Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
EDITORS’ NOTE
October 7, 2025: With this update, we added the Razer Blade 16 (2025) as our new Fastest High-End Gaming Laptop, and the Razer Blade 14 (2025) as our new Fastest Compact Gaming Laptop. We also added the MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Evo A2VM as our Fastest Ultraportable Laptop, and the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition as our Fastest Business Laptop. Since our last update, we tested and evaluated more than two dozen laptops for inclusion in this roundup and our other laptop roundups.
- Monumental power and expandability
- Gorgeous DreamColor display
- Top-notch connectivity
- HP Wolf Security sets the standard
- Heavy in a briefcase
- Even heavier on your budget
- Awkward cursor control keys
All mobile workstations are fast by default, but the HP ZBook Fury 16 G11 stands above the rest. Its Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, 64GB of RAM, and Nvidia RTX 3500 Ada enterprise-class GPU ensure chart-topping performance, and that’s not where the positives end. The Fury flagship is also highly configurable and expandable, features a fantastic 4K display, and provides a load of connectivity. Well-made, super fast, and highly versatile, this battle station is ready for the most strenuous workloads a laptop can handle.
Of course, we have to stress the “cost-is-no-object” part of this pick; you may be able to configure an even pricier laptop, but either way, this is a very expensive system. Acquiring the configuration we tested is a different proposition than appreciating it from afar; our unit was priced at $3,564 at the time of review. The 16-inch, 3,840-by-2,400 resolution, 120Hz display and 64GB of memory are major contributors, too, but what a full package it is.
Only the most demanding professionals can justify a fully loaded mobile workstation, but some applications and workloads demand this much muscle. There are superior GPUs available if you have a pure graphics focus, but this is the laptop you want for overall muscle. If you run strenuous software, plow through massive datasets, edit complex multimedia files, or create visual or CGI content, you’ll go mad over the aptly named Fury 16 G11.
Class
Workstation, Desktop Replacement
Processor
Intel Core i9-14900HX
RAM (as Tested)
64 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Screen Size
16 inches
Native Display Resolution
3840 by 2400
Panel Technology
IPS
Variable Refresh Support
Dynamic
Screen Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia RTX 3500 Ada
Graphics Memory
12 GB
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3
Dimensions (HWD)
1.13 by 14.3 by 9.8 inches
Weight
5.3 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
8:22
Learn More
HP ZBook Fury 16 G11 Review
- Exceptional performance
- Dazzling mini-LED screen
- Potent audio
- Decent battery life
- Mostly plastic chassis
- Loud fans
- So-so keyboard
Want the best big-screen experience that money can buy? Your best bet today is MSI’s Raider 18 HX AI, which goes all in for processing and graphics muscle. Our test model packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX CPU, 64GB of memory, and an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, which unsurprisingly made mincemeat of our benchmark tests, posting staggering 3D and gaming results. The downside? It’s big, loud, and expensive, but that’s more or less table stakes at this size and power tier. A sharp mini LED screen and acceptable battery life for the size round out the system.
Fiscally flush gamers who are all about size and want the latest parts with the most power should consider this beast. The Raider is just about the best-performing gaming laptop available, especially if frame rates and performance in the latest titles are your primary concern. (You could even upgrade to an RTX 5090 to take it even further.) It isn’t travel-friendly at 7.94 pounds, so shoppers should know this is a desktop replacement in the purest sense, luggable along with its AC adapter only when you need it to be. But for that sacrifice, you’ll be rewarded with desktop-topping performance.
Class
Gaming, Desktop Replacement
Processor
Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX
RAM (as Tested)
64 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
2 TB
Secondary Drive Type
SSD
Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested)
2 TB
Screen Size
18 inches
Native Display Resolution
3840 by 2400
Panel Technology
IPS
Variable Refresh Support
None
Screen Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU
Graphics Memory
16 GB
Wireless Networking
Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7
Dimensions (HWD)
1.26 by 15.9 by 12.1 inches
Weight
7.94 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
5:37
Learn More
MSI Raider 18 HX AI Review
- Dominant content creation performance
- More than 24 hours of battery life
- Game-changing nano-texture display option
- Thunderbolt 5 support
- Helpful Center Stage webcam upgrade
- Only a minor performance boost over M3 MacBooks
- Strangely priced configuration
- Nano-texture display is an optional extra
In a sea of Windows laptops, the 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro with M4 Pro processor stands out as a worthy challenger from the other side of the tracks. Apple’s in-house silicon is blistering fast, and the Pro tier is even more so than the base M4 chip. Naturally, the fully loaded model we reviewed is an incredible performer, with 48GB of memory on top of the speedy M4 Pro. It’s not the model we reviewed, but if you need even more power, the mighty M4 Max processor is available for this laptop, too. Your MacBook Pro needn’t be nearly as expensive, but as a showcase contender for the fastest laptop, it’s tough to beat Apple’s flagship.
Of course, those who prefer or must use macOS don’t have as many options as Windows customers, but users who want a desktop-style experience with as much power as possible should gravitate toward this 16-inch MacBook Pro. The M4 Max variant isn’t necessary for all users, but it is if performance is your top priority. As it ever was with MacBook Pro laptops, media professionals and content creators will find a lot to love here.
Class
Workstation, Desktop Replacement
Processor
Apple M4 Pro (14-core)
RAM (as Tested)
48 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
2 TB
Screen Size
16.2 inches
Native Display Resolution
3456 by 2234
Panel Technology
Mini LED
Variable Refresh Support
ProMotion
Screen Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Graphics Processor
Apple M4 Pro (20-core)
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Dimensions (HWD)
0.66 by 14 by 9.8 inches
Weight
4.7 lbs
Operating System
Apple macOS Sequoia
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
25:52
Learn More
Apple MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2024, M4 Pro) Review
- Unparalleled build quality at its size
- Powerful enough for modern 60fps-plus gaming
- Sharp 120Hz 3K OLED screen
- Long battery life
- User-upgradable SSD
- High cost of entry
- Larger laptops at this price offer superior GPUs
The Blade 14 is our current favorite ultraportable gaming laptop for its combination of Ryzen AI 9 performance, style, and price. It costs a pretty penny—cheap laptops at this size are uncommon, and Razer leans premium to begin with—but it’s worth it if you can afford it. The high-quality chassis and slick style are unmatched in the gaming space, and the 120Hz 3K OLED panel only sweetens the pot. Battery life is long, you can upgrade the SSD after purchase, and of course, the gaming performance is up to expectations. Other than the cost, it’s difficult to find much fault with the system, adding up to a fast, chic, and portable gaming machine.
PC gamers seeking a portable gaming laptop companion should look no further. It’s not exactly a value play for cost-conscious shoppers, but it is a device you’ll love. If you’re a mobile professional, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, 32GB of memory, and RTX 5070 GPU can power your work and gaming needs easily. If you are looking for a primary gaming PC that you can travel with over short or long distances, or if you want a mobile partner for your home desktop, the Blade 14 is your best bet.
Class
Gaming, Ultraportable
Processor
AMD Ryzen AI 9 365
RAM (as Tested)
32 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Screen Size
14 inches
Native Display Resolution
2880 by 1800
Panel Technology
OLED
Variable Refresh Support
G-Sync
Screen Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU
Graphics Memory
8 GB
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions (HWD)
0.64 by 12.2 by 8.8 inches
Weight
3.6 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
11:37
Learn More
Razer Blade 14 (2025) Review
- Attractive price
- Suffices for 1080p gaming
- Wide selection of ports
- Lengthy battery life
- Lagging processor performance
- Limited 512GB SSD
The words “budget” and “high performance” are rarely found in proximity, but a few laptops stand above the economy crowd. Considering our test configuration’s reasonable price, the Acer Nitro V 15 (ANV15-51-59MT) is an impressively capable gaming rig. You can find quicker laptops for a bit over $1,000, but the Nitro really lives up to the idea of budget pricing while delivering enjoyable 1080p gaming. It’s difficult to find anything less expensive that can push frame rates like this Acer can.
The Nitro V 15 is meant for gamers seeking the fastest laptop for as little as possible. Its starting price is even lower than our test unit’s, though we can’t vouch for the base model’s performance. Parents buying a laptop for a kid, college students, and first-time gamers on tight budgets looking to get the most capable gaming machine they can will appreciate the Nitro.
