When it comes to gaming, one can choose from a variety of platforms like gaming consoles, desktops and laptops. While each of these offers unique advantages, gaming laptops have emerged in a big way in the past few years. There are several reasons behind their success, versatility being the most prominent one. A laptop is almost a basic necessity these days and if you can combine that with your gaming needs, it’s a win-win situation for you.

While buying a regular laptop, you might look for features like processor speed and storage memory. However, when it comes to gaming laptops, the parameters involved undergo some major changes. To begin with, the audio and video specifications of the laptop assume prime importance since they have to support complicated features like dynamic lighting, landscapes and explosions which are commonplace in the gaming world. A good gaming laptop must have a 1 GB video card even as dual video cards have become the rage currently. The power of these dual video cards is harnessed by the NVidia SLI technology, taking the gaming experience to another level altogether.

After you have taken note of the video card, the next feature that you must consider is the processor. A quad core processor with a minimum speed of 2.0 GHz is standard for a gaming laptop. You can find these specifications in a Core i5 or an i7. Additionally, look for a laptop with hard drive storage of no less than 320 GB as the games can occupy a lot of storage space. Finally, the battery life of the laptop must be quite strong because constant gaming can take a heavy toll on the battery.

Based on these considerations, we have put together a list of the best gaming laptops.

1. Alienware M18x – Alienware has been associated with PC gaming for ages now and they have produced some of the very best gaming laptops till date. The Alienware M18x is no exception. This gaming laptop delivers on all fronts, right from design to performance to ease of use. It comes with an 18.4 inch display, a Core i7 processor which runs at 2.7 GHz with a turbo boost that reaches 4GHz. Moving on to the most crucial factor in a gaming laptop, the video card. The Alienware laptop boasts of a pair of SLI-enabled Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M graphics cards and each of them has a memory of 2 GB. The only flip side is the steep price.

2. Asus G74SX- If you are looking for a more affordable gaming laptop without compromising on the performance, the Asus G74SX is ideal for you. This Asus laptop is powered by a 2.2 GHz Core i7 processor with 8 GB RAM. In the graphics department, it is equipped with one of the best graphic processors i.e. Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M. The battery life isn’t exceptional, but that is a common feature in all gaming laptops.

3. MSI GT683- The MSI GT683 is a whole series of gaming laptops, all of which perform exceptionally well. The MSI GT683R-289US runs on a Core i7 processor with 12 GB RAM and is powered by a Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M. The processor speed is not exceptional, but it won’t give you many chances to complain either. The screen is 17.3 inches and the laptop is lighter than the average gaming laptop.

These were just some of the most popular gaming laptops as of now. Besides these, there are others which have their own unique advantages. The MSI GT783R-625US, Toshiba Satellite P755-S5269 and the Alienware 17x come highly recommended in the gaming world.