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Not so long ago, gaming laptops were considered not the most profitable and far from always convenient solution for gaming, but the crisis in the video card market turned everything upside down. In the realities of 2022, the cost of an up-to-date and productive card has almost caught up with the cost of a laptop, and this is provided that you manage to find the coveted piece of hardware in retail at all.

We analyzed the market for you and selected the 7 best laptops for gamers for 2022. Sufficiently productive options were considered — with a good gaming matrix, up-to-date GPU (graphic processing unit) and at least 16 GB of RAM on board. Models under any budget got into the TOP — with a price tag from 60 to 152 thousand rubles. When forming the TOP, not only the declared characteristics were taken into account, but also the opinions of techno experts and reviews of real users.

Table of participants in the rating of laptops for gamers in 2022

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ARH05 (82EY009LRK)

Unlock rating Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ARH05 (82EY009LRK). A laptop from Lenovo’s budget gaming line offers everything you need for gaming at a very reasonable price. Equipped with a 15-inch IPS-matrix at 120 Hz. The 82EY009LRK bundle is based on AMD’s six-core Ryzen 5 4600H processor, carries on board 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD and GTX 1650 graphics with 4 GB of video memory. In retail, a laptop can now be found at price of about 60 thousand rubles, and it is very cheap compared to competitors. The low price affected the build quality and materials. In particular, laptop case materials are far from premium. The plastic is easily soiled and not very pleasant tactilely, there is no talk of any metal elements or hinges. The design also does not have any frills, but it cannot be called unsuccessful — it is a minimalistic case in which it is difficult to recognize a gaming device. But there is a backlit keyboard.

One of the biggest compromises is the display, which is the base solution from BOE., which cannot boast of the wonders of color reproduction. The screen covers only about half of the NTSC color space (approximately 55% sRGB). According to user reviews, you can comfortably use it only at a brightness level of 70-80%. The hardware of the laptop is quite solid. If the performance margin of the six-core Ryzen is enough for the coming years, then the GTX 1650 graphics is still a relevant, but aging solution. Modern games will give decent FPS in Full HD at medium settingsthere will also be no problems with online projects and hits of the recent past.

Autonomy is ensured by a 45 Wh battery. This is enough for 3-4 hours of watching videos on Youtube in Full HD. Customers generally praise Lenovo’s solution for its attention to cooling: it consists of two coolers, two heat pipes and two heatsinks. But this does not always save the laptop from high temperatures. In synthetic tests, the CPU temperature can even exceed 90 degrees, and even during games, the left side of the device heats up noticeably. An absolute plus is the possibility of upgrading: the case has two slots for DDR4 RAM (up to a maximum of 32 GB), two M.2 slots and a SATA3 connector for 2.5-inch drives.

This is one of the most affordable options for gaming today. All the shortcomings of the laptop are forgivable, given its price tag and stuffing. The closest analogue from HP has similar characteristics and is generally made a little more successfully, but it is more expensive.

HP Pavilion 15-ec1060ur (22N67EA)

The sixth place in the TOP is occupied by HP Pavilion 15-ec1060ur (22N67EA). Mid-budget gaming laptop from HP, endowed with a 15-inch IPS-matrix with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. The variant 22N67EA that interested us is built on an eight-core Ryzen 7 processor from AMD and a GTX 1650 GPU with 4 GB of video memory. It also carries two 8GB sticks of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB SSD. The device is being sold in stores today at a price of about 70 thousand rubles.

Compared to classmates the laptop has a very decent display with increased hertz, excellent brightness, contrast and color reproduction. The color gamut, judging by the tests, is 92.8% sRGB and 60.3% AdobeRGB. The case is made of gray matte easily soiled plastic. Users complain about a slight creak when opening the lid, which is typical for budget devices. Octa-core Ryzen 7 delivers great performancehowever, the weak point of the system is the already familiar GTX 1650 video chip. Its strength is enough for current games, but in a couple of years the system requirements of new projects will go far ahead.

Wherein laptop praised for a successful cooling system, which includes a heat pipe and relatively quiet coolers. In synthetic tests, the temperature of the components does not exceed 90 degrees, and in regular games it rarely exceeds 70 degrees. Autonomy is relatively high: 52.5 W⋅ batteryh will allow you to work in Word with Youtube turned on in the background for at least 5-6 hours or play games for about two hours. Users criticize the device for a creaking body, cheap easily soiled plastic, a mediocre touchpad and weak sound. But they praise for a good display and excellent cooling.

This laptop today can be called a very balanced combination of price and performance. It will be of particular interest to those who lack the performance of gaming laptops on the fifth Ryzen (as an example, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 15ARH05).