Class
Gaming
Processor
Intel Core i5-13420H
RAM (as Tested)
8 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
512 GB
Screen Size
15.6 inches
Native Display Resolution
1920 by 1080
Panel Technology
IPS
Variable Refresh Support
None
Screen Refresh Rate
144 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU
Graphics Memory
6 GB
Wireless Networking
802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), Bluetooth
Dimensions (HWD)
1.06 by 14.3 by 9.4 inches
Weight
4.66 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
9:51
Learn More
Acer Nitro V 15 (ANV15-51-59MT) Review
- Excellent 25-hour battery life
- Superb OLED display
- Generous port selection
- Premium, portable magnesium alloy build
- Anemic speakers
- Cramped arrow keys undermine decent keyboard
As the name suggests, ultraportables are generally more concerned with mobility than anything else, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have both. Their thin designs inevitably limit the upside at some point, but some still push out higher performance than others, and the MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Evo A2VM got our attention with its results. The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor and Intel Arc 140V graphics inside push this machine to snappy overall performance, and its OLED screen is sweet. Crucially, that efficient Lunar Lake CPU enabled a staggering 25 hours of battery life on our rundown test, and what’s more ultraportable than that? Between its speed, compact design, and extra-long battery life, this is the best zippy ultraportable for most users.
If you’re not looking for a media editing workhorse, gaming system, or workstation of this size, this is one of the most compelling deals. We would have other suggestions for those more specialized use cases, while the Prestige 13 prioritizes portability and general productivity. The price isn’t exactly budget level, but it is an excellent pick for shoppers trying not to spend too much; those with huge budgets have many of our other “fastest laptops” to choose from, especially if mobility isn’t your top concern.
Class
Ultraportable
Processor
Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
RAM (as Tested)
32 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
2 TB
Screen Size
13.3 inches
Native Display Resolution
2880 by 1800
Panel Technology
OLED
Variable Refresh Support
None
Screen Refresh Rate
60 Hz
Graphics Processor
Intel Arc Graphics 140V
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions (HWD)
0.66 by 11.77 by 8.27 inches
Weight
2.18 pounds
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
25:11
Learn More
MSI Prestige 13 AI+ Evo A2VM Review
- Lightweight, durable chassis
- Speedy CPU and GPU
- Beautiful OLED display
- Useful AI-assisted features
- High-end audio quality
- Runs hot with big workloads
- Fans get loud under load
- Basic refresh rate
If our big-screen productivity pick is for the “prosumer” who could use a bit of power on a large display, the Asus ProArt P16 is for serious professionals as a priority. This is a pricey laptop, but it provides a feature set rivaling the best around, plus some specialized creator features. The ProArt’s beautiful 4K OLED display is backed by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 32GB of memory, and 2TB of storage. It’s blazing fast, can hold plenty of media, and has a full suite of ports. On top of that, its unique digital dial pad on the touchpad is a quick and valuable physical tool to help creators, while the laptop also enjoys some AI assistance on the software side.
Shoppers who’d otherwise eye a MacBook Pro but prefer Windows will love this machine if they can afford it. A fast AI-ready processor, plenty of storage, creator-specific tools, a sophisticated screen, and long battery life make the ProArt a dream for creative professionals. Only the fastest gaming laptops and mobile workstations are quicker, and most are not as portable or well-made, lacking features that make content creation easier.
Class
Workstation
Processor
AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
RAM (as Tested)
32 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
2 TB
Screen Size
16 inches
Native Display Resolution
3840 by 2400
Panel Technology
OLED
Variable Refresh Support
None
Screen Refresh Rate
60 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU
Graphics Memory
8 GB
Wireless Networking
802.11be, Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions (HWD)
0.68 by 13.9 by 9.7 inches
Weight
4.08 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
12:59
Learn More
Asus ProArt P16 (H7606) Review
- Gorgeous 3.2K Mini LED touch screen
- Speedy performance
- Ample 32GB RAM
- Full array of ports
- Half a pound overweight
- Not Lenovo’s best keyboard
- Unexceptional battery life
The class of so-called “desktop replacement” laptops is meant to deliver the performance of bulky tower PCs, plus a big enough screen to make you feel like you’re working on a desktop monitor. The 16-inch Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 is one of the fastest in this segment, combining an Intel Core Ultra 9 H-series CPU and an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU with a roomy, sharp, and bright mini LED display. This combination achieves excellent productivity, particularly with a dedicated graphics chip and decent battery life for the price.
