Gaming Laptop Recommendations around $2000- $3000

• 

  SnowDragon on 04/05/2020 - 10:54

  What games do you want to play?
  The answer to this will be the basis of your budget. If you want to play Minecraft you'll get away with $1000. If you want Battlefield 5 then maybe something more.

  I think you can get a decent rig for 2k easily. Looking at Kogans laptop listings though there isn't anything really suitable there that's really designed for gaming. If I were to recommend you something it would likely be this Asus Tuf Gaming A15 R7 15.6" FHD 144hz Gaming Laptop

  Bit low on storage but when half the laptop is a GPU you can't really do much about that.

• 

  jamin on 04/05/2020 - 11:47

  +5

  Hi there,

  I'm no expert, but I will share some advice from my personal experiences and knowledge from navigating the market in the past.

  Firstly I suggest waiting till EOFY deals start appearing in the next few weeks, you will likely be able to snag up a bargain (especially in the current economic climate).
  Dell usually do at least 25-30% off their G series gaming laptops during this time which some have pretty positive reviews, Dell after-sale support is also up there compared to the rest of the market, I would much rather deal with them than Kogan if there was an issue that's for sure!

  Some companies also do an EOFY cashback promo during this time of the year also, I bought my Asus Strix III last year during a promo for $2300, but got $200 back, which at the time was a pretty good deal for a laptop sporting an RTX 2070 graphics card.

  Speaking of graphics I think you should aim for at minimum a GTX1650/1660 and 6GB of VRAM, which should play most games at medium-high settings for the next few years (use https://www.notebookcheck.net/ for some info on graphics cards if you need, there is also a handy tier list on the right hand side of all tested cards).

  If I were you I would be looking at the latest gen which supports ray tracing (RTX), but try to get at least a 2070 as apparently the 2060 is a little lackluster in the ray tracing department.
  I've also heard the Max-Q (low power versions) of the cards throttle a lot in some laptops and you lose a bit of performance from their non Max-Q counterparts so steer clear of them if you can.
  I don't know enough about the 'super' versions of the RTX mobile cards yet, they have only been around for a few months, but are the best laptop cards available from Nvidia currently.
  You could also look at laptops with AMD graphics instead, but someone else will need to guide you on that as i'm not sure where they sit in the market currently,

  This guy does reviews on a lot of Australian market laptops so check out his YouTube channel if you get the chance, you might be able to find the specific laptop you are looking at on there.
  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Rzju32yQPkQ7oIhmeuLwg

  Hope this helps, and good luck!

  EDIT: One last tip, not all laptops are created equal - even if some laptops are listed with the same spec (or even higher in some cases) it might have less performance due to poor cooling or bad design from the manufacturer.
  The only way to know for sure is to research that specific model before buying.

  • 

    Ernestpogi on 04/05/2020 - 17:01

    Very detailed and helpful. Appreciate it. Thank you. Will look into it more..

• 

  FireRunner on 04/05/2020 - 12:13

  +1

  You need to be more specific:
  - What are you wanting to play?
  - Is size and portability important?
  - Are you planning on other tasks, e.g. video/photo editing?

  From what you've provided, I wouldn't trust Kogan with a laptop. Just read some of the stories on warranty claims.
  Dell eBay usually has some great bargains, but the recent 20% off promotion doesn't have many listed.

  • 

    Ernestpogi on 04/05/2020 - 17:04

    I'm just planning to play dota2, some other steam games and other casual games. I'm not really looking into playing the high end titles.

    Portability is not really that necessary but I prefer the bigger screens.

    • 

      FireRunner on 04/05/2020 - 17:43

      +1

      You likely don't need to spend that much then but if you are set on spending in that price range,
      My current laptop is an Alienware m15 (RTX2060, i7-8750H, 16GB RAM) and it's able to handle most modern A+++ games on high to ultra graphics.
      You could get the same laptop for model with:
      - GTX1660Ti, i7-9750H, 8GB for $1899.20 or
      - RTX2060, i7-9750H, 8GB for $2160
      The first will be fine for your needs but the second will be more future proof if you ever decide to try some more demanding games.

      I am not sure if the ones listed are the original m15 (the one I have) or the m15 R2. Pictures and specs appear to match the original while the description matches the R2.
      The R2 comes with some advantages like better cooling solution and excellent keyboard. The two downsides are the lack of numpad and more importantly soldered memory (can't upgrade in other words). I would recommend contacting Dell to see if it's the original or the R2.
      If it's the R2 I don't recommend purchasing as 8GB of memory is going to be a major bottleneck in the design.
      If it's the original, I would recommend and upgrade the memory to 16GB (very easy to do btw)

      Alternatively, you could get the same model with RTX2070 MaxQ, i7-9750H, 16GB and 144Hz display for $2591.20 to avoid all issues with low memory but it's definitely overkill for what you want.

