Budget gaming laptops simply mean getting your hands on a powerful machine that can handle both work and play. For those on a budget, it doesn’t make sense to plunk down thousands of dollars for something like an Alienware laptop.
They’re cool and all, but not everyone needs such power under the hood. Especially gamers who only want to stare at their screen and smash some WASD keys. And when you release your wallet from its iron grip and pick up one of the best budget gaming laptops in this top 7 list, you’ll be glad you did.
The Best Budget Gaming Laptops Receive Their Own Line-Up. The following list contains ten excellent affordable gaming laptops capable of playing games in enough detail to do justice to mid-range titles. All options are well suited for day-to-day use and, crucially, the best budget gaming laptops look ain’t too shabby either.
Moreover, we recommend that you delve into our comprehensive buying guide which highlights what to look out for when considering the best budget gaming laptops. This includes everything from essential technical specifications and features to design and build quality, as well as various levels of performance and overall value for money.
So good pen and paper time. It’s time to discover which is the best affordable laptop for playing your favorite games lag-free. Anyhow, let’s proceed to the best budget gaming laptops.
Our Top 3 Best Budget Gaming Laptops Picks
GIGABYTE G5 KC Gaming Laptop
Editor’s Choice
Processor: Intel Core i5
Graphics Card: RTX 3060
Dell G15 Ryzen
AMD 6-Core Gaming Laptop
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5
Graphics Card: RTX 3050
Acer Nitro 5
High Specs Gaming Laptop
Processor: Intel Core i7
Graphics Card: RTX 2060
If you are not a fan of laptops read the guide by Techprogeeks on the Best Gaming PC.
Best Budget Gaming Laptops 2023
1. GIGABYTE G5 KC – Best RTX 3060 Budget Gaming Laptop
2. Dell G15 Ryzen Edition – Best RTX 3050 Budget Gaming Laptop
3. Acer Nitro 5 – Best With RTX 2060 Graphics Card
4. Dell Vostro 15 7500 – Vest With GTX 1650 GPU
5. HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop – Best With GTX 1050 Ti GPU
6. Lenovo Legion 5 – Best With Ryzen 7 Processor
7. Asus TUF Gaming F17 – Best With 17-inch Screen
What Are The System Requirements Of High-End Games
To play the latest games on a budget laptop, of course, you need to set the system boundaries. Although the budget gaming laptops that I compiled are able to play high-end games in low or medium settings. Some of them like the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop and Asus TUF Gaming F17 are able to support the graphics complex games in high settings. Now that a few things are clear to you, let me give you the system requirements for graphics complex games.
Recommended Low Settings Requirements
Processor: 9th Generation Intel Core i5-9300H
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2666MHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Graphics with 4GB VRAM
Storage Type: SSD
Screen size: 15.6-inch
Operating system: Windows 10 Home
Recommended medium Settings Requirements
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H mobile
RAM: 16GB 3200MHz DDR4
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
Storage Type: SSD
Screen size: 15.6-inch
Operating system: Windows 10 Home
The gaming laptops that are able to support the graphics complex games are a little expensive and I would recommend checking our best gaming laptops compiled list to find your high-end flagship that supports high-end games. Luckily, all the gaming laptops that are mentioned on the list come with lightning-fast hardware components that crush all games like a boss.
Best Budget Gaming Laptops
1. GIGABYTE G5 KC
| Processor: | Intel Core i5-10500H |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Memory: | 16GB |
| Storage: | 512 GB PCIe SSD |
| Display: | 15.6″ FHD, IPS |
| Battery Life: | 8 hours |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 Home |
The GIGABYTE G5 KC was is the most, and it’s already got a place in my heart. (Not to brag, but I also got a place in its heart.) It’s stylish, fairly thin for what it offers, reasonably lightweight at under 8 lbs., and has nice RGB lighting options without being too tacky about it, and most importantly, the specs are actually competitive with other budget gaming laptops. Most
Moreover, the GIGABYTE G5 KC has no major deal-breaking flaws. The keyboard is clicky and responsive, the screen is bright (although not as vibrant as I’d like), the battery life isn’t completely terrible (clocking around 4 hours 30 minutes in our standard test), and it’s even got a few extra features that might come in handy for some people.