If your primary concern is power with a screen that won’t cramp your style, this is the laptop to get. Unlike many general-use laptops, the Pro 9’s discrete GPU unlocks a whole new array of demanding workloads (even gaming). Not everyone needs a dedicated GPU, but since it accelerates processing edits of graphics, photos, or videos on top of the CPU handling project renders or transcodes, this is an even better fit for demanding “prosumers.”
Class
Desktop Replacement
Processor
Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
RAM (as Tested)
32 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Screen Size
16 inches
Native Display Resolution
3200 by 2000
Panel Technology
Mini LED
Variable Refresh Support
Manual
Screen Refresh Rate
165 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
Graphics Memory
8 GB
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth
Dimensions (HWD)
0.72 by 14.3 by 10 inches
Weight
4.52 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
12:11
Learn More
Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 Review
- Stylish, durable design
- Professional-quality 2.8K OLED touch screen
- Strong performance for general productivity
- Intriguing AI enhancements
- Keyboard is good, but a step down from ThinkPad-typical
- No TrackPoint input nub
- Can’t beat the competition on sheer speed
Modern workers need a laptop that can help them keep several windows open simultaneously, multitask at any given moment, keep up with lengthy spreadsheets, make video calls, and run on battery for extended periods. We have a separate pick for workstation machines, which take business performance to its peak, but among general business laptops, the X9 15 Aura Edition is one of the quickest.
Intel’s Lunar Lake processors deliver long battery life alongside quick performance, and this ThinkPad lasted for 21 hours on our rundown test. The CPU ensures strong performance across home and office tasks, while its beautiful OLED display is a joy to use. The stylish design and AI features add bonuses for a business machine.
Professionals whose apps require more muscle than the average office word processor or spreadsheet jockey will appreciate the performance on display here. If you’re working with massive datasets and similarly onerous workloads, perhaps consider a workstation, but this laptop outperforms other business models on average. If portability is a plus for you, all the better.
Class
Ultraportable, Business
Processor
Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
RAM (as Tested)
32 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Screen Size
15.3 inches
Native Display Resolution
2880 by 1800
Panel Technology
OLED
Variable Refresh Support
Yes
Screen Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Graphics Processor
Intel Arc Graphics 140V
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions (HWD)
0.51 by 13.37 by 9 inches
Weight
3.09 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
21:02
Learn More
Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition Review
- Formidable power for high-demand apps
- World-class keyboard
- Speedy 165Hz display
- Up to 192GB of RAM
- As bulky and heavy as its asking price
- Storage ceiling is 8TB to HP Fury’s 16GB
- Wi-Fi 6E, not 7
The P16 Gen 2 may look unassuming, but it’s packed with loads of power under the keyboard. Its Intel Core i7-14700HX processor and Nvidia RTX 4000 Ada graphics chip posted exceptional results on our benchmarks, proving readiness for all high-demand applications and professional workloads. The build quality helps elevate it further, including a fantastic keyboard and 165Hz, 1600p screen. Lenovo’s workstation consistently battles at the top of the charts with the other most powerful systems on the market.
Those who need a proper workstation know who they are, and Lenovo’s P16 Gen 2 is nearly as potent as it gets. This laptop has the hardware to take on strenuous CAD and CGI rendering, engineering, and scientific programs, but it will, of course, cost you dearly.
Class
Workstation, Business
Processor
Intel Core i7-14700HX
RAM (as Tested)
32 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Screen Size
16 inches
Native Display Resolution
2560 by 1600
Panel Technology
IPS
Variable Refresh Support
Manual
Screen Refresh Rate
165 Hz
Graphics Processor
Nvidia RTX 4000 Ada
Graphics Memory
12 GB
Wireless Networking
Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth
Dimensions (HWD)
1.19 by 14.3 by 10.5 inches
Weight
6.5 lbs
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes)
9:50
Learn More
Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 Review
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The Fastest Laptops for 2025
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Buying Guide: The Fastest Laptops for 2025
What Does ‘Speed’ Really Mean in a Laptop?
