Best Gaming Laptops: Which One To Buy And 19 Recommended Computers From 629 To 3,000 Euros

How to choose a gaming laptop

The fundamental thing for a laptop to offer us a good gaming experience is that its hardware is up to par. Although the GPU is the protagonist, the processor, the amount and type of RAM and storage play an important role.

Pay attention to the graphics card

Textures, image rendering… games are one of the most demanding applications that exist and a good part of the work falls on the graphics card. That’s why the GPU is so important when choosing a computer to play with.

In this field, NVIDIA continues to lead the way, which is why its graphics are the most abundant in mid- and high-range gaming laptops. The latest generation RTX 3000 is a magnificent option looking at the present and future, although the previous generation is still a good alternative if our budget is tighter, with the RTX 2060 present in equipment that costs around a thousand euros. Although less abundant, there are also interesting gaming laptops with integrated Radeon RX 6000 graphics.

The transition from Turing architecture to Ampere architecture with the new RTX 3000 presents notable improvements in aspects such as performance or cooling at more affordable prices than its predecessors, democratizing 4K and 60 FPS gaming even with ray tracing activated in some titles, although it is interesting to play at 1440p and high FPS rates.

Taking into account the games that are yet to come and the investment to be made, our recommendation as a starting point is an RTX 2060, with good 1080p and 1440p performance that allows us to enjoy the RTX technology absent in previous generations since This technology’s impact on graphics is powerful. Of course, keep in mind that the RTX R2060 is the most basic option to enjoy the ray tracing experience, but it is not the one that offers the best performance

In any case, it is important to choose the graphics according to the resolution and refresh rate of the panel. The idea is to choose the model that allows us to play at the native resolution of the panel with a stable image rate and as close as possible to 60 Hz (60 FPS), or the maximum refresh rate of the panel (generally and highly recommended 120 Hz or 144 Hz) or even 240Hz if we opt for the most ambitious and demanding equipment.

However, if the laptop has a Thunderbolt 3 port or later, there is also the option of connecting it to an eGPU box and expanding graphical power to your liking. But if we don’t want to complicate things, the RTX 2060 is the base option.

Without detracting from the CPU

The CPU is in charge of the physics, artificial intelligence, or resolution of our games, hence the processor has a great impact on our gaming experience. Of course, it is important to note that most games do not take advantage of all the execution threads or all the processor cores.

In this sense, games benefit more from a faster CPU than from one capable of handling more threads of execution. As long as you only use the computer to play games, because if you also use it for content creation (photo and/or video editing), you will also be interested in opting for a fast chip with more threads and cores .

AMD hit the table in 2020 in performance, graphical performance, and efficiency with the Ryzen 4000 and the Ryzen 5000 Mobile continuing in that wake, improving in aspects such as latency reduction or a higher maximum clock frequency. Despite this, the dominant combo in the gaming market is Intel processors and NVIDIA graphics.

Landing the state-of-the-art CPUs, chips from Intel’s renewed Alder Lake are already beginning to be seen, the latest of the latest, already present in some ambitious models.

In general, we are interested in looking at gaming laptops that have 12th or 11th-generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors or, among the most affordable models, those with AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 5000 chips, with very good value for money. However, you can also find offers with fourth-generation AMD and Intel processors.

The predominant series in the gaming scene is the H (present in Intel and AMD chips), with higher performance and consumption, the one chosen for larger and more voluminous laptops such as gaming equipment.

Other components: RAM and storage

After clarifying which GPU and CPU we need, the next thing will be to choose a model with enough RAM and storage space to play.