TOP 5 gaming laptops with GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card

Sometimes it seems that if our timeline finally breaks, only one thing will remain unchanged - Acer Nitro laptops will also fall into almost any top gaming laptops. Seriously, Acer designers seem to have unraveled the formula of the philosopher's stone and since then, once a year, they simply update the hardware, tweak the cooling system, add some important features if they weren't there yet, and that's it, tomorrow is Sunday. As before, the secret to the success of the Nitro 5 lies in the successful combination of case, cooling system and hardware, thanks to which the laptop easily withstands long gaming sessions without suffering from overheating, throttling and their accompanying lags. At the same time, the case looks as unsightly and angular as it did 5 years ago.

This modification uses a bunch of 12-thread Core i5, GeForce RTX 3060 video cards and 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, which should be enough for most games for the next 4-5 years if you play in Full HD with medium graphics settings. It is also important to note that the Nitro was one of the first laptops, the owner of which could independently add a second RAM module, an additional M.2 drive, or even an old-school 2.5” hard drive. The trend has not changed.

To emphasize the class difference between the Predator and Nitro series, Acer is trying to use simpler displays in the Nitro. The model in the review is no exception - the IPS matrix has a response speed of 3 ms and a refresh rate of 144 Hz, but it slightly lacks colors and full support for HDR content. Otherwise, it has a standard set for a gaming laptop in 2023: a specialized Killer E2600 gaming LAN controller, an audio path with DTS X Ultra support, modern connection ports (USB4, HDMI 2.1), of course, a comfortable gaming keyboard with red backlighting that is proprietary for the Nitro series. Olds approve.

In 2021, MSI has updated its lineup with 2 new lines of popular gaming laptops Katana and Sword, the design of the line was developed by Japanese illustrator Nagano Tsuyoshi. As planned by the manufacturer, Katana and Sword are competitors to the popular entry-level B-class gaming laptops Acer Nitro and Asus TUF. Their potential formula for success is almost identical: a simple plastic chassis without unnecessary decor, a high-quality cooling system, a mid-range IPS display, and rather vigorous hardware that can comfortably run most of the gaming hits of recent years.

The neat matte black chassis with beveled corners around the display is clearly inspired by MSI's Pulse and Thin laptops. The resemblance is enhanced by a mesh bottom and a branded keyboard with a brutal red backlight. As a hardware configuration, a bundle of an 8-core Core i7 11800H processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 512 GB NVMe SSD is used as a standard for this class. The amount of RAM and storage can be increased with additional DIMM and M.2 slots. The IPS screen has a resolution of 1080p, a refresh rate of 144Hz and covers 91% of the sRGB color spectrum. In general, everything looks adequate, nothing unusual.

Therefore, the final score of the MSI Katana GF66 11UE is firmly tied to its cost. For $1000, this is a great option, capable of delivering 30 to 60 FPS in Hogwarts Legacy, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077 and other high-profile titles of recent years. Looking at the price, you can forgive him for a mediocre keyboard, average build quality, lack of fast charging, not the best speakers and, in general, not the most advanced equipment. But for the conditional $ 1300 - 1400, as they ask for it in some stores, we would recommend paying attention to other options.

The Asus TUF A15 is another top gaming veteran that has been on the bestseller lists for years. Following the principle of “do no harm”, Asus annually makes careful upgrades to hardware and support features, adding such important things as Wi-Fi 6, fast charging, or DTS X Ultra support with sound profiles for different gaming genres. If we talk about the hero of this review, then his display has been updated (Full HD IPS panel with a frequency of 144 Hz), and not the old GTX 1650/1660 is now responsible for graphics processing, but a more modern GPU from the NVIDIA Ampere series.

Unlike the flagship ROG Strix laptops, the TUF models have always been designed for the more budget-conscious gamer who plans to play at Full HD resolution and doesn't get horrified by the fact that some games will have to lower the graphics settings to the average level. Asus TUF Gaming A15 claims to be an exception: the laptop has a brand new powerful 8-core Ryzen 7 (Zen 3 architecture), 16 GB of RAM with increased frequencies of 3200 MHz and an RTX 3060 graphics card with 6 GB of video memory on board. The graphics card feels great in most games in 2022, supports hardware ray tracing and DLSS 2.0 technology.

Traditionally, the strong point of TUF laptops is a well-assembled MIL-STD-810G class shockproof case with a well-tuned cooling system that keeps not the coldest iron in check. The case itself has been slightly modernized, removing some of the decorative elements and making the design more serious. And the monochromatic backlighting, which has long been a hallmark of the series, has been replaced with a full-fledged RGB. Throw in a clear absence of any flaws and you have a serious candidate for the title of people's gaming laptop.

In the ROG Strix series, the Taiwanese giant Asus riveted quite expensive and sophisticated laptops at the mercy of enthusiasts and wealthy gamers. However, at the turn of the decade, they launched a curious line of ROG Strix G15, which absorbed the elegance and advanced features of Strix laptops, but with simpler and more affordable hardware at the level of TUF series laptops. The bottom line is that TUFs are now durable and affordable laptops, and the ROG Strix G15 is affordable and sleek.

The G15 immediately grabs attention. The elegant case made of aluminium and plastic looks modern and presentable, the highlight of the appearance is given by the complex RGB backlighting of the keyboard and a small light element built into the base of the case (note: Asus Aura Sync is supported). An unusual touchpad completes the picture, inside of which there is a virtual digital block, as in Asus Zenbook laptops. The solution turned out to be not only elegant, but also practical, since the keyboard takes up more space, and the buttons are not so heaped. At the same time, it weighs 2.3 kg with a thickness of 26 mm, thanks to which both the iron itself and the cooling system are quietly placed inside the chassis. Additional equipment includes fast charging and speakers with Dolby Atmos. There is no webcam, so be careful if you plan to use a laptop for video calls.

We tested the mid-range version with an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, a 512 GB NVMe drive and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card. high settings for optimal performance at 1080p. But they obviously saved money on the display - the most common Full HD IPS-matrix with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, a basic margin of brightness and limited color reproduction is installed in the laptop. In a laptop of this class, I would like to see a brighter and more colorful screen with FreeSync support.

Externally and structurally, the new Legion 5 15ACH6H is practically no different from the previous generation models released in 2020-2021. This is understandable - Lenovo designers found a good shape at the junction of gaming laptops and business-class ultrabooks, and since then they have regularly collected awards at Red Dot Awards. The 15.6-inch IPS display delivers an image with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, a refresh rate of 165 Hz and natural color reproduction. It also stands out with its support for Freesync/G-Sync and HDR content. Although, it is completely clear how it will show HDR with a brightness of 300 cd / m².

The modern 6-core fifth generation Ryzen 7 processor supports multi-threading and overclocks to 4.2 GHz. Combined with 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 130W NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card, the laptop can handle most of the hot titles of 2022-2023 at 1080p and medium-high graphics settings. Completing the picture is a nimble 1024 GB SSD with operating speeds on par with the popular Samsung 970 EVO Plus. The cooling system can be customized depending on the task, switching from a neat blue mode to white (balance) or red (maximum performance). In principle, in all three modes, it does not raise any complaints, keeping the temperature of the CPU and GPU just above 80 degrees Celsius.

In addition, the laptop is equipped with a modern network card with Wi-Fi 6 and a gigabit LAN port, supports fast charging and Namic spatial sound. It also has a great solid color backlit gaming keyboard that looks great even against desktop keyboards. Thanks to the presence of a free DIMM slot and an M.2 port, the user can add another stick of RAM and plug in a second SSD. Against this background, for complete happiness, only USB4 ports with Thunderbolt are missing. Although, for gaming devices, this is not at all mandatory stuff.