), infinity:1 (Contrast ratio), 0 (average deltaE*00), 2.20 (gamma).

Prior to calibration the results we recorded were:6475K (White point), 3.32 (average deltaE*00), 2.03 (gamma).

After calibration we recorded the following:6542K (White point), 0.58 (average deltaE*00), 2.20 (gamma)

These are very impressive results, particularly following calibration. In terms of the missing contrast ratio and Black point results, we had trouble with our usual DisplayCAL test in getting these results, which is nothing to do with the laptop itself of course. In lieu of our own data, we'd point to the result obtained by LaptopMedia who recorded a 36000:1 Contrast ratio, which is excellent - about three times as good as your average gaming laptop IPS panel, though not as good as the infinity:1 that OLED panels can achieve. Black point results were not stated, but given the contrast score, we can assume these are good.

Turning to panel uniformity, the above image shows the results we attained. When interpreting the data, any average color variation under 1.00 is good and shows up as green. The results were good overall, with the exception of the top-left corner, which showed quite a high degree of average and maximum variation in its color replication. As this is confined to a specific area, the screen is still suitable for color accurate work. Additionally, different units are likely to have varying results, so bear this in mind.

Finally, we tested the brightness of the display. Acer claimed the Triton 17X can hit a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, however we only recorded 832 cd/m² in our test, with a minimum of 16 cd/m². This is still a very good score though, and you can easily use this laptop outdoors on a sunny day. The 120 cd/m² mark (the standard brightness for calibration) was achieved at 28% in the brightness settings.

Battery Life

We conducted our standard battery two hours of full screen YouTube, then spent the rest of the time browsing the web and writing documents within GoogleDocs. We set the laptop to 28% brightness (the 120 cd/m² setting), with Quiet mode enabled, battery saving settings switched on in Windows, with Bluetooth turned off but Wi-Fi was left on and used. The keyboard RGB was turned off.

We got around 2 hours and twenty minutes of battery life in our test, which is less than ideal, and limits the utility of the device as a general productivity machine. You’ll basically need to take the charger with you whenever you’re using this device.

Software

The onboard software, PredatorSense, can be opened either via the desktop or by pressing the button on the keyboard below the power button. The software contains the RGB controls for the keyboard, plus the light-up logo on the bottom right of the chassis, and some basic CPU/GPU performance and temperature monitoring.

The main attraction is of course the performance tweaking capability. You get four performance presets (Quiet, Balanced, Performance, Turbo) and three fan control presets (Auto, Max, Custom), the latter allowing manual control of the two GPU fans and the one CPU fan.

We’ve seen better software out there with more features on premium laptops in this price range, but it’s relatively easy to navigate. The most notable missing feature is a MUX Switch (which is even present in the software of the budget Acer Nitro 5), and to enable this you have to go into the Nvidia control panel > Manage 3D settings, and manually select the preferred graphics processor.

Performance

We conducted our benchmarking on the maximum preset, which in this case was Turbo mode, with the fans set to Max. As you’d expect, on this setting the fans were loud, but no worse than any other high-performance device turned up to the maximum. If you don’t need to crank out the most FPS possible when playing a particular game, we’d recommend opting for Balanced mode, which was pleasantly quiet, with Quiet mode itself (more suitable for general productivity, web browsing etc.) being almost silent.

The temperature of the chassis got warm after prolonged gaming on the max settings, but not uncomfortably so. Looking at the Internal Temperature data we recorded, the results were good overall - with some very impressive GPU temperature results and nice low average CPU temps, but unfortunately quite high CPU max temperatures. Around the mid to low 90°C range is where thermal throttling starts to take place for laptop CPUs, and the high 90°Cs is where degradation can occur to the CPU over time, reducing its performance. We can say then that there’s definitely a risk of thermal throttling on the CPU for the Triton X17, and we’d consider picking up a laptop stand or a laptop cooling pad to reduce the impact of this.

Acer Predator Triton 17X gaming benchmarks

Looking at the performance benchmarks, the Triton 17X performed consistently around 15-20% worse across pretty much all games and settings than the last RTX 4090 laptop we tested: the XMG Neo 17 E23, though admittedly XMG/Eluktronics do produce some of the most high-end laptops on the market. Performance was roughly on par with the XMG Neo 16 E23 with high-TGP RTX 4080 that we previously reviewed, with this laptop actually outperforming the Triton 17X by a few percentage points in some scenarios.

A note regarding the CSGO performance on the Highest preset: these results are likely anomalous and should be ignored; we wouldn’t expect a laptop like the Triton 17X to perform this poorly on such an old game, and this likely points to some issue that cropped up during our test.

Should you buy the Acer Predator Triton 17X?

If you’re solely after a gaming machine, then we wouldn’t advise picking up the Acer Predator Triton 17X at the standard MSRP. The fact is there are far better performing RTX 4090 laptops out there in terms of in-game FPS for a similar price. However, if you’re looking for a creative device, the Mini-LED display is very difficult to beat for these purposes with its excellent color replication and accuracy, brightness and contrast, not to mention very high 250Hz refresh rate for when you are gaming.

The difficulty in upgrading the internal components is a bit of a downside, however, given the ample size options for the RAM and SSDs, it’s not too big of an issue. Although you can’t expect too much in this area from such a high-powered device with such a power-hungry screen, we’d have expected a battery life of a couple of hours longer at least than the measly two hours we got, plus change.

Besides these factors though, there isn’t anything else to complain about. This is a high-quality device that’s a pleasure to use, and if the price drops enough from the RRP to make the performance/price ratio make more sense, we’d definitely recommend it.

Below we've detailed three different models for playing the game at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. We'll also discuss the necessary specs in more detail, to help you work out whether your current system will play it.

Can you play DIRECT CONTACT on your laptop?

Below we can see the official recommended specs from the makers of the game. Although you don't need to go as high as the recommended specs necessarily, they're generally what's required to run the game with an average 60FPS at 1080p resolution, and we'd avoid the minimum specs as these will usually only barely run a title.

The second consideration to be aware of is that laptop CPUs and GPUs are always less powerful than their desktop counterparts, and given these recommended specs are written with desktop computers in mind, you'll need to aim one SKU higher on a laptop to achieve the same performance. To make things easy for you we've selected three laptops that will run the game well at the three main resolutions.

DIRECT CONTACT recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best gaming laptop for DIRECT CONTACT @ 1200p

This Alienware m18 is an absolute beast of a machine if you're after liquid smooth frames when you're playing fast-paced shooters. The specific model we recommend comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card, pretty much the best GPU out there for this resolution, plus a powerful AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX processor. The 1200p display has a ridiculously fast 480Hz refresh rate, which is arguably a bit overkill, but if you're playing an older title on this rig (or CS2 for example) you can definitely get high enough frames to take advantage of it.

Best gaming laptop for DIRECT CONTACT @ 1440p

In our selection for the best RTX 4080 laptop in 2024, the ASUS ROG Strix G17 featuring an AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptop CPU stands out. The power offered at a reasonably competitive price is truly remarkable, especially when opting for the more potent Ryzen 9 7945HX. Additionally, the vivid 1440p display boasts an impressive 240Hz refresh rate. The laptop is further equipped with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a spacious 1TB SSD storage, adding to its overall appeal.

Best gaming laptop for DIRECT CONTACT @ 4K

For those in pursuit of a 4K gaming laptop, it's undeniable that a substantial investment is required. The MSI Titan GT77 stands out as an exceptional choice. For a game like DIRECT CONTACT you'll need to opt for the RTX 4090 loadout, paired with the Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU. This laptop features a remarkably vibrant 17.7″ mini-LED display that boasts the highest 4K resolution refresh rate at 144Hz. Other devices might also be worth your consideration, such as the slim Razer Blade 16 (with an RTX 4090 GPU and a 120Hz refresh rate), it falls short of the Titan's raw FPS power and the potential for extensive storage and RAM upgrades.

