As a general rule of thumb for any modern gaming laptop running Windows 10 or 11, we would recommend the bare minimum of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 CPU. That’s the absolute baseline; if you want to do anything remotely more demanding than surfing the web and running Microsoft Office, we strongly recommend more.
When it comes to gaming, you’ll want a discrete GPU. This could be from Nvidia’s GeForce line or AMD’s Radeon series – both are good and broadly speaking, larger numbers in the name of the GPU mean better performance. The Nvidia RTX 4050 or RTX 3060 is what we would currently consider the minimum for a good gaming experience at 1080p resolution, but more powerful GPUs like the higher RTX 3000-series and 4000-series will net you better performance.
You’re also going to want at least 8GB of RAM, ideally 16GB, for playing the latest games, as well as an Intel Core i5/AMD Ryzen 5 processor. A Core i7/Ryzen 7 is also good, but anything more powerful than that is likely to be overkill.
The only reason you might want to splurge on a super-powered system with tons of RAM, a high-end GPU, or an Intel Core i9/AMD Ryzen 9 CPU is if you need your gaming laptop to be able to carry out demanding, resource-intensive tasks. This could be editing 4K videos, or running 3D animation rendering software. In this situation, be sure to do your research in advance regarding what programs you’ll be running and the recommended system requirements for those.
Regarding how old the components are, you may want to tread carefully. We’d recommend against choosing anything more than two generations old; that means you can go back as far as an 11th-generation Intel or a 5000-series AMD CPU. Some of the deals that crop up on Cyber Monday might seem great, but upon closer inspection have some seriously outdated components that won’t stand up in the long run.
Lastly, if you’re considering something like a MacBook, you’ll have a much easier time. The variation of components here is far smaller than that found in Windows-powered gaming laptops; broadly speaking, we’d recommend opting for one with Apple’s excellent M2 or M3 chips, rather than the older Intel-powered models.
