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What are the best laptops for gaming on Linux?

4

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Considered

73

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Recs.

Dec 25, 2023

Last
Updated

4 Options Considered

Best laptops for gaming on Linux	Price	Storage	Display
78 System76 Oryx Pro	$1,475+	Dependent on display size 15″: 1× M.2, 1× 2.5″ 7mm height drive. Up to 5 TB total 17″: 2× M.2, 1× 2.5″ 7mm height drive. Up to 6 TB total	15.6″ or 17.3″ 1920×1080 144 Hz refresh rate or 3840×2160 4K HiDPI, Matte Finish
-- Dell XPS 15	$1499	500GB HDD + 32GB Flash / 1TB HDD + 32GB Flash / 256/512GB/1TB PCIe SSD	15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) / 15.6-inch UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) Touch display
-- Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium	$1844	-	-
-- Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming (7577)	$949	256GB SSD	15.6" 1080p TN or 4K IPS

System76 Oryx Pro

Top Pro

Good for gaming

The Oryx Pro is probably the best laptop with Linux support out of the box that is great for gaming as well. This is mostly because of the NVIDIA graphics cards. It comes by default with the GTX 1060 but for $289 more, you can add a GTX 1070 instead. The default 8GB of RAM is good for gaming but the 16GB RAM is ideal. See More

Top Con

Customer service could be much better

System76's technical support is pretty bad. When there's a problem that should be solved by them, they usually resort to sending replacement parts instead or blaming third-parties (even if those third-parties are not at fault) of something that they should be fixing. See More

Specs

Storage:Dependent on display size 15″: 1× M.2, 1× 2.5″ 7mm height drive. Up to 5 TB total 17″: 2× M.2, 1× 2.5″ 7mm height drive. Up to 6 TB total

Display:15.6″ or 17.3″ 1920×1080 144 Hz refresh rate or 3840×2160 4K HiDPI, Matte Finish

Weight: Dependent on display size 15″: 4.37 lbs (1.98 kg) 17″: 6.61 lbs (2.99 kg) Base weight. Varies on configuration

Battery:Dependent on Display 15″: Embedded 4 Cells Polymer battery pack– 55Wh 17″: Embedded 4 cells Polymer battery pack 66Wh

Top Pro

Good speakers

One of the bonuses of having a larger body is that you get to use good speakers instead of some small ones stuck underneath the laptop. They are also angled toward the user and the sound is crisp and loud enough, even though it lacks some bass. See More

Top Con

Very heavy and bulky

Weighing at 5.5lbs for the 15.6" version it's relatively heavy and it's one inch thicker than the XPS 13. But the extra space is not put to waste, considering how it has an Ethernet port, SD card slot, 2 Mini DisplayPrts, HDMI port, 2 USB 3.1 Type-C ports, 3 USB 3.0 Type-A ports and headphone and mic jacks. The GTX 1070 version also includes a headphone amplifier. However, the power brick that comes with the charger is ridiculously large at 2lbs which understandably adds to the weight of the laptop since most of the time you have to carry both with you. See More

Top Pro

Good display

Has a 1080p matte display with an optional IPS matte display version. With great colors and brightness and almost no eye strain even when it's used for extended periods. See More

Top Con

No 4K option

It lacks the option to have a 4K display. While not a deal breaker, it's a shame that a laptop with a display as good as Oryx Pro's does not have a 4K option which would also be a great plus for gamers. See More

Top Pro

Amazing overall performance

The default 6th generation i7 Processor coupled with the 16GB of RAM (even better with the versions with 32GB and 64GB) make for an absolutely amazing machine. It has a dedicated SSD for the OS only which massively increases startup time and for anything else you can choose up to two SSDs or HDDs of varying sizes. The Oryx Pro is perfectly capable of doing some heavy-lifting including 4K video editing and gaming at highest settings without a hitch. See More

Top Pro

Very customizable

Before buying the System76 Oryx Pro from the System76 website, you get to customize almost every aspect of the laptop as far as specs go. The price depends on what you choose to put inside your laptop and prices vary from $1475 for the basic version to $7000 for a laptop with a 17.3" Matte IPS Display, a GTX 1070, 6th Gen i7 CPU, 64GB RAM, and two SSDs of 5TB and 4TB respectively. See More

Top Pro

Great Linux support

All System76 laptops come with Linux out of the box. The Oryx Pro comes with either Ubuntu 16.04 LTS or Ubuntu 16.10. But that does not mean that other Linux distributions are not supported, quite the contrary. Most Linux distros should work without any major problems with the Oryx pro and most (if not all) drivers are available. See More