The idea of speed in a laptop can be sliced in many ways. In practical terms, you can look at it as a blend of two factors: (1) CPU processing power and (2) graphical prowess for tasks such as gaming, 3D rendering, or graphics-accelerated content creation. The two are very different things, and we benchmark all the systems we review with both kinds of speed in mind.
Some of the fastest laptops are strong in one area and not the other. For example, it’s possible to have a system with a top-end processor packing lots of cores and threads but paired with a minimal graphics solution (perhaps just the CPU’s integrated graphics, historically no match for a discrete graphics chip). Such a laptop can deliver outstanding performance for programs and workloads that take advantage of lots of CPU resources but little power for gaming or applications that rely on graphics acceleration.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Likewise, having a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU)—the beefier, the better—is the key to game speed. CPU speed will usually factor into the gaming equation only insofar as it isn’t a limiter or bottleneck for the graphics chip.
Now, the prescription for either need—speed for processing, or speed for graphics—is to pack in as potent a CPU or GPU as possible. But when you do that, it illustrates the interplay of three key elements of laptop design: cost, power consumption, and thermals.
Higher-powered silicon tends to (1) cost more, (2) require more electricity when fully engaged, and (3) run hotter when taxed to the max. That’s why buffed-up gaming laptops or high-powered mobile workstations tend to be thick, heavy, and expensive. Their high-end chips cost more and require more space and weighty thermal hardware to keep cool.
The best of all possible worlds—maximum graphics and CPU power, maximum battery life, and thin, light design—is a goal ever out of reach. Instead, laptop design is always a trade-off of these factors, where it’s not possible to turn all three knobs to 10 simultaneously.
Which CPU Type Is Best for a Laptop?
From a raw CPU perspective, the fastest laptops tend to fall into four classes. The first comprises business machines with high-end processors but integrated graphics. You’ll find them under top vendors’ business brands, such as Dell’s Pro, Lenovo’s ThinkPad, and HP’s EliteBook laptops.
Second are high-end gaming laptops that pair a powerful mobile GPU, chosen to blaze through the latest games at a level appropriate for the system’s screen, with a CPU that is at least sufficient not to hamper the graphics chip. (That malady, when it affects PC gaming, is often dubbed as being “CPU-limited.”)
Third are mobile workstations, productivity-minded laptops designed for professional content creation and data analysis, and often optimized for the specialized and demanding applications they use. (Workstation marketing lingo frequently refers to independent software vendor, or ISV, certifications; these laptops cost a premium partly because of such guarantees.) You can identify these machines by brand, such as HP’s ZBook and Dell’s Pro Max laptops, or by Nvidia’s RTX A-series (formerly Quadro) GPUs.
Finally, some laptops (see the Asus ProArt and MSI Creator lines) target creative pros such as video editors and game designers. These machines overlap with mobile workstations but often lack those systems’ ISV certifications for specialized apps. (For instance, they may feature Nvidia’s civilian GeForce RTX rather than professional RTX GPUs.) Stunning high-resolution screens are common here.
(Credit: Charles Jefferies)
Most Intel CPU names end in a capital letter or two, which tells you about their identities. Any Core chip ending with an H, HK, or HX is a maximum-power mobile processor. Some CPUs support a technology called Hyper-Threading, which will be a big plus if the programs you run are fully multithreaded (that is, able to take advantage of all available computing threads when performing demanding tasks). However, note that Intel has deprioritized Hyper-Threading in its latest chips, instead favoring simply more (and more specialized low-power) cores.
With business laptops, you’ll see H-series chips mainly in weighty models meant for heavy calculation work or data analysis. However, you’ll find the H-series in almost all gaming laptops and in many mobile workstations. A few high-end workstations use Intel’s Xeon processors, which are, at heart, server chips specially designed for the demands of accelerating specialized advanced calculation and content-creation programs and running flat-out for extended periods. However, H- and HX-series chips are more common and are the sign of a legitimately high-end configuration.
