Gaming laptops have never been as powerful and lightweight as they are today. Packing the best GPUs and CPUs combined with high-resolution displays, good keyboards, tons of storage, and all the memory you could need.
The Best Gaming Laptops 2021
- Thread starter Julio Franco
- Start date
Wow guys very good article but damn, the current state of "gaming" laptops is not good.
QuantumPhysics
Posts: 6,306 +7,258
I can’t see myself doing any real gaming on anything less than a mobile 3070, but I did recently buy a 3050Ti equipped TUF A15 with a 5800H, 512GB SSD and 16GB DDR4 for just $1099 to use for podcasting.
But it is a matter of preference. I can’t see myself doing any real gaming on anything less than a 17" monitor, though your specs are just excellent for the price.
amghwk
Posts: 1,560 +1,552
I just couldn't put up with the heat production (that can be felt so easily) and obnoxious fan noise in these gaming laptops when gaming full speed. Couple this with huge battery drain when gaming with max and the need to be tethered to a wall, a desktop is much better proposition for hardcore gaming. Not to mention the warm to hot feeling over the keyboard, which can get uncomfortable.
As for me, I would prefer to have the most silent and coolest running laptops with onboard graphics for emulations and less demanding games.
As for me, I would prefer to have the most silent and coolest running laptops with onboard graphics for emulations and less demanding games.
And that is where a desktop replacement laptop comes in over a lesser gaming laptop. Heat generation isn't a constant, it is the power of the components combined with the cooling system. Mine is almost 2 inches thick and weighs nearly 11 lbs (5 kg).
But in Fire strike it scores 24,145 (28,028 graphics and 24,750 physics) while topping out at 62C in a 40 loop stress test. And this thing is 26 months old.
Also when I game at home I hook up an external monitor, Mouse\Kb and the system goes under my desk where I can let the fans fly and won't hear them.
QuantumPhysics
Posts: 6,306 +7,258
I agree.
The term "desktop replacement" isn't used very frequently, but most of these gaming laptops tend to be bigger and heavier than regular office-work laptops.
Battery Life isn't much of an issue anymore because most trains and planes - and even cars - offer a 110v plug.
Pretty much anywhere you go on vacation is an HDMI equipped monitor to plug the computer into.
I have an Alienware R4 with a GTX 1060 and a TUF with a 3050Ti. I NEVER use these things not plugged in.
As for the heat generated, I've had people sitting near me complain about the heat. Near the ports, it's 100°F.
Bobbydpue
Posts: 677 +520
A gaming desktop and laptop have different functions. Not many people are taking a gaming desktop on any business trips, not that many people are taking business trips anymore, but saying having to be plugged in defeats the purpose of a gaming laptop isn't accurate. I've never wanted to sit down and game for hours at a place that wouldn't normally have power available any way.
As for heat I use a Rooster laptop stand and a 10keyless wireless keyboard so the laptop keyboard and heat aren't an issue.
Dimitriid
Posts: 2,455 +4,930
One thing that has made me look at laptops is the fact that for the past 8 months (And this will remain somehow true for a full year at least I suspect) you could literally buy an entire laptop with the same cash you'd put up for even a mid range GPU
And with news like Visa preparing to accept bitcoin we can pretty much expect at the best of cases, a very small window of time in which you might be able to buy a GPU for anything close to MSRP but the worst case scenario is back-to-back Eth (or some other coins in the future) mining price hikes for 2 or 3 generations in a row.
I'm sure several people might think their precious hobby wouldn't just die out like that but if you look at the numbers, both AMD and Nvidia can basically survive entirely on the enterprise markets they have cultivated even if they can't sell to consumers ever again.
I wonder why they force this "thin and light" approach so much. What's the point of having potent hardware if it can not run properly due to throttling, and/or sounds like a hoover when utilised? I have had a few gaming laptops, and either optimised them for thermal output (e.g. sacrificed some of the performance to save a lot of heat), or used external coolers (not only laptop stands, but also tower coolers and even water blocks....yeah I know, but that's a different story).
Making a gaming laptop light, I can somewhat understand. But thin? What the hell for? Laptop heatsinks do not weigh a ton (I know, I have measured), so just an extra 100 or 200 grams worth of fins could make wonders....and yes, those can not be fitted into a thin body: it needs space. And this is what I dont understand: these are gaming laptops, so why would that be an issue?
There are tons of thin and light laptops out there, with appropriate HW for everday tasks, for which they work absolutely fine). However, for gaming oriented machines, I would want the HW I have paid for to be fully utilised, and preferebly not becoming deaf in the process (vs it taking 1 cm less space up in my briefcase/backpack). Just my point of view...
Making a gaming laptop light, I can somewhat understand. But thin? What the hell for? Laptop heatsinks do not weigh a ton (I know, I have measured), so just an extra 100 or 200 grams worth of fins could make wonders....and yes, those can not be fitted into a thin body: it needs space. And this is what I dont understand: these are gaming laptops, so why would that be an issue?
There are tons of thin and light laptops out there, with appropriate HW for everday tasks, for which they work absolutely fine). However, for gaming oriented machines, I would want the HW I have paid for to be fully utilised, and preferebly not becoming deaf in the process (vs it taking 1 cm less space up in my briefcase/backpack). Just my point of view...
Stiqy
Posts: 113 +135
Agreed. It's never made sense to me that "gaming" laptop producers would try to make them so thin. What marginal intersection of demographic is a "hardcore gamer who needs power" and also "wants an executive thin laptop that fits in a stylish sleeve."? -- Gamers, of all purchasers, are not so gullible as to believe their marketing trash that a graphics card can be equally fast and thin/small at the same time.
This is why the Q-max version of graphics cards made no sense. "Built for hard core gamers who demand performance!!!... except we throttle 30% of that performance so they fit in a thin chassis." -- pick a demographic and serve it well, trying to straddle the fence is design stupidity.
Knot Schure
Posts: 431 +206
When mobile, usually the only screen you have is the internal panel.
Thus, when I see only 14" & 15" laptops, I don't even bother to read the article.
Thus, when I see only 14" & 15" laptops, I don't even bother to read the article.
Absolutely true. And there are always just 3 companies that make the desktop replacements. Last gen there was just the MSI GT76 series, Asus ROG Mothership and the Alienware Area 51m.
over last 5 years.....I havent bought anything less than 17 inch...
m3tavision
Posts: 1,443 +1,223
Better form factor for cooling too...
kenny loris
Posts: 211 +46
Lenovo's Legion is good machine, how come its not in the list?
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