Final Word

We hope that you have now made DIRECT CONTACT with the gaming laptop of your dreams (sorry). If you want to examine some more options, please do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the other gaming laptop guides in the menu above this page. For a game this demanding it's probably a good idea to focus on the best RTX 4080 laptop and best RTX 4090 laptop guides.

Drug Dealer Simulator 2 isn't the most demanding game in the world, but it still needs a bit of power to get it running smooth on the highest settings on those higher resolutions. We've suggested three different models to run the game at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K for you, so let's take a look!

Can I play Drug Dealer Simulator 2 on my laptop?

The official system requirements, as provided by the developer and publisher, are listed below. Specifically we've gone for the recommended requirements, as these are what you'll need to actually run the game to a decent standard (avoid minimum specs as these usually barely run the game). These are for desktop PCs though, and it's important to note that laptop components are always less powerful than their larger desktop siblings, so you usually need to aim for one SKU above to attain the same performance.

With this in mind we've detailed three different laptops models ideal for running the game at different resolutions below.

Drug Dealer Simulator 2 minimum system requirements (desktop)

Best gaming laptop for Drug Dealer Simulator 2 @ 1080p

For an affordable gaming experience with Drug Dealer Simulator 2 at 1080p, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 emerges as an excellent choice. Powered by a robust Ryzen 7000 CPU it features an RTX 4050 laptop graphics card, along with 16GB of the latest DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

If you seek additional power for playing other titles, the previous-generation ASUS ROG Strix G15 is a noteworthy option. Sporting a 300Hz display refresh rate, perfect for competitive shooters, and equipped with an RTX 3060 laptop graphics card, it offers an enhanced gaming experience.

Best gaming laptop for Drug Dealer Simulator 2 @ 1440p

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 AE, in its 1440p variant, emerges as a standout choice among mid-range gaming laptops. Integrating the AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU with the AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX CPU, its performance aligns closely with that of an RTX 3070 laptop, though the Ray-Tracing capabilities are less advanced.

It's noteworthy to highlight that this laptop lacks an integrated webcam, which may pose a minor inconvenience. However, users have the option to purchase a standalone webcam at a reasonable cost. For more options in the under $1,500 range, you can click the link to refer to our guide on the best gaming laptops.

Best gaming laptop for Drug Dealer Simulator 2 @ 4K

A 4K gaming laptop doesn't come cheap, even if you're only trying to run a game like this with moderate requirements. Opting for the ASUS Zephyrus S17 with RTX 3080 is a sound decision because, as an older model, it's available at a more affordable price as a refurbished unit. Besides the GPU it comes with a 120Hz refresh rate, which is nice at this resolution. If this particular model doesn't capture your interest, you have the option to explore pricier alternatives such as the MSI Raider GE76 or the Razer Blade 17.

Final Word

You should now be fully aware of what the best laptop for Drug Dealer Simulator 2 is, at least in our opinion. If you want a device that can play more powerful games, or desire other features not covered in these models, please take a gander at our primary best gaming laptop page or the various other gaming laptop guides we have in the dropdown menu at the top of this page.

Can I play Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun on my laptop?

Listed below you can see the publisher's official recommended requirements for Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun. Typically such specs provide around 60FPS performance on high settings at 1080p resolution, though this is more of a loose convention than a guarantee. Do keep in mind that these specifications are tailored for desktop users, and laptop components are generally less powerful. Consequently, it's advisable to target one SKU higher for both the graphics card and processor to achieve equivalent performance.

Check further below where we outline three models suitable for running the game at various resolution settings.

Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best gaming Laptop for Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun @ 1080p

For an affordable yet powerful gaming experience in Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun at 1080p, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 stands out as a great value option. It features a robust Ryzen 7 7735HS along with an RTX 4050 GPU (being one of the top selections in our best RTX 4050 laptop guide), 16GB of the latest DDR5 RAM, and a reasonable 512GB SSD. This configuration ensures smooth gameplay on high settings at the specified resolution, providing a satisfying in-game FPS.

If you desire additional power for playing various other titles, you might consider the previous-generation ASUS ROG Strix G15. This laptop boasts a 300Hz display refresh rate, perfect for competitive shooters, and is equipped with an RTX 3060 laptop graphics card.

Best gaming laptop for Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun @ 1440p

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 AE in its 1440p variant emerges as a compelling choice among mid-range gaming laptops. It comes with both the AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU and the AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX CPU - and this all AMD machine delivers performance on par with an RTX 3070 laptop (though the Ray-Tracing capabilities are somewhat less advanced).

The only potential possible inconvenience of this device is the lack of an integrated webcam, though you can always procure a standalone webcam at a reasonable cost separately. Do be aware that there exists an alternative FHD/1080p 300Hz version of this laptop in the market, so exercise caution to ensure you select the appropriate model. For more options in a similar same price range, you can refer to our guide on the best gaming laptops under $1,500.

Best gaming laptop for Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun @ 4K

Even if your gaming pursuits don't involve particularly demanding titles, venturing into the realm of 4K laptop gaming entails a substantial price tag. The hardware necessary to run games at this resolution demands considerable power. Opting for the ASUS Zephyrus S17 with RTX 3080 is a prudent choice, given its affordability as a refurbished model, attributed to its status as an older machine. This laptop is equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and boasts a commendable 120Hz refresh rate. If this option doesn't capture your interest, you can explore pricier alternatives such as the MSI Raider GE76 or the Razer Blade 17.

Final Word

Hopefully you are now well-versed on the contenders for best gaming laptop for Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun. If you're still not sure which model to go for, do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the numerous other gaming laptop guides in the main menu at the top of this page.

Additionally, we'll be helping you work out what the Frontiers of Pandora laptop requirements are to see if your existing machine can run the game or whether you need an upgrade. Without further ado, let's get into it!

Can I play Avatar Frontiers of Pandora on my laptop?

Just below are the officially endorsed recommended specs for Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. These will generally allow a game to run with an average 60FPS at 1080p resolution, though this is just a convention and not a hard and fast rule. Still, higher resolutions will require more powerful components.

Beyond this, the main thing to note is that laptop CPUs and GPUs are always less powerful than their desktop components, so the below specs will need to be elevated to achieve the same level of performance (usually one SKU above). If you look below you'll find more detail on our three selected models for the three different resolutions.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best gaming Laptop for Avatar Frontiers of Pandora @ 1200p

The ASUS ROG Strix G16, equipped with an RTX 4060 GPU and Intel Core i9-13650HX CPU, stands out as a highly potent gaming laptop, offering excellent value for the price. The impressive 165Hz maximum refresh rate will do just fine for the average user, whether you're playing multiplayer online shooters or more sedate single player titles, enhancing overall gameplay. Additionally, the laptop features 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD, contributing to its robust performance and responsiveness.

Best gaming laptop for Avatar Frontiers of Pandora @ 1440p

The ASUS ROG Strix G17, featuring an AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptop CPU, is one of our most highly recommended gaming laptops of the year. For a game like Avatar, the RTX 4070 model will do very nicely, and you can pair that with either the very powerful Ryzen 9 7845HX processor, or the Ryzen 9 7945HX, which is, as of November 2023, the most powerful laptop CPU money can buy. This laptop offers remarkable power at a relatively reasonable price, and the vibrant 1440p display enhances the visual experience with an outstanding 240Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the laptop is equipped with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a spacious 1TB SSD, further contributing to its performance and storage capabilities.

