BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Vetted

All products and services featured are independently selected by Forbes Vetted contributors and editors. When you make a purchase through links on this page, we may earn a commission.
Edit Story

The Best Gaming Laptops To Bring Your Fun Anywhere

Looking to score a new laptop for less? Many laptops—including some of these gaming laptops—are on sale for Amazon Prime Day. Read on for details on the best picks and deals today.

If you like to play your games on a laptop, it's always worth considering upgrading to one of the best gaming laptops. They not only give you fantastic performance, but compared to gaming laptops of yesteryear, they're lighter, leaner, have better battery life, and come with heaps of quality of life improvements which you won't find anywhere else.

These gaming-focused machines are almost as lean as some of the top laptops on the market—and some could be considered lightweight. You don’t need to spend a ton on a new portable, with some gaming laptops under $500 that can handle less demanding gameplay. There are definitely compromises in that price range, so you can also pay more for a premium gaming laptop with high-end components. Either way, these laptops can be perfect for LAN parties or switching from work to play at any time.

To pick the best gaming laptops money can buy, we used our extensive first-hand time with some of the fastest gaming machines out there, and combined it with extensive research and review comparisons. After whittling it down to a select few excellent models, we feel confident that these are the best gaming laptops you can buy today.


Best Gaming Laptop Overall

High-End Hardware In a Streamlined Chassis

Razer Blade 15 Advanced

CPU: Intel Core i7 12800H | GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti | Storage: 1TB SSD | Memory: 16GB DDR5 | Display: 15.6-inch | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Refresh rate: 240Hz

Best for: Gamers who want a do-it-all high-end gaming machine to fit in with their other Razer accessories.

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced features the most cutting edge mobile gaming hardware money can buy. From its Intel 12th-generation Core i7 12800H processor to its fast 240Hz QHD screen, this laptop is stacked with power. Its Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti graphics gets big gains in performance by using Nvidia's Ampere architecture to deliver higher frame rates, finer detail settings and better support for higher resolutions.

With a stylish and solid design, this laptop has a sleek finish on every surface, a minimalist chassis, a thin-bezel display and Razer’s classy Chroma backlighting for the keyboard. The revamped, comfortable keyboard has new, bigger keycaps and snappy responsive switches, making for more accurate typing and gaming over longer sessions. Inside, the Blade 15 Advanced has 16GB of RAM, 1TB of fast storage, and a capable and quiet cooling solution. Battery life isn't extensive with such a high-end configuration, but you can get a solid few hours of play away from a power socket.

Pros

  • High-end components
  • Excellent build quality
  • Runs cool and quiet

Cons

  • Expensive
forbes.comRazer Promo Codes | 15% Off In July 2022 | Forbes

Best 17-inch Gaming Laptop

Big, Bold And Beautiful

Dell Alienware X17 R2

CPU: Intel Core i7 12700H | GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti | Storage: 1TB SSD | Memory: 16GB LPDDR5 | Display: 17.3-inch | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Refresh rate: 360Hz

Best for: Gamers who want fast speed on a big-screen.

With a giant 17-inch screen and powerful components, the Dell Alienware x17 R2 rivals desktop gaming rigs—and it does so in a more portable chassis than many of its contemporaries at similar sizes. This laptop’s Intel Core i7-12700H CPU and 16GB of memory give this model more general compute power than even the best gaming laptops from last year, and when combined with the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, it's a stellar gaming laptop with all the power you need to play just about anything.

The display is only 1080p, a relatively low resolution for a high-end laptop. But where some gaming laptops target higher resolutions, this one goes for boosting frames. With a 360Hz refresh rate, this laptop makes high-speed games look gorgeously smooth, and if you're playing against other players, it'll even give you an edge by lowering your response time and input lag. Battery life isn't extensive, but it does stay pretty cool due to advances in Dell's cooling technologies. The laptop’s styled aesthetics scream "gamer" at anyone who dares look its way. At this screen size, with this power, this is easily the best 17-inch gaming laptop you can buy in 2022.

Pros

  • Big, super-fast display for competitive gaming
  • High-end hardware can play anything at high frame rates
  • Gorgeous design

Cons

  • Bulky
  • Poor battery life

Best Gaming Laptop Under $500

Gaming On A Budget

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14-inch

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U | GPU: AMD Radeon 7 | Storage: 256GB SSD | Memory: 8GB DDR4 | Display: 14-inches Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Refresh rate: 60Hz

Best for: Budget-conscious gamers not focused on competitive play or the latest AAA games.

