Gaming laptops are awesome. They can pack a huge amount of computing power into a compact, portable package. But there is a huge gap between an entry-level, mid-range (which is the lowest tier I would recommend personally), or high-end gaming laptop. The problem is that there are a lot of machines out there that are marketed as “gaming laptops” but they don’t really offer the performance to back it up.
Your first clue will be the power adapter.
If you are familiar with GPUs, you know that they have a TDP (total design power), and while it’s not a hard fast rule, typically a GPU with a greater TDP will outperform a similar GPU with a lower TDP.
So let’s take a look at the RTX 5070 for example. The desktop RTX 5070 12GB GPU has a TDP of 250 watts, which mine draws regularly. A laptop RTX 5070 is a very different animal. Laptop GPUs are designed around much lower power limits because the entire computer has to run from a relatively small power supply while also keeping temperatures under control.
This is where the power adapter can give you a clue about the kind of machine you’re looking at. If you see a “gaming” laptop with a relatively small power adapter, you shouldn’t expect it to perform like a desktop gaming PC with a similarly named GPU. The laptop has to divide that power between the CPU, GPU, screen, storage, fans, and everything else.
I would personally look for a laptop with a generous power budget and a good cooling system. The exact wattage isn’t nearly as important as what the manufacturer allows the CPU and GPU to actually use. Make sure the GPU’s power limit is listed somewhere in the specifications, and don’t assume that two laptops with the same GPU will perform the same.
And remember: more power means more heat.
A high-power GPU is great until the laptop gets so hot that it has to slow itself down. Make sure to read reviews and look for actual gaming temperatures and performance, not just the name of the GPU.
The “spec sheet” doesn’t usually tell the whole story.
In your typical specifications list for a gaming laptop, you will see things like:
- CPU
- RAM
- GPU
- Storage
- Wi-Fi
But what they don’t tell you is how serviceable the machine is or whether it can be upgraded.
The CPU and GPU in most laptops will be soldered to the motherboard. There are a few exceptions, but it is too far from the norm to consider it a feature most users will look for.
What you want to avoid is soldered RAM, soldered SSDs, and soldered Wi-Fi cards. These components can fail, and if they are soldered to the motherboard, then you cannot simply swap out a part.
Many gaming laptops will allow for additional RAM and M.2 NVMe drives to be added, and that is what you want when you are spending one, two, or three thousand dollars on a machine.
Before buying, I would actually look for a teardown video or the manufacturer’s service manual. Find out what is underneath that bottom cover.
Can you replace the RAM?
Can you add another SSD?
Can you replace the Wi-Fi card?
Can you get to the fans and clean them?
Can you replace the battery when it eventually wears out?
These things might not seem important when the laptop is brand new, but they become very important three or four years later.
Do you need integrated graphics?
I don’t mean EXCLUSIVELY integrated graphics. APUs are coming a long way, but a laptop without a dedicated GPU is just not a gaming laptop.
What I am talking about is that some CPUs have integrated graphics and some do not. Which one you choose depends on your use case.
If you intend to use your laptop primarily for gaming while plugged in, you probably don’t have to worry whether or not it has integrated graphics. If you also use your laptop for productivity or use it while unplugged, having a CPU with integrated graphics allows the laptop to use the much more efficient integrated GPU for everyday tasks instead of running the dedicated GPU all the time.
This can make a surprisingly big difference in battery life.
Gaming laptops aren’t exactly known for amazing battery life in the first place, but there is a big difference between using a dedicated GPU to render a web browser and using a tiny integrated GPU to do the same job.
Most modern gaming laptops with good battery life use some form of hybrid graphics system that switches between the integrated and dedicated GPU depending on what you’re doing.
Don’t ignore the screen.
This is one of the strangest things about gaming laptops.
You can spend a lot of money on a laptop with a very powerful GPU and then get a mediocre screen.
The resolution is only part of the story.
You also want to look at the refresh rate, panel type, brightness, color coverage, response time, and whether the display supports technologies such as variable refresh rate.
