Desktops are the easiest way to gather a ton of power for gaming, but for some, portability is a must. For those who constantly find themselves on the go—whether it be for school, work, or leisure—laptops are the best solution for keeping up with their favorite titles. Fortunately, there have been advances in the laptop space that make quality mobile PC gaming a possibility, with a number of companies supplying a variety of gaming laptops.

Best gaming Laptops

Alienware 15 R2 (1,399$)

The Alienware 15 R2 wins as best overall gaming laptop for its price, components, and ecosystem. It was picked as an Editor’s Choice by our sister publication, PCMag, who liked it for its design, display, and its ability to upgrade to desktop graphics. This is achieved by Alienware’s $299 Graphics Amplifier peripheral, which lets you toss in a desktop PC graphics card to power your laptop when connected.

While the Alienware 15 R2 starts at $1,199, which means it’s relatively affordable too. You can customize the 15 R2 to your exact liking on the Alienwear’s website, but we recommend the $1,399 model, which gets you a faster Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor.

Specs

Screen: 15.6” 1080p (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel 6th gen Core i7-6700HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M (2GB GDDR5)
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2133MHz
Storage: 1TB 7200RPM HDD
Weight: 7.07 lbs

Runner up: HP Omen 15-5213dx (1,600$)

HP isn’t really known for making gaming-focused computers, so its Omen 15 was quite a surprise. It’s got a relatively understated design, a gorgeous touchscreen, and middle of the road specs. PCMag liked it for its performance, programmable lighting, and extra wide touchpad. It’s also quite a bit lighter than most of the competition at 4.68 lbs.

What stopped the Omen 15 from being the best overall gaming laptop is its mid-range specs and pricing. For less money, the Alienware 15 R2 gives you better performance for the price, though it is a bit heavier.

Screen: 15.6” Full HD touchscreen (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4720HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2GB GDDR5
RAM: 8GB DDR3L
Storage: 256 mSATA SSD
Weight: 4.68 lbs
Best compact gaming laptop

Razer Blade FHD (1,999$)

Razer blew everyone away with its ultra-thin Razer laptops back in 2013 and they’ve only gotten better with time. The Razer Blade 14 is the smaller of the two laptops in the line but it still packs a punch. It’s impressive how compact Razer got the Blade 14. It weighs just 4.19 lbs, which is very light compared to the competition. Just prepare your bank account because it’s not cheap.

The Razer Blade starts at $1999 and but you can get the Quad-HD version for $200 extra. That’s a lot of money for a laptop but you do get powerful hardware in a very slim and light chassis.
Specs:
Screen: 14.0" IPS Full HD (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4720HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (3GB GDDR VRAM)
RAM: 8GB DDR3L 1600MHz
Storage: 256GB SSD
Weight: 4.19 lbs
Runner up: Aorus X3 Plus v3(2,199$)

If there’s one laptop that will make you reconsider the Razer Blade 14, it’s the Aorus X3 Plus v3. This 13.9” laptop packs in a ton of power in a small chassis that weighs even less than the Razer Blade 14. Sure, Windows still has some scaling issues with super high resolution displays, but it’s gotten better with Windows 10. It also comes with a GTX 970M but with 6GB of video memory, which is twice as much as the base Razer Blade 14. It needs that memory, though, to power its 3K screen resolution.

What stopped the Aorus X3 Plus v3 from taking the top spot is its build quality and its propensity to get hot under your wrists while gaming.
Specs:
Screen: 13.9” 3K LED (3200x1800)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4710HQ Processor
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M GDDR5 6GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3L 1866MHz
Storage: mSATA SSD 128GB/256GB/512GB
Weight: 3.97 lbs
Best budget gaming laptop

Acer Aspire V Nitro VN7-592G-71ZL(1,000$)

The Acer Aspire V Nitro presents a great value for a gaming laptop. It’s specs aren’t top of the line, and some costs had to be cut, like the inclusion of a hard disk instead of a solid state drive. But as a package, the V Nitro makes sense and is a great value at around $1,000.

It’s design is understated, which is a nice departure from the flashy lights and angles of typical gaming laptops. For the price, the Acer Aspire V Nitro is hard to beat. Just don’t expect great battery life.
Specs:
Screen: 15.6” Full HD (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB VRAM
RAM: 8GB DDR4
Storage: 1TB HDD
Weight: 5.07
ASUS ROG GL551JW-WH71 (800$)

ASUS’s Republic of Gamers line of laptops offer a wide range of options, and although its GL551JW is on the lower end of the spectrum, it’s still a good value. Like the Acer Aspire V Nitro, its design is understated for the most part with some red accents throughout. It’s $200 cheaper than the Acer, but you’ll be getting an older Intel processor and less video RAM, making the Acer a better deal.
Specs:
Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4720HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3L 1600 MHz
Storage: 1TB HDD 5400 RPM
Weight: 6 lbs
Best performance gaming laptop

ASUS ROG G751JY-DB72 (1,999$)

The ASUS ROG G751 is the company’s no-compromises gaming laptop with a price to match. Configurations start at $2000 and can skyrocket if you swap in more RAM, storage, and a faster CPU. Although $2000 is quite a lot of money, the G751JY-DB72 is a good deal when compared to the competition. PCMag loves it for its fast performance and full array of ports. The Wirecutter chose the ASUS ROG G751 as is best gaming laptop for its powerful hardware, amazing screen, and build quality.
Specs:
Screen: 17.3" IPS FHD (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4720HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 4G GDDR5 Graphics w/ G-SYNC
RAM: 24 GB RAM
Storage: 1 TB 7200 RPM HDD + 256 GB SSD.
Weight: 8.4 lbs
Runner up:MSI GT80 Titan SLI (3,399$)

If money’s no object and you don’t mind the weight, the MSI GT80 Titan SLI will blow you away. It’s the only laptop on this list with two graphics cards, giving it ridiculous performance for running up to three 4K displays. It’s also the first ever gaming laptop to include a full sized mechanical keyboard built by Steelseries. There’s also a unique touchpad that changes into a numberpad when needed.

The best part about the MSI GT80 Titan SLI is that it’s easy to upgrade. Its top and bottom panels are easily removable for access to the SSDs, RAM, and graphics cards. MSI promises to provide upgradable GPUs for the GT80 in the future, so your investment stays fast.

What stopped the MSI from overtaking the ASUS is its awkward size and price. While gaming laptops aren’t the most portable things, you still want to be able to take it with you in a bag. The MSI is so big and heavy that moving it is a daunting task.
Specs:
Screen: 18.4" Full HD (1920x1080)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4720HQ
GPU: Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M SLI 16GB GDDR5 (8GB each)
RAM: 16GB DDR3L 1600MHz
Storage: 128GB M.2 SATA SSD x 2 RAID 0 + 1TB HDD (7200RPM)
Weight: 9.9 lbs