4 Gaming Laptops More Powerful Than The PlayStation 5

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The world of modern video games is both simple and confusing at the same time. You want a platform that has a gigantic library of titles you can take anywhere? Buy a gaming laptop. You want to use what might be the best controller on the market to play highly-praised exclusive titles? Purchase a PlayStation 5. However, what if you only have enough money for one platform? Deciding between a gaming laptop and a PS5 can prove difficult, but not impossible.

While PS5s and laptops serve different purposes — the former is for entertainment, the latter is for almost anything you can think of — they still run on the same computing principles. Thus, they both have central processing units (CPUs), graphics cards (GPUs) and random access memory (RAM) cards. Admittedly, no two CPUs and GPUs are built the same, and gaming platforms like the PS5 tend to utilize custom components that aren't available piecemeal to commercial users. However, with enough research and the power of analogies, you can measure the computing power of a PS5 and see if a particular laptop overshadows it. And that's exactly what we did.

We used the specs of the standard PlayStation 5 as a base for comparison. The console has 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, a custom GPU with 2.23 GHz of clock speed, a 1 TB SSD for storage, and an eight-core 3.5 GHz AMD Zen 2 processor. With these numbers in mind, here are four different gaming laptops that outperform the PlayStation 5.

Asus is widely regarded as one of the best gaming laptop brands on the market thanks to its reliable catalog of gamer-centric devices. The ROG Strix is the brand's flagship gaming laptop, and it can pack a ton of power into their relatively thin frames. The current lineup is divided into four screen sizes: 15.6 inches, 16 inches, 17.3 inches, and 18 inches. The largest models, the G18, are some of ASUS' most powerful offerings.

At its weakest, the basic ROG Strix G18 blows the PlayStation 5 out of the water with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop GPU (2,560 cores with a max clock speed of 2.66 GHz) and either a 2.4 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX (with a boosted 5.3 GHz) or a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU (with a max 5.2 GHz). Regardless of processors, these Strixes come with 16GB DDR5 RAM and a whopping 2TB of SSD storage. Currently, the lineup tops out at an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU (10,496 cores with a max speed of 2.16 GHz), which comes with a 2.7 GHz Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (max of 5.4 GHz), 32GB DDR5 RAM, and a total of 4TB of SSD space. Oh, and we can't forget to mention that some versions of the laptop include a lid equipped with AniMe Vision, which consists of 810 LEDs you can customize to display personalized animations.

The ROG Strix G18 will be more expensive than a PS5 by a significant degree, no matter which one you buy. On the ASUS storefront, the laptops with the RTX 5050 start at $1,699.99, while the RTX 5090 computers can go up to $4,499.99.

MSI is a popular laptop brand, especially if you're looking for an inexpensive gaming platform. The company carries several lines of budget portable computers, many of which beat the PlayStation 5 in terms of power. Even MSI's most barebone laptops outperform the PS5, if only barely.

The Katana A15 AI is MSI's entry-level 15-inch laptops that, like their namesake, are thin, sharp, and durable when wielded properly. Unlike the Asus ROG Strix, MSI doesn't offer a glut of component combinations. Prospective buyers can only pick between the NVIDIA RTX 4060 Laptop (3,072 cores with a boosted speed of 2.38 GHz) and RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (4,608 cores and a max 2.18 GHz), and either the 3.8 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (boosted 5.1 GHz) or 4 GHz Ryzen 9 8945HS CPUs (with a boosted 5.2 GHz). While all models include a 1TB NVMe SSD, customers have to pick between either 16GB or 32GB of RAM. And as its name suggests, all Katana A15 AI laptops support AI-assisted features.

Currently, the MSI Katana A15 model with the RTX 4060, Ryzen 7 8845HS, and 32GB of RAM is available through Amazon for $1,249. Meanwhile, a slightly more powerful variant with the RTX 4070, Ryzen 9 8945HS, and 32GB of RAM is also sold through Amazon for $1,397.94. While the website mentions a model with the RTX 4070, Ryzen 9 8945HS, and 16GB of RAM, it's not available yet.

