When it comes to PC gaming on the go, nothing does it better than gaming laptops. Gaming laptops have been the go-to device for gamers looking for a compact and portable alternative to gaming desktops. While they may not be as powerful as their desktop counterparts, nowadays, gaming laptops are getting pretty close. All of that without the hassle of actually needing to put a PC together and worrying about which component has stopped working. For some, it might be about the budget; during the pandemic, especially with GPU prices going through the roof, it was cheaper to get a gaming laptop than build a PC.
Overall, gaming laptops have become a lot more accessible, cheaper, and more powerful over the last couple of years. There are plenty of laptops that offer fantastic value for money, offering what were otherwise premium features like colour-accurate QHD displays, high refresh rates, and powerful configurations, which would normally only be seen in high-end gaming laptops.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the category breakdown by budget.
Yes, under 60K is considered “budget” when it comes to gaming laptops. While you can get budget gaming laptops for as low as 45-50K, you would be hard-pressed to find a decent option for under that much. Unless you’re looking at refurbished laptops which we would advise against. For a gaming laptop to be a gaming laptop it should, at minimum, have a discrete GPU. That in itself bumps the price up. At this price range, that’s the first major checkbox. Beyond that, you can start looking at other factors. RAM is one such factor; at this price point, you will usually see laptops offering 8 GB of RAM. While 16 GB is ideal, it’s ok to hold off if the laptop you’re purchasing comes with expandable RAM. This allows you to come back and expand the RAM when you can afford it. Also consider the generation of the components in the laptop, the more recent the better. Additional features like a high refresh rate are nice, but features like RGB lighting and colour accuracy should not be expected at this price.
Expect to find 11th or 12th-generation Intel Processors or 5000 series AMD Ryzen processors at this price range. As for GPUs, again, expect older-generation GPUs. Until a year ago most budget gaming laptops were offering GTX 1650s, but this year brands are releasing budget gaming laptop offerings with RTX 2050 GPUs. Between the 60-70K, you can get RTX 3050 GPU laptops. The RTX 2050 is a significant jump up over the GTX 1650 and comes with a host of new features from NVIDIA to help with gaming performance. You also have a few options with AMD GPUs, such as the 6500M and 6550M. The best part is that prices have stayed the same for the most part and these laptops are capable of handling most AAA games at low to medium settings at FHD resolutions. The RTX 3050 is a solid GPU for entry-level budget gaming laptops, allowing you to comfortably game at FHD settings at medium to even high settings.
Here are a few options you can check out at this price range:
That’s a pretty big jump in price range, but keep in mind that it does also include laptops that are around the 80-90K mark as well. This is something of a sweet spot, with several laptops featuring a great selection of features and specs at very competitive prices. Of course, if you go higher with your budget, you’ll get more for your money but this is where you calculate how much bang you want for your buck. At this budget, you’ll start seeing laptops with close to top-end specs and really good high-resolution displays with high refresh rates among other QoL gaming features.
In this price range, you can expect laptops with the latest 13th and 14th-generation Intel processors or Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processors. Most laptops will feature RTX 4060s at this price, but near the 1.5 lakh mark, you will even find options with RTX 4070s. This is a huge leap in performance over the previous section, allowing for even QHD or Quad HD gaming. This is nice since many laptops in this price range come with QHD displays. RTX 40 series GPUs come with a host of features like DLSS and Frame Generation which significantly boost performance. Overall, these laptops can handle just about every game you throw at them with relative ease.
Here are a few options you can check that offer phenomenal bang for your buck:
Also Read: Make money with games! But remember… Trust the numbers, not your gut
Ah yes, the behemoths of the gaming laptop world. If you look up the definition of overkill in the dictionary, it’s probably an image of one of these laptops. Talk about overperforming.
These laptops come with the best hardware money can buy. We’re talking top-of-the-line processors from the latest generation paired with the most powerful commercial GPUs in the market. Of course, it’s not just that, it’s also the RAM, the Storage, the displays, the build quality, and the display. Everything has been tuned and optimised to make your gaming experience the best it could be. Naturally, this also means that they come with astronomical price tags. Understandable as you’re paying the best of the best.
Expect the latest 14th generation Intel Core i9 processors or the latest 8000 series Ryzen 9 processors paired with NVIDIA RTX 4090s. These machines devour absolutely anything and everything you throw at them. 2K gaming? No problem! 4K gaming? Sure why not? I think you get the drift. This is what peak performance looks like.
Here are a few peak performers that most of us can only aspire to own:
This article was originally published in SKOAR! July 2024 issue.