Most gaming laptops start their pricing around the $800 mark, but that doesn't mean you can't get a gaming laptop if your budget is lower. The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 isn't a gaming-laptop per say, but it's a laptop with all the power you need to start gaming. It has an AMD Ryzen 5500U processor with onboard Radeon Vega graphics and 8GB of RAM, making it powerful enough for all sorts of indie games and esports games. It'll even play older AAA games too, though you'll need to play with the settings to keep the frame rates comfortable.

The 1080p display is bright and vibrant. The 256GB of SSD storage is more than enough for Windows and a handful of even modern games. This laptop has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, a USB-C port. It also has great battery life, lasting over 10 hours of mixed usage or well over five when gaming. This isn't a gaming laptop per se, but it can play less demanding games reasonably well for such an affordable price.

Pros

  • Playable esports gaming performance at a low price
  • Cool and quiet even when gaming

Cons

  • Onboard graphics are underpowered for AAA gaming
  • Limited storage for bigger game libraries

Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000

A Great Gaming Laptop That Won’t Break Your Wallet

Dell G15 5520 15.6-inch

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H | GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 | Storage: 512GB SSD | Memory: 16GB DDR5 | Display: 15.6-inch | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Refresh rate: 120Hz

Best for: Gamers who want solid performance without breaking the bank.

Amazon Prime Day Competitors Sales: Get our previous pick, a version of the G15 with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, at Best Buy for $1,000.

The Dell G15 5520 is an affordable gaming laptop that doesn’t cut corners. This iteration adds a 12th-generation Intel CPU and doubles the system memory as compared with our prior pick, with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU. The G15 has a capable array of components that give all the performance you need for high frame rate esports gaming and more. The dedicated GPU is enough to get any AAA game up and running and it'll deliver the kind of frames you need to enjoy high speed games to their fullest.

The overall design is well put together and robust, and has an atypical look with a split level design. It also has strong battery life, making it a great portable gaming machine for taking on the road with you. The 120Hz display has a high refresh rate, which helps provide competitive gameplay in fast games and smooth animations in slower games. It also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth, and has four USB ports (one Thunderbolt 4/USB Type-C and three USB Type-B 3.2 Gen 1), which makes it easy to connect all of your accessories and controllers for whatever games you like to play. For gamers, this model can dynamically adjust performance by activating Game Shift, a technology first seen in Dell’s Alienware line. Game Shift pushes the fans’ speed to maximum to help keep processors stay cool and run efficiently while gaming.

Pros:

  • Attractive design
  • Strong battery life

Cons:

  • Underwhelming display
  • Heavy

Best Laptop for Gaming and School

Good At Everything

Asus ROG Zephyrus G15

CPU: AMD Ryzen9 6900HS | GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 | Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD | Memory: 16GB DDR5 | Display: 15.6-inch | Resolution: 2,560 x 1,440 | Refresh rate: 165Hz

Best for: Gamers after a solid all-around gaming machine with a high-resolution display.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is one of the best all-round gaming laptops ever made. It sports fantastic components for high-performance gaming, a gorgeous WQHD display with a fast refresh rate, and plenty of ultra fast storage for quick game load times. The chassis is sleek, with an understated and classy design that looks good for gamers and serious students alike. At 4.2 pounds, this laptop is light enough to take anywhere. The keyboard is responsive and springy, making it great for typing as well as gaming.

The Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU is more energy efficient than previous designs, which means this laptop can get a reasonable battery life. It has Dolby Atmos support, and a built-in microphone with noise cancellation. If you want a gaming laptop that can do it all without costing thousands, this is the one for you.

Pros:

  • Clean aesthetic
  • Strong performance in esports and AAA games
  • Long battery life

Cons:

  • Underside runs warm

Best Budget Gaming Laptop

An Affordable Gaming Laptop With Real Power

Asus TUF Dash 15.6-inch

CPU: Intel Core i7-12650H | GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 | Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD | Memory: 16GB DDR5 | Display: 15.6-inch | Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 Refresh Rate: 144Hz

Best for: Gamers who want real the very best graphics performance.

