Top Of Most Affordable Gaming Laptops Under $1,000

In the world of portables, the line is divided pretty clear between machines bred for lenient, office works and those that are beastly machines able to run graphics as real as reality. One thing about them is even though they are sought after, they’re often too pricey for quite a lot of people. Even when machines equipped with powerful GPUs such as RTX 2060, 2070, and 2080 are now available, unless you have $1,500 somewhere you’ll have to wait for quite some time until the price eventually drops.

But you don’t have to torture yourself like that. Even though these machines are indeed powerful, many older generations still have enough power in them to set most of triple-A games today through their best paces. Gaming laptops such equipped with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 10-series GPUs have had their prices dropped to a more affordable range, moreover, they’re plenty capable if hardcore gaming is what you seek. With some digging, it’s not hard to find a model with a spacious 15.6-inch screen and specs worthy of a mobile battle-station.

Price Range

At the moment, the minimum you would need to spend if you want to have a laptop equipped with an entry-level GTX 1050 is some $600. The horsepower they can put out is enough to allow you to play most graphically demanding games at low to medium settings.

If you have more to spare (Somewhere in the range of $1,000), of course, you’d get a better bargain out of it. An upper-midrange GeForce GTX 1060, especially ones with 6GB of VRAM can give you a little taste of the ray-tracing capability of the newer RTX cards. You would be able to experience most games at their fullest graphical potentials with it.

In the middle are laptops equipped with 1050 Ti cards for some $800, though they’re certainly not as capable as the GTX 1006, most games can be played at medium-to-high depending on the title.

Affordable Gaming Options

Dell G5 15

Dell is one of the most popular gaming laptops for most gamers. Though the brand offers quite a lot of choices, such as the top of the line Alienware series, G-series is considered as a more affordable choice. Even though they’re ‘affordable’ , they’re still able to put out the performance needed for most triple-A games.

There are three models for you to pick from: The G3, G5, and G7 - and two screen sizes: 15 and 17-inch.

If you need something that looks a little bit more inconspicuous, the G3 15 at $700 can be a good choice considering the fact that its design is similar to that of the boring Inspiron. But if you need something that looks as good as it performs, then the G5 and G7 offer design is more ‘gaming’.

If you don’t know what to look for, then you should consider the G5 15: It is right in the middle of it all, offering a great balance between performance, design, and build quality. The laptop starts at $800 equipped with a 4GB GTX 1050. There are two more upgrade options, if you’re willing to spend an additional $200, you’d get it with a 6GB GTX 1060. Another $200 (Bringing the total price to $1,200) and the avant-garde RTX 2060 will be yours to put to the test.

Not without a reason that this is considered as some of the best gaming laptops on the market at the moment.

Lenovo Legion Y530

There are three models, in particular, you might want to look into when it comes to Lenovo: Lenovo Legion Y530, Y730, and Y7000. All three of these gaming laptops can be found at most retailers for less than $1,000.

But you need to have in mind a very specific idea of what you’re searching for. Because each of the three models offers different things. The Y7000 can give you a pretty good-looking design that just signals it is a gaming laptop. The Y530, though looks pretty bland and similar to most office laptops, have components and specs you would salivate over. And lastly, the Y730 goes full out with features: An RGB-backlit keyboard and re-assignable macro keys.

If you don’t care much about the look of your laptop and is more concerned about the performance, the Y530 is currently the best deal at the moment at Lenovo. It can be bought for $920 with a 6GB GTX 1060 packed inside along with an i5 processor.

Acer Predator Helios 300

The Predator Helios 300 is not yet available for purchase, although it will hit the market in April this year with a ninth-generation Intel processor and the latest RTX cards. The design department of Acer also worked extensively on thinning the body of the laptop, making it a little bit smaller and less unwieldy to carry around.

But if you don’t have the time nor the money to settle for the latest, the old generation Helios 300 can still be a good choice. With a 15.6-inch Full-HD IPS display panel and a 144Hz refresh rate, whatever you put on the screen will be displayed in vivid colors and details for sure. And honestly, an eighth-generation Intel processor (i7-8750H), a 6GB GTX 1060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a blazingly fast 256GB NVMe SSD is a solid spec sheet for the machine that’s sold for $999.

But if that’s a little bit too pricey for you, then consider Acer’s Nitro 5. It is about to get a refresh also, but older generation machines are still available. Though it may not be as great an option as Dell’s and Lenovo’s gaming laptops on the same price range. $650 for a GTX 1050 and $800 for a 1050 Ti is a pretty good price spectrum.

HP Pavilion Gaming 15t

The HP Pavilion Gaming series is a mainstream option unlike its Omen offspring, being HP’s division for higher-end gaming laptops. It will save you some pretty bucks in comparison to the latter, just like how Dell’s G-series is the affordable option over Dell Alienware.

Despite this, however, with a beautiful vent design and a green-backlit keyboard, even an amateur would not be able to mistake it with a normal laptop. You can buy the laptop directly from HP’s site for $780 shipped with a 2GB GeForce GTX 1050 from within its shell. Although if you go to Amazon, you might be able to snag one that has a 4GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and a hexa-core i7-8750H for $999.

Asus TUF Gaming FX504

Whenever gaming is concerned, Asus always rises to the top among the most popular names. The brand’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) series is an extremely popular option for those wanting top of the line performance. But if you don’t have the cash to back up that desire, Asus still has something else for you: TUF.

The TUF has many configurations you can choose from, though all of them are shipped with a cushioned keyboard that Asus claimed it could last for 20 million keystrokes. We recommend when it comes to the TUF, you do not go for the cheapest option: It’s absolutely a bad deal. Though the higher you go up the price line, the better it gets.

For $680, you can get an IPS panel, a 4GB 1050 Ti, a 256GB SSD, and a quad-core i5-8300H.

If you hike the budget to some $1,100, you can get a machine holding a Core i7, 6GB GTX 1060, and a 15.6-inch display refreshing at 120Hz.

For the Casual Gamers

But if gaming laptops aren’t exactly what you’re looking for and what you need is something in-between: Having the style of an average office laptop, while packing the heat of a true gaming machine. Then you would want some laptops pre-packaged with graphics cards that are at the very least a couple of steps above the Integrated Graphics cards such as the GTX 1050. The very best card in this series is the MX150.

There’s a caveat, however. Frame rates are going to be trouble if you want to run demanding games on them. But typically, older games such as BioShock Infinite or Battlefield 3 could still be played fine. Most popular online games like Fortnite, Overwatch, League of Legends, e.t.c. are all playable.

Acer Aspire E15

It’s not a bad machine for the $600 price tag it is boasting. The MX150 graphics and an eight-generation i5 are enough for most casual gaming. The display is an expansive 15.6-inch screen, along the side of the laptop is a bunch of ports and even an old-fashioned CD reader/burner.

Asus ZenBook 13

Another name in this list of best gaming laptops comes from Asus. For an ultra-portable with a 13.3-inch screen, the Asus ZenBook 13 is a pretty good performing laptop. When it was first launched, it was heralded as the thinnest notebook with the most powerful graphics inside. So if you’re constantly on the move and want to have some gaming sessions while you’re at it, it wouldn’t be a bad choice.