RTX 40-series gaming laptops (opens in new tab) will be available in the coming months, but it's easy to overlook inexpensive options that are still viable today. Take, for example, this 15-inch Aorus with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 for $1,200 at Newegg (opens in new tab). Not a bad price, even with the next generation looming overhead.

For a long time we could only find RTX 3060 laptops in this price range. However, recent price reductions due to the holiday season, supply shortages ahead of the arrival of the next generation, and the general stagnation of the PC market seem to have affected the prices at which retailers feel they can sell these devices. Today, the likelihood of finding an RTX 3070 laptop in the $1,200 range is greater than ever before, and this Aorus device is definitely one such product.

Unlike some systems that focus too much on GPU power and not enough on the rest of the parts, this machine has smart specifications. This includes a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and 16GB of RAM; it also has a 240Hz 1080p IPS display.

That said, this GPU/Intel Core i7 11800H combo is an average gaming machine and will be able to take full advantage of frame rates in many top-class games. the CPU is a bit older, but it has a reputable Core i7 with 8 cores and 16 threads and is capable of handling gaming and creative applications.

The Aorus chassis is also quite sleek for the price, though it's often a bit more expensive to get a more slender chassis like the one Razer offers in its Blade lineup. chassis, it would often be more expensive. With this Aorus design, you can get away with much less, and it's definitely not on the chunky side of what's possible. Some laptops are barely portable, but this 15" would be fine in a backpack.

If you're not in such a hurry to get a laptop yet, Nvidia's remaining mobile GPU lineup will likely be announced later this month. There will be some pretty attractive laptops on offer at that time, but definitely nowhere near the discounts we are currently seeing on RTX 30 series machines.