Ever since Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang boldly stated at CES 2025 that an RTX 5070 would come with the same performance as an RTX 4090, I've been holding off browsing powerful gaming laptops I dream of owning.
Why? Well, this middle-of-the-rage graphics card may make premium PC gaming redundant.
With the announcement of RTX 50-series GPUs, I've been wondering just how impressed I would be with their general gaming performance. We got a hands-on look at RTX 50-series GPUs and were mightily impressed, but there's still the question of how it would translate over to a gaming laptop.
Sure, it's likely to knock the socks off the RTX 40-series lineup, if Nvidia's performance claims are anything to go by, but would an RTX 50-series GPU be worth a full-blown (and pricey) laptop upgrade?
After testing gaming laptops for a good few years, I've already been stunned by the performance of premium — and even budget — gaming laptops that sport anything from an RTX 3060 to an RTX 4090. If an RTX 50-series offers more of the same and many are more than happy with their current graphics and frame rates, then there's hardly much incentive to invest in an expensive gaming laptop.
But the RTX 5070 is set to change that. Thanks to AI-enhancement features like Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) 4 with Multi Frame Generation, high-end gaming on a laptop is about to get easier to access.
Nvidia RTX 50-series gaming laptops are set to arrive in March, but I'm already willing to bet that these laptops will be my new gold standard.
RTX 5070 laptop prices look promising
While there's always power and performance to think about, price is arguably one of the biggest factors when choosing a gaming laptop. For me, it's the reason why I've always held off getting an RTX 4090-equipped laptop like the Alienware m18 R2 — anything close to $4,000 is a huge chunk of change.
I was lucky enough to grab an Asus ROG Strix Scar G17 with an RTX 3080 for a massive discount a few years back, and it's been my reliable, main driver ever since. Still, that retailed at over $3,000 at full price at the time, which would have made me shy away from it without the price cut.
Now, cut that price by more than half, and I would be far more keen on grabbing it. And I'm sure many other PC gamers would be, too. Fortunately, Nvidia's asking price for RTX 5070 laptop GPUs fits that bracket: $1,299.
| GPU name | Starting price | Graphics memory |
| RTX 5090 | $2,899 | 24GB GDDR7 |
| RTX 5080 | $2,199 | 16GB GDDR7 |
| RTX 5070 Ti | $1,599 | 12GB GDDR7 |
| RTX 5070 | $1,299 | 8GB GDDR7 |
The power of an RTX 4090 in a $1,299 RTX 5070 gaming laptop? Now that's a slogan. Heck, I'd even go up to an RTX 5070 Ti if I'm willing to push the budget. Not everyone needs the highest-priced hardware to play their favorite PC games, whether it be Cyberpunk 2077 or Black Myth: Wukong, and I'm placed in that camp. But to get a fairly priced gaming laptop that pushes the limits on demanding PC titles is a winning scenario.
As a reality check, I don't expect to see the prices play out. Listings of RTX 50-series gaming laptops are already popping up, and according to Best Buy, the upcoming Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5070 will set you back $1,999. (Interestingly, the Asus ROG Strix G16 with an RTX 5070 Ti is at $1,899).
It isn't uncommon for laptop manufacturers like Asus, HP, Razer and more to raise the price of what Nvidia pitches. After all, there are processors, QHD OLED displays with 240Hz refresh rates, RAM and storage that add to the overall cost.
So, while they more than likely won't be as affordable as Nvidia's ballpark of prices, an RTX 5070 will still be a lot cheaper than RTX 4090-equipped laptops that will still set you back around $4,000.
Performance that's hard to say no to
With 8GB of GDDR7 compared to an RTX 4090's whopping 24GB of GDDR6X VRAM, it's hard to believe an RTX 5070 can match the gaming potential of Nvidia's last-gen powerhouse. But AI is coming in to give it a major boost.
Thanks to DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, Nvidia claims we can expect accelarated frame rates of up to 8x. Playing games at 30 frames per seond (fps)? Expect them to be pushed to over 200 fps on an RTX 50 graphics card — and that includes an RTX 5070.
"With the invention of DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, working in unison with the complete suite of DLSS technologies, we can multiply frame rates by up to 8X over traditional brute-force rendering and provide image quality that is better than native rendering," Nvidia states.
There's the brewing arguement of "fake frames," which shows that RTX 50-series GPUs aren't showing off their true performance. However, for casual PC gamers that want to enjoy demaning games at their finest, these frames will be highely beneficial.
That's not all, of course, as there's also Nvidia Reflex 2 to reduce latency by up to 75% and next-level graphical fidelity and detail with Nvidia RTX Neural Shaders. We have yet to see this in action on an RTX 50-series laptop, but if our first look at RTX 50-powered gameplay is to be believed, then I'll have a lot to like.
Considering that an RTX 4090 can pull off insane detail with smooth frame rates clocking over 200 fps with DLSS 3, and that an RTX 5070 will match that through enhanced AI features that requires less power, there's good reason why an RTX 5070 is on my radar.
My recommendation: wait for an RTX 5070
The RTX 5070 for gaming laptops may not deliver the giant leap in graphics like it's more powerful siblings (the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090), but it will finally bring high quality gaming to even more PC games at a much less intimidating price. For those that missed out on a RTX 4090 (which includes myself other than some testing), they'll get a chance to see the highest grade of gaming on a mobile machine — one that can be as sleek and portable as an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14.
Sure, the RTX 5080 laptop GPU is sure to impress even more, and the expected RTX 5060 lineup of gaming laptops is sure to offer great value, but an RTX 5070 gaming laptop will hit that sweet spot for me when it comes to price and performance, and I'm sure many others will want to scartch that RTX 4090 itch for much less, too.
More from Tom's Guide
- I just played games on Nvidia RTX 5090, and the hype is real — here’s why
- Intel Core Ultra 200H and HX Series chips are here — everything you need to know
- I wasn’t planning on building a new gaming PC but the RTX 5080 just changed my mind