Best gaming laptop for Avatar Frontiers of Pandora @ 4K

If you are on the look out for a 4K laptop for gaming, you need to be prepared to make a significant investment. If you're looking to run a game like Avatar at this resolution, then we'd suggest the RTX 4080 variant of the MSI Titan GT77, though an even more powerful RTX 40090 model is available. Paired with the Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU, this laptop features a brilliantly bright 17.7″ mini-LED display with the highest 4K resolution refresh rate at 144Hz. Other options like the Razer Blade 16 with RTX 4090 may also interest you.

Final Word

Hopefully you should now we well-versed in what the best gaming laptop for Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is for your needs. If you're still not convinced, please do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the other gaming laptop guides in the menu above this page.

Terminator Dark Fate isn't a massively demanding game, though if your current machine is old / low-tier you may have trouble running it, and if you want to turn your settings up to the max you could well need a new model.

Can I play Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance on my laptop?

The official recommended requirements for Terminator: Dark Fate Defiance are supplied below. It's important to note however that these are desktop PC focused, and can probably expect to run the game at 1080p resolution to about 60FPS. Laptop components however are always less powerful than their desktop versions, so you'll need a more powerful CPU and GPU than the ones listed below to achieve the same performance. Additionally, higher resolutions will require more power from both.

If you look further down this page we discuss three models which will play the game to a good standard at the highest settings at three different resolutions.

Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best gaming laptop for Terminator Dark Fate Defiance @ 1080p

If you're looking for an affordable machine that will run the game at 1080p resolution no problem, then this particular Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 with RTX 4050 laptop GPU is likely the best option for you. It comes with an impressive Ryzen 7 7000 series laptop CPU, plus 16GB of the latest DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

If you're interested in exploring more demanding titles and desire a boost in FPS performance, another option to consider is the ASUS ROG Strix G15 from the previous generation. This laptop features a 300Hz display refresh rate, catering to the needs of competitive shooters, and is equipped with an RTX 3060 laptop GPU.

Best gaming laptop for Terminator Dark Fate Defiance @ 1440p

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 AE in its QHD variant stands out as a compelling choice for a mid-range gaming laptop. Featuring the AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX CPU, it delivers performance comparable to an RTX 3070 laptop, although its Ray-Tracing capabilities are not quite as advanced.

It's worth noting that this laptop lacks an integrated webcam, which might pose a minor inconvenience. However, you have the option to purchase a separate webcam at a reasonable price. Additionally, there is an alternative FHD/1080p 300Hz version of this laptop available, so it's essential to select the correct model based on your resolution preferences to avoid any confusion during the purchase. If you're exploring alternative options, you can also refer to our guide on the best gaming laptops under $1,500.

Best gaming laptop for Terminator Dark Fate Defiance @ 4K

Even if you don't have plans to play highly demanding games, 4K gaming laptops tend to be quite expensive due to the potent hardware needed to handle games at this resolution. The ASUS Zephyrus S17 is an older model available at a more budget-friendly price as a refurbished unit. Featuring an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and an impressive 120Hz refresh rate, this laptop provides a compelling gaming experience. If the Zephyrus S17 doesn't catch your eye, you can explore pricier alternatives such as the MSI Raider GE76 or Razer Blade 17.

Final Word

We hope you have found this brief guide on the best gaming laptop for Terminator Dark Fate - Defiance useful. If you're still not sure which device to pick, do have a gander at our best gaming laptop page or the myriad other gaming laptop guides we have in the main menu at the top of this page.

The Day Before is a moderately demanding game, so if you want to play it on maximum settings you'll need something with a bit of power, particularly at the higher resolutions.

Can I play The Day Before on my laptop?

Below are the official recommended requirements for The Day Before, though these are for desktop PCs it's important to note. Although not explicitly stated by the publishers of this particular game, recommended specs usually ensure the game runs at an average of approximately 60FPS on the highest settings at 1080p resolution. The CPU and GPU of laptops however are invariably less potent than their desktop counterparts, so you need to aim for one model higher in both respects to achieve the same performance. Higher resolutions also demand more power to achieve the same FPS.

See below for some recommendations on various laptop options that can run the game at different resolutions on high settings.

The Day Before recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for The Day Before @ 1200p

The ASUS ROG Strix G16, equipped with Intel Core i9-13980HX processor (the most powerful Intel 13th gen laptop CPU in the game) and Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card stands out as an exceptionally powerful gaming laptop for its price. At it's native 1200p resolution you're guaranteed a fluid gaming experience, and the maximum refresh rate of 165Hz is plenty high enough for those post-apocalyptic shooting situations. Additionally, the laptop features 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD for enhanced performance and storage capabilities.

Best gaming laptop for The Day Before @ 1440p

The ASUS ROG Strix G17 with AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptop CPU is one of our top picks for best RTX 4080 laptop in 2024. The power you get for a relatively reasonable price with this machine is very impressive indeed, particularly if you opt for the more powerful Ryzen 9 7945HX. On top of this the vibrant 1440p display has a very impressive 240Hz refresh rate, plus you get 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.

Best gaming laptop for The Day Before @ 4K

Delving into premium 4K gaming with maximum settings requires top-tier performance, and the MSI Titan GT77 emerges as an outstanding choice. The cutting-edge Nvidia RTX 4090 laptop graphics card (the most powerful GPU on the market) and Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU variant is the model we'd recommend, though it does admittedly cost a fairly large amount of money. You do however get a 17.7-inch mini-LED display, boasting the highest refresh rate available at this resolution: 144Hz. While there are alternative options like the slim Razer Blade 16, offering an RTX 4090 GPU and a 120Hz 4K display at a slightly lower cost, it falls short in comparison to the Titan's raw FPS power and the potential for extensive storage and RAM upgrades.

Final Word

You should now be well-versed on what are the best gaming laptops for The Day Before. If you're still looking for other options, do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the many other gaming laptop guides in the dropdown menu at the top of this page.

The good news is that House Flipper 2 doesn't demand high system requirements, though if you aim to play the game at higher resolutions on the highest graphical settings, you will have to spend a bit more money.

Can I play House Flipper 2 on my laptop?

The following are the officially recommended specifications for House Flipper 2, which will typically enable a game to run at an average of 60 frames per second (FPS) on the highest settings at 1080p on a desktop computer. It's crucial to note however that the CPUs and GPUs of laptops are inherently less powerful than their desktop counterparts. Therefore, to achieve comparable performance, it's advisable to target a laptop SKU that is one level above the specified requirements (such as our personal picks).

If you look below you'll find one of the three recommended laptops mentioned below should meet your requirements to run the game on the highest settings at different resolutions.

House Flipper 2 recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for House Flipper 2 @ 1200p

This ASUS ROG Strix G16 with RTX 4060 graphics card and Intel Core i9-13650HX is very powerful gaming laptop for the money, and will have you flipping those houses with liquid smooth FPS on the highest settings possible at its native 1200p resolution. The max refresh rate of 165Hz is plenty fast enough even for fast-paced online shooters, never mind a relatively sedate game like this. You also get 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 512GB SSD.

Best gaming laptop for House Flipper 2 @ 1440p

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 gaming laptop with RTX 4060 is one that we've had the pleasure of doing an in-depth review of, and it's one of the most impressive laptops we've reviewed this year on a price/performance basis. The GPU combined with the Intel Core i7-13700HX churns out in-game FPS at a very impressive rate - beyond what you'd expect from a laptop at this price point. On top of this the lush 1600p display is of an excellent quality, and comes with 500 nits of peak brightness, meaning you can use it out side for general usage. Plus the battery life is pretty good too!

Best gaming laptop for House Flipper 2 @ 4K

If you're looking for a 4K gaming laptop the reality is that you're going to have to pay a hefty amount of dosh. The MSI Titan GT77, either with RTX 4080 or 4090 GPU, is as an outstanding option. Along with the Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU it comes with a brilliantly bright 17.7″ mini-LED display boasting the highest 4K resolution refresh rate at 144Hz. While there are marginally more economical alternatives such as the slim Razer Blade 16 (equipped with an RTX 4090 GPU and a 120Hz 4K display), it falls short of the Titan's raw FPS power and the potential for extensive storage and RAM upgrades.

