Gaming laptops launched in 2025 rumoured to pair GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs with last-gen CPUs from Intel and AMD

So far, the only laptop chips we've seen from Intel are based on the Lunar Lake architecture. The former isn't designed for high-power applications, meaning we have to wait for Arrow Lake-HX SKUs to show up, likely at CES 2025. However, gaming laptop manufacturers reportedly plan to stick with last-gen hardware, according to a Weibo leaker Golden Pig Upgrade.

Apparently, many OEMs plan to pair Nvidia's next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series laptop GPUs with Meteor Lake or 14th-gen Raptor Lake chips instead of Arrow Lake. The leaker has singled out the Core i7-14650HX as the 'main force' (machine translated), implying it could power many gaming laptops in 2025. Additionally, we could see some high-end Meteor Lake SKUs  thrown in the mix, too.

The situation is even more puzzling with AMD because Strix Point has been out and about for a while. Many laptops even pair a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with a dedicated GeForce RTX RTX 40 series GPUs. This will might not be the case with RTX 50 series SKUs, because they'll be paired with Zen 4 CPUs instead (Ryzen 7000/Ryzen 8000).

Essentially, we won't see too many (or any, for that matter) laptops with 'truly' next-gen hardware in 2025, effectively forcing you to pick with an up-to-date CPU or GPU. That isn't necessarily a bad thing because last-gen laptop chips are perfectly capable for gaming workloads and should not bottleneck the more powerful GeForce RTX 50 graphics cards.