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This could be a worthwhile portable gaming rig
PC gaming has become more expensive in recent years due to the pervasive semiconductor shortage. Thankfully, some manufacturers are releasing gaming laptops for folks on a budget. To that end, the newly-announced HP Victus 15 seems like a good choice for those who want a decent gaming experience without breaking the bank.
The HP Victus 15 will be available sometime during the summer on HP’s website and at Best Buy with a starting price of $799. You can opt for configurations with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5-12500H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, or an all-AMD rig with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H and Radeon RX 6500M. You won’t be playing games at 4K at 144 frames per second with those specs, but you should get decent performance so long as you configure them to run at low or medium settings.
Some gaming laptops feature eye-catching (some might say garish) designs, but the HP Victus 15 has a decidedly conservative appearance. It could almost be mistaken for a business laptop thanks to its lack of highlights and overall slim design. If you’re self-conscious about such things, you can rest assured that you won’t stand out if you’re using the Victus 15 in a public setting.
The HP Victus 15 likely won’t draw the attention of gamers who want the beefiest machines possible, but folks who simply want to play PC games at moderate settings may want to consider this machine. Yes, its specs aren’t exactly mind-blowing, but for $799, they’re surprisingly good. And while GPU prices have lowered in recent months, they haven’t become easier to find. This makes the best gaming laptops, particularly budget-friendly ones, more enticing.
But if you’ve got some extra money to spare for something stronger, the refreshed HP Omen 16 seems like a beefier alternative. We hope to both in for testing and review later this year, so stay tuned!
Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.
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