Laptops are great for all forms of computing and you get the added benefit of portability and space-saving.Laptops aren’t only useful for productivity they can also be great for media consumption and, with enough computing power, some gaming.
The issue with gaming laptops previously is that they were bulky, expensive and typically they all had terrible battery life.
All of these issues were the result of trying to integrate a graphics card or GPU into such a small form factor. GPUs just like CPUs kick off a lot of heat and use up a lot of power when in use.
To counter this Nvidia started manufacturing their mid-range GPUs to work with a lower power draw and TDP. This means that you don’t need as much space for cooling and that your battery will last much longer.
This is especially true for Nvidia’s Turing based GPUs that have an emphasis on performance without overloading your battery or cooling system.
For a standard-sized (not bulky) laptop chassis you’ll want this GPU to ensure you can play all games maxed out at 1080p without looking like you brought the whole RGB brigade with you.
You get sleek looks with high performance. There are Max-Q versions of the more powerful 2000 series cards that work well in a laptop but you will still pay a massive premium for a few extra frames.
If you don’t need the GPU for gaming and instead for media rendering, crypto mining, or productions and simulations then a GTX 1650 will be plenty powerful for all of your needs.
We’ve put together a list of the best laptops with a GTX 1650 GPU built into them. We’ve included options for the budget conscious and the power-hungry, if you’re looking for a sleek and professional-looking incognito gaming laptop we’ve included something in here for you also.
Best Laptops with GTX 1650
1. ASUS TUF A17 Gaming Laptop
This great A17 laptop from ASUS’s TUF line of products has a powerful feature list that can stand up to the most powerful of mid-range PCs.
This laptop obviously contains the Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650 (you’ll see the theme here) and has adequate cooling in the form of dual self-cleaning anti-dust fans that extends the longevity of this laptop.
The A17 Gaming Laptop is powered by the Ryzen 7 4800H Processor which is an 8 core, 16 thread CPU that can handle almost anything. The 4000 series Ryzen CPU has a base clock of 2.9GHz and a boost clock of up to 4.2GHz.
With the dual fan design and TUF Gaming cooling system, your CPU will be adequately cooled to reach and sustain its boost clock. This CPU will run all programs and keep your games running smoothly with no compromises.
This laptop comes equipped with 16GB of 3200MHz RAM which is ample for almost any process to be running and won’t be a bottleneck for gaming. You’ll be able to have plenty of Chrome tabs open without noticing any lag.
If however, you find the need for more RAM the A17 Gaming Laptop offers you an extra DIMM slot for more memory.
For storage, the ASUS laptop includes a large 512GB M.2 SSD and an even larger 1TB HDD for plenty of storage capacity for games, all the project files you could imagine, AND all your playlists from Spotify downloaded to local storage.
As the name states this laptop has an FHD 17.3” display that has a refresh rate of 120Hz this means that any competitive games that you can run at 120 FPS will look buttery smooth and you’ll also have a slight tactical advantage.
With a 9-hour battery life, you’ll have no problem finishing the last bit of that campaign before the battery dies out.
ASUS’s TUF line of products is designed with gaming at the center of its focus. The laptop looks great and is covered in sleek gunmetal grey paint made from an extremely durable plastic composite that can withstand high drops.
The only give away that this is actually a gaming laptop is the RGB keyboard and the large exhaust ports on the back of the device.
Pros:
- Powerful Ryzen 7 4800H and GTX 1650 Combo.
- 16GB of fast high spec RAM.
- Designed for gamers but can be used for anything.
- 1.5TB of storage.
- Buttery smooth high-quality FHD display.
Cons:
- The TN panel used in the display can have bad viewing angles.
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6 Graphics (Base: 1380MHz, Boost: 1515MHz, TDP: 50W)
- Quad-core AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Processor
- 17.3” FHD (1920x1080) 120Hz IPS-Type display
- 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD | 16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM | Windows 10 Home
- Durable MIL-STD-810H military standard construction
2. Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop
This Acer Gaming Laptop from their Nitro line of products is a great way to get into some gaming or to render out that new youtube video. The laptop looks great and is powered by a 9th generation Intel i5 processor which is a 4 core, 8 thread CPU.
This small but powerful package has a base clock of 2.4GHz and a boost clock of up to 4.1GHz. Given adequate cooling, this CPU will sit between 3.5GHz and 4.0GHz easily. Thankfully due to Acer’s CoolBoost technology cooling won’t be an issue in this laptop.
The i5 processor is supported by 8GB of high-speed RAM, which is ample for standard usage and even gaming. If however, you do find yourself needing more you can add an extra DIMM in the free port that Acer provides.
