The best cheap gaming laptops in 2024

Budget gaming laptops must hit that sweet spot where affordability meets playability. As we kick off 2024, finding the best cheap gaming laptop can be a quest, but fear not, warriors! There are budget beasts out there waiting to unleash your inner gamer. Don't let the price tag fool you – these machines can handle VR worlds and AAA titles with surprising smoothness. So ditch the wallet-crushing specs and embrace the budget brawl. Your next gaming adventure awaits!

And while the newest laptops with the more powerful components may be out of your budget, that doesn't mean you can't get a gaming laptop with last-gen specs, which are still plenty powerful (for a reasonable price). But if you are looking for something with a bigger budget, the best gaming laptops will do you a service. And if you don't need a full PC, then some of the best handheld gaming devices are a worthy alternative to consider in this price range too.

We've compiled a list of the best cheap gaming laptops because we know gaming is an expensive hobby. With all the games and peripherals to consider, it can get pricey really fast. We should also see several sub $1,000 gaming laptops come out mid-year thanks to the launch of Intel Core Ultra CPUs, new AI-infused chipsets from AMD, and the much anticipated Qualcomm Elite X. 

Over the course of a year, we review over 100 laptops, covering every price point and use case. When it comes to cheap gaming laptops, we evaluate a number of criteria, including gaming and overall performance, display, battery life, and, of course, value. 

Whether you're looking for a gift for the gamer in your life or want an affordable way to frag on the go, here are the best cheap gaming laptops under $1,000.

The Quick List

Best Overall

The Dell G5 15 SE (2020) is a great mainstream gaming laptop thanks to its wild CPU performance, awesome battery life and bright 15.6-inch display. With its AMD processor, the system continuously blew out the competition. The notebook also impressed with its battery life, lasting over 7 hours. Throw in an AMD graphics card that can hold its own on even the most demanding AAA titles and you've got a certified winner. 

Plus, the laptop has a display that's equal parts bright and vivid along with a seriously comfortable keyboard. And we're fans of the iridescent silver paint slathered over the hood and the healthy port offering, which lets you attach all of your necessary peripherals. The Dell G5 15 SE (2020) is one of the best gaming laptops you can get for the price. 

See our full Dell G5 15 SE (2020) review. 

Best Performance + Battery Life Combo

The HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0046nr is an entry-level gaming laptop with a powerful Intel Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce GPU, with an agile SSD and great battery life, all wrapped up in a striking, fairly portable design. Its combination of specs, power and endurance earned the laptop a place on our top cheap gaming laptops under $1,000 page. 

The Pavilion 15 is not to be slept upon simply because it’s a budget system. It packs some powerful specs which means the notebook can play games at good frame rates. And at nearly 6 hours of battery life, it’s got endurance to spare. It also manages to stays pretty cool, even while gaming.  Still, if you’re looking for a surprisingly powerful entry-level system at a great price, the HP Pavilion 15 should be at the top of your list.

See our full HP Gaming Pavillion 15-dk0046nr review.

Best Battery Life

If you’re looking for a gaming laptop for a ridiculously cheap price, look no further than the Acer Nitro 5 (AMD, 2020). For just under $700 the Nitro 5 offers class-leading battery life, a powerful AMD Ryzen 5-4600H processor and a comfortable keyboard. But this laptop's real claim to fame, like most modern AMD-laden laptops is the battery life. The Nitro 5 clocks in at 11 hours and 9 minutes, a time previously unheard of in a gaming laptop. 

Thanks to the AMD processor, the Nitro 5 offers serious performance, especially for a laptop in its price range. The Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU means that you'll have to play your AAA titles at lower settings to get decent frame rates. You'll make a few compromises, like a dim display, but for a sub-$700 gaming system, there are more hits than misses. 

See our full Acer Nitro 5 (AMD, 2020) review. 

Best Display

The TUF Gaming FX705 is a good choice for anyone who wants a large, midrange, yet cheap gaming laptop. The FX705's 17.3-inch, 144-Hz display is vivid and detailed, and its Core i7 CPU and GTX 1060 GPU provide excellent all-around performance. The laptop also has a comfortable keyboard with customizable lighting, plenty of ports and over 4 hours of battery life, which is impressive for a gaming laptop at any price point.

We were thoroughly impressed with the laptop's 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 display with its 144Hz refresh rate. Not only did the laptop deliver incredibly smooth frames, it's also bright and vivid. It's great for watching movies and playing games. Overall, the Asus TUF Gaming FX705 is a solid midlevel gaming laptop that offers excellent performance at a reasonable price.

