The most popular graphics chip in the recent October Steam Survey was Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060, which debuted over six years ago. You'll have to go down the list by a fair bit to find last-gen's flagship Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (15th most popular). In short, most gamers would be satisfied with a mainstream gaming laptop like the HP Victus 16, which starts at a relatively affordable S$1,599.

HP has gone for a basic all-black design for the Victus 16. It's not flashy — there are no LEDs besides the white keyboard backlight. So you can use it in a work setting without attracting any unwanted attention. The ports are located at the sides, not the rear. There's a Gigabit Ethernet port for those who desire the fastest internet speeds, and three USB-A ports for gaming peripherals or external storage devices. The plastic chassis feels sturdy, with barely any flex in the palm rest or keyboard. The keyboard has good key travel, and includes a number pad, too. But while it's not as chunky as some gaming notebooks, the Victus is far from lightweight at around 2.4kg.

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The Victus' 16-inch display is fairly standard for a budget gaming notebook. It's an IPS panel with a decent 144Hz refresh rate, and a Full-HD resolution. It could be brighter — it's only rated at 250 nits. However, the viewing angles are good, and reflections are minimised by its matte finish. There's also no variable refresh rate support, which isn't surprising for this price segment. Except for the bottom bezel, the rest of the bezels are relatively slim. The top bezel also accommodates a 720p webcam. However, images are fairly noisy, and the webcam can only shoot 30fps video.

As you'd expect from a gaming laptop with a mainstream Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics chip, the Victus 16 churned through our gaming benchmarks comfortably with the graphics settings at Medium to High. The laptop produced an average of 48fps in Metro Exodus (1080p, High), while Watch Dogs: Legion ran at 67fps (1080p, High). The Victus 16 also didn't feel as warm to touch as higher-end gaming notebooks. Temperatures hovered around 80s degree Celsius during benchmarking. The fans (set to Automatic) were audible, but not that loud. You can monitor the Victus' vitals via HP's Omen Gaming Hub app. Other handy controls in the app include fan speed, and LED adjustment. The latter, though, isn't available in the Victus 16 since it doesn't have any decorative LEDs.

As a mainstream gaming laptop, the HP Victus 16 sticks closely to the script. There are no unpleasant surprises. The notebook performs to expectations, and runs relatively cool, too. It's well-built, with a restrained design that wouldn't be out of place in an office. Best of all, at S$1,599, the Victus offers you a relatively inexpensive way to play your favourite PC games. It's available now from HP, Shopee and Lazada.

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Note: Review unit provided by HP.