ACER PREDATOR 15

With its brash, angular looks and large cooling vents, the Acer Predator looks like a typical gaming laptop. But it does have an unusual feature - the Blu-ray drive can be easily replaced with the bundled fan module if additional cooling is required.

AORUS X5

Aorus somehow manages to fit two Nvidia graphics chips within the slim 23mm chassis of this laptop. The set-up is as fast as gaming laptops with a single high-end graphics chip but, compared to those typically large models, the X5 is a svelte 2.5kg. A niche feature for game streamers: a dedicated chip to handle this task so as not to affect your gaming performance.

MSI GS60 6QE GHOST PRO

This MSI laptop is one of the slimmest and lightest gaming machines in the market, at around 2kg. Yet it is packed with the latest hardware, including a sixth-generation Intel Core i7. Its solid-state drive is also the fastest we have tested on a laptop.

ASUS ROG G752

The Asus ROG G752 is remarkably quiet for a gaming laptop. It runs cool, too, with temperatures of up to 11 deg C lower than a standard thermal solution. Its brushed aluminium finish is attractive and stands out from the usual all-black look seen on gaming laptops.

AFTERSHOCK TITAN 2016

Of the five nominees here, the Aftershock Titan has the most impressive hardware, with its desktop-class CPU and graphics chip. And it shows, with the Titan topping our performance charts.

Its design is fairly generic, but Aftershock offers custom paint jobs for a unique appearance.