This article is updated regularly. Bookmark it (Ctrl + D) to get redirected to the latest version.

This is one of 3 articles dedicated to laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros:

1. Best Budget Low-cost Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros
2. Best Mid-Range Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros
3. Best High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros (this article)

Are you a Creative Pro that wants an Apple Macbook?

No problem, we have articles to help you find the best Macbook for your needs:
1. How to choose the best Apple Macbook Air
2. How to choose the best Apple Macbook Pro 13
3. How to choose the best Apple Macbook Pro 16

The Best High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros:

Click on any of these links to jump to the section that interests you, or scroll down to see them all, in this order.

  1. Gamers: Best bang for buck: RTX 2070 Super Max-P, Core i7 Eight-Core
  2. Gamers: Lightweight 15.6″ RTX 2070/2080 Super (Max-Q): 4.63lbs
  3. Gamers: Lightweight 17.3″ RTX 2070/2080 Super (Max-Q): 5.29lbs
  4. Creative Pros: Lightweight 15.6″, 2070/2080 Super Max-Q, 4K OLED calibrated
  5. Creative Pros: Lightweight 17.3″, 2070/2080 Super Max-Q, 4K OLED calibrated
  6. Creative Pros: Innovative dual OLED screens
  7. Creative Pros: Lightweight 17.3″ 4K MiniLED HDR1000 calibrated display
  8. Both: Unthrottled CPU/GPU, Max-P 2080 Super, 1080p 300Hz calibrated display

How do we choose the Best High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros?

By that, I mean the laptops that offer the best gaming and overall performance at a given price. Because if you’re about to buy a laptop, you want the one that offers the best performance possible for your budget, right?

If you have the time to do research… but who does?

You don’t have the time to read or the knowledge to understand detailed laptop reviews and specifications and just want the answers?
In other words, what you want to know is: “What’s the best laptop for my budget and needs?”
So if you don’t have the time, don’t worry. We’re here to help you with this article.

The features that we evaluate in order to make our recommendations:

1. Price
2. Performance: CPU, RAM, Storage, Graphic Card and Wireless Adapter
3. Screen: Size, Resolution, Finish, Panel type, Brightness, Contrast, Viewing Angles and Color Accuracy
4. Portability: Dimensions, Weight, Real-life battery life during average web browsing?
5. Usability: Keyboard: Layout, Key size, Travel/Pressure, Key Shape and any additional Function keys. Touch pad quality and presence or lack of dedicated buttons, backlit keyboard, numpad, Operating System, which ports are offered, webcam resolution, sound quality, optical drive, noise levels.
6. Reliability: How solid is the chassis and the screen hinges? Are the temperatures under load reasonable? Is the keyboard spill-resistant? Overall manufacturer long-term reliability? Is it easy to service the laptop?
7. Warranty: Warranty length? What does the warranty cover?

We then recommend laptops that offer the best overall features, at various price points.

A reminder:

Prices for B&H as of October 30th 2020. Click on Amazon links to see prices. Prices and availability are subject to change. Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself. This post may contain affiliate links so that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

While I can’t keep up with ever changing prices, I do recommend to you what are in my professional experience the best laptops around a price point.

Leave a comment if you have a question, a suggestion and/or any feedback that you want to share.

Gamers: Best bang for buck:

ASUS Republic of Gamers Strix SCAR 15 G532LWS-DS76

15.6″: – Click here to see the price on Amazon
– $2199.99 at B&H (Worldwide Shipping)
17.3″: – Click here to see the price on Amazon
– $2199.99 at B&H (Worldwide Shipping)

This is my recommended base model, if you want a good combo of Intel’s eight core CPU with Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Max-P graphic card.

It’s pretty much the least expensive model with the 10th generation Core i7-10875H CPU and not a weaker 6 core CPU.

It’s equipped with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD.

It is available with either a 15.6″ or 17.3″ display. Both have identical specs, other than the different screen sizes, refresh rate (15.6″: 240Hz, 17.3″: 300Hz), dimensions and weight of course.

Gamers:
This is the full-fledged RTX 2070 Super Max-P, not the Max-Q variant, so you’re getting a lot of gaming performance for the price.

You also get a 240Hz (15.6″) or 300Hz (17.3″) 3ms 1080p display with 100% sRGB color coverage, as well as per-key RGB keyboard backlight.

