HP Victus 15 Black

The HP Victus 15 packs a ridiculous 4TB SSD and 64GB of RAM, but pairs it with a just-okay RTX 4050 and a cheap-feeling chassis. Battery life is rough, and the price is high for the gaming performance you actually get. It's a storage monster, but a tough recommendation for most gamers.

The RTX 4050 handles 1080p gaming just fine, and that 144Hz screen makes shooters and fast-paced titles feel responsive. The i5-13420H is a solid mid-pack performer, nothing mind-blowing but it won't bottleneck the GPU in most games. The real story here is the storage and RAM. That 4TB NVMe drive sits in the 99th percentile of our database, which is just absurdly good, and the 64GB of DDR4 is overkill for gaming but a nice perk for heavy multitasking or running virtual machines. Just don't expect to do any serious AI work, that's a weak spot at the 41.5 score.

Stacked against the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, the Victus 15 feels outclassed in build quality and raw GPU power. Those competitors offer a more premium chassis and often step up to an RTX 4060 or 4070 for a similar price. The MSI Prestige and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition are in a different world entirely, focused on portability and creator work, but they highlight how chunky and plasticky the 2.31kg Victus feels. The MacBook Pro M4 Max is a performance monster that runs circles around it, but it's also a totally different operating system and price bracket.

At over two grand, this is a tough sell. You're paying a premium for that enormous 4TB SSD and 64GB of RAM, but the core gaming experience is still defined by a mid-range RTX 4050. For the same money, you could often snag a laptop with a more powerful RTX 4060 or 4070 and a better build, even if it means less storage out of the box. This is only a good value if you absolutely need that much onboard space and memory right now and can't add it yourself later.

The HP Victus 15 is a weird mix of overkill and compromise. You get a massive 64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD, which is storage for days, paired with a mid-range RTX 4050 and a 13th-gen Core i5. It's like putting a huge gas tank in a sensible sedan. The 144Hz display keeps things smooth, but the build quality and battery life are where HP clearly cut corners to hit a price point.

If you prioritize build quality and portability, look elsewhere. This thing is heavy at 2.31kg and the plastic chassis feels budget-tier. Anyone who wants a premium, all-metal laptop or needs all-day battery life should steer clear.

This is a niche machine. Buy it if you're a gamer who also hoards massive game libraries and needs 4TB of internal storage without messing with external drives. The 64GB of RAM is a nice safety net, but most people will never touch it. If you just want the best frames per dollar for gaming, you can do better.