I'm genuinely astonished that this $1,299 RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop deal is back on the menu in 2026, but my goodness I'll take it

(Image credit: MSI)

I thought this deal was long dead and buried, but whaddaya know, the Vector 16 HX is back to make every other lappy in its class look overpriced. Sitting somewhere under the RTX 5080 and well above the RTX 5070 in terms of gaming performance, the RTX 5070 Ti is a great upper mid-range laptop GPU. Plus, the CPU, while being one of AMD's last-gen models, is a 16-core 32-thread monster. In short, it's an absolute beast for the cash.

Price check: Best Buy $1,849

"No way". Those were the words that fell out of my mouth this morning, as I realised that this gaming laptop deal was back on the menu. $1,299 was a fantastic price for an RTX 5070 Ti machine before the memory crisis and dwindling stock ravaged the gaming laptop market, but in 2026? It's almost unbelievable.

Yes, it's only got 16 GB of DDR5-5600 and a 1 TB SSD. You'll be hard pushed to find a good-value machine with anything over that in the current market, as both are subject to huge price premiums. Still, both are fine amounts for a modern laptop, and it's the CPU, GPU, and display you're getting for a slap-you-round-the-face price right here.

Let's start with the processor. It's a Dragon Range chip of the previous AMD generation, but you'd be mistaken if you thought it was old-fashioned. It's a 16-core, 32-thread firebreather of a CPU with serious amounts of grunt, whether that's gaming, content creating, or any other task you might want to perform on a modern machine.

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MSI Vector 16 HX AI gaming laptop — (Image credit: Future)

Then there's the GPU. It's the 140 W variant of the RTX 5070 Ti mobile, which means it's got the sort of graphical horsepower that should have no problem handling high settings in demanding games with some DLSS involvement, and is well-suited to a 1600p display.

And yes, we've got to the screen. It's a 240 Hz IPS unit, and while it isn't the prettiest we've ever laid our eyes upon (we reviewed the Intel-chipped, RTX 5080 variant of this machine last year with the same panel and chassis design), it's certainly plenty speedy—and there's no way you're finding an OLED lappy with this sort of horsepower for this kind of money right now.

The main downsides? It's going to be very loud with that CPU going at full chat (although MSI's software does allow power tweaking, which should go some way to dropping the volume levels), and the chassis is a bit plasticky and old-school, although somewhat charming as a result.

For this price? I'll take those caveats with bells on, thanks. Cheap gaming laptop deals are becoming harder and harder to find at the moment, making the amount of value you receive here pretty jaw-dropping in today's market. Here's hoping it sticks around for a while yet.

Best gaming laptop 2026

1. Best overall:
Razer Blade 16 (2025)

2. Best budget:
Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen 10

3. Best 14-inch:
Razer Blade 14 (2025)

4. Best mid-range:
MSI Vector 16 HX AI

5. Best high-performance:
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10

6. Best 18-inch:
Alienware 18 Area-51

👉Check out our full gaming laptop guide👈

Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy spends his time jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC gaming hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.

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