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Originally Posted On: https://www.austin.net.au/blog/post/what-is-the-best-gaming-laptop-on-the-2021-market1

PC gaming is a $45 billion market. In just over a decade the humble PC has gone from a gaming graveyard that many felt was on its way out, to millions of people’s number 1 spot for playing games. Even Japanese developers, historically much more console-focused than those in the west, are now making it a priority to release their catalogs on PC.

One of the best ways to get into this flourishing field of creativity is with good gaming laptops. A portable powerhouse for your gaming needs is one of the coolest things you can own. But how do you choose among all the ones on the market?

You stay right here and read our guide to the best gaming laptop of 2021, of course!

First Things First

Before you begin combing through different laptop brands, it’s important to know what you’re actually looking for. What kind of games do you play? Do you want to move around a lot with your laptop or keep it in one place? What kind of budget are you working with?

The answers to these questions can radically alter what your ‘best gaming laptop’ is.

For example, if all you want to do is play light, undemanding games like Into The Breach, Baldur’s Gate, or other older and smaller games, you don’t need some power-hungry behemoth. You could get away with a smaller, cooler, and cheaper Windows laptop. In fact, lots of older games would even run fine on integrated graphics, meaning you might not even need a discrete GPU in your machine.

On the other hand, if you want to play the latest hits like Cyberpunk 2077 or Call Of Duty: Warzone, a cheap gaming laptop isn’t going to do it. Those games are demanding even for desktop gaming rigs, which means the gaming laptop deals you’ll want to be looking for should be big, powerful gaming laptops.

That, of course, has its trade-offs. If you want to play the latest games at max settings and carry your laptop around wherever you go, you’re gonna have to be okay with carrying a relatively hefty piece of equipment around. Don’t worry, it’s not going to break your back, but it will be heavier than a cheap-n-light ultrabook!

So, that being said, let’s get into the best gaming laptop rankings of 2021!

Now You’re Playing With Power: ASUS TUF Dash F15 Eclipse

If you want a gaming laptop that you can throw anything at without it breaking a sweat, ASUS have you covered. The ASUS TUF Dash F15 Eclipse, apart from having a name that makes it sound like a fighter jet, crams about as much power as possible into a surprisingly sleek laptop chassis.

Most importantly, its GPU is top-of-the-line and cutting edge. It’s an Nvidia RTX 3070, part of Nvidia’s latest 3000 series of GPUs. That means it can handle all the latest games at ultra settings on its crisp, 1080p display. Even better, because it’s an RTX card, you can even take advantage of all that nifty ray-tracing graphics tech that’s becoming more and more popular in modern games.

That’s not all, though. The F15 Eclipse also comes equipped with a 1TB SSD. If you’re unfamiliar, a solid-state drive (SSD) is what makes the difference between a game loading in 2 seconds or 20. If you’ve heard stories about the PS5 and Xbox Series X loading their games really fast now, it’s because those consoles are equipped with SSDs for the first time ever.

Plus, 1TB is a lot of space. Say goodbye to worrying about having enough room for your gaming library! Those factors all combine to make the F15 Eclipse the best gaming laptop for those whose primary concern is power.

The Best Gaming Laptop for Old-School Gamers: Infinity O5-4R5G5-668 R5-4600H

If the ASUS had a name like a fighter jet, the Infinity has a name like a cat walking on a keyboard. Don’t let that fool you, though, if you’re looking for a good but cheap gaming laptop to play older and less demanding titles on, the Infinity is the one to go for.

The Infinity’s GPU is a little bit older than the one in the F15. It’s a GTX 1650, which is more than powerful enough to play older games at ultra and even newer stuff at lower settings. It’s not an RTX series card, though, which means you won’t be able to take advantage of any of your games’ ray-tracing capabilities.

Likewise, while it still comes with a blazing quick SSD, it has about 512GB of space. That’s half of a terabyte. Again, for older stuff you’ll still probably never fill it up, but if you want to play recent, big games you might have to engage in a bit of storage management.

All in all, as gaming laptop deals go, the Infinity shaves a lot off the price in return for a little off the power. That’s not bad at all!

Unlimited Power: Gigabyte AORUS 17X YD

If money is no object and you want a ludicrous amount of power stuffed into a laptop chassis, let us introduce you to the Gigabyte AORUS 17X YD.

It has an absurdly powerful GPU, the beefiest CPU you’ve ever seen, and a 17-inch screen that refreshes 300 times a second. There’s no point even detailing the capacities of this beast. It will chew up and spit out whatever games you throw at it at whatever settings you want.

If, to you, ‘best gaming laptop’ means ‘most powerful gaming laptop’, then here it is!

Go Forth and Game!

So there you have it, a brief guide to the best gaming laptop of 2021. Whether you’re a budget-conscious classic gamer, a power-hungry COD-lover, or an eccentric billionaire who refuses to play anything rendered at fewer than 300 frames-per-second, there’s something out there for you.

Be warned though, none of them are going to make you any better at COD. That’s all on you!