For storage, the Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop comes equipped with a 256GB NVMe SSD installed which is lightning quick. There is a free M.2 SSD slot in the laptop if you need more storage. There is also a 2.5” slot available for you to expand the storage capacity more cost-effectively.
The monitor has an FHD 1920×1080 Resolution panel and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The panel is also IPS meaning it looks amazing from all angles and has great color accuracy.
With this refresh rate and resolution, the laptop will never dip below 60 FPS which is a better frame rate for the older i5 processor and will produce less heat and use less power.
The battery life in this slim form laptop at 6+ hours with standard usage and 3-4 hours under heavy gaming load.
Overall the Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop looks great and isn’t obviously a gaming laptop until you see the backlit keyboard. The red accents along the chassis also look amazing and add to the aesthetic.
Pros:
- Highly efficient i5 CPU.
- CoolBoost Tech elongates longevity of laptop.
- Many expansion options for storage and memory.
- Laptop comes with Alexa built-in.
- Aesthetic design with red accents.
Cons:
- Can be quite loud during heavy use.
3. ASUS ROG G531GT 15.6″ Gaming Laptop
The ROG Gaming Laptop from ASUS is the second ASUS device on our list and is the first one that looks overtly like a gaming laptop. With a powerful 6 core, 12 thread 9th generation intel i7 CPU matched with the GTX 1650 this laptop has been built and designed for gaming.
The CPU sits at 2.6GHz and can boost up to 4.5GHz if properly cooled so you can guarantee that this CPU will not bottleneck your gaming performance.
The laptop comes with 8GB of high-speed DDR4 RAM installed and offers you expansion up to 32GB with the free DIMM slot that ASUS includes.
You get 512GB of SSD storage installed with this device and you have the option to add extra drives if you need to.
The 15.6” 1080p 60Hz monitor is great for gaming and you’ll get a solid gaming experience from this screen alone but you can connect to an external monitor up to 120Hz if you want to, to get the most out of your gaming hardware.
The battery life isn’t amazing in the laptop at 5 hours average life you’re better off gaming plugged in.
The RGB built into the laptop with its angular design really makes this laptop look like it was built for gaming. The keyboard is extremely high quality and the overall finish of the design really stands out. If you’re looking for a covert gaming machine this may not be for you.
Pros:
- High powered 6 core i7 CPU.
- Expandable memory and storage.
- HDMI 2.0 port for high refresh rate gaming externally.
- Gaming aesthetic and gaming focused keyboard.
Cons:
- Lower battery life than other models
4. HP Pavilion Gaming 15 Laptop
The next laptop on our list is the Pavilion Gaming 15 Laptop from HP. This laptop features the younger brother of the Ryzen 7 that we featured in our number 1 pick; the 6 core, 12 thread Ryzen 5 4600H.
This is an extremely powerful processor just as it the Ryzen 7 but this CPU actually has a slightly higher base clock, at 3.0GHz base and 4.0GHz boost the 4600H actually has faster single core operation than any other processor on the list (when thermally throttled to base clock).
HP has coupled this CPU with an upgradeable 8GB of 3200MHz DDR4 RAM. At this speed you’ll get all your tasks done without the laptop breaking a sweat.
The laptop comes equipped with 512GB of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage. This only populates 1 slot within the system so you can add an extra module of M.2 storage to boost capacity.
The screen is a beautiful 15.3” anti-glare IPS model with a resolution of 1080p at a refresh rate of 60Hz.
The Pavilion Gaming 15 Laptop has enough battery to last you a full day of any task at 12.5 hours of total battery life this laptop will barely ever need to be plugged in.
Like the previous laptop, this one is made for gamers, and it looks the part. With its B&O inspired angular design and green the accenting on the body and backlit keyboard, this laptop is designed for the flashy gamer.
Pros:
- Powerful hexa-core Ryzen 5 CPU.
- Upgradeable memory and storage capacity.
- FHD IPS screen with anti glare.
- 12.5 hour battery.
Cons:
- Aggressive Gaming look may not be for everyone.
5. Lenovo Ideapad 3 Gaming Laptop
The last laptop on our list is the Lenovo Ideapad 3 Gaming Laptop. This Ideapad line from Lenovo is usually reserved for its workstation systems and just because this one is called the ‘Gaming Laptop’ doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong to that Ideapad line.
This gaming laptop has been designed with productivity and production at its heart. With a quad-core, 8 thread 10th generation intel i5 CPU powering it can handle all tasks you could throw at it. The i5-10300h has a base clock of 2.5GHz and boosts all the way up to 4.5GHz.
