Esolex/Getty Images We may receive a commission for purchases made through links. The Xbox Series X is an impressive gaming console, but its custom chip is no longer the high-end offering it once was. The console features a custom RDNA 2 GPU with 52 compute units running at a locked 1.825 GHz, producing 12,155 teraflops of GPU computing power, along with eight Zen 2 CPU cores up to 3.8 GHz. When you think about a GPU equivalent to the Xbox Series 3060 Ti, or an AMD RX 6700 XT for real-world gaming. The original marketing was based on first-party titles like “Gears 5,” which achieved performance very close to that of an RTX 2080, but it was a showcase that squeezed every last drop of power out of the hardware and wasn’t a representation of the average gamer’s back catalog. In practice, the Series This is important because it also means that many gaming laptops now outperform the console, although it’s hard to find many within $100 of the Series X price with the cost of electronics skyrocketing. The console is still a great gaming option, and there are ways to get more out of an Xbox Series It combines an Intel Core i5-13420H processor with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and a 512GB SSD, all packed into a slim chassis with a 15.6-inch, 144Hz display. At $1,074, it sits comfortably below most desktop versions. The RTX 4060 laptop chip is key to the entire value argument here. It is built on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture and, like the rest of the 40 series, supports DLSS 3 and DLSS 4 features such as super resolution, ray reconstruction and frame generation. That means a game running at high settings with DLSS enabled can achieve higher, smoother frame rates than silicon ray tracing performance well beyond what the Series This 4060 runs on a modest power target, has a plastic build, and the 512GB SSD will fill up quickly, but it still beats the Series X. Not to mention, this laptop doesn’t have the same restrictions, as there are some things owners should never do with an Xbox. Acer Nitro V 16 The Acer Nitro V 16 ups the game with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU, a current-generation chip that handily beats the Series 400 nits of brightness for $1,629.99. The RTX 5060 serves as an excellent starting point, matching and surpassing the Series X silicon for “better than console” performance, according to SlashGear. Nvidia’s RTX 50 series uses full DLSS 4.5 with multi-frame generation to multiply performance by generating additional frames, a feature the Series X does not have. In practice, a GPU of this level outperforms the Series While the Series The downside to buying a console like the Xbox Series Of course, a laptop is also restricted, but gamers can usually still upgrade their RAM and storage from various brands. Lenovo LOQ 15 The Lenovo LOQ 15 takes the same RTX 5060 laptop GPU and combines it with more storage and a fast 165Hz panel, making it a solid, value-focused alternative to Acer with a lower price of $1,529.99. This laptop runs an AMD Ryzen 7 250 processor with 16GB of memory and a 1TB NVMe SSD, eliminating the storage anxiety that plagues cheaper, higher-priced gaming laptops. The 15.3-inch 165Hz WUXGA IPS display keeps motion fluid, and the Ryzen 7 CPU gives the machine solid all-around performance beyond gaming. Like the Acer Nitro V, the Lenovo LOQ 15 offers the same comfortable margin over the Series X in gaming. The GPU outperforms the console equivalent by a considerable amount, and DLSS 4.5 multi-frame generation means supported titles run at much higher frame rates than the raw specs would suggest. The larger SSD is the most notable practical advantage here, holding several modern games without forcing players to juggle their back catalogue. The combination of the RTX 5060 GPU, generous storage, and a high-refresh display make it one of the most balanced options on the list. When it comes to the cost of some high-end laptops, LOQ 15 is a reminder that matching and surpassing the performance of the current-gen console doesn’t need a huge price tag. Gamers just need a mid-range laptop that’s above the dated GPU equivalent of the Series It’s powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with 24 cores, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a 2TB NVMe SSD, all housed in a metal chassis with a 16-inch 2560×1600, 300Hz resolution display. At $2,649, this is an investment for a massive jump in performance over the Series above the Series The 300Hz panel and G-Sync support mean even fast-paced competitive titles run smoothly, and the 12GB of GDDR7 VRAM handles high-resolution 4K textures at much higher frame rates than the Xbox Series makes it a machine that surpasses the Series X in every measurable aspect. The Maingear Super 16 is a laptop for buyers who want to push the performance limit of an Xbox Series X without being limited to a single store. Let’s not forget that it comes with lifetime support and one-year warranty from Maingear; just call them if there is any problem. Maingear Ultima 18 At the pinnacle of performance is the Maingear Ultima 18, a flagship laptop built around an Nvidia RTX 5080 laptop GPU and an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor. It comes with 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 2TB NVMe SSD, and an 18-inch G-Sync 4K 240Hz display, making it one of the most powerful gaming laptops money can buy without exceeding $5,000. At $3,699, it’s the most expensive pick, but it’s my daily driver and represents the sweet spot of high-end gaming laptops. The RTX 5080 with 16GB GDDR7 VRAM is in a different league than the Series This level of quality and performance in 4K is simply not possible on Xbox Series X without settling for a 30 FPS “quality mode.” The 4K 240Hz 16:10 panel is a showcase of that power, a 175W GPU power target that allows the 5080 to stretch its legs rather than being limited to fit into a slim chassis. For many gamers, the cheaper options here will make sense, but for those who can stretch their budget, the Maingear Ultima 18 is a great example of why PC gaming beats console gaming. Methodology vfhnb12/Shutterstock We start by identifying the console hardware and then comparing it to the real-world GPU equivalent at 1440p resolution, which is the most commonly used resolution in PC gaming. Any laptop graphics chip with that level of performance or higher is considered more powerful, which is why the RTX 4060 to RTX 5080 gaming laptops qualify, with the RTX 5060 being a solid performance equivalent to the Xbox Series X. Each laptop was selected for being affordable and genuinely faster than a Series On the CPU side, the matching parts list notes that a modern six- to eight-core processor is enough to keep up with the console, which is why we chose capable current-gen chips instead of high-end ones. The five laptops were listed from the most affordable to the most powerful to give readers a clear idea of the price-performance ratio. However, laptop GPUs are limited in power compared to their desktop counterparts, with a mobile chip running at about half the power of the desktop card of the same name, but still delivering fantastic performance. This means that the laptops listed reflect the performance of laptop-level GPUs, not the desktop version with the same name. Did you find this useful? Join our free weekly newsletter on smart tech shopping and products to avoid. Subscribe now