CPU names ending in U signify an ultramobile processor. These lower-power chips are designed for slimmer, lighter laptops with limited thermal headroom. These can be perfectly sufficient CPUs, depending on what you do with your laptop. You’ll have no trouble handling everyday business or office tasks on a U-series processor, and even light multimedia content creation tasks will see no painful delays. Just remember: The H-class is where the real muscle is in laptop land.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
On the Intel side, many of the laptops on our list run on 14th Gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” or the chipmaker’s AI-ready Core Ultra 100H and 100U (“Meteor Lake”) and Core Ultra 200V (“Lunar Lake”) chips. The latter focuses somewhat more on efficiency than performance, but they’re still robust picks for lighter business laptops. We’re also starting to see Intel’s latest top-end mobile chips, the Core Ultra 9 HX, deployed in powerful gaming laptops. Intel also has one-step-down “Arrow Lake H” processors that are performant chips for high-end laptops with less AI hardware onboard than the Meteor and Lunar CPUs.
What about Intel’s rivals? AMD’s Ryzen and Ryzen Pro mobile processors have historically tilted more toward office apps and moderate gaming (with integrated graphics that often top Intel’s) than the all-out gaming and workstation prowess of the best separate CPU and GPU combinations.
However, AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and 8000 mobile processors can compete with Intel’s best and are used in many creative and professional laptops. AMD chips like the Ryzen 9 7945HX and the Ryzen 9 8945HS compete with top Intel offerings, and Team Red’s latest offerings, the Ryzen AI 300 series, are AI-silicon-enhanced alternatives to Intel’s Core Ultra 2 line. The best of these, like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, have shown tremendous performance in our testing, and the Ryzen AI Max+ processors take this even further.
Qualcomm is also now a factor with Windows machines. We’ve tested more than a few of the initial wave of Arm-based Snapdragon X chips to see how they perform versus Intel Core Ultra and AMD Ryzen 8000-series alternatives in the real world. They won’t rival the absolute fastest Intel and AMD chips, but they are comparable to many entry-level and midrange offerings and deliver exceptional efficiency and, by extension, battery life.
Finally, we come to Apple’s MacBooks and its house-brand processors, which began with the M1 generation in 2020. In a way, Apple’s switch from Intel to its own processors takes the decision out of your hands if you go with a Mac; you’re choosing among a much smaller set of CPUs from a single maker. Apple’s chips do provide some variations: in the first generation, the M1 Pro and M1 Max debuted as boosted versions of the M1 base chip, and this Pro/Max structure has repeated through the subsequent generations of Apple Silicon.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
We’re now up to the M4 generation as the latest platform; we first reviewed a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the base M4 chip and a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro processor. The real decision is whether to stick with a Windows system and the AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm processor options above if you’re already in that ecosystem, or to jump over to macOS. If you choose the latter, you need only to decide whether the base, Pro, or Max performance tier is the best fit for your needs.
Today, you’ll see machines with all these processors, making our reviews all the more important for selecting the best one for the job. For much more about the nuances of laptop CPUs, see our deep-dive article on choosing the best laptop processor.
Understanding Laptop Graphics Performance: Power for Play and Content Creation
If you’re after speed for PC gaming, you need a laptop with a dedicated graphics chip or GPU. Most leading-edge gaming laptops these days use various flavors of Nvidia’s GeForce mobile silicon, with the RTX 40 series (model numbers in the 4000s) being steadily pushed aside for the latest RTX 50 series (model numbers in the 5000s) in new machines.
If your laptop has a 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) display, then a GeForce RTX 4060, RTX 5050, or higher chip will suffice to play modern games at high image-quality settings. The GeForce RTX 4070, RTX 5070, and RTX 5070 Ti are usually fitting matches for a resolution of 2,560 by 1,440 pixels (1440p) and below. Finally, an RTX 4080, RTX 4090, RTX 5080, or RTX 5090 should be excellent at 1440p, and overkill for 1080p resolution.
Over the last few years, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 40-series graphics chips have been able to help make 4K gaming and fancy ray-traced lighting smoother than ever, thanks to DLSS rendering technology. But this is where Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50-series graphics chips really excel; hardware improvements and the latest version of this technology, DLSS 4, are much more effective at upscaling. The RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 are our recommended starting point for gaming on a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) panel, but DLSS 4 can help bridge that gap with midrange GPUs, too.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If you use your gaming laptop with an external monitor or monitors with a higher resolution than the laptop’s built-in screen, you might consider a GPU that’s several steps ahead of the laptop’s screen. Otherwise, you’ll want to match the GPU’s performance with the upper limits of the laptop’s panel.
One wrinkle to all this is the emergence of high-refresh-rate laptop displays. A typical 60Hz laptop display (which redraws the screen 60 times per second) can’t show much benefit from frame rates above 60 frames per second (fps). If your high-powered GPU can play a game at a consistent 100fps, you won’t see much added smoothness. However, all new gaming laptops provide high-refresh panels capable of rewriting at 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz, 240Hz, and occasionally even higher. These screens can display those extra frames for smoother gameplay and better justify a high-powered GPU. For more on the topic, see our explainer Does Your Gaming Laptop Need a High-Refresh-Rate Screen?
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
On a related note, laptops with screens that support Nvidia’s G-Sync technology are worth looking out for. In these, the screen rewrites at the same rate that the GPU churns out frames, adjusting the refresh rate dynamically. This reduces screen artifacts and “tearing” (in which parts of the screen misalign for a beat as they are rendered). With a high-refresh screen, a top-notch GPU will be better leveraged; with G-Sync, a marginal one will be enhanced.
Another factor to consider if you’re shopping for a maxed-out laptop is virtual reality compatibility. It’s best to opt for the proper GPU now if you might want to explore VR later, as you can’t upgrade the GPU after the fact. All of the modern GeForce RTX lines, from the RTX 4050 and RTX 5050 on up, should suffice for today’s consumer VR headsets. If you are looking at remaindered, used, or older laptops, though, you’ll want to look at the minimum graphics requirements for the headset you are looking at.
Does Storage or Memory Make a Computer Faster?
Assessing storage speed is more straightforward than weighing CPUs or GPUs. The storage solutions in today’s laptops fall into three classes: hard drives, SATA solid-state drives (SSDs), and PCI Express SSDs. That sequence is a fair summary of their relative speed (slowest, faster, fastest) and relative cost (least to most expensive, in terms of cost per gigabyte).
These days, the fastest laptops all use PCI Express SSDs, and indeed, this class of drive has mostly taken over the field. These are either implemented as M.2 drives (see our guide to the best M.2 solid-state drives) or soldered down to the motherboard, and top out in most configurations at 1TB or 2TB of capacity. PCI Express describes the bus pathway that your data takes when using these drives and is associated nowadays with the term NVMe, a protocol for making the most of PCI Express speeds. Both are good buzzwords to look out for. The alternative to a PCI Express SSD is Serial ATA or SATA, which is perfectly serviceable but is yesterday’s interface and fading out of relevance in new laptops now.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If you want to maximize real and perceived speed in a laptop, the boot drive should be an SSD; if the laptop is new, it will almost certainly be a PCI Express/NVMe one. However, SATA is still relevant for hard drives; if the laptop has a hard drive, it should be implemented as a secondary drive for bulk storage. Nowadays, you’re only likely to see such dual-drive arrangements in very large laptops, and rarely at that; like SATA SSDs, hard drives are disappearing from the laptop scene, too.
As for assessing the RAM in the system, it’s an exercise to ensure you get enough for your typical tasks without overpaying or underestimating. 8GB is the barest minimum for which we’d settle in any Windows laptop, with 16GB a far better baseline for a machine you’ll hit with applications more demanding than word processing or email. Getting even more can make sense if you use RAM-hungry content-creation apps like Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro. If you’re outfitting a gaming laptop, 16GB ought to do, with 32GB recommended if you’ll also use it for heavy content work.
Ready to Buy the Fastest Laptop You Can Get?
The laptops in our detailed breakout chart are ideal places to start looking if absolute speed is your key concern. We reviewed Cinebench and HandBrake benchmark scores to measure raw CPU speed and multithreaded power; these tests tax a CPU to its limits on all cores and threads. We also checked out 3DMark scores to measure graphics processing capability and PCMark 10 results for office productivity and overall system performance. (See the reviews linked for details and much more performance talk.)
Use these as launching points for your laptop search. Remember, many models can be bought in lesser or brawnier configurations than the ones we happen to test. Hence, the limit tends to be how much money you have and how much hardware a laptop maker can stuff in the chassis size of your choice, within thermal and practical limits.
Our roundups of the best gaming laptops and mobile workstations offer more speedy, powerful choices. Other top performers can be found in our roundups of the best ultraportables and the top 2-in-1 convertible laptops.