A 1080p screen can actually make sense on a smaller gaming laptop because the lower resolution is easier for the GPU to drive at high frame rates. On a larger or more expensive laptop, however, I would expect to see a better display.
And don’t assume that a higher refresh rate automatically means a better screen. A 240Hz display with poor colors and low brightness isn’t necessarily better for everyday use than a good 165Hz display.
If you’re going to spend hours looking at the thing, the screen matters.
RAM: Don’t cheap out here.
RAM is one of those things that manufacturers love to use to make a laptop look good on a store shelf.
“16GB RAM!” sounds great.
But you also need to know what kind of RAM it is, how fast it is, whether it is running in dual-channel mode, and whether you can add more later.
For a gaming laptop today, I would personally want at least 16GB of RAM, with 32GB being a much more comfortable target if your budget allows it.
And I would strongly prefer a laptop with two replaceable RAM modules over one soldered module.
That gives you the option to upgrade later instead of replacing the entire laptop because you ran out of memory.
Storage is another easy upgrade.
I wouldn’t spend a fortune on the fastest possible SSD when buying a gaming laptop.
For gaming, the difference between a very fast NVMe drive and a merely fast NVMe drive is usually much smaller than the marketing would have you believe.
What matters more to me is capacity and upgradeability.
Games are enormous now. A handful of modern games can eat up hundreds of gigabytes of storage, so a 512GB SSD can become frustrating very quickly.
I’d look for at least a 1TB SSD, and preferably a laptop with a second M.2 slot.
That way, when your first SSD fills up, you can add another drive instead of having to replace the one you already have.
The CPU matters, but don’t get distracted by the name.
Just like desktop CPUs, laptop processors come in a ridiculous number of different models.
You don’t necessarily need the most expensive CPU available.
For a gaming laptop, I would rather have a good mid-range CPU paired with a powerful GPU than spend a huge chunk of my budget on a monster CPU while getting a weaker GPU.
The GPU is usually going to be the most important component for gaming performance.
There are exceptions, especially if you play games that are heavily CPU-dependent, but for most people buying a gaming laptop, I would put more of the budget toward the GPU.
And remember that laptop CPUs have their own power and thermal limits. A CPU with the same name as a desktop processor is not necessarily going to perform anything like the desktop version.
Don’t forget the ports.
This sounds boring until you need one.
Before buying a gaming laptop, look at the actual ports.
How many USB ports are there?
Is there USB-C?
Can USB-C charge the laptop or connect a monitor?
Is there HDMI?
Is there Ethernet?
Do you need an SD card reader?
Are the ports positioned somewhere that makes sense for the way you use your mouse and other accessories?
A laptop can have incredible internal hardware and still be annoying to use because the manufacturer decided to put two USB ports on one side and the charging connector somewhere inconvenient.
So what would I buy?
If I were shopping for a gaming laptop today, I wouldn’t start by looking for the biggest numbers on the box.
I’d start by figuring out what I actually need.
For me, the checklist would look something like this:
- A dedicated GPU with a respectable power limit
- Good cooling that can actually handle that power
- At least 16GB of replaceable RAM
- 32GB preferred if the price is reasonable
- At least a 1TB NVMe SSD
- Preferably a second M.2 slot
- A CPU with integrated graphics if I care about battery life
- A good quality display
- A replaceable battery
- Accessible fans for cleaning
- Wi-Fi and RAM that aren’t unnecessarily soldered
- Enough USB and video ports for my needs
And most importantly, I would read reviews of the specific laptop model, not just reviews of the CPU and GPU inside it.
Two laptops can have the exact same processor and graphics card and perform very differently.
One might have excellent cooling and allow the GPU to run at a high power limit. The other might run hotter, use a lower power limit, and throttle under sustained gaming loads.
On paper, they’re the same laptop.
In the real world, they aren’t even close.
That’s probably the most important thing to remember when shopping for a gaming laptop: don’t buy the name on the box. Buy the machine you need.