Final Word

Hopefully you should now we well-versed in what the best gaming laptop for House Flipper 2 is for your needs. If you're still not convinced, please do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the other gaming laptop guides in the menu above this page.

Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader isn't a very demanding game, so older gaming laptops may be able to run it, although if you want to enjoy it on the highest settings and the higher resolutions, this will require spending a moderate amount of money.

Can I play Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader on my laptop?

Below are the official recommended requirements for 40K Rogue Trader as supplied by the publisher, which usually produce around 60FPS performance on high settings at 1080p resolution (though this varies depending on the game). Do bear in mind though that these specs are targeted towards desktop users, and laptop components are not as powerful. As a result you'll need ot aim one SKU higher for the graphics card and processor to achieve the same level of performance.

See below where we list three models ideal to run the game at different resolution settings.

Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader @ 1080p

The best affordable choice to play Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader 1080p is the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3. It comes packing with a powerful Ryzen 7000 CPU, the Ryzen 7 7735HS, plus RTX 4050 laptop graphics card, 16GB of the latest DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD. This should be easily capable of running this title on high settings at this resolution and getting a nice in-game FPS.

If you're looking to play other titles and think you'd like a bit more power, then you could also consider the previous gen ASUS ROG Strix G15. This laptop packs a 300Hz display refresh rate, ideal for competitive shooters, and has an RTX 3060 laptop graphics card.

Best gaming laptop for Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader @ 1440p

The 1440p variant of the ASUS ROG Strix G15 AE stands out as an excellent choice for a mid-range gaming laptop. It combines the AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU with the AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX CPU, which performs about as well as an RTX 3070 laptop would (though the Ray-Tracing isn't quite as good).

It's important to mention that this laptop doesn't come with an integrated webcam, which could be a slight inconvenience. Nevertheless, you have the flexibility to acquire a standalone webcam at an affordable cost. Do be aware that there is an alternative FHD/1080p 300Hz version of this laptop on the market so make sure you don't pick this one up by mistake. You can also see our best gaming laptop under $1,500 guide if you're looking for alternative options.

Best gaming laptop for Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader @ 4K

Even if you're not looking to run a particularly demanding game, 4K gaming laptops come with a hefty price tag - the hardware required to run any game at this resolution needs to be pretty powerful. The ASUS Zephyrus S17 with RTX 3080 is a solid choice because, as an older machine, it's available for a more affordable price as a refurbished model. The laptop comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and a very nice 120Hz refresh rate. Alternatively, if this one doesn't pique your interest, you can explore other, more expensive options like the MSI Raider GE76 or the Razer Blade 17.

Final Word

Th is has been the best gaming laptop for Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader - we hope you found it informative. If you're still not sure which model to go for, do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the myriad other gaming laptop guides we have in the main menu at the top of this page.

American Truck Simulator isn't a particularly demanding game, but if you want to play on the higher resolutions at the highest settings and enjoy a smooth experience, you many have to pay a bit of dosh for the privilege.

Can I play American Truck Simulator on my laptop?

Below we've listed the official recommended requirements for American Truck Simulator, and there's two important things to note here: firstly, it's always advisable to go off recommend specs rather than minimum, as the latter will usually barely run the game, whereas the former will typically run the game to around 60FPS on high settings at 1080p; secondly, laptop components are always less powerful than their desktop counterparts, and given these recommend specs are with desktop PCs in mind - you'll need to aim one SKU higher for both the CPU and GPU to achieve the same level of performance.

If you cast your eye further down this page you'll see our suggestions for three laptops that will run the game at different resolutions on high settings.

American Truck Simulator - Kansas recommended system requirements (desktop)

Best affordable gaming Laptop for American Truck Simulator Kansas @ 1080p

Our first choice for playing American Truck Simulator Kansas at 1080p is the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3, which a nice cheap gaming laptop but which is capable of solid performance. It comes locked and loaded with a Ryzen 7000 series laptop processor, the Ryzen 7 7735HS specifically, plus an RTX 4050 laptop GPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 512GB of Solid State Drive storage.

The 120Hz refresh rate is plenty for most shooters, never mind a more slow-paced game like this. Alternatively, you could also consider the slightly older ASUS ROG Strix G15, which comes with a very high 300Hz refresh rate plus an Nvidia RTX 3060 laptop GPU.

Best gaming laptop for American Truck Simulator Kansas @ 1440p

The QHD model of the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is an excellent all-AMD choice for a mid-range gaming machine. It pairs the Radeon RX 6800M graphics card with the Ryzen 9 5980HX processor, which produces performance roughly equivalent to a laptop equipped with an RTX 3070, albeit with less advanced Ray-Tracing capabilities.

The laptop doesn't include a built-in webcam, which might be a minor inconvenience. If this is something you're looking for then we recommend you check out some alternatives on our best gaming laptop under $1,500 page.

Best gaming laptop for American Truck Simulator Kansas @ 4K

4K gaming laptops do not come cheap, so even for a fairly non-demanding game like American Truck Simulator. The fact is that running most titles at this high of a resolution is quite intensive on the GPU and CPU, the former in particular. This being the case the ASUS Zephyrus S17 with RTX 3080 is a solid choice as it's an older, but still powerful device, that you can pick up refurbished without breaking the bank. It comes with an RTX 3080 GPU and 120Hz refresh rate on the display. If you do want something more powerful however, then the MSI Raider GE76 or the Razer Blade 17 are worth looking into.

Final Word

You should now know everything you need to about the best gaming laptop for American Truck Simulator. If you're still unsure, do have a look at our best gaming laptop page or the many other gaming laptop guides in the dropdown menu at the top of this page.

That being said, you can rest assured that our buying guides are regularly updated with the best gaming laptops worthy of inclusion. If you want to get a better idea of what features you should be looking for before you buy, have a scan of our 'things to consider' and FAQs sections further down this page. If you’re just looking to make a quick purchase, then we've listed the top 3 picks below, though we recommend reading further down the page for individual reviews and more buying options.

Dell gaming laptops vs Alienware gaming laptops

Dell’s most premium range of gaming laptops are their own sub-brand known as Alienware. Whilst Dell do make ‘Dell brand’ gaming laptops, these tend to be budget to mid-range offerings, with the real high-end performers being the Alienware X17, Alienware Area 51m, and others besides. So whether you go with a Dell or Alienware branded gaming laptop really depends on your budget. We have options from both listed below.

Best Dell gaming laptop 2024: reviews

Take a gander below at our current Dell and Alienware selections that are worth your consideration this year.

Best Dell laptop for competitive gamers

This Alienware m18, equipped with Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics card and AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX processor will demolish any game you throw at it on maximum settings. This particular model, which comes equipped with a 1200p 480Hz display, is ideal for competitive online gamers, as this refresh rate is the fastest you can get in a laptop, and more than enough for anybody's needs - in fact it's arguably a bit overkill. Playing at this resolution with this speed of display, you will be able to enjoy liquid smooth gameplay on any fast-paced twitch shooter - maximising your advantage. Whilst Intel 14th gen laptop versions are due to come out in 2024, the performance difference between these and the preceding Intel 13th gen models is negligible, and this Ryzen-powered model remains the superior choice.

Besides being fast, the color replication of the display is also impressive: covering 100% sRGB and 97% DCI-P3 coverage, with a color accuracy of around 2.00 Delta E, meaning you'll be able to do color accurate work on the side as well as gaming in the sRGB gamut at least. The contrast is solid, and the brightness caps out at just shy of 350 nits, which is a reasonable result for indoor use.

