• 

  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10

  Best Gaming Laptop Overall $2850 at B&H Photo Video
• 

  ASUS TUF Gaming A14

  Best Budget Gaming Laptop $1200 at Amazon
• 

  Acer Nitro V 15 ANV15-51-51H9

  Best Gaming Laptop Under $800 $738 at Amazon
• 

  ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2025)

  Best 18-inch Gaming Laptop $2700 at ROG
• 

  Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Max)

  Best MacBook for Gaming $3199 at Amazon
• See More

• 

  System76 Serval WS

  Best Linux Laptop for Gaming $2999 at system76

What to Look For in a Gaming Laptop

A gaming laptop is essentially a portable computer that can handle demanding video games. As you need very specific features to get a good gaming performance out of any laptop, there are some vital things to keep in mind before you go shopping for a gaming laptop.

The biggest question you need to answer is which type of games you plan to play on your laptop. The recommended specifications of your favorite games can provide a basic idea of what to look for. There is no point shelling out the big bucks for a top-end GPU when your games don't need that much power. Similarly, if your gaming laptop isn't very powerful, it will struggle to play demanding games smoothly.

You can start with three main elements: CPU, GPU, and RAM. Choose each depending on how much power you need for gaming and other needs. It's usually best to stick with relatively newer generation products and give your laptop specifications some bandwidth to account for future requirements, as you likely won't be updating it for the next couple of years or more.

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Besides the CPU, GPU, and RAM, storage is another crucial part of any gaming laptop. Games can take a lot of space; if you plan to install more than a few, you'll need plenty of storage. Alternatively, you can purchase an external SSD or HDD to house a growing catalog.

For smoother and tear-free gaming, you'll also need a good display, preferably with a high refresh rate. The display quality will also impact how your games look on the laptop. Remember, the 14- to 16-inch models are the most sensible choice if you frequently travel with your laptop. However, you can opt for larger sizes if you don't plan to move it often or have no issue lugging around a giant laptop.

Other vital details to consider are the laptop's cooling performance, port selection, connectivity options, and your budget.

With all this in mind, let's look at our top gaming laptop picks.

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Best Gaming Laptop Overall: Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10

Pros	Cons
Beautiful 240Hz OLED screen	Big and bulky
Top-tier performance	Poor battery life
Excellent cooling

The Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 is a monster of a machine for serious gamers. It’s unapologetically a gaming laptop that features a solid aluminum build and customizable RGB lighting everywhere. It doesn’t shy away from the gamer aesthetic.

Under the hood, Lenovo has packed Intel’s Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs, ranging from the RTX 5070 TI to the RTX 5090, for maximum power. However, the real showstopper is the built-in OLED display. This 16-inch 1600p screen supports a 240Hz refresh rate and has 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, delivering lifelike visuals and incredible picture quality overall.

A massive vapor chamber setup is responsible for keeping the temps in check, and it works like a charm, even under heavy loads.

Connectivity is robust, too, with a Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, three USB-A ports, and a USB-C port. You also get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

As you might expect, it’s a chunky machine and comes with an equally hefty 400W power supply. But that’s a sacrifice you’ll have to make if you want this much power and a big, beautiful screen. It’s also quite expensive, starting at $2,910 for the base model with an RTX 5070 TI, and exceeding $4,000 for variants featuring an RTX 5090. Moreover, as is typical with gaming laptops, Legion Pro 7i Gen 10’s battery life is nothing to boast about.

Best Gaming Laptop Overall

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10

Operating System

Windows 11 Home 64

CPU

Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 is one of the fastest gaming laptops around and an excellent choice for gamers demanding top-tier performance and a stunning OLED display.

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU

RAM

32 GB DDR5 (2 x 16 GB)

Storage

1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC

$2850 at B&H Photo Video$2910 at Lenovo Expand Collapse

Best Budget Gaming Laptop: ASUS TUF Gaming A14

Pros	Cons
Bright, colorful display	You can’t upgrade the RAM
Good performance and battery life	Not top-tier performance
Extra M.2 slot for storage expansion

Looking for a reasonably priced gaming laptop? The ASUS TUF Gaming A14 is an excellent option. With a starting price of $1,200, the laptop packs AMD’s powerful Ryzen 7 8845HS processor (or the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 if you’re willing to shell out a bit more) and gives you the choice of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 or 4060 GPU.

While neither of the two GPU options is particularly high-end, the laptop manages to deliver respectable performance in modern games. It’s also capable enough for any of your productivity or creativity apps. More importantly, you get integrated graphics in all variants of the laptop, which can help you save some battery life when you don’t need the discrete GPU’s power.

It houses a 14-inch 1600p IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate. It’s a good display that gets sufficiently bright and has a decent color gamut. The small display also means that the A14 is pretty compact and lightweight.

Despite its compact frame, the device offers a generous array of ports, including an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB4 port, two USB Gen 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, and two USB-A ports.

