Acer Predator 21 X

Cnet rating: 4 stars out of 5

3DMark Fire Strike Ultra score: 9,444

The good: The 21-inch curved display feels very immersive. There are a ton of fun features and extras, including a reversible touch/number pad, eye tracking cameras and swappable WASD keys. The mechanical keyboard is excellent for gaming.

The bad: Even these high-end components don’t fully justify the price. The display has a lower resolution than we’d like, battery life is poor, and moving the touch-pad away from its traditional spot is never a good idea.

The cost: $7,000 (refurbished) to $9,164

The bottom line: The limited-edition Predator 21 X is equal parts insanely powerful and crazy cool. And very expensive.

MSI GT83VR

Cnet rating: 4 stars out of 5

3DMark Fire Strike Ultra score: 8,594

The good: This fun, creative design has a great retro-futurism vibe. The components, from the dual GPUs to the mechanical keyboard, give you outstanding performance for games and VR.

The bad: It’s huge and hugely expensive. The nontraditional touch-pad is a misfire, and the 18-inch display is locked into a relatively low FHD resolution.

The cost: $3,299 to $3,400

The bottom line: The barely portable MSI, with dual graphics cards and a desktop-style mechanical keyboard, is for the gamer who wants something different and is willing to pay for it.

Origin PC Eon17-X

Cnet rating: 4 stars out of 5

3DMark Fire Strike Ultra score: 4,970

The good: The Eon17-X is a highly customizable 17-inch laptop backed by personalized service. It has a large port and connection assortment, an excellent 4K display, a good RGB backlit keyboard and a touch-pad with a built-in fingerprint reader. Excellent service and support package.

The bad: More like a portable desktop than a laptop, the generic-looking Eon17-X is large and heavy and expensive, starting at around $1,800. Its cooling fans are distractingly loud.

The cost: $1,807

The bottom line: A giant laptop fine-tuned for peak performance, it can be as powerful as your wallet will allow.

Razer Blade Pro

Cnet rating: 4 stars out of 5

3DMark Fire Strike Ultra score: 4,456

The good: It puts Nvidia’s top-performing graphics card in a slim laptop that can pass as a work or gaming system. The premium design, 4K-resolution touch-screen and mechanical keyboard make it a pleasure to use.

The bad: The mechanical keyboard is clicky and loud, and the right-side track pad placement remains a design misstep. The laptop and power supply get very hot, and the very loud fans start blowing as soon as you boot up a game.

The cost: $1,800

The bottom line: Razer manages to fit a high-end graphics card into an amazingly thin laptop. Gamers and graphics pros alike will love the performance, but not the loud fans and misplaced touch pad.