The overall build quality is great and the laptop looks very tasty as you'd expect from this Dell sub-brand. There are extensive RAM and SSD upgrade options, a good array of ports (including an SD card reader), and the battery life, whilst not the best, isn't terrible (considering this is an Alienware machine) at between four and a half and five hours of general use. Obviously at 18-inches this is a big laptop, and weighs a fair bit to boot, so couldn't be described as portable, but if you're okay with that then this is a great machine.

A great value upper-mid-range RTX 4070 laptop with QHD display

The Alienware m16 has been revamped for 2024 in the form of the Alienware m16 R2, which has a new thermal solution and a more compact, portable design, with the keyboard positioned further back following the movement of the thermal vents. It comes equipped with a new Intel Core Ultra H option, which gives it an additional couple of hours of battery life compared to the m16 R1. Besides this though, the quality of the display is actually worse (with a mere 287 nits at peak brightness plus 98% sRGB and 70% DCI-P3 color replication) and in-game FPS performance is broadly similar. Considering all of this, plus the asking price of the new model being about $100 more, we'd still recommend the m16 R1 overall.

For those who think Alienware laptops are over priced, although you're often correct, the Alienware m16 R1 is a notable exception. You get some powerful components plus the high-end Alienware build quality, for a very reasonable asking price indeed. Specifically, the loadout we recommend is the RTX 4070 graphics card combined with the Intel Core i7-13700HX. The high TGP variant of this GPU alongside this CPU packs a meaty punch, and you'll be able to play pretty much any game on this rig on high settings for great FPS.

The other element of this laptop that particularly impresses is the screen. You can get both 240Hz and 165Hz refresh rate models, and the QHD+/1600p resolution display is nice and colorful - covering 100% of the sRGB gamut and around 97% DCI-P3, plus with respectable color accuracy of around 3.1 Delta E - not quite good enough for professionals but sufficient for amateur color work, and definitely well above what you'd need for gaming. The peak brightness of 350 nits is respectable for indoor use and the contrast is similar.

Unfortunately the poor battery life that afflicts many Alienware devices rears it's head again, and you won't get more than about 4 hours out of it sadly, if that. Additionally the weight of this laptop does substantially hinder its portability, so bear that in mind. It does look great though and still impresses with what you get for the money.

One of the cheapest RTX 4070 laptops you'll find

Another RTX 4070 laptop with 1600p screen, this Dell-branded device shaves a couple of hundred dollars off the comparative Alienware pick. This Dell G16 comes with an even more powerful processor - the Intel Core i9-13900HX - so on paper you'd expect it to run better, but in games it performs slightly worse than the Alienware m16 due to the lower TGP of its graphics card plus lower voltage in general. Still, for the money this is an impressive feat.

Given the pricing of this laptop, the build quality isn't the best as you'd expect, though this primarily is limited to the plasticky feel of the overall chassis plus some screen flex, whereas the keyboard and trackpad are actually okay. The trackpad is pretty small, but is reasonably responsive. The webcam quality is pretty poor, though will do in a pinch.

The cooling of the laptop is actually pretty solid, the number of ports/sockets quite impressive, and the display is pretty solid - again with around 350nits peak brightness, and a color gamut of around 97% sRGB and 78% DCI-P3 - certainly good enough for gaming.

Battery life is however very poor, and you shouldn't expect more than 3 hours of general usage out of it, even on battery saving mode. Overall though, this is a very worthwhile affordable machine.

A pricey but superbly designed, slimline 17" gaming laptop

You can also pick up the newer Alienware X16 R1 with RTX 4080 and 240Hz 1600p display, but this is considerably more expensive,

Out of the new Alienware X15 and X17, we’ve gone for the larger X17 with its 17.3-inch display for our premium pick of the best Dell gaming laptops. This is not only because the larger display helps give greater immersion in games, but also as the size constraints of the X15 hamper its performance by comparison, whereas the larger X17 iteration manages to have a nice high TGP for its GPU options, as well as good power supply for the CPU.

This means that gaming performance for either the RTX 3070 version or the RTX 3080 version of this machine are great, particularly considering that this is a slimline laptop. Dell have managed to pull off a very impressive technical feat with the cooling in this beast, despite its thin size, keeping thermal throttling to a relative minimum. The one downside to this is the massive powerbrick that the laptop comes with to pump all those volts in, which does hamper the portability of the machine somewhat. Battery life however, in general non-gaming usage, comes in at around 5 hours for the RTX 3070 version, which, for an Alienware laptop is far better than usual, and puts it up there with the majority of the competition at this price point.

The display on this Alienware is predictably superb in terms of color replication, contrast, and brightness. All display options cover at least 100% of the sRGB space, making them ideal for color work / graphic design in this space. Of all the display options we’d strongly recommend that you go with the 1080p 360Hz option, as this is the only one with G-Sync, a MUX Switch to disable Optimus (vital for ensuring the best performance) and also a stated 1ms response time, making it by far the best gaming option.

The mechanical keyboard and trackpad of the X17 are both great to use (though it does lack a numpad) and it comes with a handy microSD card slot. The motherboard is of the flipped variety, making it more difficult to upgrade the GPU and CPU should you wish to, but at least the RAM can be upgraded.

Ultimately the biggest issue with this laptop is the very high price, but if you want a piece of laptop excellence and can afford it, this is one of the best around.

Best affordable Dell gaming laptop

The Dell G15 is a very worthy option for a mid-range Dell gaming laptop, coming as it does with some powerful core components capable of pushing those FPS in games. You can go with the cheaper all AMD option if you want (the Dell G15 5505), which comes with a Ryzen 5 4600H CPU and Radeon 5600M GPU, alternatively there's the Dell G15 5515, which combines a Ryzen 7 5800H processor and an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card. The option we have here however is the G15 5520, which comes equipped with an Intel i7-12700H plus RTX 3060, and this is the one we'd recommend. The RTX 3060 GPU is a particularly powerful one, with a high TGP that means it can perform to the equal of many RTX 3070 laptops in game, combined with the powerful processor, this laptop can punch well above its weight in gaming scenarios.

The 1080p 120Hz display has mediocre color replication, coming in at around 68% sRGB, but for gaming its fine, and the refresh rate is reasonable for a cheaper device. This highly charged RTX 3060 does mean that the laptop doesn't have the longest battery - you'll get around 4 and a half hours of general usage - though this isn't terrible by gaming laptop standards. It does run quite cool however, both internally and externally.

The overall build quality of the laptop is good, though the keyboard and trackpad could be better. All told though, the Dell G15 5520 is a solid, affordable, mid-range choice.

Things to consider when buying a Dell gaming laptop

Before you go ahead and splash your cash on a new Dell machine, it's a good idea to have a read of the below factors that you should bear in mind when making your choice.

Dell gaming laptop battery life

The majority of Dell gaming laptops - be they Dell branded or Alienware - tend to have pretty poor battery life, although there have been a few exceptions to this in recent years. The Alienware X17, as discussed above, has a surprisingly great battery life, even though it's a powerful and slimline machine. Some Dell models equipped with Ryzen CPUs, in particular the 5000 series and 6000 series line, do also have pretty impressive battery durations, thanks to the energy efficiency of these CPUs.

Final Word

This has been our guide to the best Dell gaming laptop models in 2024. We hope it has proved useful and helped you find the option which is right for you. If you want to check our more options from different brands, then see our various best gaming laptop guides for different price ranges under the main site menu on the top of this page. Alternatively, you can have a look at our best gaming laptop page for our selections across all price ranges and brands.

Best Dell gaming laptop FAQs

Here at WePC our experts are contstantly striving to stay up to date with the latest tech releases, so you can rest assured that each of our buying guides will have the latest products listed that are worthy of your cash. If you want a quick buy right now, we've made a shortlist of our top three gaming laptops in this category immediately below. If you want to do a bit more research however, cast your eyes lower for a wider number of individual product reviews, plus some further information about the market.