As for the processor, it’s a decent 10th Gen Intel Core i5, although I am concerned about the cooling system being able to keep up with more intense loads. But if you’re looking for a great gaming laptop on a budget that can handle most games in medium settings, then this laptop deserves your attention.
Whereas, the graphics card and RAM (8GB and 2400MHz, respectively) are much more practical for gamers who use their gaming laptops as actual workstations or media consumption devices. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is a decent-budget gaming card that can handle most games on medium settings. And while 8GB of RAM might not seem like much, it’s enough to cover basic multitasking and even some more intense applications.
I will admit that the keyboard isn’t quite as impressive when I have to type in a password every so often, but it’s still good enough for me to write this review. The touchpad is also pretty darn nice and responsive, which I wasn’t expecting from a laptop of this price range.
Overall, I think the GIGABYTE G5 KC is a great budget gaming laptop for its price. So if you’re looking for something to game on, but don’t want to fork over the cash for a laptop that’s specifically made just for that, then this model should definitely be considered.
Lightning fast processor.
Thunder fast GPU.
Acceptable battery life.
Fast storage component.
Widescreen for gaming.
The memory has much room for improvement.
Fans get noisy sometimes during gameplay.
2. Dell G15 Ryzen Edition
| Processor: | AMD 6-Core Ryzen 5 5600H |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 |
| Memory: | 16GB |
| Storage: | 256GB SSD |
| Display: | 15.6″ FHD |
| Battery Life: | 3 hours average |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 |
Tired of your puny laptop that can only do the bare minimum? Tired of having to play games on low settings because your laptop doesn’t have the proper hardware to run them? Well, look no further. The Dell G15 is here.
It has a large amount of space for games and comes with a powerful AMD 6-Core Ryzen 5 5600H processor and an even more powerful graphics card which is the GeForce RTX 3050 4GB. Moreover, the Dell G15 also gives you the option to choose your own keyboard and mouse, giving you full control over what hardware is in it.
On the other hand, the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition is a budget gaming laptop with a battery lasting only up to 3 hours. So make sure you charge it fully before playing games or else you’ll get angry when your laptop dies on you in the middle of a boss battle.
As for the design, the G15 Ryzen Edition is the epitome of what a gaming laptop should look like. The entire laptop is decked out in black, with red accents on the inside to make it feel like you’re playing games right within hell.
On top of that, the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition Gaming Laptop does come cheap; if you plan to buy one, be prepared to shell out only a few bucks to purchase.
In conclusion, the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition is a great laptop for gamers who want to switch from a console or PC. However, you’ll have to be prepared to spend around 1000 dollars on the gaming laptop and additional money on a mouse and keyboard. All in all, if you’re willing to spend that much money on a gaming laptop then go ahead and buy the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition. It’ll definitely be worth your money and time.
Powerful processor and graphics card.
Great resolutions and screen size.
Acceptable memory size.
Equipped with SSD for smooth performance.
Low battery life.
Low storage capacity.
3. Acer Nitro 5
| Processor: | 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 |
| Memory: | 16GB |
| Storage: | 256GB NVMe SSD |
| Display: | 4.85lbs |
| Battery Life: | Windows 10 Home |
| Operating System: | 7 hours max |
If you’re in the market for a new budget gaming laptop, Acer’s new Nitro 5 might be one to consider. Outfitted with a 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card, it has some decent specs. It also comes with Windows 10 Home installed, a full keyboard with a number pad, and a Thunderbolt 3 port.
Speaking of storage, the notebook comes with a regular 256GB SSD. It might not be a 1TB HDD, but that’s what you get in the best budget gaming laptops and yes it does fulfill your budget requirements.
