Technology The best gaming laptop performers of 2019

AMD and Nvidia are (still) fighting it out for gaming dominance on the desktop, with new products such as the Nvidia RTX Super line and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 series, as well as in laptops. Right now, the landscape can be confusing, but generally the best gaming laptops are running Nvidia's RTX graphics, which first came to desktop PCs in late 2018, and to laptops in January 2019.

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc. The Origin PC Eon17-X and Alienware Area-51m. Sarah Tew/CNET

For this roundup, we've taken all the laptops with discrete graphics hardware we've tested over the past year and a half and ranked them based on 3D performance. Below are those with top performance from that group, and you can also scroll through the full list of game benchmark results here.

Best gaming laptops 2019: the 10 top gaming laptops we've reviewed

The best gaming laptops you can buy, always up to date with the latest hardware configurations.These days, the best gaming laptops these days are packed with powerful components. Many of them boast the latest and greatest gaming tech like Nvidia’s Super RTX and AMD’s Navi graphic cards.

Read more:Best graphics cards for gamers and creatives in 2019 | Best gaming PCs for 2019 | Best cheap gaming mouse

If you're building a desktop gaming rig, start with our guide to desktop graphics, but if you're in the market for the fastest gaming laptop options, these are the very best ones we've tested. All of these gaming laptops, in the price range from just under $1,000 to $5,000 or more, can easily support high-end virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and many new designs fit top-tier graphics hardware into wafer-thin laptop bodies.

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When reviewing a gaming laptop or desktop, we run preset performance tests using several games, including Far Cry 5, Metro: Exodus and others, along with standard benchmarks like 3DMark, which is designed to test a computer's 3D graphic rendering capabilities.

Best 15-inch laptops for 2019

When 13 inches is too small and 17 is too big, a 15-incher from Dell, Lenovo, Apple, Acer or others may be just the right blend of size and power you're looking for.tk

For this list, we're ranking the best gaming laptops in descending order of 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra scores, but the real-world game scores (presented as the number of frames of animation per second the laptop can render) match those scores closely. Note that these scores are specifically for the exact configurations of each laptop we tested, and almost all can be configured with a wide range of options.

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At the top are two high-end gaming pc options that use desktop-class processors and full-power Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics: the Alienware Area-51m and the Origin PC Eon-17X. These high-end gaming laptops are both at the top end of the price scale, but gaming laptops at more reasonable prices, including systems from Asus , Dell , Origin PC, Lenovo , HP , MSI and Razer , among others, are all represented.

The best gaming laptops of 2019: Razer, Alienware, Acer, and more

We tested to find the best gaming laptop available today, including popular brands such as Alienware, Razer, Lenovo, Dell, and Asus.Buying a gaming machine is no longer as challenging as a game of Tetris. Thanks to smaller chips and lighter hardware, now you can buy a powerhouse in laptop form that will optimize gaming experience without having to piece together the hardware yourself. Gaming laptops have made PC gaming so much more accessible, and you can easily find machines with high-resolution displays and the latest graphics cards without breaking the bank.

New and notable in the latest update of the best gaming laptops are the latest model of the Razer Blade 15 Advanced, equipped with a stunning OLED screen that's good for creative work; HP's novel dual-screen Omen X 2S; and the budget-friendly but powerful gaming laptop, Lenovo Legion Y545.

The exact scores and graphics hardware specs for all tested gaming laptops are located here.

Note CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page.

Alienware Area-51m

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc.Sarah Tew/CNET

On top of the satisfying visual refresh rate of Alienware's highest-end laptop, the Area-51m offers an impressive 17.3-inch IPS display screen, an excellent keyboard, and plenty of processing overhead from PC gaming CPUs and the latest RTX GPUs. Plus, a modular processor and GPU design lets you get inside the case and replace both the processor and graphics card for terrific gaming performance.

SEE AT DELL

Read more: Alienware Area-51m vs. Origin PC Eon-17X in a battle of the big laptop-desktop hybrids

Origin PC Eon-17X (2019)

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc.Sarah Tew/CNET

Like the Alienware Area-51m, the Origin PC Eon-17X features the desktop-class Intel Core i9-9900K processor and the new Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics card. This combination made these our two top-performing laptops so far from all of 2018-2019.

Best 15-inch laptops for 2019

When 13 inches is too small and 17 is too big, a 15-incher from Dell, Lenovo, Apple, Acer or others may be just the right blend of size and power you're looking for.tk

SEE AT ORIGIN PC

Read more:The unexpected joys of a 16-inch laptop, the Origin PC Evo16-S

Acer Predator Triton 900

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc.Sarah Tew/CNET

The Acer Predator Triton 900's rotating screen is a great idea that's also well executed. The keyboard incorporates mechanical switches that feel very good, and its performance is fast -- though as a laptop, the keyboard and short battery life may be a drawback for some.

SEE AT AMAZON

Read more: Acer Predator Triton 500 gaming laptop joins the 300Hz display club

Origin PC Eon-17X (2018)

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc.Sarah Tew/CNET

The 2018 version of this laptop, with a desktop CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, was right behind the updated version. It's pricey and has a modest battery life, but it delivers top-notch performance.

SEE AT ORIGIN PC

Read more: Best MacBook Air alternatives for 2019 | Best 15-inch laptops for 2019 | Best laptops, desktops and tablets for designers and creatives in 2019

Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc.Sarah Tew/CNET

This updated Asus ROG Zephyrus combines both a slim, professional-looking design with the expanded power of Nvidia's new RTX graphics card for an excellent gaming experience, though at the cost of battery life.

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 vs. Lenovo Yoga C940: Which 2-in-1 laptop is best for you?

Both running on Intel's 10th-gen processors, these are two of the best premium ultraportables available. Here's how to choose between them.Lenovo's Yoga C930 was CNET's Editors' Choice two-in-one in late 2018 and was our top recommendation for anyone looking for a premium thin-and-light convertible for most of 2019. Its replacement, the C940, was announced in September and it too has Intel's latest mobile processors in it. The design is only slightly different, though, because it was already solid with things like a 360-degree hinge that's also a soundbar and an included active pen that's stored in the body.

Read more:Asus made the world's fastest gaming display for laptops

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Dive into the exact scores and configurations for all the top performers in the full buyer's guide list of 30-plus gaming laptops.

Read more: Best gaming chairs we've sat in for 2019

The best new gaming laptops, ranked

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Alienware redesigns its thin gaming laptops and offers OLED

To find the best budget laptop, read our breakdown of the best gaming laptop under $1,000.

Originally published earlier this year. Updated to reflect new performance scores.