Hz laptop meaning: laptop refresh rate explained

The refresh rate of any kind of display, be it a laptop screen or a desktop monitor, measures how many times the image on the screen is redrawn/refreshed within a second. This is measured in Hertz (Hz). Refresh rate becomes particularly apparent when trying to depict objects moving at high speed, for completely still images it is not noticeable at all. Essentially, if an object is moving fast (such as an enemy player jumping around a corner) the time it spends in each place on your screen is very low. If the refresh rate of the screen is not high enough, the object will have passed through a noticeably large amount of space in between each refresh of the image, meaning it will appear to have jumped, leading to a stuttering effect or, in extreme instances, appear to have teleported completely. A high refresh rate will be able to depict every minute change in the object’s travel along the way – leading to a smooth moving image. Low refresh rates hinder one’s ability to see faster-moving images and react to them, thereby negatively affecting performance in fast-paced games.

Best 144Hz laptop & 165Hz laptop 2024: in-depth review

A great value 144Hz gaming laptop with RTX 3060 GPU

The HP Omen 16 is a fantastic value gaming laptop of around the lower mid-range, which offers one of the best price/performance ratios of any device you're likely to find.

Equipped with an RTX 3060 GPU, this laptop delivers solid mid-range performance, capable of running most games on low-medium settings. The Ryzen 7 6800H CPU is also a robust performer. Under strain, the laptop can get a bit loud, but performance settings in the onboard software can be adjusted to mitigate this. The DDR5 memory is a positive feature, and the device offers a good selection of I/O ports, including 2x USB-A, 2x USB-C, and an ethernet port.

Featuring a 16-inch screen, the laptop boasts a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz and an impressive peak brightness of 400 nits, which is substantially brighter than most gaming laptops in this price range can manage. It also provides around 99% sRGB gamut for color replication, again well above average, and though the color accuracy may not be suitable for color-accurate creative work, it remains reasonable with an average deltaE of approximately 4.17.

A superb 165Hz gaming laptop with RTX 4060 GPU

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 can be equipped with different GPU and CPU variants, bu the one we most recommend, which we tested and benchmarked in our in-depth review, is the RTX 4060 and i7-13700HX model, which hits well above its weight for in-game performance. This is further enhanced by the inclusion of Advanced Optimus, a feature not commonly found in this price range.

With this laptop you get a lot for your money, and it's one of the best cost-effective gaming laptops of this year. The other standout feature of this laptop is its high-quality display, with an impressive peak brightness of 500 nits - meaning you could feasibly use it outdoors if it's not too sunny, plus relatively accurate colors, a 1600p resolution (with a 16:10 aspect ratio for an improved vertical screen size), and a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. It also comes with G-Sync. Additionally, the laptop excels in terms of battery life, offering around 7 hours of general use in battery-saving mode, enhancing its utility as a general productivity machine. It also provides a robust selection of ports, including Ethernet support.

The main drawback of the deivce is the noise generated by the fans when the Turbo mode preset is activated. However, users can mitigate this by adjusting settings in the onboard software to strike a suitable balance between in-game performance and noise levels. There are some other relatively minor drawbacks, such as the less-than-optimal build quality of the bezels and a somewhat hefty power adapter, these are reasonable compromises given the overall value provided.

An affordable RTX 4070 gaming laptop with 144Hz display

The Gigabyte AORUS 15 is a fantastic value laptop which is arguably the cheapest RTX 4070 laptop you're likely to find, and as a result secures a place in our best gaming laptop under $1,500 guide.

Although the RTX 4070 it comes with isn't the most powerful around in TGP terms, combined with the Intel Core i7-13700H it still packs a very nice punch, well above what you'd normally expect for a gaming laptop of this price. With 16GB of RAM and a spacious 1TB SSD, it provides ample memory for multitasking during gaming sessions or various workstation tasks. The 2560 x 1440 resolution screen with a 165Hz refresh rate offers an immersive visual experience for gaming, although the color gamut might not meet the demands of color-intensive workstation tasks. Notably, the absence of G-Sync support can result in occasional screen tearing.

While the fan noise can be relatively loud, potentially affecting its suitability as an office machine, the laptop manages a commendable 7 hours in battery saver mode, surpassing the average for gaming laptops. Featuring a reliable trackpad with a built-in fingerprint scanner and a mechanical-like keyboard that offers a comfortable typing experience. The laptop's port selection is generally satisfactory, even including a Thunderbolt 4 port, which may be essential for some users. Overall, the Gigabyte AORUS 15 provides excellent value at its price point and stands out as a robust choice for gamers and power users.

A terrific value 1440p 165Hz gaming laptop with AMD 5900HX CPU & RX 6800M GPU

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition comes in two main varieties: the 1080p 300Hz display version, or the 1440p 165Hz option. Either option offers superb value for money, with the 1080p version being our top pick on our best gaming laptop under $1,500 page. The color replication and contrast on both displays are solid, more than enough for a gaming laptop, though not up there with the premium offerings, and the response time is equally respectable.

Other than the display, both versions of this laptop come with the same core components, with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M graphics card. The 5900HX CPU is literally the best you can get in a gaming laptop, so there’s no room for criticism there, and the RX 6800M GPU can go toe-to-toe with an Nvidia RTX 3070 (laptop version) in terms of raw FPS, though it lacks the same Ray Tracing capabilities. Simply put, you won’t find better power per price in a gaming laptop.

There are other areas in which the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition performs well which are surprising for a gaming laptop. Chief among these is the battery life, which can reach up to 9 hours when doing non-gaming, non-demanding tasks – very impressive for such a powerful laptop, and a testament to the efficiencies AMD have brought about with their Advantage Edition line. The speakers on this machine, whilst not terrific, are also actually pretty solid – with bass replication that is certainly better than the majority of the competition in this price range, and definitely good enough to enjoy watching YouTube and Netflix on.

For those looking for a laptop that can do more than just game, the lack of an integrated webcam or SD card reader may be off putting, though these can easily be bought seperately. The lowest spec option of this machine only comes with a 512GB SSD, and this is far too low for a modern gaming machine – we’d advise going with the 1TB version as a minimum.

The one major drawback of this laptop is that the performance is heavily bottlenecked by the slower RAM stock that it comes with, even by the standards of an AMD machine. Performance out of the box is still good value for what you pay for, but we’d heartily recommend upgrading the RAM as soon as you can, which can unlock an additional 10% of FPS performance in some titles, even up to 20% in a handful of cases.

The best 165Hz gaming laptop for portability

The Razer Blade 14 is the best 14-inch gaming laptop currently available. This 165Hz gaming laptop has the classic high contrast ratio, bright, vibrant colored display that Razer laptops are associated with. The screen is around 99.8% accurate in the sRGB space and 83% for AdobeRGB, making it suitable for graphic design work and other color accurate work, besides just the gaming experience. 1440p is overkill for such a small display in our opinion, but there’s no denying that it makes the screen look crisp and has its uses for creatives, plus the resolution can be turned down to 1080p in game no problem.

In terms of gaming, the real response time of the screen is around 9ms gray-to-gray, which isn’t fast compared to the other selections on this page, but still makes it the fastest response time for any 14-inch gaming laptop money can buy. FreeSync is fully supported and the 165Hz refresh rate is more than adequate.

Looking at the core components then, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU is the best processor available for a laptop in terms of FPS performance, and helps extend the battery life further than an Intel option would. The 8GB RTX 3080 is a relatively underpowered version of the Nvidia graphics card, not just in VRAM terms but also TGP (90-100W), so performs alongside many upper echelon RTX 3070 laptops in games; however, once again it still represents the best that money can buy in a laptop of this size. The reality is that such a thin and small chassis puts restrictions on the level of power you can realistically put into it, so that being the case, the Razer Blade 14 is still a very impressive machine.

