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 (this article)

3. Best High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros

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

Summary: Best Mid-Range Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros

The Best Laptops For Your Money?

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 gaming 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, Video 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, trackpoint, 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 April 22nd 2020. Click on Amazon links to see prices. Note that I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Prices and availability are subject to change. 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.

Both: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H + GTX 1660 Ti

About the ASUS TUF A15 (15.6″) and A17 (17.3″)

Gamers:

Capable of handling games at 1080p (1920 x 1080 / Full HD) with high visual details.

With this gaming laptop, you can play pretty much any game at 1080p, with high details in most games. You may have to cut down visual quality a bit to get good enough frame rates, depending on how demanding the game is. Look into the RTX 2060 or 2070 laptops below for higher gaming performance.

Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB + AMD Eight Core CPU:

Equipped with a Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti, (6GB VRAM GDDR6) dedicated graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Eight Core CPU, the ASUS TUF A17 offers unheard of performance at this price point.

The AMD Ryzen 7 4800H is a beast of a laptop CPU, offering 8 cores, can handle up to 16 threads simultaneously and runs at 2.9-4.2GHz. With 8 cores and 16 threads support, this CPU is clearly more future proof than quad-core or hexa-core CPUs still found in many gaming laptops.

The newer 16xx and 20xx generation of Nvidia graphic cards, for notebooks, offer significantly better graphic performance than the previous 10xx series, allowing you to run games with higher levels of visual quality, higher framerates and higher FPS rate, thanks to the newer Nvidia Turing architecture featured in the Geforce 16xx and 20xx series.

To give you an idea, the Geforce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB performance is similar to the old Geforce 1070 mobile, while consuming less power!

Note that this ASUS TUF laptop in available in two versions: The A15 with a 15.6″ display and the A17 with a 17.3″ display. Performance is pretty much identical, with the same CPU, RAM, SSD and GPU. The only differences are the price, SSD capacity, size of the display and refresh rate of the displays.

Creative Pros:

With a 8 core CPU, a 6GB graphic card, 16GB of RAM and a PCIe NVMe high performance SSD storage, this laptop will have no problem, performance wise, handling photo editing, as well as video editing, although upgrading the RAM to 32GB for that would be a good idea.

Its main downside is the color coverage of its display, with only 62% sRGB coverage and 43% AdobeRGB coverage.

Pros:

Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti dedicated video card with 6GB of GDDR6 memory. AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Eight Core / 16 threads 2.9-4.2GHz 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz 512GB or 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. 2nd M.2 slot allows you to add a second M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB) or 64GB (2x32GB) 1x USB Type-C gen 2 with Displayport output support 2x USB 3.2 and 1x USB 2.0 ports Backlit keyboard Numpad Ethernet RJ45 port 1x HDMI 2.0b Windows 10 720p HD webcam 15.6″ 144Hz or 17.3″ 120Hz 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display IPS display panel which means you get large viewing angles Display with Matte finish AMD FreeSync for smoother gameplay 802.11ac WiFi Bluetooth 5.0 Meets MIL-STD-810H reliability standards Good keyboard layout: Full size arrow keys and the power button isn’t part of the keyboard Dedicated mouse buttons RAM and M.2 slots are easy to access by removing bottom panel Great battery life for such a powerful gaming laptop: Up to 8.7 hours of web browsing and up to 12.3 hours of video playback, according to ASUS. Realistically, expect about 5-6 hours of web browsing and 9-10 hours of video playback. Subtle design that doesn’t scream “I’m a gaming laptop!”

Cons:

Build quality is good, but it’s plastic everywhere, although good quality plastic and ASUS claims that they’ve tested the laptop against drops, for what that’s worth. While the screen is an IPS panel, color coverage isn’t its strong suit, with only 62% sRGB coverage and 43% AdobeRGB coverage. No Thunderbolt 3

Both: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H + GTX 2060

About the ASUS TUF A15 RTX 2060

Note this is basically the same laptop as above, with the more powerful Nvidia GeForce 2060 graphic card and 1TB of SSD storage.

For Gamers, if you want higher visual quality, ray tracing and higher frame rates.

For Creative Pros, if you need more graphic processing power and or ray tracing acceleration.

