HP Victus 15 (RTX 3050, Core i5-12500H)

Our analysis

Almost the same weight as the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16 OLED, 2.29 kg against 2.3, with everything else a tier down: an RTX 3050 Laptop against an RTX 5060, 8 GB of RAM against 16, a 512 GB SSD against 1 TB, and a Full HD screen against a 2560 × 1600 OLED. What it saves is price; what it gives up is headroom.

What stands out

• Dedicated RTX 3050 Laptop GPU. A dedicated graphics chip with DLSS support, two generations older than the RTX 5060 in our other laptop picks.
• 12-core Core i5-12500H. Four performance and eight efficiency cores, per Intel.
• Room to upgrade. The 8 GB of RAM and the 512 GB SSD can both be expanded later.
• Full number pad and 2.29 kg. Handy for school or office spreadsheets, in a machine you can carry to class.

Where it falls short

8 GB of RAM is half of what the LOQ 15 and the Legion Pro 5 ship with, so plan that upgrade early. And its RTX 3050 Laptop is two generations behind the RTX 5060, so our laptop guide pairs it with lighter games rather than demanding new releases.

Look elsewhere if

You want a bigger, taller screen and a tougher chassis: the ASUS TUF Gaming F16 adds a 16-inch 16:10 panel, an RTX 4050 with DLSS 3 and military-grade certification. If you want to play recent releases, the Lenovo LOQ 15 steps up to an RTX 5060 and 16 GB of RAM.

It is the entry point in our best gaming laptops guide, and our laptop or desktop guide explains when a laptop like this beats building a tower.