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Best Portable Gaming Laptop

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Best Portable Gaming Laptop

MSI GS65 Stealth (RTX)



Admittedly, our favorite category: portable, slim and light gaming laptops. We think this is what really sells the concept of a gaming laptop. You should be able to take it around with you without needing to lug around 6+ pounds, it should be slim and easy to carry, and have decent enough battery life that it’s genuinely usable off the charger. Of course, it also needs powerful hardware for gaming
The best option right now is the MSI GS65 Stealth at 15.6-inches in size, or alternatively the GS75 Stealth if you’d rather go with the 17-inch variant. We've tested most of the slim and light offerings in this new RTX generation and MSI's Stealth line is simply the best for a few reasons: it can deliver the full performance of the components inside without throttling, it does so at respectable fan noise levels, and it’s also the lightest of the main portable gaming options.
The Alienware m15, for example, is noticeably heavier and larger while also having cooler problems. The Gigabyte Aero 15 X9 is a decent offering but its loud cooler and inferior design sees it fall behind the MSI option. And the Asus Zephyrus, while good in a number of areas, has an awkward design with its side-positioned trackpad.
The MSI GS65 Stealth packs decent hardware, headlined by a 1080p 144Hz display, Intel Core i7-8750H CPU and 16GB of RAM. The default 256GB SSD option is a tad on the small side but it can be upgraded relatively easily, while battery life is pretty good.
There are a number of GS65 and GS75 variants out there, including older Pascal GTX models and newer Turing RTX models. The best option right now is the RTX 2060 model, it’s normally priced at $2,100 but can occasionally be found closer to $1,900, making it around the same price as the older GTX 1070 Max-Q variant. The RTX 2060 is about 8% faster on average than the GTX 1070 Max-Q, making it the better value choice.
The higher tier options with the RTX 2070 Max-Q and RTX 2080 Max-Q are priced at $2,400 and $2,800 respectively, but performance gains of 15% or less really aren’t enough to justify the price hike. Of course, if you want more power these models are available, but today the RTX 2060 is the sweet spot
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