Pros:

Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 dedicated video card with 6GB of GDDR6 memory. AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Eight Core / 16 threads 2.9-4.2GHz 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. 2nd M.2 slot allows you to add a second M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB) or 64GB (2x32GB) 1x USB Type-C gen 2 with Displayport output support 2x USB 3.2 and 1x USB 2.0 ports Backlit keyboard Numpad Ethernet RJ45 port 1x HDMI 2.0b Windows 10 720p HD webcam 15.6″ 144Hz 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display IPS display panel which means you get large viewing angles Display with Matte finish AMD FreeSync for smoother gameplay 802.11ac WiFi Bluetooth 5.0 Meets MIL-STD-810H reliability standards Good keyboard layout: Full size arrow keys and the power button isn’t part of the keyboard Dedicated mouse buttons RAM and M.2 slots are easy to access by removing bottom panel Great battery life for such a powerful gaming laptop: Up to 8.7 hours of web browsing and up to 12.3 hours of video playback, according to ASUS. Realistically, expect about 5-6 hours of web browsing and 9-10 hours of video playback. Subtle design that doesn’t scream “I’m a gaming laptop!”

Cons:

Build quality is good, but it’s plastic everywhere, although good quality plastic and ASUS claims that they’ve tested the laptop against drops, for what that’s worth. While the screen is an IPS panel, color coverage isn’t its strong suit, with only 62% sRGB coverage and 43% AdobeRGB coverage. No Thunderbolt 3

Alt Creative Pros #1: Innovative dual screens, Core i7-10510U/GTX 1650 4GB

About the ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481FL

First Alternative for Creative Pros (see #2 below):

Let’s get this out of the way: compared to the model above, you don’t get as much CPU performance:

The models above have AMD Eight-Core 2.9-4.2GHz, while this laptop have a Core i7-10510U Quad Core + Hyper-Threading 1.8-4.9GHz CPU. You lose four cores, have a lower base frequency, but higher maximum Turbo frequency.

The graphic card isn’t as good either, but it’s still a dedicated graphic card, the Nvidia GeForce MX 250 2GB.

So, if you are a Creative Pro that needs all the CPU and GPU processing power that you can get your hands on, with a moderate budget, skip this model. If the dual screen setup interests you, but you want an eight core CPU with a more powerful grapgic card, see the higher-end model in the Best High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros article.

However, if you are a Creative Pro with moderate processing power needs, such as a semi-pro photographer, if you work with 1080p footage or if you value portability and battery life more than brute power, the ASUS ZenBook 15 UX534FTC is an interesting choice.

Its CPU is based on the latest Intel Core 10th generation and its high maximum frequency means that your laptop is highly responsive. You get plenty of RAM with 16GB and 1TB of high-end performance storage with a NVMe PCIe SSD.

Here’s what you gain: An innovative dual screen setup!

This is an innovative design from ASUS. Equipped with a 2nd display above the keyboard, a ScreenPad Plus that measures 12.6″ diagonally with a 1920 x 515 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.

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 secondary touchscreen that works seamlessly with the main screen, 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.

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.

Pros:

Small screen bezels ErgoLift Hinge raises the keyboard to a better typing position and improves cooling and audio performance thanks to the additional space underneath the system. Latest 10th gen Intel Core i7-10510U Quad-Core + Hyper-Threading 1.8-4.9GHz CPU 1TB SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display IPS panel for great colors and wide viewing angles, with 100% sRGB coverage and 72% AdobeRGB coverage Secondary 12.6″ display above the keyboard, with a 1920 x 515 resolution 2x USB-A 3.1, 1x USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 Backlit keyboard microSD card reader 1x HDMI Windows 10 Outstanding 15.3 hours battery life Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.0 IR Camera with support for Windows Hello Solid build quality

Cons:

RAM is soldered and cannot be upgraded Quad-core CPU, versus six or eight cores in other laptops in the same price range Nvidia Geforce MX 250 2GB is on the weaker side. Forget serious gaming or 3D rendering. Main display doesn’t offer touchscreen support No Ethernet RJ45 port Keyboard has smaller keys and less space between them, making it a bit cramped if you have larger hands Small clickpad

Alt Creative Pros #2: Super lightweight 2.84lbs, Four/Six Core CPU, GTX 1650 4GB

About the MSI Creator 14

Second Alternative for Creative Pros:

All right, so for alternative #2, we have a model that’s not quite as powerful as the 8 core beasts, but packs more of a punch, with an Intel quad-core or six-core CPU and a very decent GeForce GTX 1650 4GB. So plenty enough power for photo and video editing and even some 3D rendering.

What’s special about this model is how lightweight it is, considering how much power that it’s packing, tipping the scale at only 2.83lbs! Best of all, this isn’t with a tiny 12.5È or 13.3″ display. Nope, you get a very decently sized 14″ display, with 100% sRGB coverage on the base 1080p model and 100% AdobeRGB coverage on the 4K model.

