Which laptop would you buy for gaming?

[jorge_medion]

This is a comprehensive list of laptops I've elaborated in an Excel spreadsheet. All the laptops have Windows 10 installed and display 17.3''. My budget is up to 2000 €. I am planning to purchase a new gaming laptop to play mainly strategy games, Total War games and less demanding games than Total War.

LAPTOP	CPU	RAM	HARD DRIVE	GPU	PRICE (€)
Lenovo Legion Y540-17IRH	Intel Core i7-9750H	16 GB DDR4 2666 MHz	512GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe 3.0x2 NVMe + 1TB HDD 7200rpm 2.5"	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1699
MSI Creator 17M A9SD	Intel Core i7-9750H	32 GB DDR4 2666 MHz	1TB NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 SSD	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1799
Asus Rog Strix G731GU-EV038T	Intel Core i7-9750H	16 GB DDR4 2666 MHz	1TB 5400rpm hybrid 8GB (FireCuda) + 256GB SSD M.2 PCIE NVME	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1599
MSI GE73 Raider RGB	Intel Core i7-8750H	16GB DDR4	1TB (7200rpm SATA) + 512GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5	1522
MSI GS75 Stealth	Intel Core i7-8750H	16GB DDR4 2666MHz	512GB NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1699
Asus Rog Strix G731GV-EV004T	Intel Core i7-9750H	16GB DDR4 2666MHz	512GB SSD M.2 PCIE NVME	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1849
MSI GE75 Raider	Intel Core i7-9750H	16GB DDR4 2666MHz	1TB NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1862
Gigabyte AERO 17	Intel Core i7-9750H	16GB DDR4 2666MHz	Intel® 760P SSD 512GB	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1849
HP Omen 17-cb0001ns	Intel Core i7-9750H	16GB DDR4 2666MHz	1TB HDD + 512GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1899
HP Omen 17-cb0013ns	Intel Core i7-9750H	32 GB DDR4	1TB HDD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1999
HP Omen 17-cb0006ns	Intel Core i7-9750H	16GB DDR4	1TB HDD + 256GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1699
Nexoc Gaming G1742	Intel Core i7-8700	32 GB DDR4	1TB HDD + 250GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1799
Nexoc Gaming G1742 (2)	Intel Core i7-9700	64 GB DDR4	1TB HDD + 500GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6	1789
MSI GS75 Stealth 9SE-271ES	Intel Core i7-9750H	32 GB DDR4	1 TB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1950
Nexoc Gaming G1742 (3)	Intel Core i7-8700	32 GB DDR4	2 x 250 GB SSD, 1 TB HDD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1949
Nexoc Gaming G1743	Intel Core i7-9750H	32 GB DDR4	500 GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1720
Nexoc Gaming G1744	Intel Core i7-8750H	32 GB DDR4	250 GB SSD, 1 TB HDD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB	1889
MSI GE75 Raider 8SF*	Intel Core i7-8750H	16GB DDR4	1TB HDD + 512GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 GDDR6 8GB	1900
Asus Rog Strix G731GW-EV010T*	Intel Core i7-9750H	16GB DDR4	512 GB SSD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 GDDR6 8GB	1800
Nexoc Gaming G1744 (2)*	Intel Core i7-8750H	16GB DDR4	120 GB SSD, 1 TB HDD	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 GDDR6 8GB	1825

*Low availability at this price

Which ones do you think are the right choice?

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

If you're going to be plugged into the wall all the time, the MSI GE73 Raider RGB with a gtx 1070 has tremendous value as the 1070m has very similar performance(little better usually) to the 2060m and also has a nice size ssd and a 1tb hdd.

The 8750h and 9750h performance difference is so marginal it's not worth differentiating.

If you plan to use this as an actual laptop, the 1660ti has lowest heat output and power draw but is notably slower then the 1070m.

 

[atljsf]

a gaming laptop is a waste of money to be honest, you will never be happy with the battery life, weight, noise, heat or performance, then you need to buy another in 1 or 2 years

if your goal is play games a desktop pc is way better

if it has to be light enough to be carried, the smaller the better, something under or close to 2 kilograms, more or less 5 pounds

the lenovo legion is whati would consider first, followed by similar msi options

you will need a gaming mouse, and headphones, to avoid hearing the fans that sound like a jet engine taking off under load on most laptops

 

[cryoburner]

I agree that if you're going to be plugged into the wall all the time, it might be worth looking into a desktop, where you should be able to get more performance for less money. And if you plan to carry the system around every day, a 17" gaming laptop will be heavy and bulky, typically with mediocre battery life.

 

[atljsf]

just saw this video

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03Ao372U2Kw


looks great, so consider it also if is avaialble where you live, just in case if you are outside north america

 

[cryoburner]

looks great, so consider it also if is avaialble where you live, just in case if you are outside north america

That looks fairly nice for a gaming laptop, but they were looking for systems with 17.3" screens.

It's also probably worth pointing out that the "Max-Q" variant of the notebook 2070 is designed for lower power draw and heat output, and is clocked significantly lower than the desktop, or even the regular laptop versions of that card. As a result, it offers notably lower performance than what one would get from even a desktop 2060. CPU performance in laptops also tends to be limited compared to their desktop counterparts. Because of that, one would likely get better gaming performance out of a $1000 desktop system.

Which comes back to the questionable usefulness of gaming laptops. If one needs both a portable system that they will carry around every day, and a gaming system, it might be better for them to split the money and get both a faster gaming desktop with a larger display, and a small, inexpensive thin-and-light notebook with good battery life for taking with them for non-gaming-related tasks.

 

[atljsf]

That looks fairly nice for a gaming laptop, but they were looking for systems with 17.3" screens.

It's also probably worth pointing out that the "Max-Q" variant of the notebook 2070 is designed for lower power draw and heat output, and is clocked significantly lower than the desktop, or even the regular laptop versions of that card. As a result, it offers notably lower performance than what one would get from even a desktop 2060. CPU performance in laptops also tends to be limited compared to their desktop counterparts. Because of that, one would likely get better gaming performance out of a $1000 desktop system.

Which comes back to the questionable usefulness of gaming laptops. If one needs both a portable system that they will carry around every day, and a gaming system, it might be better for them to split the money and get both a faster gaming desktop with a larger display, and a small, inexpensive thin-and-light notebook with good battery life for taking with them for non-gaming-related tasks.

the unit on the video is 15" iirc, but in the page there is a 17" model, that is why i said consider

if the laptop is 17" is not a gaming laptop, is a desktop replacement, and i prefer a desktop pc on a desk than a laptop trying to be the desktop pc but being 2 or 3 times more expensive

all is relative to the use and preferences, but is something i wouldn't buy personally