What’s notable about this laptop is its form factor. The Nitro 5 has a 15-inch FHD IPS display so it’s somewhat larger than the company’s older Nitro 5 Spin, which was outfitted with a 14-inch screen. It also comes in a black and red color scheme, which Acer calls “Midnight Black”, though you could also describe it as orange.
The Nitro 5 is made out of plastic, which contributes to its relatively lightweight (4.85 pounds). However, there’s nothing wrong with plastic in these times when metal constructions are increasingly rare. The finished quality is good, except for the display which easily collects smudges from greasy fingers. Whereas, the port layout is standard with a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A connector, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, an HDMI port, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack along with a Kensington lock slot on the right side.
The cooling system is optimized to operate silently, Acer says. And you don’t hear it when the laptop idles, but if you put some load on it, the fan will kick in. It’s not too loud but still noticeable under heavy load.
The processor of your desires.
Plugged with high-end GPU.
Awesome gaming performance.
All required ports inside.
Ergonomic.
Battery life is acceptably good.
Screen is on the dim side.
4. Dell Vostro 15 7500
| Processor: | 10th Gen i7-10750H, 6-Core |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GTX 1650 4GB |
| Memory: | 32GB |
| Storage: | 1TB NVMe SSD |
| Display: | 15.6″ FHD, Anti-Glare |
| Battery Life: | 5 hours |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 pro |
Dell Vostro 15 7500 is a nice-looking budget gaming laptop with a combination of black and silver colors. It has a 15.6” display screen. The laptop comes with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed, which is somehow a plus point for this machine. Whereas it has 32GB RAM one of the best parts of this budget laptop for gaming.
Moreover, the Dell Vostro 15 7500 is equipped with the 10th generation Intel Core 10750H 6 Core i7 processor, which is very common these days among many flagships in this range. It comes loaded with NVIDIA GTX 1650 4GB dedicated graphics card to enhance gaming and other visual performance. Whereas, It has a 1TB SSD to store and retrieve your data and multimedia files much faster than the HDD.
The only downside that most people may not like with this laptop is its screen resolution. It has a basic 1920 x 1080 pixels HD display, which is below the current average of today’s standard 2k display screens. Other than that, it is one of the best options you can choose from a large range of available laptops from Dell.
On the other hand, the battery life on Dell Vostro 15 7500 is relatively decent. It comes with a 4-cell battery that can last up to 5 hours of normal usage, depending on the type of activities you are doing.
Another Good Point about this best budget gaming laptop is its connectivity options. It has almost all the ports and slots that you may need for it to function well. It has two USB 3.0 ports, support for LAN connection, 1 HDMI port, an SD card reader slot, and a headphone jack.
So far there are no such negative points found about the Dell Vostro 15 7500 that can make this gaming laptop a bad choice. It is worth checking out if you are looking for the best budget gaming laptop with good specs.
Performs like a boss in medium settings.
All-powerful hardware components inside.
Professional yet simple design.
Wider display.
Battery life is below average.
Resolutions are not favored as 2k.
5. HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop
| Processor: | 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti 4GB |
| Memory: | 8GB |
| Storage: | 1TB HDD |
| Display: | 15.6″ FHD |
| Battery Life: | Windows 10 Home |
| Operating System: | 5 hours |
Another one of the best budget gaming laptops that made its place on our list is the one and only HP Pavilion Gaming laptop. Unlike other HP laptops, this one doesn’t have a lot of curved edges and it certainly looks good!
It is well built with a matte black aluminum body that’s smooth. The lid has a nice textured finish which also adds to the overall look. The build quality is stellar and what you would expect from a high-end manufacturer like HP.
The HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop features a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare display that has great viewing angles and really good color reproduction as well. The screen is crisp and the text looks sharp and legible it also gets bright enough for comfortable viewing in an indoor environment but sadly, the low brightness levels combined with poor black levels don’t make it very suitable for outdoor usage.