It's rare to find a high-end CPU and GPU for under $2,000, but the Asus TUF Dash has top components at a price well below that typical threshold. With an Intel Core i7-12650H and Nvidia RTX 3070, you can play any game at full detail on its 1080p display. And with a 144Hz refresh rate, everything will look buttery smooth—whether you're playing a high-stakes esports game or something slower and more atmospheric.

This model has robust range of inputs for all of your accessories, whether you want to connect them with typical wires or over a wireless Wi-Fi 6 connection. The keyboard uses white keys to set the common gaming keys (a,s,d,w) apart from the rest of the keys. The unit has strong connectivity, with two fast USB ports, two USB Type-C ports and a dedicated ethernet jack. The whole system is compact and lightweight enough that you can throw it in a backpack and take it with you without breaking your back. Overall, this is one of the most powerful and portable gaming laptops you can buy today, and a great price.

Pros:

  • Great value given its strong components
  • Attractive design

Cons:

  • Ports are squashed together
  • Screen resolution underwhelming for AAA play

Best 300Hz Gaming Laptop

Blazing Fast Refresh

Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800M | Storage: 1TB SSD | Memory: 16GB DDR4 |Display: 15.6-inches | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Refresh rate: 300Hz

Best for: Esports gamers who want a competitive edge.

The Asus ROG Strix G15 was arguably the best gaming laptop you could buy in 2021, and it still holds its own in 2022. This version has both an AMD Ryzen 5900HX processor and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M mobile graphics chip. Add in its crazy fast 300Hz 1080p display, this laptop has all you need to get every competitive edge possible. This is especially important in esports games, where not only will the action look smooth when you hit those high frame rates but you'll get a few milliseconds advantage over your opponents.

The laptop uses Asus’ cooling system uses cooling liquid metal thermal compound from Thermal Grizzly to maximize heat dissipation through the intelligent cooling system. This helps prevent noise levels from ever getting too high and ensures that you maintain maximum performance even when the laptop starts to warm up.

Pros:

  • Fastest gaming laptop display you can buy
  • Strong hardware helps hit high frame rates
  • Unique look

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Slower DDR4 system memory

Best Gaming Laptop Deals

July is filled with all kinds of hot gaming laptop deals. Alongside Amazon's Prime Day, other retailers also offer big discounts on gaming laptops new and old alike—making this a great time of year to pick up your next gaming machine.


Serious Power For Gamers And Creators Alike

Acer Predator Triton 500 SE Gaming/Creator Laptop

Jammed with a 12th Gen Intel i9-12900H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics and a whopping 32GB of system memory, this Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is ready for most any task you can throw at it. It has a 16-inch WQXGA display with Nvidia G-Sync support and a fast 240Hz refresh rate. Save $440 and buy this now for $2,560.


This Laptop’s Colors Are Legion

Lenovo Legion 5

The Lenovo Legion 5 is a great mid-range gaming laptop with a capable Ryzen 5600H CPU, and the excellent Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU. Together they give plenty of performance for all sorts of games, and with a 120Hz 1080p display, you'll be able to take full advantage of the high frame rates it's capable of. It also comes complete with Lenovo's Legion AI software, which dynamically shifts power around to the most-in-need components to help maximize performance. Save $180 and buy it now for $970 at Amazon.


Fast, High-Res Display

Alienware m15 R7

With the latest AMD processor, this Alienware m15 R7 laptop absolutely flies through any task or game you throw at it. It's paired with the excellent Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti graphics chip, and with a fast 240Hz display, you can really make the most of your favorite games. It also comes with an impressive 32GB of DDR5 memory, so this would be an excellent machine for video editing and transcoding as well as gaming. Save $425 and buy it now for $2,125.


This HP Model Is A Steal On Sale For $550

HP Victus Gaming Laptop 15.6-inch

The HP Victus is an entry-level gaming laptop with a fantastic processor and a so-so GPU. It has enough performance to deliver excellent frame rates in esports games, and with a 144Hz display, animations look smooth and fluid and you won't be giving up any response-time to gamers with more expensive laptops. Thanks to the improved efficiency of its Intel 12th-generation CPU, battery life is reasonable, lasting over six hours for video playback. Grab it while it lasts for $550 at Best Buy.