See our full Asus TUF Gaming FX705 review. 

Best RTX 3050 Laptop

The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is a budget gaming laptop that offers decent performance thanks to its RTX 3050 GPU, but the inadequate display will turn some away. If you don’t care how deep your colors are or how bright your screen can get, this is the laptop for you, especially if you’re willing to settle for playing games at medium graphics settings.

If that sounds harsh, keep in mind it is under $800, which makes it a decent choice for those looking to save their money first and foremost. However, the money you save is also why the IdeaPad Gaming 3 embodies “budget gaming laptop” in nearly every way, as you’re making some serious sacrifices to performance and visual fidelity. At the very least though, the speakers are surprisingly crisp and the battery lasts quite a bit longer than the competition.

See our full Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 review

How to Choose One of the Best Cheap Gaming Laptops

When shopping for a gaming laptop, there's a lot to consider. To help you choose a system, here are five key points to keep in mind when choosing a system.

Budget: What you get for the money

You can find good inexpensive gaming laptops for under $1,000. However, more powerful mainstream gaming laptops are often priced between $1,500 and $2,000. Premium systems typically cost more than $2,000 and come stacked with a host of high-powered goodies such as high-powered specs and tricked-out software.

Screen Size: 15 inches is the go-to

It's very rare that you'll find a 13 or 14-inch gaming laptops nowadays as smaller bezels and lighter frames have paved the way for seriously thin-and-light gaming laptops. That means the days of chunky 15.6-inch laptops putting a strain on your back are over (almost).

From there, you have the 17.3-inch desktop replacements that like their smaller counterparts are becoming super svelte. But there are still the big behemoths that don't skimp on the specs. However, weighing upwards of 8 pounds, those big boys are made for your home gaming station. 

Screen Resolution: 1080p for high refresh rates, 4K for detail

When it comes to gaming laptops displays, you want to strike a balance between frame rates and aesthetics. And in case you're planning to get a truly mobile system battery life is also deserves consideration. We recommend checking out a system with a 1080p resolution. Panel makers are now serving up screens with high refresh rate, topping out at 360Hz with a 3 millisecond response rate. But don't count out 4K screens yet as we're starting to see laptops with 4K displays with 120Hz. Keep in mind that laptops with lower resolutions tend to have longer battery life overall.

Refresh rate: 120Hz is the sweet spot

Depending what kind of games you're playing, particularly first person shooters and MOBA, you'll take anything that will enhance accuracy. Surprisingly, the higher a display's refresh rate is, the more accurate your shot become. It's a phenomenon that we've experienced first hand during many demos. And while 60Hz is passable, right now we recommend investing in a panel with at least a 120Hz refresh rate. 

Intel or AMD?

A couple of years ago, the answer to this question would have been undoubtedly Intel. But AMD has made a furious comeback with its new Ryzen CPUs, which are delivering great overall performance. Thanks to the architecture in the new Ryzen chips, they're super power efficient without sacrificing productivity. The Ryzen 5000 series CPUs have consistently impressed with its performance versus battery life.

Not to be outdone, Intel's 11th Gen chips are nothing to sneeze at. Laptop manufacturers have started rolling out systems with the Intel's 11th Gen H-series Tiger Lake chips. The 10-nanometer chips are extremely powerful, but still at the low-end of the spectrum with the overclockable HK-series CPU, due to launch soon. Why do you want to invest in an overclockable processor, because with the touch of a button, you can squeeze even more power out of the system. It comes in handy when you're multitasking or playing a really demanding game. 

Battery Life: At least 4.5 hours

Unless it's plugged in, gaming laptop battery life tends to be very short, especially when gaming. However, gaming laptop battery life has gotten increasing longer over the years. So much so, that anything under 4.5 hours is considered below average. But we've just reviewed our first gaming laptop that's lasted into the double digits. With results like that, we expect gaming laptops will match their non-gaming counterparts sooner than later. Our most power-efficient gaming laptop ran over 11 hours and sits on our longest-lasting laptops page.

Specs: 1080p / Core i5 / 16GB Are Best Bets

You can spend a lot of time delving into specs, but here are the key components to think about. If you just want really good mainstream performance, go for a Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1080p screen.

How We Test the Best Cheap Gaming Laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. 

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings at 1080p resolution.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 10 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than 5 hours deserve praise. 

These tests are complemented with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming. 

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on. 

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it. 

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.