ASUS ROG Flow X13 GV301QH-K6092T (90NR06C1-M02750)

In fifth place is ASUS ROG Flow X13 GV301QH-K6092T (90NR06C1-M02750). The solution from ASUS is not quite a typical gaming laptop due to its compact size and design: the diagonal of the matrix is ​​only 13.4 inches. However, in many ways he outperforms many of his larger classmates. Junior «subspecies» ROG Flow built on AMD’s new Ryzen 7 5800HS octa-core processor, carries on board 16 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The well-known GTX 1650 from Nvidia is responsible for the graphics. The display on this model uses a resolution of 1920×1200 with a refresh rate of 120Hz. Decent color rendering figures are declared: sRGB: 100%, Adobe: 75%, DCI-P3: 75%. On sale a laptop today can be found at a price of about 140 thousand rubles.

From the point of view of design and ergonomics, ROG Flow X13 is a completely original technique. In particular, it uses an aspect ratio of 16:10 (unlike most modern compact laptops with a 16:9 ratio). In addition, the screen can be rotated 360 degrees, turning the laptop into a tablet. ROG Flow X13 even comes with a stylus. The hardware of the device may surprise you: one of the newest eight-core Ryzen processors based on the Zen 3 architecture was placed in a compact body, the performance of which will last for a long time. But the GTX 1650 video chip is a small drawback, which over time will limit the gaming potential of the entire system. ASUS offers a radical solution to this problem — the ability to connect the 2021 ROG XG Mobile Dock with the new GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. The solution is not cheap, and not very practical — only enthusiasts will be interested.

The dense layout and powerful hardware do their job — the laptop is hot. Although ASUS engineers have worked hard on the cooling system, adding an additional radiator and exhaust grill to the layout, the processor temperature in stress tests can exceed 90 degrees. The built-in GPU is much colder, the temperature is kept in acceptable values ​​​​of about 74 degrees. Notebook owners state that the autonomy of the Flow X13 leaves much to be desired. In web surfing mode, the laptop will last about three hours, in games — half as much. Obviously, compactness and a powerful processor affect.

This is in many ways a unique device, there are almost no analogues on the market. However, this laptop is definitely not for everyone. Many will look towards wider diagonals and a traditional form factor: the same ROG Strix and Acer Nitro laptops may be more preferable.

Acer Nitro 5 AN517-52-70QL (NH.Q82ER.00A)

Fourth place goes to Acer Nitro 5 AN517-52-70QL (NH.Q82ER.00A). Acer’s gaming solution is based on an Intel processor and slightly outperforms the competition in terms of graphics capabilities. It boasts a diagonal of 17 inches with an IPS matrix (1920 × 1080 FHD) and a screen refresh rate of 120 Hz. The body is made of plastic, with a red backlit keyboard. Our version of the laptop uses a 6-core 10750H Core i7 series processor from Intel and a GTX 1650 Ti 4 GB GPU — a slightly overclocked version of one of the most common Nvidia chips today. The RAM is implemented in the form of two eight-gigabyte DDR4 memory sticks. There is a 512 GB SSD drive. On sale, the device can be found at a price of 80-90 thousand rubles.

The performance of the proposed system is predictable – powerful Intel processor and reinforced GTX 1650 Ti allow you to play modern demanding games without discomfort at medium-high graphics settings. The display matrix from BOE is not very bright and cannot produce color reproduction miracles (sRGB — 56.6%, Adobe RGB — 40.1%). But the 120Hz refresh rate is great for gaming. The 10750H processor has a reputation as a «hot» stone that needs serious cooling. The Acer laptop has CoolBoost mode, which accelerates the speed of coolers, but judging by real tests, it does not help much. If the temperature of the GPU under load is kept within acceptable limits — 75 degrees, then the CPU sometimes heats up above 90 degrees. Basically, the processor runs at about 85 degrees.

Users praise the device for endurance — the battery allows you to work or surf the Internet for about 6 hours. Criticism concerns mainly not the best display matrix and hot CPU.

Acer Nitro 5 maintains a very good balance of price and performance. Its important advantages are autonomy, a good GPU and a wide diagonal. It makes sense to raise some money and buy such a laptop instead of budget Lenovo and HP, for example.

DELL G3 15 3500 (G315-6781)

DELL G3 15 3500 (G315-6781) opens the top three. Dell’s junior gaming line offers very decent performance at a reasonable price. The laptop has a diagonal of 15 inches and an IPS-matrix with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Interested us G315-6781 configuration is based on powerful Intel Core i7 10750H processor and GTX 1660 Ti graphics with 6 GB VRAM. There is 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. In shops a laptop can be found at a price of about 100 thousand rubles. A small overpayment against the background of competitors is understandable, because the laptop carries a quite decent graphics chip that will pull out almost all modern projects in Full HD at high settings. The new six-core processor from Intel also leaves an impressive performance headroom for the future.

The device has a spartan design, typical for most gaming state employees, but the body is made of durable plastic and well assembled — nothing creaks or flexes in everyday use. The keyboard has a blue backlight. The downside of impressive performance is the problem of heating. In synthetic benchmarks, Dell performs as well as it can for a laptop with an Intel processor. The average CPU temperature is at an acceptable level — about 90 degrees, but under stressful loads, the stone can become hot and up to a hundred. The cooling system is set up adequately and in such situations it reaches its maximum capacity. Wherein the processor does not throttling, even in a state of stress, it selflessly gives out almost the maximum frequency of 2.5 GHz.

