Gaming laptops 2023

Gaming laptops have come a long way in terms of power and portability. Many are now thin enough to slip into your backpack or briefcase, yet offer enough high-end CPU and GPU power for AAA games and demanding creative applications like video rendering.

The Razer Blade 17 2022 is a great example of that. It has superb gaming performance and a beautiful display, all in a sleek design that doesn’t scream “gamer.”

Razer Blade 17 (2022)

The Blade 17 is a performance-oriented beast. It combines the new efficiency/performance cores of 12th-gen Intel processors with the RTX 3080 Ti GPU, making it one of the most powerful laptops for gaming. It’s also free of annoying bloatware, with only the THX Spatial Audio for in-game sound settings and Razer’s Synapse software preinstalled.

It’s expensive, but it delivers the kind of unbeatable build quality, slick screen, and stable frame rates that gamers demand. In our tests, games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA V ran at 60 frames per second or more with DLSS enabled, even on high graphics settings.

The Blade 17 also comes with a good selection of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports that support 15W power delivery, three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm combo headphone/mic jack. Our review unit also included a 1 TB PCIe-enabled SSD that offers excellent transfer speeds.

Alienware x15 R2

This cutting-edge laptop is a true gaming machine. It’s a slim, svelte beast that’s remarkably lightweight for such a powerful piece of hardware. It’s also very sleek and minimalistic in aesthetic, although it does have a distinct, Alienware-esque design language to it, with the per-key RGB lighting and the alien head adorning the power button that flashes from blue to yellow when you plug in the AC adapter.

The x15 R2 has a zippy Intel CPU and an RTX 3080 Ti GPU that’s capable of dishing out dollops of performance in games. This lethal combination makes this a great choice for gamers that want to play in QHD with a smooth, tear-free experience thanks to NVIDIA G-SYNC.

The only downsides to this laptop are the limited ports and the omission of an Ethernet port, which is a big deal for gamers who need stability on wired Internet for gameplay. It’s also preloaded with a bunch of extra software, including Alienware Command Center and My Alienware, which you can uninstall to save space.

Asus ROG Zephyrus M16

A slim, sleek gaming machine with great power and a fantastic display. The 2023 Asus Zephyrus M16 is the latest refresh of a very capable and impressive series of laptops. Its ultra-slim frame packs a powerful Intel Core i9 with Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics, and its performance puts other desktop replacements to shame. Its Geekbench 5.4 overall score of 11,255 is almost double that of the average mainstream gaming laptop.

It also features modern ports, including multiple USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A jacks, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a microSD card slot. The one thing missing is an ethernet jack, which may be a deal breaker for gamers who need to do work outside of gaming.

This is a premium gaming laptop with an amazing miniLED screen, plenty of power to spare for both pro content creation and competitive play, and an excellent cooling system that keeps it cool under pressure. However, its hefty price tag and a few small niggles make it a less-than-ideal choice for a serious gamer.

Acer Triton 500 SE

Acer has proven that it can make a refined gaming laptop without resorting to cheap gimmicks with its sleek and subtle Predator Triton 500 SE. This model has a 2650 x 1600 IPS display that supports G-sync with a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz. In our tests, this screen proved capable of handling modern eSports titles and AAA games with top settings at 1080p. Overwatch ran at 161 fps and Final Fantasy XIV ran at 118 fps on the highest graphics settings.

The Triton 500 SE has a top-notch Intel Core i9-12900H processor, an RTX 3080 Ti GPU, and 16GB of RAM. The base configuration runs for about three grand, but upgrading to a more powerful GPU and adding more storage costs even more.

Its score of 6,877 in our general-computing PCMark 10 test was a bit lower than rivals, but its performance in the HandBrake and Cinebench CPU tests was very strong. It also has a good battery life that will easily last through an entire day of gaming or work with Adobe Suite.

Dell G5 15 SE

Dell’s G5 15 SE doesn’t win our graphics benchmark race, but it comes close and offers plenty of power for a relatively affordable price. Its impressive battery life makes it a good choice for watching movies or working, too.

