Gaming is an expensive hobby between expensive games and the hardware to play them. But you don’t necessarily have to spend thousands of dollars on a game notebook to play. There are plenty of gaming laptops out there with 1080p screens, gaming-grade CPUs, and discrete GPUs for under $1,000.
Should I lower the settings? Possibly depending on the game. There are caveats in this price range. Some don’t have the latest generation processors, some don’t have the most powerful GPUs, some only have 8GB of RAM, and some don’t have enough storage space to hold more than one game at a time. . . you will have to make sacrifices. However, you should be able to find one that will allow you to play some games, especially if you like esports and indie titles that don’t use much graphics power.
As a power user, if you have the means to spend a little more money, I highly encourage you to consider it. also, Best gaming laptop under $1,500. and the Best overall gaming laptop.A better GPU, SSD or screen can go a long way and improve build quality as well. But even if your bank account is deteriorating like so many are right now, you still have options. If you have more money later, you can usually add more storage or upgrade your laptop’s RAM yourself.
Several new budget GPUs were announced at CES 2023. A new batch of sub-$1,000 gaming notebooks could feature the new his Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050.
We’ve run benchmarks on a variety of gaming laptops from a variety of brands and at a variety of price points, so you know what to look for in a PC. The best gaming laptops under $1,000 should be able to run most games, though not always at the highest settings or resolutions.
Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,000
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The Acer Nitro 5 has often been featured as a strong example of the kind of gaming laptop you can get on a budget. Most games are playable on the tested model with Intel Core i5-12500H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM. It was priced at $899.99 when we tested it, but it turns out it sells for as low as $799.99.
16 GB of RAM is more than you’ll often find in this price range, and it performs well. And a 512 GB SSD can hold a few games. In our tests, we found the display to be a bit washed out, but it hits 144Hz, faster than other displays in its class. So we have to make a comparison between quality and speed.
Like many budget gaming notebooks, Acer actually covers the Nitro 5 with bloatware. We recommend uninstalling some of them to make room for more games (and generally enjoy a cleaner experience).
I also liked that Acer left room to expand the storage. Empty he has a 2.5 inch drive bay and Acer’s box comes with his SATA cable so you can add a hard drive or his SSD to make room for more games . Not many laptops in this price range include space for additional affordable storage.
more: Acer Nitro 5 Review
If you’re looking for something really cheap, the HP Victus 15 is a good place to start. HP offers it in a base configuration utilizing an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650. We tested it with a 512GB SSD for $799.99, but at the time of this writing there appears to be a $699.99 option with a smaller 256GB drive.
In some ways, Victus thrives on its looks. It’s cheap and doesn’t look good. In fact, it looks more like a business machine than a gaming laptop. In our testing, the Victus 15 and its Intel Core i5-12450H performed decently on our productivity tests.
A GTX 1650 GPU means some games need lower settings. We’ve achieved playable scores on many benchmarks, but for the most consistent framerates, we recommend lowering the resolution and lowering some settings.
HP’s site allows the GPU to be updated up to the RTX 3050 Ti. If you can afford it, it’s worth the upgrade, as is more storage space to hold more games. (The unit had a secondary SSD slot if you wanted to do it yourself later.)
read: HP Victus 15 review
With a starting price of $899.99, the Dell G15 offers solid 1080p gaming at this price. Outside of some esports, lower settings are required to play intense games at high frame rates.
As with the other laptops on this list, there’s plenty of room for upgrades. After tearing down our review unit, we found 8GB of single-channel RAM, which was an easy upgrade. Budget gaming laptops have even less storage!)
In our tests, the Dell G5 performed pretty cool and found its screen to be bright (at least compared to other budget gaming laptops). That said, the keyboard is a bit mushy and the touchpad can get a little sticky.
read: Dell G15 (5520) review
Like many sub-$1,000 gaming laptops, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 doesn’t start out with top specs. I tested with a Core i5-12500H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD for $709.99.
Its RAM was single-channel and its SSD was small. But with a price tag of around $700, it might leave some budget buyers room to do better with more storage and RAM.
Despite the low price, many cheap laptops look like they were designed years ago, resulting in a sleek and modern style. , you can get a 1080p display at up to 120 Hz for esports gaming.
So the IdeaPad Gaming 3 has excellent bones, assuming you’re looking for something cheap and willing to turn the settings down. Even if you find a device with RAM or storage, it’s likely to fit in less than four figures.
read: Lenovo IdeaPad Game 3 Review
What to expect from the best gaming laptops under $1,000
- GPUs: Graphics cards can have the biggest impact on how well a gaming laptop can play games, especially when it comes to high resolutions and lots of effects.The cheapest gaming laptop we tested was Nvidia I’m using a GeForce GTX 1650 from This is an older card and some settings need to be lowered. If you can find an RTX 3050 or even better an RTX 3050 Ti within your budget, that’s a card that gets you a little further. Please purchase to AMD-based GPUs have not yet been confirmed for these laptops.
- screen: Expect a 15-inch laptop, which seems to be the most popular size in this price range. That said, gaming laptops typically range from 14 to 17 inches. Given that the low-end GPUs in these PCs aren’t good for his gaming at 2K or 4K, you can’t get higher than 1080p resolution. You can see 144 Hz screens on these laptops, but the cheapest ones come with standard 60 Hz panels. 144 Hz is a bonus for esports games. Assuming you run the game on settings low enough to achieve these types of frame rates.
- CPU: You can’t be picky here. Most of these laptops come with Intel Core i5 or Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, but you can occasionally see one with i7 or R7. Many, but not all, laptops in this price range use older chips such as Intel’s 11th generation.
- sheep: More expensive laptops have moved to DDR5, but most gaming laptops under $1,000 still use DDR4. Expect 8GB on the low end, although some systems squeeze 16GB. Some systems only come with one stick of 8GB RAM, known as single channel. Strongly consider upgrading to 16GB by paying extra at the time of purchase or by purchasing additional RAM and installing it yourself.
- storage: You might find a 256GB or 512GB SSD. A 512GB SSD is a huge advantage here because you can’t fit that many games on a 256GB drive. (Remember Windows takes up space too!) Do your homework on upgradeability. In our testing, we found that some of these laptops have room for more drives that can be added later for less than the laptop vendor charges.
Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,000: Conclusion
Even the best gaming laptops under $1,000 require compromises. Some companies opt for lower-end GPUs, while others cut costs with smaller SSDs. You have to decide what to let go. But if you make the right choices, he can still enjoy PC gaming on a budget, even if he has to turn off some settings and reinstall some games. And with some planning, you might be able to do the upgrade yourself for a dramatically better experience.
Of course, performance isn’t the only consideration. You need to check how these laptops look and feel, whether they offer the ports you need and the keyboard you prefer. So before you buy anything, do some research and make sure you have everything you need. If possible, check the laptop in person before purchasing.
Discounts on the best gaming laptops under $1,000
Whether you’re shopping for the best gaming laptop, or another model not listed, save money by checking our list of Dell Coupon Codes, HP Coupon Codes, Lenovo Coupon Codes, Razer Promo Codes You may be able to. Or Newegg promo code.
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