A Gaming Machine For Creators

Gigabyte Aero 16

It might be aimed more towards creators, but make no mistake, the Gigabyte Aero 16 is an awesome gaming laptop. It has the powerful combination of a high-end Intel 12th-generation CPU and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU, giving it all the power it needs for intense esports and AAA gaming. It also has a gorgeous 16-inch, 4K AMOLED display, with amazing contrast ratio and a super low response time for fast gaming. Save 32% and buy it now for $1,600 at Best Buy.


Powerful CPU With Fast Display

ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16

If you want a super powered gaming laptop for a little less, this Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is an absolute powerhouse of a gaming machine. It packs a one-two performance punch with its flagship 12th generation Intel Core i9-12900H CPU and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU. There’s enough oomph here to easily output the frames necessary to take full advantage of the 165Hz display. Save $250 and buy it for $1,900 now.


Generous Keyboard Distinguishes This Gaming Laptop

Gigabyte Aorus 15.6-inch

The Gigabyte Aorus is a powerful gaming laptop whose expansive keyboard makes the most of its space. Where most laptop keyboards are cramped, Gigabyte went above and beyond to make sure this laptop comes with a full array of keys — number pad included. Its Intel Core i7-12700H CPU and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU are together enough to handle any game at high detail and high frame rates. Now on sale for $200 off at Best Buy.


Acer Predator Triton 300 SE 14-inch

The compact Acer Predator Triton 300 SE pairs an Intel Core i7-12700H with an Nvidia RTX 3060 to provide excellent esports performance and enough power for AAA games at lower settings. It also comes in an attractive, minimalist chassis with an impressively engineered cooling mechanism which also ensures this laptop remains quiet during. On sale now for $200 at Best Buy.

For even more Amazon Prime Day savings opportunities, head over to our Amazon Prime Day coupon page to check out the deals from some of our favorite retailers.


What’s The Best Graphics Card For Laptop Gaming?

The graphics card or chip is the most important component in a gaming laptop, helping to drive higher resolutions, higher frame rates and higher detail settings than any mainstream laptop can manage.

At the most entry-level end of the spectrum, for lightweight esports and indie games, integrated graphics may suffice, but better to find an Nvidia GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 6400—either is a great option. These GPUs are perfect for simple 1080p gameplay at high frame rates and low detail settings. If you want to play more demanding games, you'll need to step it up to Nvidia's RTX 3000 range, with an RTX 3060 or 3070, or an AMD Radeon RX 6700M. For 4K gaming you'll want the best you can afford, like Nvidia's 3080 Ti or AMD's 6800M.

For more stealth gaming laptops, AMD's new range of RX 6600X, 6700S and 6800S offer great gaming performance without such heavy power draws. Nvidia's Max-Q and Max-P designs do something similar.

Is $1,000 Good For A Gaming Laptop?

The best general purpose laptops usually start around $1,000 and that's not too dissimilar for gaming laptops. With that kind of laptop, you'll typically get a solid 1080p gaming machine which won't be the best for the latest and greatest games, but will give you great frame rates in esports games.

If you want to play at higher resolutions, you'll have a much better chance at around the $1,300 mark; though again, the higher you go, the better performance you'll get. The best gaming laptops can cost $2,000 or more, with many of the most elite models costing north of $3,000. So your budget is your only limitation once you get into the high-end models.

All that said, if you time it right and buy one of the best gaming laptop deals available during a big sale, you can grab much more powerful gaming laptops for around the $1,000 mark, especially if you make do with a last-generation flagship which still offers excellent performance.


Do You Need A High Refresh Rate Display?

High refresh rate displays are a great way to improve your gaming experience, especially if you're playing esports or older games at higher frame rates. With a high refresh rate display and a high frames per second, you can enjoy smoother animations and a more responsive gaming experience, with limited input lag. That means that as well as making your games look and play better, it can actually make you play better too, giving you a light performance advantage in competitive gaming.

Higher refresh rates are often a more beneficial upgrade than a higher resolution, especially on the smaller displays on most gaming laptops. While you won't see a huge difference between 1080p and 4K on a 15-inch screen, you will be able to tell the difference between 60Hz and 144Hz. The difference between that and 240Hz or 360Hz isn't as pronounced, but you should still be able to feel it, even if it isn't super obvious.