The main downside of this this laptop is its cooling system. It’s not bad, but it has to dissipate a lot of heat seeing as it is using the higher TDP Max-P RTX 2070 Super, resulting in slightly lower sustained performance. Under sustained loads, the CPU gets throttled and you’re getting only slightly better than RTX 2070 Super Max-Q performance. This is less of a problem with the 17.3″ model, which has more room to dissipate that heat.

For maximum CPU and graphics performance, see the Gigabyte Aorus X further down.

Creative Pros: Not recommended
A display with only a 1920 x 1080 resolution and only sRGB full color coverage won’t cut it for a pro.

Models recommended from Creative Pros feature a 4K display with 100% AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut and more. Keep reading to see such models.

Pros:

  1. Equipped with the Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Super Max-P 8GB GDDR6
  2. Intel Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + Hyper-Threading 2.3-5.1GHz CPU
  3. 16GB of RAM: Two sticks of 8GB of DDR4 RAM.
  4. RAM can be upgraded to 64GB (2x32GB DDR4).
  5. Screen is equipped with an IPS Panel which means greater viewing angles, better contrast and more accurate colors.
  6. 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display
  7. Matte display doesn’t reflect light
  8. 15.6″ model: 240Hz refresh rate
  9. 17.3″ model: 300Hz refresh rate
  10. 3ms response time
  11. 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD for an improved responsiveness and booting speed.
  12. 15.6″ model: Numpad on the touchpad
  13. 17.3″ model: Physical Numpad
  14. 1080p Full HD webcam
  15. Dedicated left and right touchpad buttons.
  16. Decent keyboard for typing
  17. Dedicated macro keys
  18. RJ45 Ethernet port.
  19. Bluetooth 5.0
  20. 802.11ax WiFi 6
  21. HDMI and Displayport (through USB Type-C) outputs.
  22. Windows 10
  23. 3 x USB 3 (Type-A) ports
  24. 1x USB Type-C with Displayport support
  25. Backlit Keyboard

Cons:

  1. Max-P RTX 2070 Super results in more heat to dissipate, the cooling can’t keep up under a full prolongued load, resulting in lower sustained performance. Less of an issue on the 17.3″ model.
  2. Poor battery life, as expected for a powerful gaming laptop
  3. 15.6″ model only: No physical numpad, only a touch-enabled one on the touchpad
  4. Maximum display brightness is rated at 300 cd/m2, which is average, not as good as other models that can reach 500 or even 1000 cd/m2.
  5. Display offers 100% sRGB color coverage, but not full AdobeRGB coverage.

Gamers: Lightweight 15.6″ with RTX 2070 Super or 2080 Super

MSI GS66 Stealth

i7-10875H/2070 Super/512GB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2200.36 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)
i9-10980HK/2070 Super/1TB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2449.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)
i7-10875H/2080 Super/512GB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2649.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)
i9-10980HK/2080 Super/1TB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2999.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)

Gamers:

Weighting in at 4.63lbs and .71″ thin, this is a lightweight gaming laptop.

Sure, you get the Max-Q variant of the RTX 2070 Super or 2080 Super, so performance isn’t as high as thicker/heavier gaming laptops; that’s the trade-off for having a thin and lightweight gaming laptop. Still, it’s more than powerful enough to drive the 1080p display at very high frame rates.

Considering that it’s thin and packed with powerful hardware, expect this laptop to run hot and to run at lower frequencies under sustained loads, to prevent overheating. A cooling pad is a good idea for long gaming sessions. So if you’re after maximum gaming performance, keep scrolling. But if you want a great balance between performance and portability, this is my recommendation.

Want the same laptop, but with a 17.3″ screen, weighting in at 5.29lbs? See the model below.

Creative Pros: Not recommended
A 15.6″ display with only a 1920 x 1080 and only sRGB full color coverage won’t cut it for a pro.

Models recommended for Creative Pros feature a 4K display with 100% AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut and more. Keep reading to see such models.

