Image credit: Cheon Fong Liew/Flickr
When I was growing up (I still am) I was always a PC gamer (remember the good ol’ days of Quake and Unreal), as opposed to owning consoles. This was mainly because I enjoyed buying the parts and putting them together. That way I could choose exactly what hardware I wanted in there.
PC gaming was pretty much your only choice back then as laptops were nowhere near powerful enough to run the latest titles.
That’s all changed now, and although many still game on their desktops, others are turning to beefed up laptops to play games.
These days there is a lot of choice in terms of gaming laptops but if you really want to run the latest games such as Prey at high frame rates in 4K resolution, then you need to get your wallet out.
The laptops below aren’t cheap by any means, but they will ensure that you have a smooth gaming experience and will almost certainly be able to deal with anything else you throw at them.
Here’s some really awesome laptops for you to drool over:
1. MSI GT83VR Titan
(Amazon, #CommissionsEarned)
The MSI GT83VR Titan is an impressive beast, and yes it really is a beast weighing in at just over 13 pounds. It’s a laptop that’s as powerful as it looks which is mainly down to Intel’s 7th-generation Kaby Lake processor, 64 GB of RAM, oh and dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs in SLI configuration.
The GT83VR looks good too with its slick red lines and the brushed black aluminium screen lid. When you open the lid, you’ll find a large mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Speed Switches and a digital touch/number pad to the right of the keyboard that resembles a futuristic looking door keypad.
This is a serious gaming laptop with a massive spec and more ports than you can shake a stick at, but this sort of power comes at a price (five grand, ouch!).
Still if you’re serious enough about gaming, then this maybe the one for you.
2. Razer Blade Pro
(Amazon, #CommissionsEarned)
The Razer Blade is basically the Windows version of a Macbook Pro. It looks pretty, it’s portable (0.88 inches thin and weighs only 7.69 pounds), yet offers the same high-end gaming performance of a desktop gaming machine.
In terms of graphics you get an immensely powerful 6 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPU which coupled with 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD, you’re literally flying with this machine.
Not only do you get top notch performance, you also get a massive ultra high res display, which let’s face it, is essential if you’re gaming for hours on end. The Blade Pro’s display is 17.3 inches and is a 4K in terms of resolution which produces vivid colors and amazing detail.
Obviously it’s an expensive laptop, but you’re literally paying for one of the best gaming laptops out there right now.
3. Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming
(Amazon, #CommissionsEarned)
So after reading about the GT83VR Titan and the Razer Blade Pro, you might appreciate something that won’t completely break the bank.
For a gaming laptop, this is a bargain. You get a 15.6 inch display, a 6th gen Intel i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1050 graphics card for just over $800.
The design is pretty sleek and with its decent spec, gaming performance turns out to be excellent. It might not be the best or the fastest gaming machine out there but you definitely wouldn’t be embarrassed to show your mates and for the price, you can’t really complain.
4. Alienware 13 R3
Alienware, which is a subsidiary of Dell, have made a real impact on the gaming laptop market with their alien-themed designs. The R3 is a refresh of the Alienware 13 and comes with a massive spec. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM drives a crisp QHD 2,560 x 1,440 OLED screen, which is the first of its kind for a gaming laptop. It’s also the smallest VR-ready laptop on the market.
The Alienware 13 has a forward-hinge design, enabling it to be thinner than its predecessors and weighs in at 5.4 pounds, measuring 13 x 10.6 x 0.87-inches. The lid is made from Alienware’s Epic Gray anodized aluminum whilst the remainder is made of magnesium alloy. In terms of the lighting, it has been toned down a bit on this model compared with previous generations with just a center-mounted, illuminated alien head, which is still pretty cool.
The bottom line is that this is a great 13 inch gaming rig. But it’s not only useful for gaming, you can use it for anything. With the onboard Intel 7th-gen Kaby Lake processor coupled with the awesome graphics card which integrates with HTC Vive or Oculus VR and the georgeos 2560 x 1440 OLED touch screen, you really are getting a lot of bang for your buck with this laptop.
5. HP Omen 17
(Amazon, #CommissionsEarned)
The HP Omen 17 doesn’t have the build quality of the laptops I’ve reviewed above and nor does it look as good (imo) but it’s the engine underneath the hood that counts.
And inside is where this laptop really shines. The GPU is the GeForce GTX 1070 GPU which is near the top in terms of the pecking order of Nvidia’s laptop graphics chips and pairs very nicely with a 17.3 inch 4K screen.
In terms of CPU power, you get a 2.6GHz Intel Core i7 processor which coupled 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, makes this a very respectable machine, capable of handling high-end frame rates with more grunt to spare, even in the latest games.
The HP Omen is configurable too as you can increase the RAM to 32 GB and you can also boost the size of the SSD and the Hard Disk if you wallet will allow for it. It’s nearly 7 pounds in weight, though that’s mostly down to the 17 inch screen but since it’s a high-gaming laptop, this is forgivable in my opinion.
Still not convinced? Maybe the onboard Bang & Olufsen speakers and the fact that this is every bit as powerful as a desktop might just persuade you.
6. MSI GT72VR Dominator Pro Dragon
(Amazon, #CommissionsEarned)
If you’re going to go all-out and splash your cash on a serious gaming laptop for your mancave, then this is the one to go for. It’s a monster. No seriously, the guts inside this machine are beyond powerful.
For starters this model has an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. And for the graphics, you have the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8 GB GDDR5 RAM on board.
With this laptop, you also get some extra special features such as Tobii eye tracking technology which enables the computer to know where you are looking and makes real-time adjustments. The laptop is VR ready and you also have the ability to adjust the color of the backlighting on the gaming friendly keyboard. The keyboard is also 100% anti-ghosting so you’ll never miss a keystoke.
7. ASUS ROG G701VI Gaming Laptop
(Amazon, #CommissionsEarned)
Last but certainly not least is the ASUS ROG. It’s arguably one of the most powerful laptops in the world. It’s also probably one of the biggest too, but that doesn’t detract from its raw power.
First off, you’ve got an unlocked Intel i7-7820HK processor, which is capable of being overclocked and has an unbelievable 64 GB of RAM. You get a 1TB SSD and an Nvidia GTX 1080 GPU, which again is overclockable.
To top it all off, you’ve got a 17.3 inch 120Hz Full HD IPS screen which is incredibly sharp and has amazing viewing angles (178 degree) and vivid colors.
In terms of build quality, it’s pretty amazing too, with a brushed aluminium chassis but it is fairly hefty at 8.9 pounds. Battery-wise, don’t expect too much here but I guess this can be expected with such a high spec machine.
If you’re thinking about getting a MacBook Pro personally I would reconsider. Not because I don’t like them, I think they are awesome but because for the same price you get far more graphics processing power and 4 times the amount of RAM. And for playing high end games, that is the sort of grunt that you need.
Are you thinking about getting a new machine? If you are, let me know what you’re looking for in the comments. In particular, let me know the specs I’m intrigued 😉
Cheers!