Choosing a gaming laptop is a lot like putting together a well-balanced adventuring party. You need to look at what you plan to use it for, what kinds of quests you’ll tackle, and try to match its capabilities to your needs—without emptying your coin purse. To that end, weary traveler, we took it upon ourselves to source the latest and greatest gaming laptops from forges large and small. We gathered them in our keep and ran them through a variety of tests to sort the god-rolls from the vendor trash. Here they are, the best gaming laptops for every kind of player.
Be sure to check out our picks for the best overall laptops, gaming mice, keyboards, and headsets.
Updated in December 2020: We revamped the guide with better organization, clearer specs, and new models.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED