Best Gaming Laptops to buy for 2020.
This year has been great for laptops especially, gaming laptops. There were quite a few new launches and upgrades to gaming laptops for major manufactures like Razer, Dell, Acer, and others. Upgrades mostly included new GPU’s from Nvidia and AMD and CPU’s from Intel, AMD, and Apple (M1 chip).
When choosing gaming laptops, the specifications to look for usually include how much ram and what type of internal storage is available (SSD)? What is the display type? Is the display OLED, LCD? The display also includes what refresh rates are available.
We now have laptops with refresh rates up to 300 Hz. Also, response times and syncing technologies like Nvidia G–Sync and AMD FreeSync. The difference between Nvidia G–Sync and AMD FreeSync is how they handle graphics cards that produce higher frame rates than a monitor can handle. G–Sync locks frame rates to the upper limit of the monitor while FreeSync (with in-game Vsync turned off) will allow the graphics card to produce a higher frame rate.
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Other factors to consider are how portable the laptop is, how the laptops are cooled (does it overheat), how is the build quality, what type of ports are available (e.g thunderbolt). Cost is also another factor to consider. If you are willing to spend thousands of dollars you can buy the most expensive machines with top of the line graphics. But not everyone can afford to spend so much on gaming laptops. Some wish to have a good gaming laptop that also doubles as a work computer.
We have seen few launches for thin and light gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and affordable laptops like the Dell G5 15 SE and Acer Nitro.
Graphics
For gaming laptops, GPU and CPU do matter. The best graphics cards available are Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super, followed by the RTX 2080 Super Max-Q. The Max-Q versions run at slower frequencies compared to their namesake non-Max-Q versions.
Max-Q systems are used for thinner and lighter versions of the gaming laptops. They produce less heat and improves battery life.
Nvidia added Ray Tracing and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) to their cards starting with the RTX 20x series. These give visual fidelity to the games like reflections and shadows as the game progresses. It is implemented in a few new games and depends upon whether the game developer has implemented it.
Read: Foldable PC from Lenovo, ThinkPad X1 Fold.
AMD’s graphics have also become more popular. Their graphics cards Radeon RX 5500M, 5600M, and 5700M deliver similar performance to the Nvidia RTX 2060 and RTX 2070. Also, laptops with AMD graphics are comparatively cheaper than Nvidia.
AMD also introduced AMD SmartShift technology. The technology dynamically shifts power in your laptop to help boost performance for gaming, video editing, 3D rendering, content creation, and productivity. In contrast, the CPU and GPU in a typical gaming laptop would have fixed and pre-defined power budgets that are independent of one another.
AMD’s approach promises up to 10 percent better performance in some games and 12 percent faster CPU performance without any additional hardware required. The drawback, however, is that it is only available for laptops (Dell G5 15 SE) having AMD CPU and GPU.
Following are the best gaming laptops to buy for 2020
Razer Blade Pro 17
A sleek, yet powerful laptop. With its 8-core CPU and new NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER graphics the Blade Pro 17 delivers smooth visuals and vibrant graphics all within a compact chassis at only 15″ wide.
Intel Core i7-10875H 8-Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, 17.3″ 4K 120Hz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, CNC, Chroma RGB, Thunderbolt 3, SD Card Reader, Creator Ready.
Price around $3600 dollars. To check latest price click here.
Not so sleek but gaming powerhouse:
Alienware m17 R3:
This is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop. With desktop-grade performance and impressive design, this laptop offers everything from the best specifications. Advanced Alienware Cryo-Tech, is an engineering approach where an Alienware system’s gaming performance is never compromised using electrical and mechanical methods while maintaining system stability during the highest performance states.
It comes standard with an exceptional 144Hz 9ms FHD display, 72% color gamut, and 300-nits brightness with 300Hz 300nits 3ms FHD panel option.
Up to 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i9-10980HK, Up to 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 [Boot] + 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD [Storage], Up to 32GB DDR4 2666MHz, Up to NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 – Max Performance.
The price starts from $1600 for the base model (i7-10750H and AMD Radeon™ RX 5500M) and the maxed-out version is about $3,819.99. Click here for the latest price on Dell’s website.
MSI GE66 Raider
The GE66 Raider now comes with Mystic Light a panoramic aurora lighting featured that is designed to give users the ultimate RGB gaming setup. Capable of delivering 300Hz refresh rates, paired with its 99.9Whr battery, the GE66 Raider has what it takes to be a portable gaming laptop.
MSI GE66 Raider 10SGS-288 15.6″ 300Hz 3ms Gaming Laptop Intel Core i7-10875H RTX2080 Super 32GB 1TB NVMe SSD Win10 VR Ready.
Click here for the latest price.
Best Thin and Light Gaming Laptop
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
Thin and light, travel anywhere, portable gaming laptop, that has power, build quality, and battery life.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14″ VR Ready 120Hz FHD Gaming Laptop,8Core AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS, 16GB RAM,1TB PCIe SSD,Backlight,Wi-Fi 6,USB C,NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 Max-Q,Win10.
Check the latest price here.
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin
A backpack-friendly gaming beast.
MSI GS65 Stealth THIN-051 15.6″ 144Hz 7ms Ultra Thin Gaming Laptop GTX 1060 6G, i7-8750H 6 Core, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, RGB KB VR Ready.
Click here for latest price on Amazon.
Excellent gaming laptop in a budget price
Acer Nitro 5
For a price just above $1100, the Nitro comes with a 9th Gen Intel Core processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics—that’s driven by NVIDIA Turing architecture.
17.3″ Full HD Widescreen IPS LED-backlit Display | 144Hz Refresh Rate | 3ms Response Time | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Graphics with 6 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM.
Check for latest price on Amazon here.
Dell G5 15
With a starting price of just above $1100, this budget-friendly laptop delivers high performance at the price.
10th Gen Intel® Core™ processor and a dual-fan cooling system to keep your system responsive and cool. Also includes Game Shift technology for improved performance during intense gameplay.
15.6 inch FHD(1920×1080) 300nits WVA Anti-Glare LED Backlit Display(non-touch), 144Hz refresh rate
10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10750H (12MB Cache, up to 5.0 GHz, 6 cores) Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 6GB GDDR6, 16GB DDR4-2933MHz, 2x8G, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive.
Check the latest price here.
Dell G5 15 SE
Powered by AMD, this is a new generation of All-AMD Laptops. With a price of around $1000 this laptop features, AMD smart shift technology. It comes with an AMD Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics card.
15.6″ FHD IPS High-Performance Gaming Laptop, AMD 4th Gen Ryzen 5 4600H 6-core, 8GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, AMD Radeon RX 5600M. For updated price check here.
Acer Predator Helios 300
With NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics & the 10th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor. 144Hz IPS panel and 3ms Overdrive response time this is a powerful gaming laptop for around $1200.
Intel i7-10750H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB, 15.6″ Full HD 144Hz 3ms IPS Display, 16GB Dual-Channel DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, RGB keyboard. Click here for the latest price on Amazon.
Also Read: Foldable PC from Lenovo, ThinkPad X1 Fold.