Our test model was armed with an Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Its 1920 x 1080 display featured a smooth 144Hz refresh rate and delivered great contrast. From the reds and blues of superhero fighting in Injustice 2 to the eerie purples and greens of Joker’s amusement park, everything looked vibrant.

However, the quality of the chassis and lid’s plastic reveals this is a budget machine. Picking it up, I got the impression that a 4- to 5-foot drop would put it at serious risk of breaking. The base feels sturdier, but the lid’s plastic is brittle and seems unlikely to resist a minor hit.

HP Victus 15

The Victus 15 is an affordable gaming laptop with the power of a desktop. Its Intel 12th-generation Core processor is paired with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 mobile graphics. This combination is powerful enough to run demanding AAA games at 1080p. It has a 15.6″ anti-glare IPS display and a 144Hz refresh rate for smooth motion. It has Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 for low-latency online gaming. Its storage is a 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD.

The HP Victus 15’s battery life is subpar. It will only last a few hours for light tasks and gaming. It also has poor black uniformity and backlight bleed.

The HP Victus 15 has a good assortment of ports and a 15.6″ anti-glare, IPS display. It has a 144Hz refresh rate and is a bit more affordable than the Razer Blade 17. However, it’s heavier and thicker. It may have a hard time fitting in bags that aren’t designed for gaming laptops. It also has a lot of bloat from HP, including ten preinstalled apps that duplicate features already available in Windows.

MSI Raider GE66-15

The Raider GE66-15 is a powerful gaming laptop, but it also handles everyday tasks like web browsing, streaming video, and multitasking with multiple tabs open. It stayed cool and quiet while transcoding a 4K video to 1080p on our HandBrake test, outpacing the Blade 17 (5:21) and the premium gaming laptop average (6:23).

MSI loaded this machine with ports. There’s a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and a 3-in-1 card reader on the right side. On the left side is a USB Type-C port, a headset jack, and a microphone jack. The back has another USB Type-C port, a Mini DisplayPort 1.4, a Gigabit Ethernet input, and a proprietary charging port.

The Raider comes with Microsoft’s suite of productivity apps, including Office and OneDrive, as well as Nvidia’s Gamer Center and a few other utilities, such as Battery Boost, Whisper Mode, and Gamestream for when you want to live stream from the desktop. It also has CyberLink software, including AudioDirector, ColorDirector and PhotoDirector, and Music Maker Jam.

MSI M18

The M18 is a true desktop replacement in every sense of the word, weighing in at almost three pounds and featuring an 18-inch screen. The only reason we don’t give it the top spot is that its price tag is a bit steep: a full-spec configuration starts at $2,949 before upgrades to the processor, graphics, and memory.

You can also upgrade the display to an FHD+ (1920 x 1200) 480Hz panel, which has a much faster refresh rate but lower resolution than the standard option. Both panels use IPS technology and look great, but the quality doesn’t make up for the hefty price tag.

The M18 is a beast on the graphics front, beating out all the other desktop replacements we’ve tested in the 3DMark benchmarking program and games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Dirt 5, even with ray tracing enabled. It’s not a laptop you’d want to lug to class or work, but it’s a great choice for gaming on the go.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX70

Asus’s Zephyrus laptop line has long proved that slim and light can pack the best gaming hardware around. The GX701 continues that trend, cramming in the latest GPU technology in a sleek package.

Powered by up to an Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics, this gaming laptop can handle any demanding game or creative workload. With Advanced Optimus technology, the laptop intelligently transitions between integrated and discrete graphics for smooth, low-latency performance. It’s also capable of handling advanced RTX features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and exclusive AI-assist functions for efficient processing.

The 17.3-inch IPS display has slim 6.2-mm bezels and an 81% screen-to-body ratio that looks attractive. However, to achieve that, Asus had to move the touchpad away from its usual position below the keyboard. This might take some getting used to for some users, especially if you plan on using it for gaming. Fortunately, there’s a separate mouse included.