Moreover, the HP Pavilion equips the Intel 8th Gen i5-8300H processor which can handle almost any game you throw at it. Whereas, the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics card is more than enough for high settings in most modern titles and if you want to play even more demanding stuff, you can always turn down the settings to a notch or two.
It also has 8GB of RAM that’s upgradeable up to 16GB. There’s only one storage option available which is a 1TB 5400RPM hard drive that can be replaced with an SSD or HDD and you also get an empty slot if you want to add more RAM.
The battery life on the HP Pavilion Gaming laptop isn’t very great either and while it does provide enough juice for regular use, it’s not the best option for traveling yet it offers 8 hours of battery life.
All in all, the HP Pavilion Gaming laptop is a great laptop that has plenty of power to handle games at medium-high settings and it even looks pretty good too. The only downside is the lackluster battery life which you might want to look into if you intend to use this one on the go or for long gaming sessions.
Ergonomic design.
Great keyboard and touchpad.
Average battery life.
Lightning fast hardware components.
Battery life.
6. Lenovo Legion 5
| Processor: | AMD Ryzen 7 4800H |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti |
| Memory: | 16GB |
| Storage: | 512GB SSD |
| Display: | 15.6″ FHD |
| Battery Life: | 8 hours |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 |
Lenovo’s Legion 5 is a nearly perfect balance of power and style. Second, only to their premium L series, Lenovo has been able to deliver a compact form factor with powerful hardware that does not sacrifice design for performance. In fact, the Legion 5 looks as great as it performs with an aggressive chassis made from aluminum and plastic all finished in a stealthy matte black.
Speaking of design, the Lenovo Legion 5 is not like most gaming laptops. Lenovo has chosen to go with a small footprint which is indicative of its overall thickness as well as weight compared to other devices within the same category. Not only that but because of this choice, it’s able to run quietly without sacrificing cooling performance.
Even though there are compromises made in terms of size, Lenovo did not seem to sacrifice any features. The keyboard has the same RGB lighting found in most of their other devices, including a number pad and macro keys on the left side. Lenovo has even included dedicated buttons for power, gaming mode, speakers, and lights as well as the MSI dragon logo.
On the other hand, the Legion 5 is made with gamers in mind and equipped with some of the latest hardware around. The video card that ships with this device are NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti, an entry-level card on its own but one of the most powerful when it comes to mobile versions. Like some other best-budget gaming laptops, users can expect a max resolution of 1920 x 1080 and UHD at 60Hz.
Whereas, the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H is a step up from the Ryzen 7 2700U found in Lenovo Legion 5 and offers similar performance benefits. In addition to that, there’s 16GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB SSD, which is plenty of room for most games and applications. Other notable features include two USB 3.0 ports, one Thunderbolt 3 port as well as HDMI 2 which lets users connect up to 4 monitors simultaneously.
Lenovo’s Legion 5 is an excellent product that combines high-end hardware with a rich set of useful gaming-oriented features in a compact form factor with a competitive price tag.
Stylish ergonomics.
Good build quality.
Thin bezels screen.
8 hours battery life.
Fastest components.
All ports.
Low quality speakers.
7. Asus TUF Gaming F17
| Processor: | Quad-core Intel Core 15-10300H |
| Graphics Card: | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB |
| Memory: | 8GB |
| Storage: | 512GB SSD |
| Display: | 17.3″ FHD |
| Battery Life: | 6 hours |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 Home |
The TUF Gaming F17 is an interesting best budget gaming laptop. It’s Asus’ most affordable 17-inch gaming machine with a dedicated GPU, and it has both the looks and hardware to deliver solid 1080p gaming performance. What I’d like to find out firsthand is how much of that promise holds up in reality.