Another advantage of the ASUS laptop is the extra M.2 slot available to you, which you can use to increase the total onboard storage up to 4TB. Unfortunately, you can’t upgrade the RAM.

Best Budget Gaming Laptop

ASUS TUF Gaming A14

Operating System

Windows 11 Home

CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS

The ASUS TUF Gaming A14 has much to like, from its reasonably powerful processor to its two GPU options. It also houses a decent display and a good selection of ports.

RAM

DDR5 SDRAM

Display (Size, Resolution)

2560x1600 Pixels

$1200 at Amazon Expand Collapse

Best Gaming Laptop Under $800: Acer Nitro V 15 ANV15-51-51H9

Pros	Cons
Good 1080p gaming performance	Only 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD
Excellent port selection	Average touchpad
Solid battery life

Acer's Nitro line is home to several value-for-money gaming laptops, and the Nitro V 15 ANV15-51-51H9 is a great option for anyone on a strict budget of $800. Its combination of 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13420H processor and the RTX 4050 GPU delivers solid 1080p gaming performance, and you'll consistently get more than 60fps in most games at medium or ultra presets. Employing DLSS will undoubtedly help you get more frames out of the RTX 4050.

As a budget laptop, the Nitro V 15 has fairly average looks and a plastic build. While the touchpad is also average, the backlit keyboard offers good performance with decent travel and bounce. Port selection is also excellent, with a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, three USB Type-A ports, and one Thunderbolt 4 port.

The 15.6-inch IPS display has full-HD resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. Sadly, the display has a poor color gamut, but it's serviceable unless you use it for content creation. Plus, the RAM and SSD are limited to 8GB and 512GB, respectively, but fortunately, you can upgrade both later if you want.

Other notable highlights include good battery life and Wi-Fi 6 support for high-speed wireless connectivity.

If you prefer AMD chips over Intel ones, the ASUS TUF Gaming A14 FA506 is a good alternative. It’s powered by a Ryzen 5 7535HS processor and NVIDIA’s RTX 3050 GPU. It also brings a 15.6-inch 1080p display with a 144Hz refresh rate. While its 8GB variant is often sold for less than $800, you will have to shell out around $1,000 for the 16GB model. Fortunately, if you want, you can upgrade the RAM yourself.

Best Gaming Laptop Under $800

Acer Nitro V 15 ANV15-51-51H9

Operating System

Windows 11 Home

CPU

Intel Core i5 13th Generation

With the Acer Nitro V 15 ANV15-51-51H9, you can get your gaming fix without shelling out the big bucks. For under $800, it gives you an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, a 13th Gen Intel Core i5, and a decent 15.6-inch IPS display.

GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050

RAM

8GB DDR5

Storage

512 GB

$738 at Amazon Expand Collapse

Best 18-inch Gaming Laptop: ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2025)

Pros	Cons
Impressive performance	Expensive
Excellent display	Big and bulky
Upgradeable memory and storage

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 is not your regular gaming laptop. It’s an absolute beast that delivers truly desktop-level performance. It has a gamer aesthetic and solid construction. And, as you might expect, it’s big and bulky.

One of the notable highlights of the ASUS laptop is its 18-inch Mini-LED display, which features a 240Hz refresh rate and Dolby Vision HDR support. It can also get pretty bright and has an excellent contrast ratio. As a result, games look vibrant with deep blacks and lifelike colors.

Intel’s Core Ultra 9 275HX processor is at the core of this incredible machine, and you can pair it with NVIDIA’s RTX 50-series GPUs. ASUS gives you the choice between the RTX 5070, 5080, and 5090. All this computing and graphics power results in impressive gaming and overall performance. ASUS has also included an end-to-end vapor chamber with triple fans and Liquid Metal to ensure everything runs cool and avoids thermal throttling.

In other features, you get a solid port selection, which includes two Thunderbolt 5 ports, one HDMI 2.1 port, and three USB-A ports. The SCAR 18 also features upgradeable RAM and storage. All this adds up in terms of pricing, making the ASUS offering quite expensive. Depending on the variant you choose, you will need to spend anywhere from $2,700 to over $4,500.

Best 18-inch Gaming Laptop

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2025)

Operating System

Windows 11 Pro

CPU

Intel CORE ULTRA 9 275HX

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 is ideal for hardcore gamers seeking a large screen, desktop-grade performance, and solid cooling.

RAM

32GB DDR5

Ports

4 USB Ports

Weight

6.28 Pounds

$2700 at ROG Expand Collapse

Best MacBook for Gaming: Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Max)

Pros	Cons
Impressive performance	Expensive
Excellent build quality	Limited number of games for macOS
Beautiful and bright display

Although macOS is way behind Windows in terms of game availability, Apple has finally started getting serious about it. If you want a MacBook that shines on the productivity front and is ready for gaming, the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Max) is your best bet. It's a seriously powerful Mac, and you'll find it hard to push it to its limits.