Acer is a computer manufacturer at odds with itself. The company has low customer satisfaction ratings, and you should avoid the Acer Aspire Desktop tower at all costs due to its lackluster customization capabilities. However, when it comes to gaming laptops, Acer is considered the cream of the crop, thanks in no small part to the Acer Predator Helios line.

The Predator Helios 18 AI, in particular, is designed to cram as much performance as possible into a portable shell. Like with prior entries in this article, the number 18 in its name indicates that the computer has an 18-inch screen, which gives its shell plenty of space for components. Currently, all Helios 18 AI laptops run on a 2.7 GHz Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor (max of 5.4 GHz), and buyers can pick between either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop (7,689 cores and a max 2.29 GHz) or RTX 5090 Laptop GPU (10,496 cores and a boosted max of 2.16 GHz). But here is where things get a little insane. The base AI model includes 32GB DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD, while the next model up doubles that to 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. Acer only offers one other Helios 18 AI variant, this one with an ungodly 192GB of RAM and a 6TB SSD for when you absolutely must store your entire Steam library on a single computer.

You get what you pay for, and since you get a lot with the Acer Predator Helios 18 AI, these laptops will set you back several thousand dollars each. The base model with 32GB of RAM costs $3,099.99 on the Acer website, while the 192GB version sells for a prodigious $6,999.99, also available through the Acer store.

Lenovo made waves in the PC gaming space with its Lenovo Legion laptops. The most powerful model, the Lenovo Legion 9i, is such a beast that it can outperform computers like the 2026 MacBook Pro. However, you don't need a Lenovo Legion to outpace the PlayStation 5, just a Lenovo LOQ.

The Lenovo LOQ is a family of budget-friendly gaming laptops that lower the barrier of entry for PC gamers, with the laptop line consisting of computers with 15-inch displays. However, don't conflate cost with quality, as these laptops come with a wide variety of components. Potential GPUs include the laptop models of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (3,072 cores and a boosted 2.37 GHz), RTX 5050 (2,560 cores with a boosted 2.66 GHz speed), and RTX 5060 (3,328 cores with a boosted 2.5 GHz clock speed), whereas CPUs can include the 3.3 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 250 (with boosted 5.1 GHz), the 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-13450HX (max 4.6 GHz), and the 2.6 GHz i7-13650HX (boosted 4.9 GHz). Prospective buyers can also pick from either a 512GB or 1TB SSD storage and 16GB of RAM with either a 5600MT/s or 4800MT/s speed. While most LOQ laptops can outperform a PS5, Lenovo's cheapest device is the exception to this rule, as it only uses an RTX 4050 (2,560 cores with a max 2.370 GHz).

While MSI specializes in budget computers, including laptops, Lenovo's LOQ line gives that company a run for its money. Of the models that are more powerful than a PS5, the cheapest available on the Lenovo storefront retails for a paltry $1,129.99, which gets you an RTX 5050 with an i5-13450HX and a 512GB SSD. Meanwhile, the upper limit of the LOQ line is $1,584.99, which paradoxically includes a weaker RTX 4060, an i7-13650, and a 512 GB SSD.

Most of the PS5 parts are custom components you can't find in computers. However, if you examine their individual capabilities such as the number of processing units and clock speeds, you can get a basic idea of how they compare to commercially-available hardware. After much research, we decided to agree with Digital Foundry that the GPU was equivalent to an AMD Radeon RX 6700 with 2.45 GHz boost speed and 2,304 cores (which itself is equivalent to an NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super with 2,560 cores and 1.77 GHz boosted clock speed). As for the CPU, the closest we could find was an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or 3600X (3.6 to 4.2 GHz and 3.8 to 4.4 GHz, respectively).

With those goalposts set up, we sought out laptops that could fit one simple rule: The included components had to be stronger than the established analogs for the PS5. Any laptop with a GPU that could outperform an AMD Radeon RX 6700, a CPU that was faster than an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, and at least 16GB of RAM fit the bill. We used the official Nvidia, AMD, and Intel websites to confirm GPU and CPU specifications.

Once we collected a list of laptops that could perform better than the PS5, we had to cull many entries. We limited laptops in the article to one computer per brand and focused on laptops that catered to different budgets — so long as they were more powerful than a PS5.