Best 17-inch gaming laptop options available for under $2000?

Honestly, the ASUS ROG Strix G17 G713 is basically your best bet, but unfortunately I had issues with the backlight bleed on mine. Still, it's really hard to beat for that price.

I went through this last year when I was hunting for a 17-inch beast! Honestly, finding solid cooling under 2k is a struggle. I ended up grabbing the MSI Katana 17 B13VGK-673US and its been AMAZING for the price. I also looked at the Acer Nitro 17 AN17-41-R7G3, which is super budget friendly. Basically, you gotta watch out for those thermal limits, but these two definitely stayed cool during my long sessions!

Can vouch for this

I spent a month looking at TGP ratings and thermal pad quality for 17-inch chassis designs because most manufacturers throttle the GPU clocks once you hit the 80C threshold and its realy frustrating when you see the clock speeds drop right in the middle of a raid. Basically I was obsessed with checking the peak wattage and how the heat pipes were routed across the VRMs and their 17-inch models just handled the sustained loads BETTER than almost anything else I tested tbh. If you want high thermal headroom and a decent MUX switch implementation without overpaying for the brand name just get anything from Lenovo you definately wont regret the thermal management they put into their larger frames. Idk why people sleep on the cooling architecture there because the vapor chamber setups on their higher trims are industry standard for a reason and you usually get full power delivery to the GPU which is what you realy want for that screen real estate.

@Reply #6 - spot on about the long-term wear and tear. I once had a 17-inch beast where the heat actually started to warp the frame near the exhaust after two years of heavy use. It happens way more than people think with these bigger chassis. If you are looking to maximize that $2000 budget, you should check out the HP Omen 17-ck2000. I managed to snag a config for about $1800 on sale recently. It features a high TGP limit which is key for getting the most out of the hardware. The cooling system uses these massive vents and actually manages to keep the CPU from thermal throttling during my 4-hour sessions. It feels way more substantial than the Katana. Also, look at the Gigabyte Aorus 17 BSF-73US654SH. It has a 240Hz screen that is super smooth, though the fans get kinda loud under load. Just make sure to lift the lid from the center because those 17-inch hinges take a lot of stress over time.

Interested in this too

Ok so I have to respectfully disagree with just looking at the TGP and initial cooling performance because that usually doesnt tell the whole story. After owning a few of these massive units, I have noticed that the long-term durability is where most of these sub-2k models realy struggle. You can have the best specs in the world but it doesnt matter if the chassis starts failing after a year of heavy use.

• Watch out for the hinges since the extra weight of a 17-inch screen puts way more stress on them, I am not realy sure why manufacturers dont reinforce them more for these big displays.
• Be realy careful about how the vents are positioned because dust buildup can kill your temps way faster than people expect, and cleaning some of these newer chassis is a total nightmare.
• Make sure you check the keyboard deck flex because heavy gaming sessions can actually warp the cheaper plastics over time which is wierd but it definitely happens on the budget-friendly models. Basically, I am just saying that the out-of-the-box benchmarks are great, but you should look for reviews from people who have actually used the thing for 6 months or more. I have had beast laptops that became creaky paperweights because I only looked at the GPU clocks and ignored the actual build longevity. Just a heads up before you drop two grand on something you want to last.

Gonna try this over the weekend. Will report back if it works!