Pros: 

  1. Light and thin gaming laptop with a RTX 2070 Super or RTX 2080 Super: 4.63lbs / .71″ thin
  2. Subtle looks
  3. Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + HT 2.3-5.1GHz CPU or Core i9 10980HK Eight-Core + HT 2.4-5.3GHz CPU
  4. Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Super or 2080 Super 8GB GDDR6
  5. 512GB or 1TB SSD speeds up boot times, games launch faster and makes the system much more responsive.
  6. 2nd M.2 SSD slot allowing you to add a SSD for additional storage
  7. Windows 10 Pro
  8. 32GB of DDR4 RAM that can be upgraded up to 64GB (2x32GB).
  9. RAM can be upgraded to 64GB (2x32GB)
  10. Screen is equipped with an IPS Panel
  11. 300Hz refresh rate
  12. Full HD 1920 x 1080 15.6″ IPS Matte display
  13. 1 x HDMI, 1 x Displayport 9through USB Type-C)
  14. 3x USB 3.0 ports
  15. 2x USB Type-C, one with Thunderbolt 3/Displayport support
  16. RJ45 Ethernet port
  17. Keyboard is backlit, individual key RGB
  18. 802.11ax WiFi 6 2×2
  19. Bluetooth 5.0
  20. Battery life is great for such a powerful laptop, up to 6-7 hours of web rbowsing

Cons:

  1. No numpad
  2. 720p HD webcam
  3. Graphic card is a Max-Q variant, offering slightly lower performance than the Max-P variants
  4. Limited cooling will result in throttling under sustained workloads and gaming sessions.
  5. Cooling gets loud under load
  6. The base of the laptop is hot, not meant to be used on your lap
  7. No card reader
  8. Speakers are on the weak side.

Gamers: Lightweight 17.3″ with RTX 2070 Super or 2080 Super

MSI GS75 Stealth

i7-10875H/2070 Super/512GB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2199.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)
i9-10980HK/2070 Super/1TB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2499.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)
i7-10875H/2080 Super/512GB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2649.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)
i9-10980HK/2080 Super/1TB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2849.00 at B&H (Worldwide shipping)

This is a very similar laptop compared to the MSI GS66 above, but with a larger 17.3″ display and gold accents.

Pros: 

  1. Light and thin 17.3″ gaming laptop with a RTX 2070 Super or RTX 2080 Super: 5.29lbs / .80″ thin
  2. Sleek looks
  3. Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + HT 2.3-5.1GHz CPU or Core i9 10980HK Eight-Core + HT 2.4-5.3GHz CPU
  4. Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Super or 2080 Super 8GB GDDR6
  5. 512GB or 1TB SSD speeds up boot times, games launch faster and makes the system much more responsive.
  6. 2 empty M.2 SSD slots: One PCIe NVMe or SATA, the other SATA only
  7. Windows 10 Pro
  8.  32GB of DDR4 RAM that can be upgraded up to 64GB (2x32GB).
  9. Screen is equipped with an IPS Panel which means greater viewing angles, better contrast and more accurate colors.
  10. 300Hz refresh rate
  11. Full HD 1920 x 1080 17.3″ IPS Matte display
  12. 1 x HDMI, 1 x Displayport (through USB Type-C)
  13. 3x USB 3.0 ports
  14. 2x USB Type-C, including one with Displayport and Thunderbolt 3
  15. RJ45 Ethernet port
  16. Keyboard is backlit, individual key RGB
  17. microSD card reader
  18. 802.11ax WiFi 6
  19. Bluetooth 5.0
  20. Decent 1.5mm key travel
  21. Battery life is great for such a powerful laptop, up to 6-7 hours of web browsing.

Cons:

  1. No numpad
  2. 720p HD webcam
  3. Graphic card is a Max-Q variant, offering slightly lower performance than the Max-P variants
  4. Limited cooling will result in throttling under sustained workloads and gaming sessions.
  5. Cooling gets loud under load
  6. The base of the laptop is hot, not meant to be used on your lap
  7. Speakers are on the weak side.

Creative Pros: Lightweight 15.6″, 2070/2080 Super Max-Q, 4K OLED calibrated

Gigabyte Aero 15

Creative Pros:
Were you looking at the MSI GS66 and wishing for that laptop, but with a 4K AMOLED display? This is the answer.

This is a powerful, yet highly portable laptop, with up to 8.5 hours of battery life

It features a 15.6″ OLED display with a maximum brightness of 400 cd/m2 and a color gamut that covers 100% of DCI-P3. It is factory calibrated.

Unlike the MSI GS66, this laptop does feature a card reader and a USH-II at that, so it’s fast. There are many ports too.

There’s a fingerprint reader, allowing you to login via Windows Hello.

