Best gaming laptop for God of War Ragnarok: our top picks

One of Sony’s top franchises has released its sequel on PC, which is for the newer Norse version rather than the Greek original. With that in mind, you may be looking to get a gaming laptop good enough to get a strong experience playing anywhere you want or something with a lot more usefulness behind it.

Although it might have been released on a console, the game has got quite some hefty system requirements. Considering all the graphics settings and performance targets of these, you have a range of options to pick from. However, if you’re after the best choice for the job, then you’re going to need something at the top end and powerful to allow you to get the most out of the game. That leads us to recommend the MSI Raider GE78 HX we previously reviewed.

MSI’s Raider GE78 HX

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MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG

4 /5

Editor’s Rating

How We Review

Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop
• RAM: 32GB (2*16) DDR5
• Storage: 4TB NVMe
• Max Refresh Rate: 240Hz
• Resolution: 2560 x 1600
• Screen Size: 17″
• Panel Type: QHD+

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The Raider is a great gaming laptop, it might not be the cheapest option, but it certainly has the power behind it to go for some of the top performance and hardware that will provide you with the best experience out there. Coming from the Intel Core i9-14900HX processor on board, and the RTX 4080 laptop GPU. While the CPU is a top-of-the-line choice for mobile platforms, the GPU is not quite up there but still has the majority of potential Nvidia’s chips offer, especially as the implementation also affects its performance.

That is where the Raider’s design is great for performance. As it’s designed with gaming in mind, it forgoes any attempt at stealth and limitations to the hardware it implements. As we saw in our MSI Stealth 18 review it has its own cooling with the design choices. But the GE78 omits that and doesn’t hide the fact, with a rather thicker design to fit in a large number of heat pipes underneath and the two fans to expel that hot air.

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG front on, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG front RGB bar, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG gaming CS2, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG right side, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG rear, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG top, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG keyboard, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG touchpad, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG display logo, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG back lid, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG left side, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG front closed, Image by PC Guide

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VHG underside internals, Image by PC Guide

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Of course, it doesn’t omit the RGB lights at all, making sure you don’t forget what the machine is for. As the front edge, the lid logo shines with color, along with the keyboard that has per key color control, which still provides a good typing experience for a flat laptop option. It does have the WASD and power buttons in see-through plastic too, reflecting the gaming keyboard designs that try to help with getting your hands in the right places.

Along with the nice build overall, the rest of the specs and features don’t disappoint either. As it sports a 2560 x 1600 display, and an extended 16:10 1440p monitor, with a great 240Hz refresh rate in a 17-inch size. It might not be the best resolution, but at that size, it still has a rather great immersive experience, and should get a better framerate than if it were even higher, so you get a great in-between but with high Hz that makes it a smooth experience otherwise.

Along with that, the inside brings with it space for town NVMe SSDs, with ours coming with an equipped 4TB total from two sticks for all the fast capacity you might need. That is also the case for the DDR5 RAM with two slots that can have up to 96GB of 5600MHz and the specific model had 32GB total from two sticks. All of these should complement the processor well and also come with their own cooling stickers and solutions.

System requirements

If you’ve wondered what the PC system requirements are then Sony has released a variety of options depending on the targets you are looking for. Ranging from 1080p at 30 FPS on low all the way up to 4K at 60 FPS on ultra settings, you can find the right hardware for your needs.

Be aware though that laptop hardware is not on par with its desktop-named equivalent. In which case you may need to look a tier or two up for something more equivalent. Such as the 4070 Ti at Ultra recommendation might be more like a 4090 laptop GPU.

Either way, the minimum hardware suggests a GTX 1060/RX 5500 XT GPU and an i5-4670K/Ryzen 3 1200 CPU. With the recommended hardware increasing to an RTX 2060 Super/RX 5700 and an i5-8600/Ryzen 5 3600. At high that goes to an RTX 3070/RX 6800 and an i7-7700K/Ryzen 7 2700X. As performance jumps to an RTX 3080 Ti/RX 6900XT and i7-7700K/Ryzen 7 2700X. Whereas ultra requires an RTX 4070 Ti/RX 7900 XT and an i5-11600K/Ryzen 7 3700X.

For the RAM a minimum of 8GB is required but rather quickly you’re looking for 16GB instead. It also asks for 190GB of SSD space, although it does only seem to download 100GB on Steam. But that’s still quite the heavy load either way whilst also being supported on Windows 10 at the minimum.

Alternative laptops

If you are the Raider GE78 isn’t quite up to your needs, there are plenty of other options out there to choose from. As the requirements span quite a range, you can easily pick something lower or even higher specs. Along with a variety of budgets to target, you can find something a bit more suited.

First up we have the MSI Titan 18HX A14 which is something a bit more powerful with plenty more RAM and a better GPU inside. Along with a better screen, it provides a great power and immersive experience that might also be handy for other work than just gaming. Then there is the MSI Stealth 17 Studio, which cuts down on the gamer vibe and is a bit more muted to keep things on the low down, yet still providing you with a great performance in general.

On the other hand, going for the Razer Blade 16 gives you a slightly middle-ground solution which provides a strong quality pick as well. The Acer Nitro 17 is a much more budget option that is something on the minimum to recommend that might be more suitable to most.

Final word

Overall, you now have a good selection of laptops to pick from when it comes to God of War Ragnarok. Giving you a wide variety of choices that will give you a range of performances at a choice of budgets. Starting off with the MSI Raider GE78 as our top choice, with the MSI TITan 18 and MSI Stealth 17 as some good alternatives we have been hands-on with. The Razer Blade and Acer Nitro 17 are some worthy other considerations as well. If you’d rather go for a build instead, our guide on the best GPU for God of War Ragnarok might be for you instead.