Finally, it’s available in multiple colors: Dark grey, white and…pink!

Pros:

Small screen bezels Hinge that raises the keyboard to a better typing position and improves cooling and audio performance thanks to the additional space underneath the system. Latest 10th gen Intel Core i5-10210U Quad-Core + HT 1.6-4.2GHz or Core i7-10710U Six-Core + Hyper-Threading 1.1-4.7GHz CPU 16GB of RAM GeForce GTX 1650 4GB 512GB or 1TB SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD or 3840 x 2160 4K UHD display IPS panel for great colors and wide viewing angles, with 100% sRGB coverage on the 1080p display and 100% AdobeRGB coverage on the 4K display 4 USB ports: 2x USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 and 2x USB 2.0 Type-A Charging is done on either USB Type-C port Backlit keyboard microSD card reader Windows 10 Outstanding 15.3 hours battery life Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2×2 MU-MIMO Bluetooth 5.0 Solid build quality, all metal Battery life up to 10 hours according to MSI, realistically, expect up 8 hours of web browsing with the 1080p display, up to 6 hours of web browsing with the 4K display

Cons:

RAM is soldered and cannot be upgraded No Ethernet RJ45 port No HDMI output: Use the Displayport through the USB Type-C ports. You can get an USB Type-C to HDMI adapter/dongle. Can get hot and noisy under prolonged load

Gamers: 6 Cores CPU + RTX 2070 Max-Q, 8 RAM/storage configurations

About the Sager NP8957

This is a relatively inexpensive RTX 2070 equipped laptop. It’s a good choice if you want a laptop that you’ll move occasionally. If you’re planning on moving a lot and need a laptop with a long battery life, skip this model and see my recommendation below.

Same goes for Creative Pros: This Sager has an IPS panel with decent color coverage, but my recommendation below has a factory calibrated display.

Choose your RAM/storage configuration: – Click here to configure and see price on Amazon

Note that while my default recommendation is the 16GB RAM/ 512GB SSD model, you can pick whichever configuration you prefer.

Gamers:

Compared to the model above, you get a more powerful graphic card, the RTX 2070 8GB. Note that this is the Max-Q variant, so while gaming performance is definitely above the RTX 2060, it’s below that of gaming laptops equipped with the RTX 2070 Max-P. If you want the higher performance RTX 2070 Max-P, see my recommendation below.

Creative Pros:

The main advantage for Creative Pros is the additional dedicated graphic memory, with the 8GB RTX 2070. This allows you to handle 4K or even 8K video editing.

If you would prefer a lighter laptop with a factory calibrated display and a much longer battery life, see the model below.

Pros:

Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Max-Q dedicated video card with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Powerful Core i7-9750H Six-Core + Hyper-Threading 2.6-4.5GHz CPU 16GB (2 x 8GB) or 32GB (2 x 16GB) of DDR4 2666MHz RAM. Some models only: 1 or 2 TB high capacity hard drive. 512GB or 1TB PCie NVMe SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. Matte screen that doesn’t reflect light. RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB DDR4 2666MHz) or 64GB (2x32GB) 2x USB 3.1 Type-C HDMI 2.0 and Mini Displayport outputs 2x USB 3.0 Type-A Multicolor RGB Backlit keyboard Numpad Ethernet RJ45 port. SD card reader Windows 10 720p HD webcam 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display IPS display panel which means you get a more accurate color reproduction, better contrast and large viewing angles 144Hz refresh rate Intel 802.11ac WiFi Bluetooth Two dedicated mouse buttons

Cons:

No optical drive Battery life is on the low side

Worldwide Shipping alternative

If you live outside the USA and want a good alternative, this Legion Y740, with the same CPU/GPU configuration, 16GB of RAM (1x16GB, you can easily add a 16GB stick), a 256GB SSD + 1TB Hard drive, is a great alternative.

– 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD: $1599.00 at B&H (Worldwide Shipping)

Alternatively, see my recommendation below.

Gamers: 8 cores CPU + RTX 2070 Max-Q

About the Gigabyte AORUS 15G

Gamers:

Compared to the model above, you get a more powerful CPU, the 2.3-5.1GHz 8 core Intel Core i7-10875H, so gaming performance goes up a notch.

You also get an higher display refresh rate, with 240Hz.

