Every laptop we have figures for

Frame rates measured by Notebookcheck.

What it asks of a laptop

At the measured 1920x1080 High preset with upscaling off, Apex Legends looks forgiving for the eight gaming laptops in Notebookcheck’s figures. Every recorded machine exceeded 100fps, and the results are tightly grouped: 140fps at the low end, 165fps at the high end, and a median of 144fps.

That 25fps gap between the fastest and slowest result is notable because the laptops span RTX 2070, RTX 2080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 graphics. The measured numbers do not show a simple pattern where each newer or nominally higher GPU tier delivers substantially more performance. Instead, the RTX 2070 laptops averaged 143fps across three machines, while the two RTX 3080 laptops averaged 144fps. The single RTX 3070 result was also 144fps.

In practical terms, these figures suggest that, at this tested setting, the game is not separating these particular high-end laptop GPUs by much. The RTX 2080 group was quickest, averaging 154fps across two laptops, but that advantage comes largely from the Acer Predator Triton 500’s 165fps result. The other RTX 2080 machine, the Asus Strix Scar 17, recorded 144fps.

There is an important limitation: these are results from eight specific laptops, not a comprehensive comparison of every laptop implementation of these GPUs. The RTX 3070 tier is represented by one machine, while the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080 tiers have two machines each. Laptop graphics performance can vary between models, so these figures are best read as evidence of what these tested systems achieved rather than a guarantee for every laptop carrying the same GPU name.

What runs it

For 60fps, all eight measured laptops are comfortably sufficient. Notebookcheck’s lowest recorded result was 140fps from the MSI GS66 Stealth with an RTX 2070. That means every machine in this set was well above 60fps at 1080p High without upscaling.

• RTX 2070: Three laptops were measured. The MSI GE66 Raider and Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB both reached 144fps, while the MSI GS66 Stealth reached 140fps. The tier average was 143fps. All three cleared 60fps and 100fps; two of the three reached 144fps.
• RTX 2080: Two laptops were measured. The Acer Predator Triton 500 was the fastest laptop in the data at 165fps, and the Asus Strix Scar 17 reached 144fps. The tier average was 154fps. Both cleared 60fps, 100fps and 144fps.
• RTX 3070: The Schenker XMG Neo 17 (Early 2021, RTX 3070, 5800H) recorded 144fps. This single measured RTX 3070 laptop cleared 60fps, 100fps and 144fps, but one result is not enough to make a broad claim about all RTX 3070 laptops.
• RTX 3080: Two laptops were measured: the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 and Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YC. Both recorded 144fps, giving the tier a 144fps mean. Both cleared 60fps, 100fps and 144fps in these figures.

For a 100fps target at the tested settings, the evidence is particularly straightforward: all eight laptops cleared it. The slowest result was still 40fps above that threshold. A 144fps target is nearly as well covered, with seven of the eight machines reaching at least 144fps. The exception was the RTX 2070-equipped MSI GS66 Stealth at 140fps, only 4fps short.

The strongest conclusion supported by the data is therefore not that one GPU tier is essential, but that each of the tested RTX 2070, RTX 2080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 laptops produced very high frame rates at 1080p High with upscaling disabled.

The cheapest laptop that handles it

The fact sheet provides a price for only one of the eight laptops: the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 with RTX 3080, listed at £2,196. It recorded 144fps, meeting the 60fps, 100fps and 144fps thresholds in Notebookcheck’s numbers.

However, it would not be accurate to call the Zephyrus G15 the cheapest laptop that handles Apex Legends, because no prices are supplied for the other seven machines. Several of those machines also achieved 144fps or better, including RTX 2070 models, but the available figures do not establish their purchase prices.

If choosing only from the supplied price information, the Zephyrus G15 is the only model that can be tied to both a stated price and a measured result. It is not evidence that an RTX 3080 laptop is the lowest-cost route to this level of performance: the measured RTX 2070, RTX 2080 and RTX 3070 systems were all in the same 140–165fps range.

What this means if you’re buying

For a buyer targeting Apex Legends at 1920x1080 High without upscaling, the measured figures suggest that 100fps is an achievable target across all the tested laptops, including the RTX 2070 examples. The data also gives substantial support for a 144fps-class target: seven of eight machines reached 144fps, and the remaining one reached 140fps.

Do not assume that paying for an RTX 3080 automatically produces a major advantage here. In this sample, both RTX 3080 laptops recorded 144fps, exactly matching the lone RTX 3070 result and several RTX 2070 and RTX 2080 results. The fastest result came from the RTX 2080 Acer Predator Triton 500 at 165fps, but there are only two RTX 2080 systems in the data.

That makes overall laptop value more important than chasing a GPU label alone. Among these measured machines, an RTX 2070 laptop was already capable of 140–144fps, while the measured RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 laptops reached 144fps. If your aim is simply a consistently high frame rate at the tested settings, the figures do not show a need to buy into the highest represented tier. If you specifically want the best measured result in this list, the Acer Predator Triton 500’s 165fps is the reference point, though no price is provided for it.