The Hardware components on the Asus TUF Gaming F17 are the latest budget hardware. The laptop packs a GeForce GTX 1650 Ti graphics card, an Intel Core i5-10300H processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 512GB of PCIe SSD storage. It’s nothing too special but it’s well-balanced components that should offer good value for money.
The outer design of the Asus TUF Gaming F17 is a bit understated with a simple camouflage design. It is made of plastic and I feel like this laptop could’ve used some more metal to give it a premium look.
The laptop does get pretty hot, especially around the back where the GPU sits, I played one or two games on high settings and after about 45 minutes it was really hard to keep the laptop on my lap without feeling the heat. The keyboard is tactile and responsive with good feedback making it great for gaming. The speakers are loud but lack depth which means they won’t replace your desktop speaker set anytime soon, at least not for music.
The Asus TUF Gaming F17 has a matte 17-inch 1080p screen that’s more than suitable for gaming, but not much else.
The screen is OK for regular daily use with accurate colors and decent viewing angles, But if you are planning to watch some movies or play games outside you will probably struggle to see content clearly. Don’t get me wrong the screen is still good compared to many of its competitors in this price range, but if you are used to a high-quality screen it’s something you will notice.
The TUF Gaming F17 offers pretty good performance for the price, so long as you aren’t expecting super high frame rates at 1080p. Medium-quality games run great though there was some occasional stutter when playing Overwatch on the highest settings.
The design is much better than other laptops.
Equipped with good hardware components.
Wider display
Powered with all ports.
Comes with solid build quality.
Never make noise.
Battery life is not good.
Also Read Best Laptops For AutoCAD.
Best Budget Gaming Laptops FAQs
Well, to help you with this question I have collected a list of some of the cheapest laptops on the market with dedicated graphic cards. If you are in a hurry or just want to check out the entry-level graphics cards shortly.
One of the most important features of any computer is its graphics card because it dictates what games you can run on your machine. This means if you are looking at gaming laptops then the graphics card is an area where you should invest most of your money.
A high-end dedicated graphics card in a laptop offers twice the performance compared to its desktop counterpart. This is because, like CPUs, it uses less power and takes less space than a desktop version.
Laptop Graphic Card power is measured in “Stream Processors” or “CUDA Cores”. For the purposes of this list, I am using the latter because it is an Nvidia-specific measurement for mobile graphic cards whereas Stream Processors are more general-purpose.
The best budget gaming laptops are a more cost-friendly solution, especially if buying a new laptop is outside of your price range. Some pre-built models can be had for less than $800 while you could spend up to $1500 on some premium models.
You’ll still be able to play all of the latest games and do all of your favorite things on them like chat with friends, use social media, online shop, etc. Plus you’ll get all the added features that come with owning a laptop.
Most of the budget gaming laptop models have an NVIDIA GTX graphics card, but if you want a 4K gaming experience then you will have to pay a large amount as the NVIDIA GTX is not good enough for that.
Some of the best budget gaming laptop processors are Intel i5 and Intel i7, but there are some models with AMD A10 also. Some of these high-end models come with 2 CPUs also.
The most widely used display types for gaming laptops are 15.6 inches, but there are 17-inch models too which have larger screen sizes.
Some of the latest budget gaming laptops come with NVIDIA GTX 1050 or GTX 1050 Ti graphics cards which are good for full HD gaming.
The common amount of RAM in budget gaming laptops is 8GB, but some models come with 12 GB also. If you are looking to buy a high-end model then you will have to spend more than $1500.
‘Best Of’ Price Laptops Guides
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Conclusion
The best budget gaming laptops are the ones that deliver good performance without breaking the bank. The list above shows some of the top 10 portable gaming machines out there, all of which should offer you decent frame rates for your games at their respective price points. All specs and prices are current as of this writing.
You can expect to see major changes in the laptop world at least once every year, so be sure to check back regularly if you want to stay up to date. Note that we may add more laptops in this series over time as other worthy options come out. Let us know if you think we should add something interesting by leaving a comment below!
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