      There's probably better value laptops available to you (you pay a bit for the Alienware brand name) but Alienware quality and support is superb and good prices are hard to find during this time

• 

  MagicMushroom on 04/05/2020 - 15:03

  Spending more than $2000 on a gaming laptop is a waste of money for most people. You are better off buying laptop and desktop especially if you have $3000 to spend.

  • 

    Ernestpogi on 04/05/2020 - 17:05

    I know that PC will always be better than laptop but to each to their own. PC will always be the plan at the end but for the mean time I just need a laptop.

• 

  ItsMeAgro on 04/05/2020 - 15:15

  -5

  I'll just repeat the Golden Rule for gaming laptops, from everyone who has ever bought one:

  Never buy a gaming laptop

  Why? A smaller cheapo laptop is easier, quiter, lighter and has better battery life, and a budget desktop gaming PC is twice as powerful, and BOTH OF THEM PUT TOGETHER COST MUCH LESS than a single gaming laptop.

  (A heavy, fast-draining, noisy, weak, slow, gaming laptop that will sound like a helicopter in meetings/classes, AND that you will end up only gaming on when at home, anyway).

  • 

    Hellfire on 04/05/2020 - 16:05

    +4

    A gaming laptop suits me perfectly.

    I need something that I can use at home that's easy to pack up, doesn't get in the way, that I can move to different rooms quickly. Also that I can easily take to a friends place for gaming using public transport if required.

    • 

      FireRunner on 04/05/2020 - 16:20

      +3

      Agreed "the Golden rule for gaming laptops" is false.
      Though I hear many do regret their purchase, I definitely don't.
      My main arguments for a gaming laptops is:
      - One computer, managing files/accounts/etc. is much easier
      - Portability, can take around house and to friends
      - Good screen and processing power, the cheapo laptops have crap screens and are gutless so expect task to take longer

      I'd argue a good non-gaming laptop (not some cheap craptop) + good desktop might cost close to the cost of a single good gaming laptop.

      Definitely consider both options if you're new to this.

  • 

    FireRunner on 04/05/2020 - 16:49

    +2

    Honestly, it's not as bad as you make it out.
    Yes, the laptop equivalent graphics card isn't as powerful and are more expensive than their desktop counterpart.
    From my experience (3 gaming laptops in the past 5 years), I disagree with your final statement:
    - "heavy", though I guess this is subjective, I've found ~2.5Kg isn't cumbersome for daily transport
    - "fast-draining", two of my three laptops could last an entire day of work without needing the power supply, granted one was terrible ~2hrs with energy saver on, research models and don't trust manufacturer's/advertised battery life
    - "noisy", under normal conditions they're quite silent, once gaming the fans ramp up but same with a desktop
    - "weak", not as powerful as a desktop but not by any means weak at gaming
    - "slow", definitely faster than a cheapo laptop and not slower at normal tasks than a desktop

    I think anyone new to PC gaming should consider both options. Most people probably don't need a gaming laptop but it definitely has it's place.

  • 

    Drakesy on 05/05/2020 - 00:17

    Many gaming laptops these days, especially the ryzen systems are getting 6+ hours of battery life and weighing 2kg. So its becoming a case of having your cake and eating it too. I'd say gaming laptops are a very sensible option with the line between them and a consumer grade laptop quickly diminishing asus g15 comes to mind.
    Also it is nice to have the horsepower sitting there if you need to use cad or photoshop. Or game…

• 

  Drakesy on 05/05/2020 - 00:13

  +1

  In the same boat regarding the $500 kogan voucher and looking for a gaming laptop. Tbh the kogan range does suck, like seriously stock levels are non existent and prices are not competitive.
  I'm personally waiting for either the asus a15 tuf or g15 when it gets to Australia (the g15 looks like an absolute weapon for your budget).

  Either of which will fulfill your gaming needs and give you 6 hours+ of battery life with the 90 watt hour battery.

  But yeah, kogan should step up its game

  • 

    Ernestpogi on 05/05/2020 - 12:58

    Yeah I know. Only a few laptops are in Kogan. I'm gonna have to take your word that their prices are not competitive as I am not knowledgeable about this.

    I'll probably just use my kogan voucher for accessories and wait for EOFY or even black friday for the laptop.

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  Brendooon on 05/05/2020 - 00:13

  I can recommend metabox.com.au: mine has been powerful enough, quiet, and I've made plenty of use of its expandability. For me it has been great value.