Best Gaming Laptop Under $1000: Powerful Budget Laptops in 2020

Are you looking for a budget gaming laptop that can handle games with high graphics without dropping out on refresh rates, bright displays, and great sound? If yes, our list of best gaming laptops under $1000 is one you want to carefully go through. It’s not a must that you spend your life-savings on getting a rig that allows you to frag on the go.

For less than a thousand dollars, you can get a gaming laptop with a great RAM, screen size, display, and graphics card. Our top ten list below is a good place to start. And to ensure that you get nothing but the best laptop for gaming, we’ve added a useful guide below. Read on to learn more.

TD;LR - 10 Best Gaming Laptops under $1000:

• Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop
• Dell G5 5590 15.6-Inch FHD Gaming
• Acer Nitro 5 15.6″ FHD Gaming Laptop
• ASUS TUF A15 15.6” Gaming Laptop
• Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop
• HP OMEN 15.6″ FHD IPS Gaming Laptop
• ASUS ROG G531GT-BI7N6 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop
• MSI GF63 Thin 15.6″ Gaming Laptop
• Lenovo Legion Y530-15 Gaming Laptop
• HP Pavilion 15-dk0041nr Gaming 15-Inch Laptop

1. Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a 15.6-inch gaming laptop that has the capability to meet all your gaming needs. Featuring a 7-hour battery life, this device is a tad short of a thousand bucks. It packs a 10th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 gigs of RAM, and 512GB NVMe SSD as storage.

Since it's designed to meet the needs of high-graphic gamers, this computer comes with NVIDIA's Geforce RTX 2060 with dedicated 6GB GDDR6 VRAM. A 144-hertz refresh rate ensures that you get little to no lag, and a 15.6-inch IPS display brings out the colors of your games. There's no doubt you'll enjoying gaming on this laptop.

2. Dell G5 5590 15.6-Inch FHD Gaming

The Dell G5 5590 is another 15.6-inch laptop that's ideal for gaming. While it doesn't have a 4K display just like the Acer Predator Helios above, it still packs some premium specs that make it worthy of consideration. Unlike the Acer above, the G5 5590 comes with a Core i5 processor and a 60-hertz FHD display that depicts your games in full HD colors.

You also get 8gb RAM, 128GB SSD, and 1TB hard drive. With this massive storage, you can download as many games as you want on your laptop. While the refresh rate isn't as good as what you'd get on the Acer, this 15.6-inch computer makes up for its shortcomings via an NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti graphics card, more storage, and cool accessories.

3. Acer Nitro 5 15.6″ FHD Gaming Laptop

The list of the best game laptops under $1000 won't be complete without the Acer Nitro 5. With a price in the $700 range, this laptop is a solid piece of gear any gamer would appreciate. However, this is one of the best and most rugged cheap gaming laptops on the market. Backlit keyboards, 256GB SSD, a great battery life, and user-controllable fans are some of the premium features you get on this device. And to make things even better, this laptop is often in deals on shopping websites like Amazon. So you may even get it lower than the $700 price range.

4. ASUS TUF A15 15.6” Gaming Laptop

The ASUS TUF is a laptop you're bound to love. Featuring a large 15.6-inch screen and a Full HD display, your games come alive with impressive color and accuracy. Just like the Dell G55 above, it uses an NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 to provide gamers with impressive graphics and a 4GB dedicated RAM ensures that you don't experience lags. You get up to 512GB SSD as storage and RGB backlit keyboards to spice up your gaming even in the dark. The sound quality here isn't the best but it comes with Bluetooth 4.2 just in case you'd love to add a headphone to your setup.

5. Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop

Lenovo has gained the trust of many gamers and this comes as no surprise as their gaming laptops usually feature high-end specs. The 15.5-inch L340 isn't so different. Thanks to its 16 gigs of RAM, you get to execute your games and apps at incredibly high speeds. As for the processor, Intel Core i5 is what you get inside, which means you can run your games and video editing apps with no issues. And with a 512SSD storage, you have enough space to save all of your games. Other features you get include an FHD display, backlit keyboard, headphone jack, HDMI, as well as USB Type A and Type C ports.