The build quality of Razer Blade 14 is superb. The fans are quite loud when gaming especially, and we would have liked to see upgradability for the 16GB of RAM, though this is still a decent amount to play with. The only other downside to this laptop is the high price, though if you want the best portable gaming laptop, this is it.

Things to consider when buying a 165Hz or 144Hz laptop for gaming

If you want to know what to consider when looking for a gaming laptop in general, regardless of subcategory, have a quick look at this same section on our main best gaming laptop page. The below points will be a quick summary of what you need to be aware of when shopping for devices with these particular maximum refresh rates.

165hz vs 144hz laptop displays

At the time of writing, most new laptop and monitor displays that would have been 144Hz in days past are now 165Hz. In other words, 165Hz gaming laptops are the new standard for most models in the middle price range, or 1440p display laptops, and any 144Hz laptop for gaming that you encounter will likely be a slightly older model; this doesn’t mean they aren’t worth buying though, particularly if you’re looking for a budget gaming laptop.

Ultimately, the difference between 144FPS and 165FPS will not be particularly noticeable to the average gamer, and will only make a slight bit of difference (14.6% to be exact) to your competitive gaming performance, still, every little helps. Either way, both refresh rates offer a great middle-ground between FPS performance and cost-effectiveness.

Is a 144Hz refresh rate good for gaming?

The short answer to this question is yes, at least for the vast majority of gamers. Whilst the perceptible difference between 60Hz and 100Hz is huge, and almost the same gap between 100Hz and 144Hz is less significant, but still substantial, by the time you go from 144Hz or 165Hz up to 240Hz or higher, the same numerical gap (in terms of Hz) just doesn’t feel as noticeably different. 240Hz or even 300Hz and 360Hz are only for those gamers who are committed to squeezing every edge they can out of games like CS:GO, the Call Of Duty, or Battlefield series etc. Even so, you will need a truly beastly gaming laptop, and a willingness to turn the graphical settings down, in order to achieve these kind of FPS in your games. For most people a laptop at either of these refresh rates will be perfectly adequate.

FreeSync and G-Sync support

FreeSync and G-Sync are collectively known as Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) or adaptive sync technologies, which help to smooth out motion displayed on the screen, and reduce the artefact known as screen tearing. This is accomplished through more precisely matching (i.e. synchronizing) the frame rate output of your PC with the refresh rate of your display.

FreeSync is AMD’s version of the technology, whereas G-Sync is Nvidia’s, although GPUs from both manufacturers can use either technology to a degree, full G-Sync is often only usable by machines with an Nvidia graphics card. G-Sync Compatible is the term used to describe the less potent version of the technology, and you’ll find a lot of gaming laptop display with native FreeSync support which are also G-Sync compatible.

1080p vs 1440p gaming laptops

Every laptop you will see recommended on this page which comes with either a 144Hz or 165Hz refresh rate will have 1080p (aka HD) or 1440p (aka QHD or WQHD) resolution. Refresh rate and resolution are the chief determinants (besides size) of the price of a screen, so if we’re keeping the refresh rate constant then you can expect the 1080p models to be the cheaper options available. 165Hz is increasingly the standard for any recently released 1440p gaming laptop, and you’ll only find higher refresh rates on premium end 1440p laptops.

Generally speaking, we’re of the opinion that 1080p is the perfect resolution for any gaming laptop with a 15-inch display or smaller. At this size, the benefits of a 1440p display, whilst noticeable, aren’t usually worth the sacrifices that must be made in other areas (i.e. price and the lower FPS performance on the higher resolution screen). Still, if you have your heart set on a 1440p display, either for light workstation use, watching higher-res movies and films, or just because you like the look of them, you can always turn down the resolution settings in-game to 1080p to maximize your FPS.

4K 165Hz & 144Hz laptops

As of 2023, laptops with 4K resolution ane panels which can reach either of these refresh rates are starting to become fairly common, such as the MSI GE76 Raider 10UH or the Razer Blade Pro 17 4K Touch. Previously, most 4K laptops tend to come in at a refresh rate of 60Hz, which isn’t a high enough refresh rate for competitive online gaming, and is only around the minimum we’d recommend for slower-paced, single-player titles. 120Hz models then became more common in 2022, which were the first proper gaming devices with this resolution.

Why 144Hz?

144 might seem a very specific number for a refresh rate. If you’ve pondered the question ‘why 144Hz?’ the answer lies in the movie business. Films are traditionally exported at 24FPS, and 144 is a multiple of 24, just as 120 is. 3D films are also commonly shot at a standard 48FPS, which 144 is also divisible by. This makes it easier to convert 24FPS/48FPS to a 144Hz video output: each frame of the former is ‘sent’ six times to the display, and each frame of the latter is sent three times to the display. 60FPS footage, which is a common standard for video in the USA, is a bit more difficult to match up (it requires a variation of the process known as 3:2 pulldown, but for a 5:12 ratio) but the fact that both 60 and 144 are divisible by 12 makes it a bit easier than it otherwise would be.

What happens if I connect a 144Hz laptop to a 60Hz monitor?

If you connect a 144Hz laptop to a 60Hz monitor, the maximum effective FPS you will be able to experience when playing your PC games will be 60FPS, as the display won’t be able to output any more images than this, per second.

Which laptop has the highest Hz?

The highest refresh rate for a laptop display is currently 480Hz. This is frankly a ridiculously high refresh rate, and is beyond what's necessary for even high-end, fast-paced competitive gaming. If your laptop doesn’t have the hardware to run your chosen game on your preferred settings at near 480FPS, then it’s largely a pointless expense; it probably won't even reach 360FPS on 1080p/FHD resolution unless it's an older game like CS:GO and a fairly powerful laptop, so even 360Hz configurations are slightly excessive for most gamers. Check out our best gaming laptop page for the best high refresh rate examples.

Final Word

So there we have it, this has been our guide to the best 144Hz laptop models and best 165Hz laptops for gaming. Although we have ordered our choices starting with what we consider the best, each selection on this page is a worthy option and fulfills different needs depending on your budget and specific requirements, so make sure you at least have a look at the pros & cons of each before making your decision.

Please have a look above for recommended laptop guides for different budgets if you fancy something cheaper or more expensive, or our best gaming laptop guide for what we consider to be the best, regardless of budget, refresh rate, or other considerations.

Best 165Hz laptop & Best 144Hz laptop FAQs

We've got into more depth below comparing the specification differences and the performance comparison, but ultimately we wouldn't recommend buying an RTX 3050/3050 Ti laptop in most cases, however our best RTX 4050 laptop guide is well worth checking out (we've summarised the top picks below).

RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop specifications

Architecture & GPU

Nvidia 40 series graphics card architecture is based on the 4nm process by TSMC, codenamed Ada Lovelace, which is an improvement on the larger 8nm Samsung process used in the 30 series architecture, codenamed Ampere. The new process means that more transistors can be put onto the same amount of space, or the same amount on a smaller-sized chip, plus it has greater electrical efficiency.

GPU & CUDA Cores

Nvidia's GPU-naming convention means larger GPUs have a smaller number, so the AD107 GPU of the RTX 4050 laptop graphics card is smaller than that of the AD106 in the RTX 4070 laptop graphics card. The prefix AD is the shortened version of Ada Lovelace.

Although the GA107 has the same numerical designation, it is based on older technology (hence the GA prefix), so performs less efficiently and with less processing power, and with less CUDA cores being able to fit on the same sized chip (hence the 25% increase in core count for the RTX 4050).

Clock speed & TGP

Clock speed is one of the key determinants when looking at performance. As you can see, the RTX 4050 has a substantially higher Boost clock than the RTX 3050.

