Top 5 Best Gaming Laptops In 2024

With the best gaming laptops, don’t sacrifice portability or power.

We have thoroughly examined the most recent iterations of AMD processors and Nvidia graphics hardware in our testing of the top gaming laptops, enabling us to determine which devices are truly exceptional and which are merely subpar. We’re not just talking about slick, pricey new computers however; we’ve selected a variety of gaming laptops at various price points to show you which are the best value and which are simply fantastic.

The greatest 16-inch gaming laptop is the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, which also happens to be the best gaming laptop overall because 16-inch laptops are the best form factor. Win, win, win.

This system is priced at a level that makes the other top-tier RTX 40-series graphics cards appear even more absurd from their astronomical $4,00+ per unit positions. In testing, the RTX 4080 model has wowed us the most, with gaming performance so good that it makes me wonder why anyone would want an RTX 4090 computer.

The Legion Pro 7i’s RTX 4080 operates at 150W TGP, the GPU’s effective maximum power. However, if manufacturers believe they can squeeze a little bit more power through their own systems, they are allowed an additional 25W of leeway to bolster their own requirements. Lenovo hasn’t taken that approach; the Legion Pro is aware of its preferences and sticks with the 150W TGP.

The Core i9 13900HX, a 13th generation Intel processor, powers this Gen8 device. You would be mistaken if, like me, you thought that would basically be a little faster version of the Core i9 13900H that Asus uses in its fantastic Zephyrus M16 gaming laptop.

Since they are both utilizing the same fundamental Raptor Lake architecture, there are undoubtedly parallels. Not only is the HX faster than the 13900H, but it also boasts twice as many efficient cores as the latter, bringing its total processing power to 24. The 13900H only has six performance cores. The larger chip naturally has a higher base TDP of 45W, but the clock speeds stay the same at 5.4GHz boost clocks. which will help to clarify why gaming has such a negative impact on battery life.

For one thing, Lenovo computers are notoriously bad at gaming while disconnected from a power source. Over the past year, I’ve evaluated a number of Legion laptops, and all of them have extremely short gaming battery lives, despite the fact that they are still quite good performers when plugged in. The majority of PC gaming will likely require you to be plugged in, mostly due to the poor battery life of gaming laptops. Whether or not this is a deal breaker for you will depend on how mobile you want to play Helldivers 2.

Given the price increase we often see for gaming laptops in the RTX 40-series, the Gigabyte G5 (2023) is an excellent value. However, there are no gimmick features or needless extras to drive up the price here. For less than $900 or £900, you may get a simple, solidly constructed, and shrewdly equipped gaming laptop that produces a lot of frames per second while playing games. That easily makes it, in our opinion, the greatest inexpensive gaming laptop available right now.

Let’s begin with the RTX 4060, which is the main attraction here. Although Nvidia’s RTX 40-series desktop cards haven’t yet dropped to this level, even this inexpensive card offers excellent 1080p performance appropriate for the G5’s 1080p 144Hz display. That’s partly due to the 75W of power that Gigabyte is willing to put into the GPU inside of this computer.

While it may not seem like much in comparison to the 175W RTX 4090 laptops we’ve reviewed, MSI is prepared to put 30W additional power into the Cyborg 15, its own RTX 4060-powered gaming laptop. And with each additional watt flowing through the GPU of the G5, you can watch the frame rate increase.

In our tests, the Cyborg 15 outperforms the Gigabyte G5 by up to 27%, and it even has a superior CPU for gaming. Its gaming skill contributes to its status as the greatest inexpensive gaming laptop available.

The CPU under consideration is the Core i5 12500H from Intel. A quite logical decision, albeit one that is somewhat let down by its only four Performance-cores (P-cores). Being a hybrid Alder Lake processor from Intel, this one has a number of Efficient-cores (E-cores) to help ease the strain on the faster gaming hardware. This chip has eight E-cores, for a total of twelve cores.

In general, I would like to see at least six more P-cores included in the mix. Similar to the MSI Cyborg 15’s Core i7 12650H CPU, in reality. Six P-cores and just four E-cores are included in it. Additionally, the MSI laptop has faster DDR5 memory than the Gigabyte machine’s DDR4 memory. However, practically speaking, that has little impact on the benchmarks.

The most recent iteration of the Razer Blade 15, the best 15-inch gaming laptop available today, builds upon one of the best gaming laptops ever created. It shares the same exquisite CNC-milled aluminum chassis as its predecessor, but it can now accommodate an Intel 13th Gen Core i9 CPU and one of Nvidia’s most recent RTX 40-series GPUs.

Even so, its days might not be long. It appears that Razer will not be releasing a new Blade 15 with 14th Gen Intel chips anytime soon, which may mean that this is the last iteration of the legendary device.

That makes sense in a manner because the Blade 16 isn’t particularly larger while having a larger screen. Crucially, though, it is thicker. True, the Blade 16 is a little bit chonkier than the previous Razer chassis, but I still much like the earlier, more elegant look.

In actuality, though, missing out on the 14th generation of Intel’s mobile Core CPUs is not a big deal because the Raptor Lake Refresh is really a minor update to the 13th Gen chips. Thus, the Razer Blade that is now on the market still stands as the best 15-inch gaming laptop available, thanks to its GPU, the RTX 4070.

