Things to consider when buying a Best gaming laptop

With a number of processor options, screen sizes and other elements, buying a new laptop is hard already, and when you’re out looking for a gaming laptop, things get harder. Should you focus on the processor, the GPU, the cooling system or the keyboard? Here are some important pointers to keep in mind when you’re out to buy your own gaming laptop.

Features for buying new laptops

CPU and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

Needless to say, your CPU and GPU are the performance drivers of your new gaming machine and the most important parts of the laptop for you. The better the CPU and GPU, the better the overall performance your gaming laptop will be able to dish out. Currently, look for at least a 10th or 11th Gen Intel Core-i7 processor. You can even consider an i9 processor.

For the GPU, the Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX GPUs are some of the best ones to look at right now, with the RTX 30-series being your latest options. On the AMD side of things, you have the AMD Radeon RX 5000M series and the RX 5500M, 5600M and 5700M.

Keyboard

A keyboard could be your primary input method on gaming laptops, especially if you plan on playing a lot of shooting or strategy-based games. It is hence, important to look at key elements like key travel, actuation, and support for features like anti-ghosting and n-key rollover (allowing you to press multiple buttons at once for combos and not miss out on any).

The ideal key travel distance should be between 1.5mm and 2mm. Meanwhile, look for keys that are not too soft or too hard to press. Coming to backlighting, most gaming laptops will have backlighting of some kind on the keys. While most will feature a single red/white/ backlight, some will have RGB lighting that can be configurable on a per-section or a per-key basis. These not only look cooler but can also quickly help you find the right keys when gaming.

Upgradability

Whether you are able to upgrade your RAM in the future will be a key factor as gaming can be heavy on your machine’s RAM. An ideal gaming desktop should have at least 16GB RAM. However, if you are looking for a laptop, you could get by with an 8GB RAM variant, but it will be ideal if you can swap that out for 16GB tomorrow.

Higher resolution, or faster refresh rate displays

Gaming laptop displays will come with various configurations of displays. Some displays will be lower resolution panels at only 1080p but will support higher refresh rates of 144Hz, 240Hz or even 360Hz. A great GPU will also be required to make full use of these high refresh rate panels.

Alternatively, you can opt for high-resolution panels that will stick to 60Hz refresh rate. These include display options that go up to 4K panels.

Battery life

Try not to focus too much on battery life when going for a gaming laptop. Gaming machines are resource-heavy and will often deplete battery quicker when in action. A decent gaming laptop will be able to give you 8 hours of juice off the plug and anything more could be too much to ask. However, this shouldn’t matter a lot because, during most gaming sessions, you will be continuously connected to a power source anyway to run your gaming laptop in its performance or turbo mode.

Best gaming laptops 2022

Asus ROG Zephyrus G15

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H – 9 5900HS

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 – 3080

RAM: Up to 32GB

Screen: 15.6-inch QHD (1440p), 165Hz, 3ms, 300 nits

Storage: 1TB

The Asus ROG Zephyrus line has produced some of the best gaming laptops out there, and the new ROG Zephyrus G15 is no exception. Fitted with the latest and most powerful AMD Ryzen and Nvidia RTX 3000 series, they’re incredibly powerful and able to see you through the most demanding games.

Razer Blade 15

CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i7

GPU: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080 Max-Q

RAM: Up to 32 GB

Screen: 1080p @ 360 Hz, 1440p @ 165 Hz, or 4K @ 60 Hz

Storage: Up to 1 TB SSD

We’ve played with the Razer Blade 15 Advanced with a 10th Gen Intel chip and RTX 3080 (95W) GPU inside it. And we fell in love all over again. These latest models up the graphics processing even further, with support for up to the 8GB RTX 3080, which is incredible in this small chassis. You will get some throttling because of that slimline design, but you’re still getting outstanding performance from this beautiful machine.

ACER NITRO 5

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

RAM: 16GB

Screen: 15.6-inch, Full HD (1,920×1,080)

Storage: 1TB

The Acer Nitro 5 manages to hit that sweet spot of price versus performance, and is going to appeal to anyone looking to run the latest games without paying too much –and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 installed here ensures any title will run comfortably, even if you might have to dial down the graphics settings on some of the most demanding ones.

Gigabyte Aorus 17G

CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 Series

RAM: Up to 64GB

Display: 17.3-inch FHD 300Hz NTSC 72% IPS panel

Storage: 512 GB PCIe SSD

A tactile mechanical keyboard and a 300Hz refresh rate display are just the beginning. The Gigabyte Aorus 17G (2021) touts an incredible gaming performance that might just be worthy of desktop gaming PCs. With one of the RTX 3000 GPUs under the hood, this will see you through the most graphics-intensive games, including competitive ones. And, because of its impressive battery life, you can do so away from a power source.

Lenovo Legion 7 (Gen 6)

CPU: Up to AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX

Graphics: Up to Nvidia RTX 3080

RAM: Up to 32GB DDR4 3200MHz

Screen: 16″ QHD (2560 x 1600) IPS HDR 400, 500 nits, 165Hz

Storage: Up to 2 TB PCIe SSD

A fantastic laptop that delivered astounding performance across the board, the Lenovo Legion 7 (Gen 6) has proven itself already worth its steep price tag – even if it’s not exactly something most people can afford. This is a pricey behemoth with only about three hours of battery life, but if you’re ok with something you wouldn’t want to travel with, this is a winner. Apart from its unrivalled gaming performance, you’re also getting a bunch of RGB lighting options and a bunch of ports – three USBs, three USB-C, an HDMI 2.1 and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports – so you’ll never need a separate hub for your peripherals. 

Alienware m17 R4 (2021)

CPU: Up to 10th Generation Intel Core i9-10980HK

Graphics: Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

RAM: Up to 32GB DDR4 2933MHz

Screen: 17.3″ UHD 60Hz 25ms 500-nits display

Storage: Up to 4TB SSD + 512GB SSD

It’s not always going to be substance over style. The Alienware m17 series continues to prove this with the new Alienware m17 R4, an extremely powerful gaming laptop with plenty of ports and an extremely stylish chassis that lights up like a Christmas tree. That way, you can play all the latest AAA games smoothing and in style. Of course, this being one of the fastest gaming laptops in 2021, it won’t be cheap. However, if you have the money, you’ll be glad you chose this.

Read more: What Are the Best Processors for Gaming?