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<\/a><\/p>\nWhy you should trust us<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve tested, lived with, and reviewed hundreds of laptops in my career, and I\u2019ve spent hands-on time with countless other models while covering the CES trade show, attending events, and visiting stores. I\u2019ve reviewed most gaming laptops released in the past five years, and I\u2019ve spent thousands of hours gaming on laptops since high school.<\/p>\n
Who is this for<\/strong><\/p>\n Gaming laptops are a tough sell. To provide the power to play games at decent settings, they sacrifice portability, Acer as07b31 laptop battery<\/a><\/strong> life, and value compared to non-gaming laptops. At the same time, a $2,000 gaming laptop is less powerful and less upgradeable than a $1,200 desktop gaming PC. And a $1,000 ultrabook will handle non-gaming tasks just as well at a third the weight and with four times the battery life, much better build quality, and a better keyboard and trackpad.<\/p>\n A gaming laptop makes sense only if you\u2019re a serious gamer but still want to travel with your machine. Gaming laptops tend to be popular with students, deployed soldiers, and road warriors\u2014people for whom a gaming desktop isn\u2019t feasible.<\/p>\n What makes a good gaming laptop<\/b><\/p>\n The attributes that impact a gaming laptop\u2019s performance are, in order: graphics card (GPU), processor (CPU), the chassis\u2019s heat management, memory (RAM), and storage. Other important features include noise management, keyboard, display, and (to a lesser extent) the speakers and trackpad.<\/p>\n Our ideal gaming laptop has an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card or better, an Intel Core i7-6700HQ or i7-7700HQ processor or faster, at least 16 GB of RAM, and at least a 256 GB SSD and 1 TB hard drive. We would prefer that it cost less than $2,000, but we\u2019re less strict about price in gaming laptops provided the machine is worth the cost.<\/p>\n Powerful hardware isn\u2019t the only consideration. A gaming laptop\u2019s processor and graphics card produce a lot of heat, and if the laptop doesn\u2019t have an effective cooling system, it can overheat. The laptop also needs a good keyboard and solid build quality. Even though Nvidia\u2019s GeForce GTX 1070 can run games on high settings at 4K resolution, we still recommend 1080p displays because 4K screens are currently too expensive for most of our readers.<\/p>\n Some features that are must-haves in non-gaming laptops aren\u2019t quite as important here. Poor speakers can be bypassed with a good pair of headphones, and most people use a mouse instead of the trackpad while gaming. Battery life and portability have never been the strong suits of gaming laptops, which spend most of their lives plugged in and stationary.<\/p>\n How we picked and tested<\/b><\/p>\n After picking our hardware criteria (see above), we scoured the websites of major gaming-laptop manufacturers like Alienware, MSI, Asus, Razer, Samsung, Acer, HP<\/a>, and Lenovo, and we browsed boutiques like Xotic PC, iBuyPower, Clevo, iBuypower, Origin PC, Digital Storm, and others. Then we put together a list of the laptops that fit our requirements and have positive reviews from trusted sources like CNET, AnandTech, Engadget, Laptop Mag, PCMag, and Notebookcheck, and eliminated those that didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n For this update, that left us with three finalists: the the Acer Predator 17, the Asus ROG G752VS, and the MSI GT72VR Dominator Pro.<\/p>\n We tested the laptops using BioShock Infinite\u2019<\/i>s benchmarking mode and by playing half an hour of The Witcher 3 <\/i>on ultra with VSync off. We measured the laptops\u2019 internal temperature using HWMonitor and measured the surface temperature at various points on the keyboard and underside using an IR thermometer. We tested each laptop\u2019s screen using some of the Lagom LCD monitor test pages, and used each for several workdays to get a feel for its keyboard, trackpad, screen, and speakers.<\/p>\nOur pick: Acer Predator 17<\/b><\/h3>\n