This laptop can be configured with many different options for storage and RAM so we’ve decided on 16GB of high speed RAM and 1.5TB of storage capacity split between 2 M.2 SSDs.
The monitor of this laptop is the best of the whole list, with a 120Hz 1080p IPS panel you’d be hard pressed to find a laptop with similar specs at this price point.
With a 9 hour battery life you’re sure to have plenty of time between charging periods.
The Ideapad 3 Gaming Laptop looks completely unassuming with its uniform body concealing the bulk of the unit underneath clean curves.
The only element that makes this laptop look like a gaming piece is the backlit keyboard and even that is a muted yet tasteful aqua blue color. This laptop is great for anyone not looking to garner attention with their laptop.
Pros:
- Most updated processor on our list.
- Configurable memory and storage before purchase.
- FHD 120Hz IPS screen.
- Professional, sleek looking laptop.
Cons:
- Keyboard quality is a bit mushy.
Buyer’s Guide
When it comes to Laptops that include a GTX 1650 there are a few things you’ll need to look out for, most in the form of all the different components but also in the design aspects of the laptop.
You don’t want to be walking around with a PC that weighs tonnes hanging off of your shoulder and looks like it can control the millennium falcon.
Obviously the aesthetics of the laptop are completely up to you, so if the components in 2 laptops are exactly what you need then choose the one that looks the best to you.
CPU
The first component that you need to check off is the CPU or processor. The CPU you have in your system can make a huge difference in the performance of the laptop, not just in gaming but in everything else.
Your CPU is the ‘brain’ of your pc and will determine how smoothly programs run, how quickly they open, the amount of programs you can have open at the same time and how fast the laptop is in general.
A high core count and high thread count means the CPU can allocate its power/resources to more applications simultaneously. In terms of gaming you don’t want your CPU to be the ‘bottleneck’ of the system, meaning that it is the reason your GPU can’t be used to its full potential and costing you precious performance.
The GPU is lauded as the most important component for modern gaming and whilst usually true this is usually for rendering textures and physics simulations, your CPU will be in charge of things like AI, model interactions and pre-loaded texture placements.
A game like GTA V can suffer hugely from inadequate CPU cores and threads. If you’re planning on streaming any games then you’ll need one of the latest CPUs to go with your GPU.
RAM
The next component is the memory, we’ll keep this one simple, the minimum you should be using is 8GB. In modern laptops, you will almost always have the option to upgrade your RAM so purchase low and upgrade in the future if need be.
RAM essentially just determines how many programs you can have open and the switching speeds between the programs, it is responsible for many more things but this will be where you’ll see the biggest impact. So for the sake of simplicity we recommend 8GB of RAM as a base.
Storage
From here we can look at the storage. There are 2 types of storage; SSD storage or Solid State Drives and HDD or Hard Drive Disks. The difference between the 2 types is the speed at which they operate.
SSDs are industry standard in modern laptops depending on your budget, they are extremely speedy and can offer large storage options all the way up to 10 TB.
HDDs are good for high capacity but they are extremely slow, you’ll notice the speed difference between the 2 drives in the start-up time of your laptop, the speed at which programs open, when you’re moving files between drives and when you’re loading any media files.
We would recommend always going for the largest SSD size that you can afford or if you’re budget conscious then a small SSD for startup and a couple games with a larger HDD as a mass storage drive.
Display
The next component isn’t actually an internal component, what we’re looking at is the screen or monitor. A good monitor is imperative to a good gaming, production or even just spreadsheeting experience.
If you have to look at a horrible TN panel all day not only can it cause you eye-strain but it just generally isn’t accurate. The color representation on a cheaper, lower quality panel is almost always lower than a better quality VA or IPS panel.
TN panels can work in a pinch but they aren’t recommended. The next thing is resolution and refresh rate, the largest monitor on our list is 17.3” which is small enough that full HD or 1080p will be more than adequate, you can look at a QHD or 1440p panel but your GPU will struggle to run games at ultra settings at this resolution.
As we said at 17.3” 1080p will be more than adequate for viewing distance.
On the note of running at higher resolutions, a lower resolution such as 1080p saves on battery life; fewer pixels, less power draw.
Battery capacity is measured in several different ways but the easiest to understand is battery life (in hours), we’d recommend a minimum of 5 hours of working battery life and all of the laptops on this list at least meet that spec.
Ports and Peripherals
The last aspect of your laptop that’s worth looking at is the externals, the number of ports, the casing, the keyboard, the trackpad, the charging cable and the extras like RGB.
This is completely subjective so we’ll leave it up to you to decide on the best course of action here. As long your internals are up to spec the laptop could look however you want and still run perfectly fine.
