Geforce RTX 3060 laptops hit the street, but more affordable models are in short supply
There’s just one at the $999 starting price, available March 1.
When the first Geforce RTX 30-series gaming laptops launched in January, you could—and still can—find abundant stock available for RTX 3070- and 3080-powered machines starting at $1,700 and up. More affordable RTX 3060 laptops recently hit the streets, but they seem much scarcer than the more expensive models.
Nvidia’s own listing of RTX 3060 laptops ( go.pcworld.com/nlst) highlights just four models, all from MSI: the $1,000 GF65 ( go. pcworld.com/gf65), $1,500 Stealth 15M ( go.pcworld.com/ms15); a more potent $1,600 Stealth 15M ( go.pcworld. com/615m), and the $1,800 GS66 ( go. pcworld.com/66gs). The GF65 and GS66 are available to buy March 1, with the rest in
preorder status until later in the month.
Heading over to Newegg ( go.pcworld. com/negg), you’ll find several MSI RTX 3060 laptops, some still in preorder status. But good news! A trio of Gigabyte offerings can be purchased right now: the $1,500 Aorus 15G ( go.pcworld.com/a15g), a $1,600 Aero 15 ( go.pcworld.com/aer5) with a 4K OLED display, and the larger $1,700 Aero 17 ( go. pcworld.com/aer7). Razer also offers RTX 3060-laden versions of its popular laptops with the $1,700 Razer Blade ( go.pcworld. com/17bl) and $2,300 Razer Blade Pro ( go. pcworld.com/blpr), complete with Razer’s typical hefty markup. You can buy those today, too.
Most available Geforce RTX 3060 laptops come in the form of thin-and-light machines, which makes sense as PC makers want to put their best (and most premium) foot forward. That said, two notebooks come close to Nvidia’s claimed $999 starting price for RTX 3060 laptops: the aforementioned $1,000 MSI GF65 and the $1,100 Gigabyte G5 ( go. pcworld.com/gig5), slated for a
March 5 release date. Both come with blisteringly fast displays—144hz on the MSI, 240Hz for the Gigabyte— despite their affordable pricing. But most of the models in the lineup cost much more.
That’s a lot better than the abysmal state of desktop graphics cards ( go. pcworld.com/absm), which remain impossible to find. Even older models are being price-gouged mercilessly. Nevertheless, it appears that Nvidia’s RTX 30-series laptop rollout prioritizes pricier hardware over more affordable options, mirroring what we’ve seen from next-gen graphics cards and AMD’S new Ryzen 5000 processors ( go.pcworld.com/r5rv). That might make budget-minded gamers bitter, but with demand for virtually every PC component or gaming gizmo through the roof these days, it makes a lot of business sense. Pricier parts mean more profits.
If you’re hoping to get your hands on a gaming notebook, check out these RTX 3070 and 3080 laptops you can buy right now ( go. pcworld.com/11gf). Be warned that shopping for gaming laptops is harder now ( go.pcworld.com/hrdr) due to some fundamental changes in the RTX 30-series.