Is A 13-inch, 15-inch Or 17-inch Gaming Laptop Better?

Bigger displays are almost always better when it comes to immersion and visual clarity. If you can see more of the screen, you can have a wider field of view, larger HUD elements and take better advantage of the higher visual fidelity of modern games. The bigger you go, though, the less portable a gaming laptop is.

The big reason to buy a gaming laptop is that your gaming machine becomes portable. While 17-inch gaming laptops with the top hardware aren't going to be comfortable to carry around in a backpack all day, they still let you take your gaming PC to a friend's house or LAN party easily enough.

For those who want to game in a variety of situations, a 14- or 15-inch laptop is an excellent middle ground. These laptops have the size and scope for more powerful hardware and give you plenty of screen space to enjoy your favorite games, but they’re nowhere near as heavy or bulky as their 17-inch counterparts.


Is A Gaming Laptop Worth The Money?

If you are looking to play games on your laptop more than anything else, then yes, absolutely. You'll get much better performance out of a gaming laptop than you will a more general-purpose laptop. On top of that, gaming laptops will also give you a much more responsive and fluid gaming experience, with high refresh rate and low response time displays helping to reduce input lag, ghosting, and screen tearing, which can be a real problem on non-gaming laptops.

Gaming laptops are also future proofed where non-gaming laptops aren't. With a powerful graphics chip, the best gaming laptops of today will still be able to play the latest games in years to come. While they might not be able to hit the highest detail settings anymore, non-gaming laptops without a decent GPU just don't be able to play them at all.


Who Makes The Best Gaming Laptops?

Modern gaming laptops are more mainstream, with many of the players in all-purpose laptops having a contender among gaming systems, too. You’ll also find a number of brands that specialize in systems fine-tuned for gaming.

The best brands for gaming laptops today include Razer, Asus, Acer, Dell Alienware, MSI and Lenovo. Most of these manufacturers have gaming laptop lines, but some also have options not branded as for “gaming” that can capably play games as well. Some companies focus on designs that are both lightweight and powerful, while others go all-in with more powerful systems that can rival some gaming desktops.


Do I Really Need A Gaming Laptop?

Gaming laptops aren't a necessity for anyone, especially if you don't do much gaming at all. In fact, if you don't plan to use your new laptop primarily for gaming, you'll get a lot more value for money by looking at more mainstream laptops without a dedicated GPU: their battery life is better and they tend to have more vibrant displays designed for movies and office work.

If you are a gamer, though, and want to spend most of your time on your laptop gaming, then you should definitely consider it. The latest gaming laptops offer amazing performance that rivals some powerful desktops, and they almost all come with fast displays so you get a smoother and more responsive gaming experience.

They also come with handy features like smart power switching technologies that maximize efficiency and performance so make sure your games are playing at their best without sapping too much battery life or outputting too much heat. Speaking of which, most gaming laptops have excellent cooling, too, to make sure your system stays relatively cool and doesn't get too noisy while playing (although some gaming laptops can still get loud).

You'll find that most gaming laptops have good quality keyboards too, as a responsive keyboard can make all the difference in some games. You'll probably still want to add in a gaming mouse too, though, as touchpad gaming is notoriously difficult.


What CPU Do You Need For Gaming?

Intel and AMD are the main processor brands used for any computer, and the only two you want for a gaming computer. Their chips have gone through huge revolutions in design and performance potential in recent years. Chips continue to gain in efficiency and battery life is better than ever.

Although CPU performance isn't the keystone of gaming performance it once was, it's still important to have a good CPU, and there are some games, like F1 22 and Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) that really benefit from it.

The specific performance of the CPU in your laptop will depend as much on the system's cooling as it will the CPU model, but as a general rule, you want a gaming laptop with a recent-generation CPU. For AMD laptops, that's a Ryzen 4000, 5000, or 6000 chip. For Intel, it's 11th or 12th generation. In both cases, though, you'll get a much better CPU if you can stick to the AMD Ryzen 6000 and Intel 12th-generation ranges, as they made big leaps in performance and efficiency over their predecessors.

The types of games you play has a big impact on the type of processor you need. If you’re a casual gamer or playing simpler indie games, then you likely won't need anything too powerful.

Follow me on TwitterCheck out my website or some of my other work here