The October Prime Day sales (or Big Deal Days, as Mr Bezos keeps trying to insist) are beginning to wind to a close. Still, we expect quite a few deals to keep going, so there's no massive rush. But it's time for me to pick the gaming laptop I'd buy with my own cash, and I'm sticking with this Asus TUF Gaming A16 for $1,600 at Best Buy.
I've picked this machine out before (in a different spec) because I like it so much, although that particular deal is currently sold out. And yes, the RTX 5070 version isn't as cheap as it used to be during sales events. But the RAMpocalypse is in full swing, gaming laptop pricing has gone through the roof, and this is still a lappy with a hefty discount that my heart truly desires.
For a start, this model has a hugely powerful AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX CPU with 16 cores and 32 threads. That's massive overkill for a gaming laptop, but I happen to be a big fan of that kind of redundancy, particularly as someone who edits multimedia gubbins on the regular.
This one's also got an RTX 5070 mobile GPU with a proper power limit, being a 115 W version. Asus has the cooling and power delivery figured out with its TUF lineup of machines, as our Zak found when he reviewed the RTX 5050 version of the Asus TUF Gaming A16 very recently.
Excellent cooling (and a spacious-yet-svelte chassis design) means the graphics chip gets to breathe, unlike a lot of 85 W RTX 5070 lappys I'm finding right now.
Above: The RTX 5050-equipped Asus TUF Gaming A16 we recently reviewed.
So, it should go like hell when it comes to gaming performance. That's balanced out nicely with its 1200p, 165 Hz screen, which shouldn't give the GPU too much trouble. Smooth frames in demanding games? I reckon so, yeah. Especially with a bit of DLSS, wherever needed.
I'm sure you've already spotted the downside, though. This is a $1,500+ gaming laptop with a tiny 512 GB SSD, which is unfortunately far too common these days. You could put up with it if you keep an eye on your install sizes, but a 1 TB drive would improve this lappy considerably.
We're finding deals on those at the moment, believe it or not. And yes, buying one would mean spending more cash on top of a gaming laptop that is still, with a discount, more expensive than it used to be. But that's just the state of affairs right now (and probably for a long while to come), so this machine still offers more bang for your buck than most.
Which is why it's stolen my heart once more. Yes, times are tough out there, folks—but in a market full of turmoil, this Asus lappy still shines through the muck.
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
