Best gaming laptop under £2,000

[cHk4]

I’ve decided to change my requirements and I’m looking for a gaming laptop, so that I can take it with me when I’m not home to game.

I’m not sure if 2K is going to get me something good, so I don’t mind going over slightly.

I’m not sure if there is a huge difference between a 4070/4080 in a laptop but I would ideally like something with one of them in.

Games can very, I want something better than 1080P. I’ve seen a lot of screens are OLED now, do I need to worry about screen burn?

Also, forgot to add some development and game dev too!

So far I’m leaning towards the 2024 alienwares.

Thanks

 

[Slogan]

What size of screen are you after? When I was in the market for a gaming laptop about two years ago, the Lenovo Legion range was amongst the best available. Not only in terms of specs but also thermal/noise performance.

It's good to be aware of the thermal limitations imposed by manufacturers as well.

When I was shopping and it was the 3000 series GPUs, you could have two laptops with 3070s in them and they could be very different in terms of GPU performance.

Some manufacturers used a lower watt version of the 3070 (for example) and the performance hit wasn't insignificant. Add to that, you would often have to dig quite deep to get the specific variant of 3070 that was being used.

 

[cHk4]

What size of screen are you after? When I was in the market for a gaming laptop about two years ago, the Lenovo Legion range was amongst the best available. Not only in terms of specs but also thermal/noise performance.

It's good to be aware of the thermal limitations imposed by manufacturers as well.

When I was shopping and it was the 3000 series GPUs, you could have two laptops with 3070s in them and they could be very different in terms of GPU performance.

Some manufacturers used a lower watt version of the 3070 (for example) and the performance hit wasn't insignificant. Add to that, you would often have to dig quite deep to get the specific variant of 3070 that was being used.

Thanks for the reply mate, I guess I would like to use it on my 4k screen and I would want a native resolution of 2k at least. With what you’ve said I think there are some power limits to the 4050/60/70 series cards so not sure if I should fork out a little extra and get one with a 4080. I’ll take another look at the Lenovo legions.

Also not sure on if I should go for an ultra/14900 or the AMD chips as the zen 5 laptop stuff is coming soon.

 

[Slogan]

Thanks for the reply mate, I guess I would like to use it on my 4k screen and I would want a native resolution of 2k at least. With what you’ve said I think there are some power limits to the 4050/60/70 series cards so not sure if I should fork out a little extra and get one with a 4080. I’ll take another look at the Lenovo legions.

Also not sure on if I should go for an ultra/14900 or the AMD chips as the zen 5 laptop stuff is coming soon.

The power limits on the cards aren't really an issue as such and the same limited variants are probably true of any 4080s as well. My point was just to make sure you get the full fat version of whatever card you do end up going for. At your budget, which I think is a generous one even at £2k, ending up with a 4070 that performs closer to a 4060 because the chassis can't handle the full fat version of the chip, isn't a compromise you should have to make. And it's even more annoying if you find out about that performance hit long after you've purchased.

From what I understand, AMD seems to be very strong in terms of efficiency. I know when I was researching it was the case and I believe this is a trend that has continued. The performance is still very good but the thermals and battery life in particular, really benefit from the efficiency as well. There's a YouTuber called Jarrod'sTech who focuses in on 'gaming' laptops and I would definitely recommend you watch some of his videos before you decide to purchase. It will give you a much better idea of the all round package of a laptop (physical battery size, ports, fan noise profiles, thermal design, upgrade-ability) and possibly introduce you to some other models, that you wouldn't have otherwise considered.

 

[Scrutinize]

There were some great sales on 2023 4080 laptops recently but these have ended.

Acer Predator Helios or Helios Neo with the 4070 or 4080 and Lenovo Legion Pro give you the full power cards and are typically the fastest two gaming laptop options in sensible budget in the UK.

This Acer would be my pick esp with the 3yr warranty.

Acer Predator Helios 16 NVIDIA RTX 4070, 16GB, 16" WQXGA 240Hz, Intel i9-13900HX Gaming Laptop

Order Acer Predator Helios 16 NVIDIA RTX 4070, 16GB, 16" WQXGA 240Hz, Intel i9-13900HX Gaming Laptop now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

The other option is the ASUS Rog Strix with 4070.

This one has a blindingly fast CPU as laptops go but average screen.

ASUS ROG Strix G17 NVIDIA RTX 4070, 16GB, 17.3" FHD 144Hz, AMD R9-7845HX Gaming Laptop

Order ASUS ROG Strix G17 NVIDIA RTX 4070, 16GB, 17.3" FHD 144Hz, AMD R9-7845HX Gaming Laptop now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk