Laptops for the Frugal Gamer

It's safe to say that the days of $4,000 to $5,000 gaming laptops are behind us. Laptops are already commodities, and demands for graphics horsepower aren't what they used to be, especially when many of the latest 3D games can be played on $1,500 mainstream laptops. But there are still plenty of hard-core gamers who spend the majority of their time attending LAN parties, and who have the Internet bandwidth at home to host multiplayer death matches. They refuse to accept middle-of-the-road frame rates but are unwilling to put up the cash for a high-end rig. (You can only earn so much money by being a professional gamer.) But they needn't revert to a clunky desktop, as hard-core gaming laptops that won't break the bank are becoming more plentiful.

The two components mainly responsible for driving up the cost of a gaming laptop are the processor and the graphics card. Luckily for you, processors have caught up with the demands of their graphics counterparts, so you don't necessarily require an Intel Extreme or a quad-core processor to get the scorching frame rates you want. The secret sauce is (and has always been) the graphics card. Gaming systems like the CyberPower Xtreme Gamer M1 and the Alienware M17 use energy-efficient processors with their dual ATI Radeon HD 3879 graphics cards, arranged in what ATI calls its CrossFire configuration. These cards can spit out 3DMark 06 scores in the five-digit range (at 1,024-by-768 resolution), respectable even among the best gaming laptops, though these two rigs come in at only a smidge above $2,000.

You might think that the inclusion of a high-end graphics card at this price would limit other gaming features and attributes, but that's hardly the case. Both the M17 and the M1 come with high-resolution (1,920-by-1,200) screens, illuminated keyboards, and the gamut of connectivity ports. The M1 even includes a Blu-ray reader for your high-def enjoyment.

The new breed of gaming laptop gets cheaper still. By forgoing big 17-inch widescreens, ultramobile gaming solutions like the MSI GT627-218US and the ASUS N50Vn-B1B can lessen the burden on your back, yet these midrange models (available for under $1,300) still deliver the frame rates needed to compete in big game tournaments. The N50Vn-B1B, a general-purpose laptop with gaming chops, uses a single (yet nonetheless powerful) Nvidia GeForce 9650M GT graphics card, while the GT627-218US has an even better Nvidia GeForce 9800M GS card.

And even better deals are on the way. Keep in mind that although a fast processor is nice to have, picking up a good graphics card is key to your gaming success.

Featured in This Roundup:

Alienware M17 ($2,059 direct)

The Alienware M17 is one of the first laptops to use ATI's CrossFireX technology. Judging by our 3D tests, it can definitely hang with the mobile gaming giants.

CyberPower Gamer Xtreme M1 ($2,150 direct)

This fierce gaming laptop has all the inner workings of the Alienware M17, without the menacing design.

ASUS N50Vn-B1B ($1,255 street)

Anyone who is shopping for an affordable family laptop that can double as a gaming rig should consider the ASUS N50Vn.

MSI GT627-218US ($1,100 street)

MSI built an affordable gaming laptop without skimping on the most critical component—the graphics card.

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