HP Victus 15: A mediocre gaming laptop at a great price

No one said gaming on a budget would be easy.

- MATT SMITH

Budget gaming laptops are in a tough spot. The lack of new entry-level discrete graphics from AMD, Nvidia, or Intel (which has repeatedly delayed its new Arc graphics products) has led to stagnation. Price is often a budget gaming laptop’s most important trait and that’s where the HP Victus 15 excels. This laptop delivers reliable processor performance at a reasonable price. However, the build quality leaves a little to be desired and the display is dimmer than we like. That said, if you’re really strapped for cash, the HP Victus 15 may be worth considering.

SPECS AND FEATURES The Victus 15 I received for review is an entry-level model that currently appears to be only available from Best Buy (fave.co/ 3BuD2Jf). It equips Intel’s Core i5-12450H processor, an entry-level chip in Intel’s higher-TDP line of mobile hardware. The processor has eight cores, half of which are Performance cores. It’s paired with Nvidia’s aging GTX 1650 discrete graphics.

CPU: Intel Core i5-12450H

Memory: 8GB DDR4-3200

Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GTX 1650

Display: 1920×1080 144Hz IPS LCD

Storage: 512GB solid state drive

Webcam: 720p

Connectivity: 1× USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4, 2× USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1× 3.5mm combo audio

Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, Gigabit Ethernet

Biometrics: None

Battery capacity: 80 watt-hours

Dimensions: 14.09×10.04×0.93 inches

 Weight: 5.06 lbs