Downsides? It runs hot, being equipped with high-end components in such a light and thin chassis. A fan cooler is a good idea if you need as much sustained performance as possible.

Gamers:
There are better alternatives for your needs. This laptop doesn’t have a high refresh rate and the Max-Q variant of the RTX 2070/2080. If you want a lightweight gaming laptop, look above at the MSI GS66 (15.6″) or GS75 (17.3″)

Pros: 

  1. Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + HT 2.3-5.1GHz CPU or Core i9 10980HK Eight-Core + HT 2.4-5.3GHz CPU
  2. Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Super or 2080 Super 8GB GDDR6 Max-Q
  3. 512GB or 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
  4. Up to 8TB of SSD storage
  5. Windows 10 Pro
  6.  16GB or 32GB of DDR4 RAM
  7. Up to 64GB of RAM
  8. 15.6″ Screen: AMOLED panel, maximum brightness of 400 cd/m2, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, factory calibrated.
  9. 4K 3840 x 2160 display resolution.
  10. Response time of 1ms
  11. Thin screen bezels
  12. Fingerprint login with Windows Hello
  13. 1 HDMI
  14. 3x USB 3.0 ports.
  15. 2x USB Type-C, Mini-Displayport, Thunderbolt 3
  16. RGB backlit Keyboard (Individual Key)
  17. SD card reader
  18. Numpad
  19. RJ45 Ethernet port
  20. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax); Dual-Band (2.4 & 5 GHz)
  21. Bluetooth 5.0
  22. Light for such a powerful laptop: 4.8lbs
  23. Good battery life for a powerful laptop: Up to 8.5 hours
  24. Sliding camera cover for privacy

Cons:

  1. Big power supply brick
  2. No dedicated left and right click buttons
  3. 720p HD webcam
  4. Webcam is on the bottom bezel of the screen: Unflattering angle
  5. Runs hot

Creative Pros: Lightweight 17.3″, 2070/2080 Super Max-Q, 4K OLED calibrated

Gigabyte Aero 17

This is a very similar laptop compared to the Gigabyte Aero 15 above, but with a larger 17.3″ display.

Pros: 

  1. Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + HT 2.3-5.1GHz CPU or Core i9 10980HK Eight-Core + HT 2.4-5.3GHz CPU
  2. Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 or 2080 8GB GDDR6 Max-Q
  3. 512GB or 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
  4. Up to 8TB of SSD storage
  5. Windows 10 Pro
  6. 32GB of DDR4 RAM
  7. Up to 64GB of RAM
  8. 17.3″ Screen: AMOLED panel, maximum brightness of 400 cd/m2, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, factory calibrated.
  9. 4K 3840 x 2160 display resolution.
  10. Response time of 1ms
  11. Thin screen bezels
  12. Fingerprint login with Windows Hello
  13. 1 HDMI
  14. 3x USB 3.0 ports.
  15. 2x USB Type-C, Mini-Displayport, Thunderbolt 3
  16. RGB backlit Keyboard (Individual Key)
  17. SD card reader
  18. Numpad
  19. RJ45 Ethernet port
  20. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax); Dual-Band (2.4 & 5 GHz)
  21. Bluetooth 5.0
  22. Light for such a powerful laptop: 5.5lbs
  23. Good battery life for a powerful laptop: Up to 8 hours
  24. Sliding camera cover for privacy

Cons:

  1. Big power supply brick
  2. No dedicated left and right click buttons
  3. 720p HD webcam
  4. Webcam is on the bottom bezel of the screen: Unflattering angle
  5. Runs hot
  6. Refresh rate of 60Hz, on the low side for gamers.

Creative Pros: Innovative dual OLED screens, Intel 8-core

ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581GV

– Click here to see the price on Amazon

Creative Pros:
This is an innovative design from ASUS. Equipped with a 2nd display above the keyboard, a ScreenPad Plus that measures 14″ diagonally with a 3840 x 1100 resolution , it offers multitasking capabilities that laptops didn’t have before.

As a functional second screen, it can be used to view additional windows, house a variety of quick-access applications, and even digitize your handwriting, thanks to touch support. A detachable Palm rest and Asus Active Stylus pen are included.

It can be used with ASUS’s ScreenXpert control software that simplifies multiscreen window and program management as well as can run specially-designed apps. Furthermore, ASUS is also working with developers of professional applications to create versions that can take advantage of the ScreenPad Plus in a way that many apps take advantage of Apple’s TouchBar.

