“Quiet” and “high-end” are two words that usually don’t get married together at the figurative altar of gaming laptops. That’s why they’re a rare breed. Sounds unfair, right? All those advancements in smartphone technology and they still can’t make laptops any less cool or quiet than their desktop counterparts.
Sadly, such is the case for high-end gaming laptops. There’s only so much that the thin and light form factor can do for the thermals. Cooling solutions generally need ample space.
Still, that doesn’t mean some good contenders and pioneers of high-end quietness don’t exist for gaming laptops. There are a handful of decent options in the market right now.
They’re not as quiet as lower-end thin laptops or well-ventilated desktop PCs, but these high-end options won’t drive you mad with jet engine noises, unlike most other gaming laptops. Of course, since they’re high-end, do expect some high-end pricing.
1. XMG NEO 15 (E22)/Eluktronics Mech-15 G3
PROS
- Hybrid cooling system, allows both air and water cooling
- You can choose lower and more affordable specs
- Comes with 1440p IPS screen
- No expense is spared on the hardware due to the liquid cooling
- Beastly specifications
CONS
- Expensive
- Liquid cooling in laptops is still experimental at this stage
- Portability takes a hit (if you bought the liquid cooler)
- Removing the liquid cooler can drop coolant liquid over the laptop ports
- 15.6″ IPS | 2560×1440 px | 240 Hz
- Max. Intel Core i9-12900H | up to 5.0 GHz
- Max. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti| 16 GB GDDR6
- Max. 64 GB DDR5 RAM | 4800 MHz
- XMG OASIS ready
One of the reasons why gaming laptops tend to be noisy is due to their meager air cooling. Air cooling in such a small form factor will always underperform and the only way to hush it down is by decreasing performance.
So if you eliminate air cooling and replace it with something more efficient, such as liquid or water cooling, then you can deal with the excessive noise without hampering performance. That’s what the XMG Neo 15 (E22) offers. It’s also known as the Eluktronics Mech-15 G3 in some locales and uses the same Tongfang chassis.
It’s mostly just a regular laptop with air cooling inside, but underneath the hood is a hybrid cooling system that allows it to switch to XMG’s own brand of liquid cooling called XMG Oasis. Thus, the Oasis is the add-on portable radiator with which you’ll hook up the XMG Neo 15.
This will draw away all the heat from the Neo 15 and exhaust it through its vents. Take note that this is optional; but without the XMG Oasis, the XMG Neo 15 will lose out its edge as a quiet high-end gaming laptop.
1. XMG NEO 15 (E22)/Eluktronics Mech-15 G3
2. ASUS - ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition
PROS
- Asus build quality
- Good battery life
- Impressive display
- Manageable price
- 1440p IPS screen
- AuraSync lighting
- Lots of Asus freebies
CONS
- Lackluster ports
- Mostly plastic design
- 15.6″ IPS | 2560×1440 px | 165 Hz
- AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
- AMD Radeon RX 6800M
- 8GB DDR4-3200MHz SO-DIMM x 2
The Asus ROG Strix G15 opted for Ryzen this generation so it does get the advantage of staying slightly cooler under stress, especially when compared to Intel’s power-hungrier 12th Gen processors.
It doesn’t have the same liquid-cooling modularity as the previous laptop from XMG but it has good fan curves that a lot of professionals will appreciate. For one, the fans will only start spinning (and thus generating noise) under certain amounts of stress or temperature increase.
The larger and heavier chassis for this laptop ensures ample cooling. Testimonies even claim that it’s considerably less noisy than a 16-inch Macbook.
Granted, the heat and the noise will depend on the applications and games you’re running on this laptop, but you can rest assured that it has a top-notch air cooling thermal design compared to most of its competition.
2. ASUS - ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition
3. ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 GX650RX
PROS
- Beastly specs
- Impressive 4K screen
- Generous RAM
- Asus freebies & build quality
- Two screens
CONS
- Expensive
- 4K display is wasted on such a small screen
- 16″ IPS | 3840 x 2400 px | 240 Hz
- AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX
- Max. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
- 32GB DDR5-4800MHz SO-DIMM x 2
If you do want something a lot beefier and more robust compared to Asus’ ROG Strix lineup, then get ready to go all out with the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16. Its best variant comes with an RTX 3080 Ti laptop version.
Meanwhile, all Zephyrus Duo 16s come with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX. That means it’s perfect for those who are looking to game a bit and also perform some heavy productivity tasks such as video editing and the like.
As for its noise levels, a lot of people swear by the Zephyrus air cooling design. Some even claim it to be dead quiet when it comes to operation.
3. ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 GX650RX
4. Razer Blade Pro 17
PROS
- Beastly specs
- 4K display with 100 percent DCI-P3 for better colors
- Aluminum chassis finish
- Sleek form factor
- 17-inch screen
- Razer Chroma keyboard with per-key backlighting
- THX audio
CONS
- Expensive
- 4K display is wasted on such a small screen
- Keyboard doesn't have a numpad
- 17.3″ IPS | 4K display | 144 Hz
- Max. Intel Core i9-12900H | up to 5.0 GHz
- Max. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti| 16 GB GDDR6
- 32 GB DDR5 RAM | 4800 MHz
Of course, you can’t beat one of the kings of compact gaming, Razer. Its Razer Blade Pro line has always consisted of engineering marvels, which can even rival Apple’s products in terms of innovation and ingenuity. The Razer Blade Pro 17 (latest version) is among the world’s most silent laptops, even at full load.
The most amazing part is that the Razer Blade Pro doesn’t sacrifice aesthetics or form just to achieve decent noise levels and thermals. They can certainly pull it off even with Intel and Nvidia’s top-of-the-line consumer-grade offerings in the laptop category.
The price is a little too steep, of course, but they do come in bundles and with discounts.
4. Razer Blade Pro 17
5. MSI Raider GE76
PROS
- 4K display
- 17-inch screen
- More reasonable price
- Beastly specs
- Lots of RGB lighting
CONS
- A bit on the heavy side at nearly three kilograms
- 17.3″ IPS | 4K display | 120 Hz
- Max. Intel Core i9-12900H | up to 5.0 GHz
- Max. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti| 16 GB GDDR6
- 32 GB DDR5 RAM
Of course, there are times when some of Razer’s best offerings tend to run out of stock. Other times, they come at a price premium of around 500 to 1,000 USD for some features you didn’t request. That’s why if you want something that doesn’t charge as much for similar specs, then MSI has some competitive products as alternatives.
It does seem to be taking notes from Razer when it comes to minimizing the form factor. MSI’s top-of-the-line Raider gaming laptop also comes with a generous 17-inch screen and 4K display.
You also can’t go wrong with their products as they have been killing it in the Intel 12th Gen motherboard category. So expect them to extend that quality control to their best laptops.
