At the heart of the Gigabyte P55W is a quad-core Intel Core i7-5700HQ processor, with a standard clock speed of 2.7GHz. This jumps up to a rather tasty 3.5GHz in Turbo mode, however, which is fast enough to deliver superb gaming performance.And with 3GB of GDDR5 video memory, a GeForce GTX 970M is towards the high-end of gaming graphics cards, second only to the more powerful GTX 980M, so along with the included 8GB of DDR3 memory, this a good specification for a gaming laptop.Unlike some gaming systems, Gigabyte has avoided an expensive high-DPI display, instead opting for a more straightforward 1080p screen. For gaming, laptop components seldom offer the performance required for 4K or similarly high resolutions, so it's a perfectly reasonable design choice.

The decision to include an IPS panel also means that viewing angles are better than those you'll find on a more traditional display based on older TN technology. Pictures look great in games, although it isn't the brightest display I’ve come across.As with most laptops, there are a number of storage configurations on offer. This sample unit included a 128GB LiteOn SSD and a 1TB hard disk, which is just about fine for pure gaming use, as long as all games are kept on the hard disk. You can upgrade to a 512GB SSD and 2TB hard disk if desired.Note that the 8GB of memory occupies only one of the two SODIMM slots, so you can boost this to 16GB by purchasing a second 8GB stick. However, there's no easy way to slot it in; you’ll need to undo the screws at the bottom of the device and remove the lower part of the chassis to get it in.

The GTX 970M is no slouch in games, and with a 3.5GHz processor behind it, I expected some great mobile gaming performance from the P55W.And that’s exactly what it delivered. In Tomb Raider, at Ultimate detail settings at 1080p resolution, the P55W managed an average frame rate of 58fps and a minimum frame rate that never went below 30fps, ensuring smooth gameplay at all times. This is a great result that even some mid-range desktops struggle to deliver at this detail setting.Likewise, in BioShock Infinite – with all the detail settings set to Maximum at 1080p – I saw an average frame rate of 69fps, which is another good result.Grand Theft Auto V managed a perfectly playable 60fps average with Medium detail settings, using 2.5GB of the graphics card’s 3GB of memory. Advanced graphics settings such as long shadows and extended distance scaling were left off, but the game still looked superb even without this extra detail.

The exhaust fan on the left-hand side works notably hard during gaming sessions, spitting out plenty of warm air. The noise is noticeable, but perfectly acceptable when compared with many gaming notebooks – it's a notable hum rather than a loud whoosh. The P55W definitely isn't anywhere close to being the loudest gaming laptop I’ve tested. When idle, the P55W is effectively silent, and upon exiting a game it returns to silence almost immediately.The fan sometimes spins slightly when playing 1080p H.264 video, but thankfully it’s a lot quieter than when gaming – and it doesn’t always kick in.When watching 1080p video, the battery lasted for 3hrs 45mins – which will see the P55W make it through the entire length of movies. While this isn't the best result I've seen, when you consider that the majority of gaming laptops become useless within an hour disconnected from a power supply, this isn't a terrible result.

The Gigabyte P55W might not look like a killer gaming laptop on the outside, but on the inside it has all the right ingredients to deliver some great performance. It will play games with ease, it offers reasonable battery life – and size-wise it's a more practical proposition than more monstrous gaming units, like the MSI GT72S Dragon Edition. While the design may be a bit stark and not terribly exciting,the P55W is far from unattractive.Add to this a decent screen and keyboard, and it's difficult to find a major flaw in the Gigabyte P55W. Given that it's relatively good value for money too, this gaming laptop is definitely one that should make your shortlist.Bearing the high-end Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand, the latest laptop from Asus promises to play "top games" at 1080p without a hitch – but, unusually, costs less than £1,000.

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In addition, Asus isn't only pitching the GL552V at gamers, it has its eye on creatives too. That’s no surprise, given the amount of power inside this system.Asus gaming hardware is always keenly designed, with a good balance between gaming laptop excess and smart subtlety. The GL552VW is no different. The lid is made from dark, mottled plastic, with a brushed metal centre-panel that's home to the Asus and Republic of Gamers logos.The metal throughout the GL552V's interior is black, while the Republic of Gamers logo, keyboard backlighting, letters and trackpad surround are all red. The area above the keyboard is decorated with a lined pattern that Asus says is inspired by Mayan designs. It’s not the first time that Republic of Gamers' hardware has been inspired by South American tribes – the Asus G20 system was covered with similar patterns.