It packs a 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDRdisplay that can reach up to 1,600 nits in HDR and 1,000 nits in SDR. It also supports VRR up to 120Hz. Plus, it produces vibrant visuals and is great to look at.

The built-in keyboard and trackpad are responsive. The power button also has a built-in fingerprint reader, which makes logging in seamless and secure.

Battery life has been a strong point for all Apple Silicon Macs, and the same is true for this 16-inch Pro model. Apple claims it can last up to 21 hours of video streaming or 14 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi. So, you can easily get through a workday, but you can expect the battery to deplete quickly with frequent gaming sessions. The MacBook Pro 16-inch also offers a decent selection of ports, including a full-size HDMI and three Thunderbolt 5 ports. All three TB5 ports have DisplayPort Alt mode and USB PD support.

Unfortunately, it's quite expensive, and the RAM and storage upgrades can significantly increase the price tag.

Best MacBook for Gaming

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Max)

Operating System

macOS

CPU

Apple M4 Max chip

The Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Max) is a high-performance laptop that delivers exceptional performance for content creation and software development. But it also has impressive gaming chops.

Storage

1TB SSD

RAM

36GB Unified Memory DDR4 SDRAM

Camera

12MP Center Stage camera

Display type

Liquid Retina XDR display

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6E

$3199 at Amazon$3199 at Best Buy Expand Collapse

Best Linux Laptop for Gaming: System76 Serval WS

Pros	Cons
User-repairable and upgradeable	Relatively heavy
Choice of Pop!_OS and Ubuntu	Expensive
A 240Hz display for high refresh rate gaming	Tops out at RTX 5070 TI
Powerful Intel Core Ultra 9 processor

There aren’t a ton of gaming-oriented Linux laptops on the market. However, if you don’t want to buy a Windows machine and then install Linux, there is no better option than the System76 Serval WS. Coming from the creators of the popular Pop!_OS, the Serval WS packs a ton of muscle to provide all the power you need to play modern AAA titles comfortably.

It features the same Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor as our best overall pick, but the choice of GPU is limited to the NVIDIA RTX 5070 TI, which is more than sufficient for most people. It also comes with a gorgeous 16-inch 1600p display with a 240Hz refresh rate.

The company has included a solid selection of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port. Additionally, the laptop features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and two USB Type-A ports. In terms of Linux distributions, System78 offers the choice of Pop!_OS or Ubuntu as the pre-installed operating system.

Another highlight of the Serval WS is repairability and upgradability, which is a huge plus if you want to tweak things in the future. You can install up to 96GB of DDR5 RAM in the two available slots. The laptop also features two M.2 SSD slots for additional storage, in addition to one M.2 PCIe slot used for the OS drive.

Unfortunately, all this adds up in terms of weight, and the Serval WS isn’t the lightest machine around, weighing in at 2.25kg. It’s also pretty expensive, with a starting price of $3,000.

If you’re looking for something a little more affordable and aren’t shy about getting your hands dirty, Framework’s Laptop 16 DIY Edition is a good alternative. You can choose from AMD’s Ryzen 7 or 9 processors and an AMD Radeon RX 7700S graphics module. You also have the option to purchase it without an operating system, allowing you to install your favorite Linux distro upon receipt.

Best Linux Laptop for Gaming

System76 Serval WS

Operating System

Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

CPU

Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX

The System76 Serval WS is a top-tier Linux laptop that offers impressive gaming performance thanks to the built-in RTX 5070 TI GPU and Intel’s Core i9 275HX processor. It also has a 240Hz display.

Storage

Starting at 1TB PCIe4 SSDs

RAM

Starting at 32GB DDR5 RAM

Display (Size, Resolution)

16-inch QHD (2560x1600) Monitor

Connectivity

2.5 GbE Ethernet, Wifi 7, Bluetooth 5.3

Security

Kensington Lock

$2999 at system76 Expand Collapse

FAQ

What is different when looking for a gaming laptop over a normal laptop?

When looking for a gaming laptop, you want it to be sufficiently powerful to meet the recommended specifications of the games you plan to play on it. You'll typically want a high-performance CPU and a discrete GPU. A high refresh rate display with VRR support is also desirable for smoother, tear-free gaming. Additionally, features like a good cooling system will ensure your laptop's CPU or GPU doesn't get throttled under intense load.

Are gaming laptops good for everyday use?

Gaming laptops are excellent for everyday use as they are typically quite powerful and easily handle day-to-day tasks. That said, if you want to consume a lot of media on your everyday machine, it's a good idea to ensure your laptop has a good display, which isn't always a given for gaming laptops, especially budget models.

Can I play Steam games on Linux?

You can play Steam games on Linux. While some Steam games have native Linux support, others rely on the Proton compatibility layer. It's important to remember that not all Stream games will work on a Linux machine, but a decent selection is compatible.

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