From ASUS:
The 4K secondary touchscreen that works seamlessly with the main 15.6 inch 4K UHD OLED touchscreen, giving you endless ways to optimize and personalize your workflow.

A series of handy built-in apps help boost your productivity. Quick key allows one-tap automation of complex keyboard sequences, and handwriting lets you input text intuitively.

There are also useful quick controls such as app switcher, view Max and task swap for intuitive interactions between the main display and screen Pad plus.

Task group lets you lock Into work mode by opening multiple tasks with a single touch. And now you can drag apps or in-app toolbars onto screen Pad plus to give you more room to work on the main display, wherever you are. With zenbook Pro Duo and the bundled stylus — or active Stylus — You can really let your creativity flow.

Both multi-touch displays support stylus input, and screen Pad plus gives you a superbly ergonomic and stable platform for writing or drawing. Take notes, sketch out your ideas, or do precision graphical editing in the most intuitive way ever.

Another nice touch is what ASUS calls the ErgoLift design for improved typing position. Basically, the bottom part of the display case lifts the back of the base of the laptop, effectively putting the keyboard at a raised angle for a more comfortable typing position. With the detachable palm rest, this is great if you spend a lot of time with your laptop.

To boost performance, there is a Turbo Fan button that speeds up fans to maximize cooling performance and enable the CPU and the Graphic card to increase their boost clocks.

This laptop doesn’t lack in the hardware department: It features the highest performance Intel mobile CPU, the Intel Core i9-9980HK 8-Core / 16 thread 2.3-5.0GHz CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6GB. The main display is 4K OLED with 100% DCI-P3 coverage, Pantone Validated and DisplayHDR True Black 500.

Gamers:
While perfectly capable of gaming if you turn down the resolution to 1080p, with a RTX 2060 graphic card, this isn’t the best choice for gaming, when you can get laptops with a RTX 2080 instead.

Pros: 

  1. Unique dual screen setup to boost multi-tasking performance and increase screen real estate
  2. Equipped with a powerful Core i9 9880HK Eight-Core / 16 threads 2.4-5.0GHz CPU
  3. Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
  4. 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
  5. Windows 10 Pro
  6.  32GB of DDR4 RAM
  7. Main display: 15.6″ OLED, 4K, 100% DCI-P3 coverage touchscreen
  8. 2nd display: 14″ 2840 x 1100 OLED, 100% DCI-P3 coverage touchscreen
  9. Thin screen bezels
  10. 1 HDMI and 1 Mini display port (through Thunberbolt 3)
  11. 2x USB 3.0 ports
  12. 1x USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3
  13. Face Unlock with the IR camera and Windows Hello.
  14. ASUS One-year Accidental Damage Protection covers liquid spills, electrical surges, and drops
  15. ErgoLift design and detachable palm rest for improved typing position
  16. Backlit Keyboard
  17. Numpad and touchpad are integrated into one
  18. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax); Dual-Band (2.4 & 5 GHz) MU-MIMO support
  19. Bluetooth
  20. Light for such a powerful 17.3″ gaming laptop: 5.8lbs
  21. Despite top-end hardware and two 4K displays, battery life is decent: Expect 5-6 hours browsing the web
  22. Gorgeous design
  23. Solid metal build

Cons:

  1. No optical drive
  2. No Card reader
  3. No RJ-45 port
  4. Heavier and bulkier than the average 15.6″ laptop, at 5.51lbs and .91″ thick

Creative Pros: 4K MiniLED HDR1000 calibrated display

MSI Creator 17

2070 Super/1TB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $2899.00 at B&H (Worldwide Shipping)
2080 Super/2TB SSD:
– Click here to see the price on Amazon, – $3449.00 at B&H (Worldwide Shipping)

Creative Pros:
Compared to the Gigabyte Aero, you get an even better display:
Mini LED backlighting capable of 1000 nits of brightness for detailed contrast. Additionally, True Color Technology, CalMAN verification, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and a Delta E color accuracy rating of less than two all help to ensure creators can work confidently.

Weighting in at 5.29lbs, it’s also lightweight for a 17.3″ laptop.

