Are you a serious gamer looking to buy a quality laptop? Ideally, you’ll want a long-lasting gaming laptop with stunning graphical capabilities and robust processing speeds. There are three important criteria when you buy a gaming laptop: the graphic processing unit (GPU), the random-access memory (RAM), and the display performances.
GPU
Games that feature high-quality graphics and sophisticated scenery are usually heavily dependent on your GPU resources. In many premium games, the dynamic weather, heavily detailed environments, and other graphical nuances help to add another layer to the gameplay. To take full advantage of these visual enhancements, you need a quality GPU in your laptop.
For gaming laptops, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a solid mid-level GPU that will allow you to play a variety of games on the highest settings. The GeForce RTX 2070 is a significant step up that will allow you to play almost anything on the highest settings. If you’re interested in virtual reality, GPU at the RTX 2060 level is the bare minimum for VR games. For even better visual performances, the RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti are recommended.
RAM
Gaming is intensive on your RAM resources. When you play a game on your computer, crucial elements get loaded into your RAM to store the temporary items. The bigger and faster your RAM, the faster your loading times, and the smoother your gameplay experience will be. Equipping your gaming laptop with RAM helps you get the best performance out of your CPU and GPU.
Research shows that 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum for modern gaming. If possible, start with 16GB of RAM, and you can upgrade as your budget changes. Keep in mind that the more powerful your CPU and GPU are, the more their performance will be hindered by an insufficient amount of RAM.
Display
Having a high-resolution display is especially important to help complement your GPU’s performance. When looking at display specs, the minimum resolution needs to be 1920 x 1080. As technology gets more advanced, the less likely you are to see gaming laptops with resolutions below this level.
If you decide to get a top-level video card, consider looking for a 2560 x 1440 display. Some gaming laptops even have 4k (3840 x 2160) resolution, but you’ll need a top of the line GPU like the RTX 2070 or 2080 to take full advantage.
If you need to buy a gaming laptop, below are six of the best recommendations that come with excellent GPU, RAM and display performances:
1. ASUS ROG Strix G15
Photo courtesy of ASUS.
The ASUS ROG Strix G15 belongs at the higher end of gaming laptops. The model includes a 10th generation Intel® Core i7 processor, along with a GPU of up to GeForce RTX™ 2060. The ROG Strix G15 comes with up to 32GB of RAM, which will allow you to experience most games with stunning detail. The memory slots are upgradable, so this laptop can keep evolving with the latest technologies.
The best feature of the ASUS ROG Strix G15 is the attention to detail that went into designing a laptop for gamers. The ROG Strix G15 has a sleek and ultra-thin profile. The 15.6-inch display features a refresh rate of up to 240Hz and is designed for maximum clarity. The display on the ROG Strix G15 allows games to look amazingly crisp and colorful. It also features an anti-glare panel for outdoor use.
Finally, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 features a stunning RGB backlit keyboard with anti-ghosting technology and guaranteed 20-million keystroke durability.
Summary:
- Crisp display
- Designed for gamers
- Responsive keyboard
- Double backlit QWER keys
2. Acer Nitro 5
Photo courtesy of Acer.
The Acer Nitro 5 is a compact gaming laptop that may shock you with its performance. Although the Nitro 5 debuted in early 2019, you can still find models with eighth-generation Intel i5-8400H or AMD FX-9830P processors. The Acer Nitro 5 comes with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or 1050Ti, which allows you to play most modern games at medium to high detail settings.
Gaming can be an expensive hobby, but the Acer Nitro 5 does a great job of making gaming accessible for all budgets. The Acer Nitro 5 is an excellent starting point for those who want to get started in gaming, and you can easily add more memory once your budget changes.
The Nitro 5 may not have the big emblems or multicolor LEDs you associate with gaming laptops. However, it does have stylish cooling vents and a super cool glowing keyboard. The Acer Nitro 5 features a full-size keyboard along with a number pad.
Summary:
- Budget-friendly
- Upgradable
- 4 USB Slots
- HDMI capabilities
3. Dell G3 15
Photo courtesy of Dell.
Like the Acer Nitro 5, the Dell G3 15 is an excellent entry-level gaming laptop. The G3 features a 9th generation i5 CPU along with the GTX 1650 GPU. Both components are also backed by the Alienware Command Center, which is something rare to see in laptops under $1000. In terms of value, the G3 is one of the best inexpensive gaming laptops on the market.
The Dell G3 15 has a simple, matte-black design. Like most gaming laptops, the G3 has a wide variety of ports you can use to accommodate accessories and external displays. The upgraded version of the G3 laptop features an i7 core CPU, a GTX 1660 Ti-Max GPU, 16GB RAM along with SSD storage. With the upgraded model starting at $1100, you’ll find the Dell G3 15 offers great value for the price.
Summary:
- Upgradable
- Affordable
- Above-average battery life
4. Gigabyte Aero 15X V8
Photo courtesy of Gigabyte.
The Gigabyte Aero 15x v8 is a long-lasting laptop for serious gamers. If you need power and performance, the Gigabyte Aero features an i7-870H CPU along with 16 GB of RAM. This machine also has a second free slot for RAM that you can use to quickly upgrade to 32GB. You can expect up to 8.5 hours of battery life from the Gigabyte Aero.
The Gigabyte Aero features a Smart Manager software, which makes it easy for you to control the power in your laptop. With Smart Manager, you can monitor the temperatures of your controls, manually control fan speed, and enjoy many other customizable options.
Summary:
- Powerful
- Customizable
- Good battery life
- High-quality aluminum chassis
5. Acer Predator Triton 500
Photo courtesy of Acer.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 is an impressive laptop that offers powerful performance at a reasonable price. The base version of the Triton 500 features a 2.2 GHz i7 CPU, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, along with 16 GB of RAM. The RTX 2060 included also features 6GB of VRAM, which further enhances performance.
Like most gaming laptops, the Predator 500 features a wide array of ports, including multiple USB 3.1 ports, a mini DisplayPort, and a Kensington lock. The Triton 500 also comes equipped with Acer’s PredatorSense software. This lets you customize your keyboard backlights and change many other options you wouldn’t be able to do on most laptops.
The Acer Predator Triton 500 features a slim design with copious amounts of graphical power. Visually, the Triton 500 has a simple design with turquoise-lined vents and ports. The Triton 500 also has small but powerful speakers that are impressive for a laptop of this size. With this laptop, you can experiment with many different audio settings to bring out the nuances in your video game environments.
Summary:
- Powerful components
- Powerful speakers
- Highly customizable interface
6. ASUS TUF Gaming FX505
Photo courtesy of ASUS.
The ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 is one of the best laptops for those looking to balance performance with price. The TUF Gaming FX505 combines AMD and NVIDIA hardware, which allows for impressive performance. This laptop features the AMD Ryzen 7 processor and NVIDIA’s GTX 1660 Ti GPU. The Ryzen 7 processor offers comparable performance to the i5 core chips, which means you can expect a powerful machine for both gaming and work.
By gaming laptop standards, the ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 is inexpensive and doesn’t sacrifice performance despite its price point. You can expect to run most popular games at high frame rates with maximum detail. Thanks to the 1660 Ti graphics card, your video game experiences will run beautifully in native 1080p resolution.
The TUF Gaming FX505 is very portable, weighing in at just 4.85 pounds. All the ASUS TUF brand laptops are subjected to durability tests, including a military-grade certification, so you can feel confident in its durability.
Summary:
- Reasonable price
- Fast wireless connection
- Upgradable