Best Gaming Laptops 2025
- MSI Vector 16 HX A14V
Price: $3,198 | MSI’s sleeper laptop fits in an office and excels at gaming. It’s also hugely discounted
MSI’s 16-incher is a sleeping monster. Its Core i9-14900HX processor provides plenty of platform power and it’s backed up by a high-end Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics chip. Excellent ergonomics mean it’s great to interact with and the matte, 240Hz screen keeps fast-moving games looking sharp and blur free.
It might not be the quietest, or the most portable machine, but if you want a gaming laptop that can hide inside an office, this should be top of your list. It’s also available at $1,600 off right now, so if you want one, be quick!
- MSI Raider GE68HX 14V
Price: $4,599 | The 14th-Gen MSI Raider is the fastest gaming laptop we’ve ever tested
MSI’s latest Raider is everything that we hoped it would be. It’s our new, fastest gaming laptop, it’s packed with great features and the ergonomics make it a joy to use. The mini-LED screen supports Windows HDR which makes multimedia look fantastic without the blight of reflections that come with OLED panels. The 14th-Gen Core 19-14900HX processor is only a polished version of the 13th-Gen version but it’s still incredibly fast.
Our review unit had a top-tier Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU but you can save a lot of money by dropping down to a 4080. If you’re quick, you’ll be able to save $1,900 off retail in the February sales!
- Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17
Price: $4,749 | Adding AMD CPUs to Asus’ legendary SCAR makes it all-powerful… and cheaper
The 17-inch Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 might have an exterior that’s getting a little long in the tooth, but it’s still a phenomenal buy that would be Number 1 (again) if the Legion wasn’t in a perpetual sale. That’s thanks to its AMD processor, which offers some of the fastest 2D performance we’ve ever seen. It also has a top-tier Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU and a high-resolution 240Hz screen.
On top of that, we also reviewed yet another variant, the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 X3D, which has AMD’s newer processor with 3D V-Cache. However, while the main model has dropped in price recently, the X3D is now a full grand more and hard to find.
- Acer Nitro V 16
Price $1,597 | The Best Budget Gaming Laptop
Acer has overhauled its popular, wallet-friendly Nitro 5 budget gaming laptop line to come up with a winner in the Nitro V. The AMD processor is more powerful than we’ve seen before and now you get 16GB of RAM over the previous 8GB. Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics provide enough gaming grunt for most games on the quick, 165Hz, 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 16-inch display. Battery life still isn’t great, though.
Nonetheless, it’s got it where it counts and the build quality belies its budget designation. It’s a good buy normally, but a great buy at this price.
- Pioneer DreamBook Power X370 RTX 4090
Price: $4,659 | Australia’s Pioneer offers a (configurable) gaming laptop with top-tier 3D performance
It might not have all the bells and whistles of the mainstream contenders, but this monster still offers some of the fastest 3D Performance we’ve ever seen. While many of its rivals have refreshed their exterior packaging and price tags since it launched, this Aussie battler has matured in the market, offering top-tier components at a much-reduced price.
You can save even more money with Pioneer’s online configurator too – almost $1,000 by dropping down from an Nvidia 4090 to a 4080. It’s the laptop equivalent of a Holden Monaro in its no-frills, all-grunt prowess. A brilliant Aussie gaming laptop.