Gamers:
There are better alternatives for your needs. This laptop doesn’t have a high refresh rate and the Max-Q variant of the RTX 2070/2080. If you want a lightweight gaming laptop, look above at the MSI GS65 (15.6″) or GS75 (17.3″)

Pros: 

  1. Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + HT 2.3-5.1GHz CPU
  2. Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Super or 2080 8GB GDDR6 Max-Q
  3. 1TB or 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD
  4. Windows 10 Pro
  5.  32GB or 64GB of DDR4 RAM
  6. 17.3″ Screen: Mini LED panel, maximum brightness of 1180 cd/m2, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, factory calibrated.
  7. 4K 3840 x 2160 display resolution.
  8. Matte display
  9. Thin screen bezels
  10. Fingerprint login with Windows Hello
  11. 1 HDMI
  12. 3x USB 3.0 ports.
  13. 2x USB Type-C, Mini-Displayport, Thunderbolt 3
  14. Backlit Keyboard
  15. MicroSD card reader
  16. Numpad
  17. RJ45 Ethernet port
  18. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax); Dual-Band (2.4 & 5 GHz)
  19. Bluetooth 5.1
  20. Light for such a powerful laptop: 5.29lbs
  21. Good battery life for a powerful laptop: Up to 7 hours

Cons:

  1. Big power supply brick
  2. No dedicated left and right click buttons
  3. 720p HD webcam
  4. Speakers on the weak side

Both: Unthrottled CPU/GPU, Max-P 2080 Super, 1080p 300Hz calibrated display

Gigabyte Aorus 17X

If you are looking to get the maximum performance that you can get out of a laptop, this is what I recommend.

Thanks to high-end cooling, you don’t get any throttling, you get sustained maximum performance in long intensive workloads or gaming sessions, even with the highest-end CPU and GPU combinaison.

The display is a 1920 x 1080 300Hz IPS, which is individually factory calibrated to offer 100% sRGB coverage.

It comes with 32B of RAM and can easily be upgraded to 64GB of RAM by adding two 16GB sticks, seeing as there are a total of 4 RAM slots, with two that are free. Maximum RAM is 128GB (4x32GB).

Storage wise, you get the combo of a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD and a 2TB hard drive. There’s an empty M.2 slot, should you wish to add another SSD.

It comes with a mechanical keyboard with backlight.

Heavy and thick:
Let’s make something clear: Weighting in at 8.26lbs, being 1.49″ thick and using two 330W power brick, this is not the most portable laptop. That is the price for proper cooling and unthrottled performance

Battery life is surprisingly long, at up to 8 hours.

Pros:

  1. Unmatched sustained performance, thanks to high-end cooling
  2. Core i7 10875H 10th gen Eight-Core + HT 2.3-5.1GHz CPU or Core i9 10980HK Eight-Core + HT 2.4-5.3GHz CPU
  3. Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Super  Max-P8GB GDDR6
  4. 1TB SSD speeds up boot times, games launch faster and makes the system much more responsive.
  5. 2TB hard drive
  6. Empty M.2 slot
  7. Windows 10 Pro
  8.  32GB of DDR4 RAM
  9. Up to 128GB of RAM (2 empty RAM slots)
  10. Large 17.3″ display, 1920 x 1080, matte finish, equipped with an IPS Panel which means greater viewing angles, better contrast and more accurate colors.
  11. 300Hz refresh rate
  12. 1 Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1 Gen 2 combo Port (Type-C)
  13. HDMI and Mini Displayport
  14. 3 USB 3.0 ports and Displayport
  15. 3x USB Type-C, with Thunderbolt 3
  16. Dedicated left and right click buttons
  17. Great keyboard for typing
  18. Great keyboard layout
  19. 720p HD webcam
  20. SD card reader
  21. RJ45 Ethernet port
  22. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax); Dual-Band (2.4 & 5 GHz)
  23. Bluetooth 5.0
  24. Up to 8 hours battery life

Cons:

  1. Not that portable: 1.49″ thick, 8.26lbs and that’s before taking into account the power brick
  2. Gets noisy under heavy, sustained loads: That’s the cost of proper cooling

Conclusion

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this article on the Best High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros!

I invite you to leave a comment, let me know what you thought of this article.

Do you think that I forgot a pro or a con for a laptop?

Perhaps you believe that there’s a better option than my recommendation and want my professional opinion.

A laptop might no longer be available or you may have some questions.

Just leave a comment below now and I’ll get back to you.