one of the most common questions we get
at pc mag is hey which gaming laptop
should i buy the thing is we're happy to
help but there's no one correct answer
that fits everyone gaming laptops
nowadays come in a wide range of power
levels with different processors and
graphic chips and that part of the
equation seems to get more complicated
by the day then there's the screen here
in 2022 gaming laptops have more
different kinds of screens than ever
bigger screens and smaller screens
faster screens and slower screens oled
screens and regular ips screens on top
of all that there's the whole issue of
what it costs some models are under a
thousand bucks but the very best ones
can set you back four grand or more and
if you're like most of us you've got a
budget to consider what you want to know
is why you should pay two or three times
as much for one gaming laptop versus
another we're going to help you find the
right one for what you can afford to
spend and what kind of games you like to
play whether you're shopping for a
budget model the most portable machine
you can find or simply want all the
power we've got you covered here at pcd
labs we've tested and reviewed dozens of
gaming laptops over the last few years
to find the best performers and the best
values our judgments are based on four
key things hands-on experience with the
system whether the pricing is fair for
its components its performance on our
standardized lab tests and of course
game benchmarks to see what kind of
frame rates you can expect in the real
world so here i'm going to present you
with six gaming laptops we've tested
that we recommend for six very different
purchase scenarios all of these laptops
are using the cpus and gpu components
from the last year so they'll be up to
date for playing the latest games even
if some are more powerful than others
let's check them out
so let's start with a crowd pleaser when
you're shopping for a gaming laptop
configurability is really important
because the cheaper base models of a
laptop are sometimes a better deal than
the higher end versions of that same
laptop that's what's going on here for a
gaming laptop we'd recommend to most
shoppers the 6th generation lenovo
legion 7 is one of our favorites it's a
well-built system with a comfortable
keyboard and touchpad lenovo is
especially good at that it has a fast
refresh rate 165hz display that's 16
inches and you'll see some rgb on the
body but it's pretty tame compared to
some of the laptop light shows that
we've seen those are all strong starting
points but it's the flexibility of the
configurations that makes this model
great for a wide range of gamers the
base model of the legion 7 gen 6 is just
under 1500 and that gets you an amd
ryzen 7 5800h 8 core processor and an
nvidia rtx 360 gpu that kind of pricing
is definitely mid-range these days for a
gaming laptop still it's a great fit for
all kinds of mainstream gaming from the
big aaa titles to the kinds of
competitive esports games where you want
and need higher frame rates to survive
that 1500 model looks nice and balanced
while our review configuration was a
souped-up hot rot model with an amd
ryzen 9 5900 hx processor and the nvidia
geforce rtx 3080 gpu for around 26.50
that's a configuration for shoppers who
have a bigger budget and serious power
leads but our tests showed it delivered
high frame rates both aaa and
competitive multiplayer games that's for
enthusiasts and really serious esports
players for everyone else there's the
base model we mentioned as well as some
options between the two making this a
great laptop for all but the budget
buyers
[Music]
if you're specifically looking for
something more budget-friendly look no
further than msi's katana gf66 now
budget laptop prices aren't quite as low
as they used to be shortage of pc
components are making everything more
expensive these days but this msi still
one of the best deals around for a
laptop with the latest parts this is a
15.6 inch model so the screen is the
mainstream size that most gaming laptops
use you can get a low end configuration
of the katana for under a thousand
dollars and those have geforce rtx 3050
ti graphics and intel's 11th generation
4x7 processors one of those is a worthy
gaming laptop for the price giving
budget shoppers a smooth way to play for
example the latest big single player
campaigns at 1080p even if they have to
lower some settings and it'll handle the
fortnites and other esports games just
fine our review unit was a little more
expensive it has a geforce rtx 3060
graphics chip and you can find it for a
few hundred dollars more than the base
models when you combine that with 144
hertz display and a one terabyte ssd
that's hopefully big enough for your
game library that's also a great deal if
you happen to live near a micro center
check out there our test unit of the
katana costs around twelve hundred
dollars in store now remember this is a
budget laptop the chassis has plastic
and the battery life isn't all that long
but that's normal at this price and it
assumes you'll use a big laptop like
this plugged in most of the time with
the katana msi focuses on delivering the
most value and gaming performance again
for the money and it
[Music]
succeeds now one of the reasons most
people buy a gaming laptop is to keep
their gaming rig from being tied to
their desk but even then some laptops
are much more portable than others over
the last year we've seen a whole bunch
of gaming laptops from alienware razer
acer and all others that have a 14 inch
screen but still use real graphics chips
making them legit gaming machines at a
smaller size than ever most gaming
laptops at that point used 15.6 inch or
bigger screens our pick is one of those
14 inchers if you know you'll frequently
be taking your laptop on the road
whether that's the class on a commute or
the cafe the acer predator's triton 300
se is going to be your best bet this
laptop is a great mobile gaming
companion and a really good all-around
deal
it weighs just 3.75 pounds while still
featuring a high quality and good
looking design and its battery lasted
more than 11 hours on a rundown test
making it a legit road machine it won't
last half that long while gaming but
that's a good running time for doing
other things and playing games we really
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