That scale does restrict the screen, as was previously mentioned. The Blade 15 boasts a QHD 240Hz panel with a native resolution of 2560 x 1440. That’s still fantastic, but with the 16:10, 1600p mini-LED screens that most new laptops come with, I’ve been spoilt. It also indicates that the Blade 15 has a sizable “chin,” which is a sizable bezel along the length of the panel’s bottom.

Although the screen’s 240Hz refresh rate makes it feel really sleek, I would still prefer it to be brighter. Nevertheless, it is snappy. It is also angular, with its 1440p resolution condensed to only 15 inches of actual space.

The absence of the newest CPU has little effect on gaming performance, as the 115W RTX 4070 proves to be a very good gaming GPU even inside the Blade 15 chassis’ small dimensions. With DLSS 3 and Frame Generation not even present, the RTX 4070 within our most recent review system clearly outperforms the mobile RTX 3080 in the most recent iteration of Razer’s 15-inch screen that we tested.

The top 14-inch gaming laptop has been surpassed by the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024), which replaced the ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023). Although this may give the impression that the newer model was a lock to take the top spot in this guide, several significant design enhancements and adjustments have been made to the model. those that make it totally worthy of taking the top rank on its own.

The new all-metal chassis that comes with the G14 2024 is really gorgeous. A couple of us in the office have finally been persuaded to look past the Razer Blade, which is renowned for its all-metal build, thanks to the chassis. In addition to feeling and looking fantastic, the metal construction of the Zephyrus G14 reduces the device’s bulk to make it even more portable. Its thickest point is only 1.63 cm.

Prior to discussing the other positive aspects, it is important to note that Asus had to give up the one removable SO-DIMM slot that was present on the G14 models from prior years due to the smaller form size. The memory no longer has an upgrade path. Nevertheless, as of the time of writing, 32GB of LPDD5X was a standard feature on every model that was available. I know some users won’t appreciate the lack of alternatives here, but that should last most people for years to come. Additionally, although though the SSD may be changed, there is only one NVMe slot accessible, which can complicate transfers by requiring a complete SSD to SSD swap.

Let’s speak about the OLED screen, which is one of the nicest features of the G14, if you’re still with me. It appears much better in person if it looks excellent in the gallery photos up top. Outstanding color depth and contrast combine to create an amazing gaming display. The slightly wider aspect ratio (16:10) and higher resolution of 2880 x 1800 assist keep the little screen from feeling overly cramped.

Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D is not just the greatest 17-inch gaming laptop on the market right now, but it’s also likely the quickest laptop out there. The most recent AMD Zen 4 CPUs are the best mobile number-crunchers available, and this big boy system occasionally offers the best gaming performance thanks to the addition of the cache-heavy Ryzen 9 7945HX3D.

Unfortunately, it’s limited to just one model at this time—the Scar 17 X3D is the only device that offers AMD’s best. This gaming laptop is so good that it surpasses the insane MSI Titan in terms of dumbness. The Asus performs better than it in almost every important parameter and is over $2,000 less expensive.

This is also among the most reasonably priced RTX 4090 machines I’ve seen this generation, so perhaps this AMD-powered system has benefited from being perceived as a lesser light in the context of laptops after all. It’s a double whammy that makes it hard to recommend any of the others: it’s also among the best-performing RTX 4090 PCs I’ve seen.

It actually doesn’t last long away from a wall outlet, even with the large 90Wh battery, so you really do need to keep plugging it in. When playing games, think of the battery as an uninterruptible power source rather than something you can depend on for extended periods of time.

The updated Scar 17 laptop, which still only has AMD’s Ryzen 9 7945HX3D as its ultimate mobile gaming CPU, is the same as the standard model except for the addition of 3D V-cache technology, which adds more cache memory on top of one of the Zen 4 compute blocks.

And that can particularly have a significant impact on how well you play games.

What’s the most important gaming laptop component?

The most important component in a gaming laptop is the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The GPU, often referred to as the graphics card, handles rendering images, videos, and animations. It is crucial for gaming because it directly affects the quality and smoothness of the visuals in games. Here’s why the GPU stands out:

1. Graphics Performance: The GPU determines how well your laptop can handle graphically intensive games, impacting frame rates, resolution, and the ability to play games at high or ultra settings.
2. Future-Proofing: A powerful GPU ensures your laptop can handle newer games that come with higher graphical requirements, giving your laptop a longer lifespan.
3. VR and High-Resolution Gaming: For virtual reality gaming or playing at high resolutions (like 4K), a strong GPU is essential to maintain a smooth and immersive experience.
4. Game-Specific Enhancements: Modern GPUs come with technologies like ray tracing and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) that enhance visual quality and performance in supported games.

While the GPU is the most crucial component, other components are also important for a balanced gaming experience:

• CPU (Central Processing Unit): A powerful CPU is important for game logic, AI, and handling multiple tasks.
• RAM: Sufficient RAM (16GB or more) ensures smooth multitasking and prevents bottlenecks.
• Storage: An SSD (Solid State Drive) offers faster load times and quicker system responsiveness compared to an HDD.
• Cooling System: Effective cooling is vital to prevent thermal throttling and maintain performance during extended gaming sessions.
• Display: A high-refresh-rate screen (120Hz or more) enhances the gaming experience with smoother visuals and quicker response times.

In summary, while a balanced configuration is important for an optimal gaming experience, the GPU remains the cornerstone for gaming performance in a laptop.