Gaming laptops are great. In some cases they are highly configurable powerhouses with their own light shows, and in other cases they are bargain machines that offer just enough oomph to play the latest and best PC games. But there is a lot to consider when purchasing a gaming notebook, and that also applies to the brand.
While specs are certainly an important part of the equation, consumers should also consider all the clocks and whistles (or lack thereof) that individual manufacturers offer when it comes to design, software, upgradeability and warranty. While many purists will testify to the power and adaptability of a gaming desktop PC, if you have a piece of kit that you can take to a friend’s home or university then you might want to look for a laptop instead.
Best Gaming Laptop of 2018:
Razer Blade 15: Portable, powerful and beautiful
Razer’s Blade 15 is, quite simply, the best gaming laptop that you can splurge right now. You’ll find Intel’s eighth generation Core i7-8750H processor, 16GB RAM and up to 512GB SSD storage squeezed into this lightweight beast, as well as a choice of the latest Nvidia Max-Q GeForce GTX 10 series GPUs for outstanding gaming performance.
As a result, this feature packed device is the fastest Windows laptop we’ve ever tested, without breaking the sweat. Gaming performance is also top-notch; we hardly noticed a single missed frame when playing Doom and Metro: Last Light at Ultra settings with all GPU-intensive bells and whistles at max. The deal is sweetened by the Blade’s 144Hz Full HD screen, which not only looks great, but also allows smooth and smooth gameplay without tearing.
A perfect combination of performance, design and portability, the Razer Blade 15 is a top laptop that will remain unrivalled in the months (and years) to come.
Acer Predator Helios 500: The fastest laptop out there
Acer Predator Helios 500 is by far the fastest laptop (of any kind) we’ve ever tested, with professional workstation levels in our CPU benchmarks. And it’s also the best in its class for gaming.
This is the first laptop we tested and which includes the new Intel Core i9-8950HK processor; we expected quite high speeds, but the performance of the CPU (which maxes out at 4.8Ghz) is nothing less than phenomenal. Nividia’s GeForce GTX 1070 GPU and 16GB RAM take care of the gaming, while the Full HD 144Hz panel makes for a super smooth experience.
What you don’t get with the Helios 500 is freedom of movement. This is a huge machine with a weight of 5 kg if you count the power brick, and the double fans become very loud when the laptop completely tilts. For rugged power, though, the Acer Predator Helios 500 is clearly the gambling laptop of choice.
HP Omen Gaming Laptop
Screen: 15.6 inch
Weight: 2.2 kg
Battery life: 5 hours on average
HP’s Omen series is an entry-level gaming laptop and offers several models with step-by-step performance enhancements. The HP Omen starts with 8GB RAM at £799, but with the £999 model you get an improved i7 quad core processor and 1TB storage, in addition to the 128GB solid state drive (SSD).
It has a reasonable average battery life, although the manufacturer claims it can last up to 10 hours.
MSI GP72
Screen: 17.3 inches
weight: 2,7kg
Battery life: up to 4 hours
MSI’s range of gaming laptops offers huge customization options, although this is probably one of the best prices you can get for a 17-inch gaming laptop that has the latest processing and graphics features.
This MSI has a powerful Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, although the battery life of less than four hours is disappointing. Inside is a Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics card.
Dell Inspiron 7000 Gaming Games
Screen: 15.6 inches
weight: 2,65kg
Battery life: Up to 8.5 hours
You really can’t look any further than Dell’s entry-level gaming laptops if you want quality for 1,000 pounds. The 7000 Series has the performance you need to keep playing, and offers excellent battery life for a gaming laptop. With above-average battery life, you could play far longer on the go than most other gaming laptops.
The latest models now have built-in Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics cards that are well suited for games from Prey to Resident Evil 7. A 128GB solid state drive (SSD) offers fast memory access and comes with a 1TB hard drive.
Asus ROG Strix GL502VS
Screen: 15.6 inches
Weight: 2,2 Kg
Battery life: 4 hours
One of the big challenges in choosing the right gaming laptop is that the degree of customization can be overwhelming. That’s probably the biggest challenge when you pick up one of Asus’ excellent mid-range gaming laptops from the Republic of Gamers (ROG) series.
This ROG Strix features a powerful Nvidia GTX 1070 with 16GB RAM and a 512 SSD. There’s plenty of connectivity on this fat laptop, with three USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet connectivity, SD card reader and a USB C port.
Alienware 17 R5 R5 17-inch Gaming Laptop
Here comes the best pure gaming-based laptop in the list, the Dell Alienware 17 R5. Dell’s Alienware series laptops are well known on the market for their flawless and uninterrupted gaming performance.
This is the new 2018 Alienware 17.3-inch laptop with a glare-free display in Full HD resolution and a brightness of up to 300-nits! It can satisfy almost all major laptop users, including hardcore gamers. The laptop is powered by the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor with 4.1GHz clocking. Multitasking on the laptop is powered by a 16GB fast DDR4 RAM that is ample for gaming, and if you need more RAM, it also has an extra slot to upgrade the RAM to 32GB. As for memory, it comes with a 1TB 7200RPM HDD and 256GB SSD, which is sufficient for most players.
The graphics on this laptop are also very well managed. It has a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card with 6 GB DDR5 memory. All current games can be played on this laptop without any problems.
When you buy a gaming laptop, graphics are king, and you’ll want to make sure you find a laptop with a serious graphics card (GPU). Nvidia’s GeForce series remains the most common choice for top devices.
You should look for the latest chips from the manufacturer, the new configuration of the 10-series, preferably the latest GTX 1080. Many new gaming laptops are now offered with Quad HD (QHD) and 4K displays. QHD screens have resolutions of 3,200 x 1,800 pixels, while 4K screens have 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. While more pixels can add more detail and depth, this also means that the laptop needs a more powerful graphics card that has its price.