Top Pro

Good keyboard

The keyboard is very nice, it's not amazing by any means but quite comfortable to work with. The keys are pretty thick, thicker than what you may find in laptops today and with a nice springiness to them. The keyboard also supports multicolor backlighting. See More

Dell XPS 15

Top Pro

Operates well on a Linux system

All essential things, like network connectivity, ports and sound, work right “out-of-the-box” with a Linux operating system. There is a compatibility issue on the new 9560 model with its graphics card but the laptop is still very usable with its integrated Intel graphics card. See More

Top Con

Some ghosting in games

The display is not intended for gaming purposes so it can produce an effect called “ghosting”. Ghosting is when the pixels are not able to change their colors fast enough, so the color of the preceding frame can still be slightly seen on the next frame. This causes a blurring effect. Note that it only happens on high framerates coupled with fast objects. See More

Specs

RAM:8 / 16 / 32GB DDR4 at 2400MHz

CPU:Intel Core i3-7100H / Intel Core i5-7300HQ / Intel Core i7-7700HQ

Storage:500GB HDD + 32GB Flash / 1TB HDD + 32GB Flash / 256/512GB/1TB PCIe SSD

GPU:Intel HD Graphics 630 / NVIDIA GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5

Top Pro

Slick design

The whole design is quite stylish. The aluminium chassis provides a very clean look while the black carbon fiber palm rest with an almost borderless display cements it as a visually modern laptop. All of this is made with a premium build quality. See More

Top Con

Audible coil whine

Coil whine can be heard when it’s generally quiet and the fans are not running. Audible when the laptop is connected to the power supply. The manufacturers have acknowledged it as a problem and, if possible, will push out an update which should eliminate it. Until then, it’s still a gripe. See More

Top Pro

Optional password-free-sign-in via a fingerprint reader

For an additional $25 it’s possible to enjoy a password-free-sign-in by having a fingerprint reader. It will keep your laptop safe while still providing convenient access to it. See More

Top Con

9560 model's GPU has compatibility issues on Linux

The new 9560 model has some trouble accepting its GTX 1050 Ti video card while running a Linux operating system. Fortunately, the integrated Intel graphics card is capable enough to substitute it. The manufacturers are probably aware of the issue and will, most likely, release an update for it. See More

Top Pro

Very well-rounded laptop

The cheapest configuration is a great choice for general non-intensive use - things like internet browsing, watching movies and similar tasks. Whereas the more expensive configurations are gradually more capable of intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming. It’s not as good as a specialized computer built for a specific purpose, like a video editing laptop with an enormous RAM size or a gaming laptop with a superior graphics card, but it’s a very well-rounded, reliable laptop. See More

Top Con

Palmrest collects sweat

The palm rest is made from carbon fiber which attracts fingerprints and sweat. After some time it gets kind of unpleasant to touch and needs to be cleaned. See More

Top Pro

Solid keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard and trackpad are reliable and solid all-around. The keyboard is responsive but is not super “clicky”, rather a bit soft. It has a white backlight on black keys that illuminates them at night. The touchpad is rather large while having no buttons. Despite this, the XPS 15 can reliably distinguish between the left and right clicks which are done on the trackpad itself. See More

Top Con

Awkward webcam location

The webcam is located under the screen instead of on top. It means that your face will be shown from a lower angle which can seem a bit weird. It also means that your fingers can partially obstruct the webcam while you’re typing. See More

Top Pro

Amazing display

Two display choices are available for the XPS 15, an Ultra HD touchscreen or a Full HD non-touch screen. Both screens have a very wide array of colors as they cover approximately 100% of sRGB color space. The viewing angle is around 170 degrees. However, at 45 degrees, slight color change can be noticed. With around 350 nit output for brightness, it’s a viable choice for outdoor usage. All of this makes it an amazing display. See More

Top Con

Noisy fans

The laptop is very quiet during idle and light usage but when there is some workload, the fans get quite loud and distracting. See More

Top Pro

Good battery life if you pick the 1080p display

Models with the 1080p screen last about 10 hours with general usage. Naturally, if more intensive tasks are involved, the battery will be drained faster. See More

Top Con

Battery doesn’t hold long with the Ultra HD screen

If you’re choosing the configuration with an Ultra HD screen, expect a very short battery life of around 6 hours for general usage. With more intensive tasks it's even less than that. See More

Top Pro

Can run most modern games

Being an excellent all-rounder, it can be used as a gaming laptop for games that are not exceptionally demanding, like Overwatch or Dota 2. Unless you’re using the cheapest model, you can expect a reasonable 60 frames per second for almost all modern games, provided that you’re willing to lower the game’s settings. See More

Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium

Top Pro

Excellent gaming performance

Both the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 versions of this laptop offer excellent performance when gaming. The P650RS consistently hits 80+ FPS in most AAA games at ultra settings. For example, the GTX 1070 version can play Total War: Warhammer at 100FPS on 1080p with ultra settings. While the GTX 1060 version can play Battlefield 4 at 80FPS on ultra settings. Even the relatively cheaper version of the P650RS with the GTX 1060 can pack a punch. See More

Top Con

Has some issues with heat

Since the cool air is sucked from the bottom of the laptop, the bottom needs to stay above the sitting surface at all times. But even when this advice is followed, the P650RS still has some issues with overheating. The center and left parts of the keyboard are the most problematic ones. It's not unusual for the keyboard to heat so much as it starts being a bit uncomfortable to use. See More

Specs

CPU:Intel Core i7

GPU:NVidia GeForce GTX 1080

Screen size:17.3inch

Top Pro

Overall good price/quality ratio

At this price, the Eluktronics P650RS offers a lot of features, performance, and quality compared to competitors. Gaming laptops with a GTX 1070 usually cost $100 or more and might not have the same level of build quality or other features found in this laptop. See More

Top Con

Terrible battery life

Even when using this laptop for light activities such as web browsing, watching movies, or editing documents it averages at about three hours of independent use. This was measured at about 40% screen brightness so it would be much lower at a higher brightness. When it's used for gaming then the average battery life drops to less than two hours of independent use because of the relatively high resource requirements that both the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 have. See More

Top Pro

Excellent build quality

The case is made from a very durable plastic with a metal finish that does not feel cheap or flimsy to the touch. See More

Top Con

The display should be better for this price

The Eluktronics P650RS uses a IPS display panel which is decent in itself but could and should probably be better for this price point. Where it lacks specifically is in terms of contrast, colours, and response time. There's also some light bleeding when looking at a completely black screen. See More

Top Pro

Good keyboard

The keyboard is pretty good. It's backlit with programmable colors. The tactile feedback is decent across all keys and the travel length is about the average (1.5mm) for this kind of laptop. See More

Top Con

The touchpad has issues with two-finger use

When trying to scroll up or down by using two fingers there are some synchronization issues with the touchpad. See More

Top Pro

Quality speakers

The two speakers packed in this laptop are pretty good, especially when compared with previous models. They provide reasonable bass and the mids have both good richness and deepness to them. See More

Top Con

The speakers are not very loud

Even though they provide good sound, the P650RS-G speakers are not loud at all. See More

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming (7577)

Top Pro

Best price-performance ratio

At $900 the Dell Inspiron 15 700 Gaming comes with a GTX 1060, a 7th generation i7 and with 8GBs of RAM. It provides the best gaming performance out of all laptops at this price range, performing better than even some more expensive models. In more detail, the GTX 1060 lets you run VR games and can handle even the most graphic-intensive video-games at 1920x1080 without any big problems. See More

Top Con

Extremely loud fans

Being one of the coolest gaming laptops comes at the price of it being one of the loudest laptops as well. Under heavy load the GPU and chassis fans start working at an extremely high rate which produces noise loud enough to drown dialogues in games unless you use headphones. See More

Specs

RAM:8GB up to 32GB

CPU:7th generation Intel Core i7

Storage:256GB SSD

GPU:NVidia GeForce GTX 1060

Top Pro

Good looking design

While this is a gaming laptop, it isn't super gaudy. The Dell logo is red, and there are red accents angled away from direct sight (also the keyboard backlight is red). It's made entirely out of soft-touch plastic, and ends up looking pretty sleek overall. See More

Top Con

Not very portable

Even though it's a gaming laptop, at 6.3 pounds the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming is a bit heavier than most gaming laptops out there. See More

Top Pro

Very easy to upgrade on your own

There's just one screw on the bottom that allows the user to replace/upgrade the HDD, SSD, and RAM. The base model has a 256GB SSD but you can easily add your own to increase the storage size if you wish. It can also support up to 32GB of RAM, and uses a single 8GB stick. See More

Top Pro

Does not become hot enough to be uncomfortable

This laptop's WASD keys—the ones that control movement in most games, and as a result the ones you touch the most—get warm during demanding games or longer sessions, hitting 38 °C after half an hour of The Witcher 3 and 36 °C (100 °F) after playing Overwatch for the same amount of time. Those temperatures feel warm to the touch but are not uncomfortable even after long play sessions. See More

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