Do you want a gaming laptop with a RTX 2070 Super, 2080 or 2080 Super? Keep an eye on the High-End Laptops for Gaming and Creative Pros article for an update soon!

Creative Pros:

You have plenty of alternatives above, if you want a less expensive 8 cores model, a dual-screen model, a less than 3 lbs laptop, or below, with a lightweight model with good performance and lots of ports and a factory calibrated display, or a powerful model with a 17.3″ display.

Pros:

Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Max-Q dedicated video card with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Powerful Core i7-10875H Eight-Core + Hyper-Threading 2.3-5.1GHz CPU 16GB of DDR4 RAM. 512GB PCie NVMe SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. 2nd SSD slot if you want more storage 15.6″ 1080p Full HD display 240Hz refresh rate and 4ms response time RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB) or 64GB (2x32GB) 1x USB Type-C / Thunderbolt 3 HDMI 2.0 and Mini Displayport outputs 3x USB Type-A ports Backlit keyboard Numpad Ethernet RJ45 port. SD card reader Windows 10 720p HD webcam 802.11ax WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 Fingerprint reader Good keyboard Battery life up to 8 hours

Cons:

No dedicated mouse buttons Awkward angle on the webcam

Creative Pros: Lightweight, 6-core, 1660 Ti 6GB, 4K OLED calibrated

About the Gigabyte Aero 15S

Creative Pros:

Compared to the MSi Creator 14, the Gigabyte Aero 15 is heavier, at 4.4lbs. For that trade off in weight, you gain a larger 15.6″ 4K OLED display, a faster Intel 6 core CPU, a more powerful GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphic card with 6GB of memory and a lot more ports.

You also get a factory calibrated display for excellent color accuracy, with a 3840 x 2160 4K OLED display, Intel WiFi/SSD and Samsung RAM, for excellent reliability. You also get plenty of ports, including an high-performance full size SD card reader.

Pros:

Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB Intel Core i7-9750H Six-Core + Hyper-Threading 2.6-4.5GHz CPU 16GB (2 x 8GB) of DDR4 Samsung RAM. RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB DDR4 2666MHz) or 64GB (2x32GB) 512GB PCie NVMe SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. Second PCIe M.2 slot available to add a 2nd SSD Matte screen that doesn’t reflect light. 3840 x 2160 4K display resolution OLED display panel which means you get even more accurate color reproduction, better contrast and large viewing angles Display is X-Rite Pantone Certified for color calibration. Factory calibrated: Excellent color accuracy. 2x USB 3.1 Type-C: One Thunderbolt, the other one supports Mini-Displayport HDMI 2.0 output 2x USB 3.0 Type-A Multicolor RGB Backlit keyboard Numpad Ethernet RJ45 port. SD card reader and a fast one at that! Windows 10 720p HD webcam Intel WiFi and SSD for great reliability Bluetooth Full size arrow keys Great battery life for such a powerful laptop: Expect 7 hours of web browsing/video streaming and up to 9 hours editing text

Cons:

No optical drive No dedicated mouse buttons Webcam placement (odd angle) Some people complain about the “AI Gaming” Software. You can always remove it or simply wipe Windows to start with a fresh instal..

Creative Pros: 17.3″ 100% sRGB, 8-core, RTX 2060/2070

About the MSI Creator 17

Creative Pros:

An interesting choice if you want a larger 17.3″ display that offers 100% sRGB color coverage, with a 8 core CPU, along with a 6GB GeForce RTX 2060 or 8GB GeForce RTX 2070.

Pros:

Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 6GB or RTX 2070 8GB Powerful Core i7-10875H Eight-Core + Hyper-Threading 2.3-5.1GHz CPU 16GB (2 x 8GB) of DDR4 RAM. RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB DDR4 2666MHz) or 64GB (2x32GB) 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD which greatly improves the laptops responsiveness and booting speed. Large 17.3″ display 1920 x 1080 display resolution IPS display panel which means you get more accurate color reproduction, better contrast and large viewing angles 100% sRGC color coverage HDMI 2.0 output 1x Thunderbolt 3, 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type C, 3x USB 3.2 Gen2 Backlit keyboard Numpad Ethernet RJ45 port. microSD card reader Windows 10 Pro 720p HD webcam WiFi 6 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.0 Fingerprint reader IR Camera with support for Windows Hello Full size arrow keys Numpad

Cons:

“0” key on numpad is half-size Battery life is okay: Up to 7 hours according to MSI, expect more like 4-5 hours of web browsing No dedicated mouse buttons

Conclusion

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this article on the Best Mid-Range 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.