It’s a good look, and Asus has managed to load the design comes with impressive connectivity options. The left-hand side is home to two USB 3 ports, an HDMI output and a USB 3.1 Type-C socket, and the right-hand edge has USB and audio connectivity and a DVD drive. A panel on the base pops off for access to the SSD, hard disk and memory, and one memory slot is vacant. The battery is removable.The GL552V's budget price only becomes apparent when considering build quality. The underside is inconsistent, with some solid areas and others that flex under pressure. The keyboard and wrist-rest are fine, but the rear of the screen flexes back and forward, and movement on most areas of the panel cause the desktop itself to distort.

These are similar issues to those affecting Asus’ affordable rivals. The CyberPower Fangbook SX6-300 has build quality niggles in the same vein, and the MSI GE72 2QD-037UK suffers poorer overall build quality than both those machines alongside alarming wrist-rest flex. Both rivals cost around £1,000.So far, so good – or, at least, as good as I can expect from a sub-£1,000 gaming laptop. The laptop's worst design issue is its size and weight. The machine is 35mm thick and weighs 2.6kg. That’s a few hundred grams heavier than its rivals, and 8-9mm thicker. Although neither issues are a deal-breaker, they're worth considering if the laptop will be frequently carted about.The Asus GL552V comes with a more sensible price than many rivals, but that does mean more modest specifications. Gaming grunt comes from the GeForce GTX 960M, which sits in the middle of Nvidia’s mobile range. It’s based on the desktop range’s GTX 750 Ti and includes 640 stream processors, 2GB of dedicated memory and a 1,176MHz average clock. That’s decent – the same as the MSI – but the CyberPower includes the GTX 970M, which has 1,280 stream processors and 3GB of GDDR5.

Processing power comes from the Core i7-6700HQ. It’s Intel’s most popular Skylake chip for high-end laptops, and it’s easy to see why: four Hyper-Threaded cores, a 2.6GHz stock speed and a 3.5GHz Turbo peak mean bottlenecks are avoided. That power will also help creative applications run smoothly.8GB of memory is plenty, although here it’s installed in a single-channel configuration. That’s a double-edged sword: the single stick means it's simple to upgrade, but it won’t be as fast as two 4GB modules running in dual-channel mode.Storage is divided between an 128GB Hynix SSD and a 1TB hard disk. That former component uses the M.2 interface, but don’t expect fast speeds – it still relies on SATA bandwidth, rather than the quicker PCI Express interface.

Asus has included several bits of software. The most important is the ROG Gaming Center, which collects system information, allows profile switching and launches other utilities.Four profiles are installed by default – for sports, driving, strategy and FPS games. These switch between different screen and sound modes: some make the panel vivid, while others switch the audio to settings like "war room” or "battlefield”.The ROG GameFirst III app can be launched from inside the Gaming Center. It’s a small tool that measures network speed and optimises traffic for games, media streaming or file-sharing. There’s a link to the Asus Splendid app, which can be used to switch between screen profiles, and an option to load the ROG Audio Wizard, which functions similarly for the audio.The Asus Giftbox is a front-end for apps such as TripAdvisor, McAfee LiveSafe and Flipboard, and in other areas I found a Candy Crush game, Dropbox, Evernote and Netflix – so, depending on the user, software of varying usefulness.

This laptop comes from a firm that’s better-known for its gaming desktops. PC Specialist is based in Wakefield and has been building high-end systems since 2003, but the Octane is the first time I’ve gone hands-on with one of its notebooks.The £1,549 machine comes with a desktop processor and high-end graphics chip, which certainly bodes well for impressive framerates. using a shell from Taiwanese notebook firm Clevo. The model used here is the P751DM – the 15.6-inch version of the 17.3-inch base used by the XMG U706.That’s no knock on PC Specialist, though; Clevo’s hardware is hard-wearing and packed with features. It has loads of USB 3 ports, a USB 3.1 Type-C connector, an eSATA socket and four audio jacks, and the chunky power plug on the rear is sandwiched between an HDMI socket and two DisplayPort connectors.

• Asus W3Z Battery
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The versatility extends to the interior. Two base panels peel away to reveal the components: the first grants access to the memory, M.2 SSD and cooling gear, and the latter hides the hard disk and spare 2.5in and M.2 connectors. That’s about as good as it gets for gaming notebooks – it means the components are accessible and that it’s easy to clean the cooling gear.The Octane is a sturdy lump of a laptop. There’s a tiny bit of give in the wrist-rest and the underside, but the minor flex in those panels isn’t enough to make me worry about lugging the Octane to LAN parties or friends’ houses. The screen is similar: it does move, but the desktop itself isn’t distorted. It’s a similar bill of health to the MSI GS60 6QE Ghost Pro, and it’s not far behind the rock-solid Alienware 15.I have no qualms about taking the Octane out and about, but I’d invest in a decent backpack to protect my shoulders. PC Specialist’s system weighs 3.4kg and is 36mm thick: miles bigger than the MSI, and a little heavier and thicker than the beefy Alienware.

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