TGP (Total Graphics Power) is the usual determinant of how hard laptop one graphics card is compared to another with the same name i.e. not all laptop graphics cards are created equal, and the amount of power (measured in Watts) a particular RTX 4050 laptop GPU can suck up might be different from that of another RTX 4050 laptop GPU in a different machine - meaning more performance at the potential expense of worse battery life.

However, across different cards based on different architecture, like the two compared here, a direct comparison isn't possible. Nevertheless, a higher TGP ceiling of 115W on the most powerful RTX 4050 laptops, on top of the greater efficiency already discussed, indicates that they will be considerably more powerful.

VRAM, Memory Bus & Memory Bandwidth

VRAM aka video random access memory is essentially the short-term memory of the graphics card that acts as a frame buffer and as pixel storage. The memory bus and bandwidth enables the transfer of this information. More VRAM and a larger memory bus/bandwidth enables a smoother experience with better framerate and latency. It’s especially useful for larger resolutions as they have higher pixel counts to fill up many gigabytes.

Although the memory bus on the newer RTX 4050 has decreased, the VRAM has increased by 50%, as has the bandwidth (due to the greater memory speed), meaning it's overall more effective than its predecessor.

RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop performance

The below graph as reported by WCCFTECH shows a Time Spy benchmark test, and lists the RTX 4050 laptop GPU beside 30-series mobile GPUs (the gray bars) and 40-series GPUs (the green bars). There is also the RTX 3050 6G in green, the new upcoming variant of the RTX 3050 laptop card with more VRAM. The original 4G VRAM version is also listed.

The original 4G VRAM RTX 3050 laptop GPU was a bit of a damp squib - worse in a lot of ways than the GTX 1660 Ti laptops from two generations earlier. By contrast, the RTX 4050 laptops are well worth the money, only underperforming the previous mid-range entry, the RTX 3060, by 15 percent.

In terms of RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop performance, the new card has around 50 percent more juice than the RTX 3050 4G, and 29 percent more than the RTX 3050 Ti. Of course, these are synthetic benchmarks and performance will vary from game to game. In particular, those that support DLSS 3.0 should show additional FPS gains over the 30-series laptops.

Of course, lower-powered RTX 4050s (in TGP terms) could perform worse, but on the whole this is what you should expect.

RTX 4050 laptop price vs 3050 laptop price

The RTX 4050 laptop prices we've seen so far range from $999 all the way up to $2,399.99, though the latter is more of an outlier, being an ultralight creative laptop with AMOLED display. Most conventional RTX 4050 gaming laptops will max out around the $1,500 mark.

Although you may find some RTX 3050 laptops on offer for as low as $699, the current MSRP of the cheapest options is around $899, which is not that much cheaper than the cheapest RTX 4050s. If price drops become permanent then an RTX 3050 laptop might be worth picking up for $699, for a true budget offering, but at the current full prices, we think the RTX 4050 laptop is far better value.

RTX 4050 mobile vs RTX 3050 mobile FAQs

Final Word

Hopefully, this RTX 4050 laptop vs RTX 3050 laptop page has given you all the info you were looking for to help you make your purchase. If not, please do take a gander at our various other gaming laptop guides.

Now the RTX 4060 laptop has been out for a while there is a wealth of independent benchmark data to gauge its performance from, including our own Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 review that we'd encourage you to read; and the verdict is that it's a great laptop GPU all-round, but the uplift isn't too impressive over the previous gen if you're only looking at the raw performance and not including frame generation/DLSS performance. Although it varies by game you can expect a difference of around 15% with DLSS/FSR disabled, though this will increase when it is enabled. That being said, this is still decent because RTX 3060 laptops were generally pretty good mid-range performers already, and ultimately it depends on what price you can pick up an RTX 4060 laptop for.

Below we've listed the top 3 picks from our best RTX 4060 laptop guide for your to have a look at.

RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop specifications

The RTX 4060 laptop specs vs RTX 3060 laptop specs can be seen below. Read further down for an explanation of what these features mean.

Architecture

The new Nvidia 40-series GPU chips are based on the 4nm process of TSMC (known as Ada Lovelace), whereas the 30-series are built upon the 8nm Samsung process (known as Ampere). The smaller process size of the newer chips mean that more transistors can be put onto the same amount of space, or the same amount on a smaller sized chip. It also means for greater power efficiency, which we will discuss more below.

GPU & CUDA Cores

Nvidia's GPU-naming convention means larger GPUs have a smaller number, so the AD107 GPU of the RTX 4060 laptop graphics card is smaller than that of the AD106 in the RTX 4070 laptop graphics card. The prefix AD is the shortened version of Ada Lovelace.

Consequently the GA103-300 in the RTX 3060 laptop is higher up in the hierarchy, even though it is based on an older technology. As a consequence it has more CUDA Cores on the GPU chip than the newer RTX 4060 laptop does, but this doesn't necessarily mean it will perform better (indeed it doesn't in this case).

Clock speed & TGP

Clock speed is one of the key determinants when looking at performance. As you can see, both the base clock (the lower number in the range) and the boost clock (the higher number) are greater on the newer card than that of the RTX 3060 laptop GPU.

TGP (Total Graphics Power) is the usual determinant of how hard laptop one graphics card is compared to another with the same name i.e. not all laptop graphics cards are created equal, and the amount of power (measured in Watts) a particular RTX 4060 laptop GPU can suck up might be different from that of another RTX 4060 laptop GPU in a different machine - meaning more performance at the potential expense of worse battery life.

However, across different cards based on different architecture, like the two compared here, it doesn't mean that the 170W RTX 3060 laptop outcompetes the 115W RTX 4060 laptop, it does however mean it will be more energy efficient, hopefully leading to longer battery life for RTX 4060 machines.

VRAM, Memory Bus & Memory Bandwidth

VRAM aka video random access memory is essentially the short term memory of the graphics card that acts as a frame buffer and as pixel storage. The memory bus and bandwidth enables the transfer of this information. More VRAM and a larger memory bus/bandwidth enables a smoother experience with better framerate and latency. It’s especially useful for larger resolutions as they have higher pixel counts to fill up many gigabytes. Although the memory bus on the newer RTX 4060 has decreased, the VRAM has increased.

RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop performance

Below we can see comparative performance graphs from a Chinese leaker, which have since proven accurate by independent testing of these devices from trusted reviewers (ourselves included). Although the list is written in Mandarin, we've ordered them starting with QHD Red Dead Redemption 2, then QHD Cyberpunk 2077(DLSS/FSR switched on), QHD Forza Horizon 5, FHD CS: GO, FHD Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, FHD Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and finally 3DMark Time Spy Scores.  

The comparison clearly shows that the RTX 4060 laptop is better than both the laptop and desktop versions of the RTX 3060, which is especially impressive because the desktop version of the RTX 3060 (which can be identified by the 12G) is a killer device performance-wise.   

Let’s take a look at some specific performance takeaways from the comparison graph.

RTX 4060 laptop price vs 3060 laptop price

We've seen RTX 4060 laptop prices listed so far anywhere between $1,099 all the way up to $2,699.

You're unlikely to find an RTX 3060 laptop for much cheaper than $1,000, so at the cheaper end of the spectrum the RTX 4060 models seem to offer very good value, given their substantial outperformance of the older card.

Of course these cheaper RTX 4060s aren't likely to be the most high-TGP/powered of the bunch, but besides the models at the highest end of the price range, we'd say the RTX 4060 laptop GPU offers good value overall - with good performance for a fair price.

Final Word

We hope that this RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop page has given you all the info you need to know. Do take a look at our various other gaming laptop guides whilst you're here.

RTX 4060 laptop vs RTX 3060 laptop FAQs