A gaming laptop must be the complete package. The screen, GPU, CPU, memory, cooling, keyboard, and trackpad are all important. So, when we're talking about the best gaming laptop in any given year, it has to be a device that offers an extraordinary package, done extraordinarily well.
We're not short of options for this prestigious award in 2024. New designs were plentiful despite the lack of any new mobile GPUs this year. In their place, new CPU generations from Intel and AMD, Lunar Lake and Strix Point, gave manufacturers abundant opportunities to redesign their machines. Many took advantage of low-power parts to make slimmer, more portable gaming laptops.
It's these sorts of slimline gaming laptops that have largely won a nomination for entry into our hallowed hall of fame. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is one such thin machine that impressed us not only for its all-aluminium (aluminum, whatever) shell, but its fantastic speaker system, trackpad, and gorgeous screen. Then there's the Asus TUF A14, which brings AMD's superb Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 to bear in a more affordable compact chassis.
Then, the odd one out, the Gigabyte G6X. It's nowhere near as sleek, nor as slim, as the two others, but it's good on a budget. When a manufacturer makes an effort to keep costs down and improve the user experience, we take note. That's exactly what Gigabyte has done here, and without cutting any important specifications, like memory or storage size.
So, here are the nominees. We'll announce the winner on New Year's Eve.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024)
A laptop so nice we reviewed it twice. For good reason, I might add. Initially sliding across our Andy's desk with an RTX 4090 and Intel 14th Gen CPU under the hood, these high-end components combined were too much for the dear Zephyrus' slim frame. But Andy still came away from that review thinking there could be a lot more to like about a cheaper, less overpowered version. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long to find out.
I later took a G16 for a test drive with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, paired with an RTX 4070. What a machine that is. These two components are a much better fit for the Zephyrus than some behemoth RTX 4090 and they're far more affordable. It's absolutely still a premium gaming laptop through and through, but it performs great in games and you can pull this laptop out in a meeting and not feel all embarrassed about it. Andy was green with envy at the time, but we both agree the G16 in this form is the one to get.
Read our full Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) review.
Gigabyte G6X (2024)
The G6X is the gaming laptop we'd recommend to anyone looking to save some pennies. It contains all the important things we'd like to see in any gaming laptop—an RTX 40-series GPU and modern Intel CPU—but it also includes some mod cons such as a 1200p screen, 16-inch form factor, and 165 Hz refresh rate.
Small details make the difference here. There's a spare NVMe SSD slot under the hood, and it's easy to upgrade the RAM if you need to. Though we reviewed a model with 32 GB of DDR5-4800, which is more than sufficient for gaming and content creation. Altogether, a well put together machine that doesn't cut corners.
Read our full Gigabyte G6X (2024) review.
Asus TUF A14 (2024)
The TUF lineup used to stand for motherboards that were built with backplates and awesome metal or white and black colourways. Then, it stood for the cheaper range from Asus. Today it's something of a halfway house between the two, with this TUF A14 acting as both the more affordable option to the Zephyrus G14 and coming with a tough metal chassis.
Featuring the same AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor as our favourite G16 configuration, this TUF machine is a bit easier on the budget. Just a bit, don't get your hopes up. It's similar to the Zephyrus in that it comes with soldered memory, but there's a spare slot for another NVMe SSD should you want to upgrade. Moreover, it's a mean machine for gaming and doesn't look out of place for school or office work.
Read our full Asus TUF A14 (2024) review.
The winner of the PC Gamer Hardware Award for the best gaming laptop will be announced on New Year's Eve. It's all to play for, and any one of these three is completely deserving of the crown.
