Dell G7 17 7790 review: the perfect entry-level laptop for newbies and budget conscious gamers

If you're on a budget, or new to the world of PC gaming, and want to ease into it with a multi-functional machine, then the Dell G7 17 7790 is going to be right up your street. 

Coming in at around £1,400, it'll do the job for work, and will just about hold its own for games, but you should probably temper your expectations somewhat. You get what you pay for after all, and this is definitely an entry-level price so expect a performance to match.

That being said, given how comparatively cheap it is in the world of gaming laptops, it's a sturdy little workhorse, but don't expect it to reach the loft levels of dressage.  

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Dell G7 17 7790 review: design and build

The Dell G7 17 7790 isn't the most captivating of machines to look at, and the choice of horizontal stripes along three of its four edges serves to break up the thickness of the laptop, but there's no getting away from the chunky build. The G7 is a big slab of a thing, and while that makes for a robust and sturdy build, it's very heavy. This isn't a laptop you want to be popping into a bag and travelling with.

The overall aesthetic is sleek but plain, and very understated. It looks like any old laptop, and given that it's aimed at consumers who aren't necessarily prepared to part with a load of cash for a gaming laptop, and are perhaps just testing the waters, this is fit for purpose.

There's a generously sized trackpad taking up most of the deck, while the keypad has been relegated to the far end and feels a little cramped. With such a broad area available once the display is revealed, it fells a little like an odd design choice.

Available in Abyss Grey with blue accents, and encased in plastic, there's no getting away from the G7's budget feel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's only so far £1,400 is going to stretch and you're going to want the innards to be the star of the show, even on the lower end of the price scale. 

While it's not the most stylish gaming laptop in its price range, it's certainly robust. 

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Dell G7 17 7790 review: specs and hardware

With an 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H and RTX 2060 squirreled away inside a chassis with a large 1080p 17.3" display, the G7 model we reviewed isn't the most powerful option available, but there you can get up an Intel i9-8950HK and a GeForce RTX 2080 Max Q design graphics card, so there's room to play here, even if you are a newcomer, or looking for a cheaper option in  sea of over-the-top, super-powered gaming laptops with hefty price tags. 

Considering the size, weight, and specs, it's unlikely that you'll already have a rig that this will be replacing, or even facilitating. This is firmly in the region of dabblers, and expecting more at this price point is unrealistic, but what you do get is adequate enough.

Dell G7 17 7790 review: gaming and performance

I keep stressing that this is an entry-level machine because you're not going to be blown away by the performance here, and that's certainly not what the G7 is intending to do – or is in nay way capable of.

Popping on Nioh, it struggled produce graphics on par with the console version, so it really is going to depend on the title you're choosing and the settings you use to see how it fares – the benchmark scores were nothing to write home about, but you have to weight them up against what you're paying for. 

There doesn't appear to be a great deal of difference between the G7 17 and 15 in all honesty, with the exception of the panel size.

However, taking into account the target demo for this mid-range laptop, the specs are just fine, and once you're thirsty for a constant stream of AAA action at maxed-out settings, you'll be ready to transition from the G7 at that point anyway, and looking to invest in a more expensive rig - be that a beefy gaming laptop, or a desktop PC.

Dell G7 17 7790 review: verdict

For what you're paying for the G7 17 7790, you won't be disappointed with the level of performance you can squeeze out of it. It's a gaming laptop for the everyman, who isn't concerned about showing off their street cred, or sinking hours and hours into PC gaming.

It's a great first gaming laptop, from the simple, elegant design, to the specs, with a large screen for gaming, watching media, or just boring old work. It'll see you right until you decide to transition to something more serious – and inevitably, a lot more expensive. Until then, it's a reasonably priced, hardy laptop that you can run most games on although you'll have to be mindful of tweaking the settings. 

For just over £1,000, it's worth weighing up your options, but it's not a bad choice at all.  

For more information about the Dell G7 17 7790, check out the maker's official website.