6. HP OMEN 15.6″ FHD IPS Gaming Laptop

HP is a brand that's trusted by both gamers and everyday users. Besides the fact that their laptops come with great specs, they also feature functional designs tailored to meet the needs of each user type. The HP OMEN 15.6-inch laptop is a 1080P gaming laptop that's bound to provide you with great gaming experience. Just like the Lenovo L340 above, this laptop also comes with an Intel Core i5 CPU and NVIDIA Geforce 1650 GPU.

Combine these features with its 4GB dedicated graphics memory and 12GB DDR4 system memory and you get a speedy and high-performance 15.6-inch laptop. Its 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD provides you with enough storage capacity to hold your games and apps. This HP laptop is one of the best laptops for gaming, graphic design, multitasking, and more.

7. ASUS ROG G531GT-BI7N6 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop

ASUS is a brand that's dedicated to producing some of the best gaming laptops. The ROG lineup is one that many users have come to love. Designed with a ninth-generation Intel Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650, this laptop is one that's bound to meet all your gaming needs. Coming in at a $900 price range, the 15.6-inch G531GT will meet your budget while providing you with top-of-the-line specs.

To make things even better, you'll be getting a 120-hertz FHD display on this laptop, which means better refresh rate and response time. It is powered by 8 gigs of RAM and 4 gigs of dedicated graphics memory. While you're getting a plastic build and a battery life that isn't the best, it makes up for it with its 512GB SSD, backlit keyboard, webcam, and Bluetooth 5.0. Even at high settings, you are bound to enjoy the output and performance of this cheap gaming laptop.

8. MSI GF63 Thin 15.6″ Gaming Laptop

Looking for a thin gaming laptop? The MSI GF63 is one of the best options to consider. Not only is it thin and lightweight, but it's also packed with features that are bound to make your gaming experience more fun. The GF63 comes with an almost bezel-less display and sits in the $950 price range. It features a 6-core Intel Core i7 processor, a 60-hertz IPS 1080P display, as well as 256GB SSD storage and 1TB HDD storage.

Using NVIDIA's GTX 1050, this gaming laptop is capable of handling esports games as well as FPS games without any hiccups. Play all day long as you get up to 7 hours of battery life on this device. And with its 8GB RAM, you won't be experiencing game lags anytime soon.

9. Lenovo Legion Y530-15 Gaming Laptop

If you're a casual gamer who loves gaming on a laptop but want the best cheap gaming laptop, check out the Lenovo Legion Y530. Sleek, slim, and gorgeous, this laptop comes with great port selection and solid innards. While the display may not be the brightest and the keyboard travel isn't the best, there's no denying the fact that you're getting a powerful laptop for less than a thousand grand.

The speakers produce decent sound and its separated dual fans ensure that your laptop doesn't overheat. Its webcam isn't great, but that doesn't take away from the overall performance of the laptop. With its 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 128GB SSD, and Intel Core i5-8300H, your gaming experience won't remain the same. You'll surely get the best out of this device if you play games at low or normal resolutions. That said, don't expect this machine to run VR games or handle newer games at their highest resolutions.

10. HP Pavilion 15-dk0041nr Gaming 15-Inch Laptop

The HP Pavilion 15 comes in many different variants, but the one we'll be talking about is the Intel Core i5 variant. This gaming laptop is moderately priced as it comes in at a price point a little above $850. Its 8GB RAM, Intel Core i5 processor, and NVIDIA GTX 1650 ensures that you're able to play games like PUBG, Fortnight, and Overwatch with no issues.

While it doesn't come with a 144-hertz display like the ASUS TUF above, its 60-hertz 1920 x 1080 display still ensures that you get decent gaming experience. Its 8GB memory and 256GB SSD storage are both upgradeable. You also get to enjoy BIOS recovery and protection as this laptop protects itself against unauthorized access and checks for health and performance issues. This is really a great value for money.

Gaming Laptop Under $1000 Buyer’s Guide

You don’t have to spend empty your bank account simply because you want to get the best gaming laptop. There are many different laptops under $1000 and we have ten of the best above. These laptops come with great processors and GPUs and some of them can even handle some of the latest games around. Also, some of them are featured in deals which means you can get them at lower prices than they currently are.

In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at some of the questions some users may have about gaming laptops under $1000. Also, we’ll be letting you know the right factors to consider when choosing the best laptop under 1000 bucks. Without further ado, let’s get right into it:

What’s the Best Gaming Laptop for Under $1000?

Truthfully, there’s no specific answer to this question. However, our list of ten best gaming laptops is a good place to start your under $1000 laptop search. They feature great designs, decent components, some of the topmost CPUs, and are quite portable. Some of them even have laptop deals on them from time to time, which means you can even get them cheaper. We would, however, like to recommend some laptop guides we believe may meet your gaming requirements:

• Best Gaming Laptops under $800
• Best Gaming Laptop under $500

What Laptops Are Good for Gaming and Cheap?

There are many different laptops on the market that are cheap and great for gaming. However, as we noted earlier, our top ten list is a great place to start. But there’s a chance that you may not like the computers on our list. So what should you do? How do you identify the best gaming laptops without emptying your bank account? We are here to answer that question by providing you with the necessary factors to look out for in this modern world of gaming laptops.

• Best Gaming Laptop under $1500
• Best Gaming Laptops under $2000

Below, you’ll find the necessary elements you need to check when buying a laptop for gaming, software development, video editing, graphics design, and more. We don’t want you reading tons of reviews or stressing yourself out before making a buying decision, which may end up not being the right one. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

Simply known as the graphics card, your GPU is one of the most important factors to look at when choosing a gaming laptop. While some games make use of the CPU, many of them rely on the GPU for better performance and functionality. There are many different types of GPUs, but most gaming laptops today utilize Nvidia’s GTX and RTX GPUs. You can also find some gaming laptops using AMD’s Ryzen graphic cards, which are beginning to get faster and provide better performance than previous models. But they aren’t as popular or widely used as gaming laptops with Nvidia’s GPUs.

For entry-level gaming, you can start working with gaming laptops running on GTX 1060. While you won’t be able to play at the highest setting, the middle settings will turn out great. However, if you want to go with the highest settings without investing much, you can opt for the GTX 1660 Ti.

For mainstream gaming, we recommend that you start from the Geforce RTX 2060. While this means that you’ll have to fork out about over 1000 bucks, you’ll be able to play most games on high settings while enjoying some VR functionality too. And for those who love playing at the highest settings or just want to enjoy a smoother VR experience, start with the RTX 2070 and work your way up to the RTX 2080 Ti. Keep in mind that gaming laptops with these cards cost anywhere between 1000 to 3000 bucks.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The CPU of your gaming laptop is another important component you need to consider before making your buying decision. Most gaming laptops now feature great CPUs that can be used to flawlessly run casual games. There are some laptops that even come with desktop CPUs. However, most games rely on the laptop’s GPU instead of its CPU, you should be good to go with an Intel Core i5 CPU. It’s important to note that CPUs are mostly not upgradeable, so you might want to ensure that the one you choose is decent enough to run your games for a good while.

RAM

Gaming is an intensive task, which means your computer will use a huge part of its memory. We recommend that you go for a gaming laptop with at least 8GB of RAM, and if you can afford one with 16GB, you’d be in for a good time. Most gaming laptops with GTX 1650 and higher come with at least 8GB of RAM. And to make things better, many of these RAMs can be expanded.

Storage

Which should you go with? HDD or SSD? While some budget gaming laptops come with only HDD (usually up to 1TB), many gaming laptops offer both types of storage. For those with HDD and SSD, they usually offer SSD as a boot drive, so as to make the device faster. This is why you see laptops like the Lenovo Legion Y530 having up to 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD. Laptops with only SSD storage are better as they have faster loading times, however, they cost more. If you’ll be going with an HDD laptop, ensure that the drive in it is the faster 7,200-rpm drive and not the slower 5200-rpm drive. And as for purely SSD computers, go with those with at least 256GB SSD.

Conclusion

Now, you can see that you don’t have to empty your savings before being able to get the ideal hardware for your gaming. All you need to do is make sure the components embedded in the computer, such as graphics card, CPU, storage, etc. match your specs.

We have ten of the best gaming laptops for 1000 bucks above. They come with different performance levels, power levels, price ranges, storage types, etc. If you’re looking for an entry-level laptop with great versatility and performance, the products in our review are worth considering.