Users predictably complain about the laptop’s mediocre autonomy — no more than three hours of Youtube browsing and surfing in Chrome. Causes criticism and the display: it notices an uneven distribution of backlight and light. The laptop is quite heavy (2.3 kg), which, combined with low autonomy, makes it not the best option for use outside the home.

The DELL G3 15 3500 is most appropriately considered today as an alternative to a home gaming PC — this powerful and not too expensive device will handle games and heavy applications well. A good solution for those who do not want to spend money on a top gaming laptop, but only intend to sit out the protracted crisis in the computer components market.

Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH05 (82JU005HRU)

The second step of the TOP is taken by Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH05 (82JU005HRU). A powerful laptop from the Lenovo gaming series is built on an AMD processor and the new RTX 3060 graphics from Nvidia. Boasts an excellent 15-inch IPS display with a refresh rate of 165Hz. We are considering not the most top-end configuration — 82JU005HRU, but its capabilities for today are more than enough for gamers. Ryzen 7 5800H octa-core processor paired with RTX 3060 mobile GPU in Full HD will allow you to unscrew the graphics settings in games to the maximum. The system also carries 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a terabyte SSD. Retail today it can be found at a price of 130-160 thousand rubles.

The case is made of durable and pleasant to the touch black plastic. The design is minimalistic, the holographic inscription LEGION with the logo on the lid catches the eye. The design of the laptop allows you to tilt the display at an angle of up to 180 degrees. The display has excellent color reproduction (sRGB coverage — more than 100%) and a margin of brightness, although on tests you can find small problems with backlight uniformity. To cool powerful hardware, Lenovo engineers implemented a dual-circuit cooling system with heat pipes and coolers in this laptop: the left circuit cools the video chip with its memory, and the right circuit cools the processor. Cooling operation mode can be configured in Lenovo Vantage — Quiet, Balanced and Performance presets are available. The latter even involves a slight overclocking of the GPU.

In practice, the «productive» mode makes the cooling work very noisy, and the CPU temperature approaches the limit mark of 100 degrees. For most games, a balanced or even quiet mode will suffice — due to the reduction in processor frequencies, the temperature of the «stone» will be kept within 65-80 degrees. Despite the productive stuffing, the laptop shows impressive autonomy — a full battery, according to tests and user reviews, provides 7-8 hours of work in the mode of watching videos on Youtube. Among the shortcomings, users of the device often mention the sound — stereo speakers with a power of 2 W cannot boast of loudness, and they lack low frequencies.

The solution from Lenovo is a productive, convenient, beautiful device that is suitable for games and office tasks. Legion boasts not only design, but also RTX 3060 graphics and decent cooling. However, its direct competitor in price — ROG Strix SCAR 17 — it surpasses only with an older design and compactness.

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733QM (G733QM-HG028T)

And finally, the leader of my rating is Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 G733QM (G733QM-HG028T). The new top gaming laptop from ASUS boasts a 17-inch IPS display with a refresh rate of 300Hz. Built with an excellent processor from AMD and an RTX 3060 graphics chip. The G733QM-HG028T configuration carries 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. In this configuration, the retail device sell at a price of about 160 thousand rubles. The performance of the system is enough for games with the head. ASUS offers interesting options in terms of security. The laptop comes with a Keystone II NFC key fob, which allows, for example, storing files in a hidden partition.

ROG devices look «gamer-like». Our laptop, for example, stands out with contour lighting on the front and sides of the case. The display can be rotated up to approximately 135 degrees. The laptop is equipped with an optical-mechanical keyboard that provides excellent tactile feedback. The display supports FreeSync technology. The clarity, contrast, brightness and color reproduction of the matrix are at a decent level (the color gamut is close to sRGB). Laptop hardware requires a serious cooling system. The cooling here is double-circuit, copper heat pipes, radiators and coolers are used. Liquid metal is used as a thermal interface on the CPU. In the settings for the system, you can select «quiet», «productive» and «turbo» operating modes.

In the most powerful «turbo» mode, the user will surely be distracted from the game by the noise of overheating fans, but the temperature of the CPU, delivering 4 GHz under load, does not reach 100 degrees. «Productive» mode lowers the frequency of the processor to 3.2 GHz, but provides an already acceptable temperature — 71 degrees. The GPU is also quite hot, but its temperature under load still rarely reaches 90 degrees. According to user reviews, it is better not to try to keep the laptop on your lap while playing.

The device has a very decent autonomy — 90 Wh battery allows you to watch Youtube videos or work in office applications for about 8 hours continuously. However, taking into account the weight of 2.7 kg and the dimensions of the laptop, it is unlikely that it begs to be a compact for daily use away from home.

This is the best possible solution for gaming — a powerful laptop with an excellent display and an advanced cooling system. It concedes to the competitors only in questions of the price. Today, not every gamer can pay 160 thousand rubles for a gaming laptop, so many will pay attention to more affordable options.

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