With RAM prices continuing to head off into the stratosphere, you can be certain that 2026 gaming laptops are either going to be a lot more expensive than they are now, or they'll come with significantly less memory than the current crop of portable PCs. So if I tell you that this RTX 5070 MSI Katana 15HX laptop costs just $1,049 at Walmart and sports 16 GB of genuinely quick RAM, you'll probably think the same thing that I am: buy one now before the RAMpocalypse ruins laptops.
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For graphics duties, it's got an RTX 5070 chip, with a 115 W power limit. That's a decent match for the screen, though you might need to use a spot of DLSS 4 upscaling in some games to get a high frame rate. Then again, you'll probably want to use it anyway, because it does such a great job of anti-aliasing (removing jagged edges).
The main processor is a Core i7 14650HX, which is a surprisingly potent CPU for this tier of laptop. With eight P-cores and eight E-cores, supporting 24 threads in total, it'll handle any game you care to throw at it. Intel's Raptor Lake chips do get a bit hot, though, as they use quite a lot of power, which means this Katana will probably be a tad noisy while gaming, due to the fans having to work hard to shift all the heat.
That's par for the course with gaming laptops, of course, as is the fact that it has 16 GB of DDR5 RAM. You can spend more and get a PC with 32 GB of system memory, but you're looking at an additional $150 for the privilege. Thankfully, MSI's fitted DDR5-5600 here, which is decently fast stuff.
Only one thing really spoils the picture, and it's the 1 TB SSD. Gaming laptops at this price point rarely sport anything bigger, but the main problem is that the MSI Katana 15HX only has one M.2 slot inside. So while you can easily fit a larger SSD, you'll either have to reinstall Windows, or use a separate PC and an appropriate app to swap the original SSD's contents over.
It's a compromise I'd be willing to put up with, though, when everything else is top stuff: fast CPU, capable GPU, lovely screen, and a fantastic price tag. Tech news headlines are all very gloomy right now, but at least there's some light in the darkness.
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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:
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5. Best high-performance:
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6. Best 18-inch:
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