Score performance on a budget with the best gaming laptops for less than $1,000

High-performance PC gaming with a 3-digit price tag? It’s entirely possible with these fun and highly functional gaming laptops from top brands like MSI, Lenovo, HP, and more.
By Dylan Haas and Ashley Keegan  on 
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Overview

Best budget pick

Acer Nitro 5

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Best storage options

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i

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Best lightweight gaming laptop

MSI GF63 Thin

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Best for casual gamers

HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop

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PC gaming is said by many to be the best way to play video games. In many ways, that’s true — high-end gaming computers pack more graphical and processing power than any home console does, and they offer a level of freedom in terms of customization and game choice that you’re just not going to find anywhere else.

There is a downside, however, and it’s one that can be endlessly frustrating for those who aren’t used to the PC gaming lifestyle. When it comes down to it, starting your foray into PC gaming can be extremely complicated, and comes off as pretty inaccessible more often than not (especially when you're just starting out). Unlike consoles that you can just pick up and play, gaming computers require an intense amount of research into each and every part that goes into one. GPUs, CPUs, monitors, keyboards — it’s a lot to take in, and it all comes in at a steep price of admission.

If that sounds intimidating to you, you still have another way to get into PC gaming without stressing about building a tower from scratch: a gaming laptop.

Gaming laptops still take a bit of careful spec scrutinization before you buy one, but they are way simpler than their desktop counterparts, seeing as it’s all contained in one single package. Plus, they take up less space, are portable, and won’t have you spending thousands to build and maintain. (That’s not to say that they’re cheap, though — if you go too low-budget, you’ll most likely end up with a machine that can’t run what you really want to play.)

But even with the extra simplicity that comes with going the laptop route, it can still be a nerve-wracking choice to pull the trigger on one if you don’t know what to look for in the first place. As you probably already guessed, we’re here to help you with that.

What to consider when looking for a gaming laptop

As with any computer — gaming or otherwise — there are a lot of components that go into making a great laptop...well, great. Let us break it down for you so you don’t get bogged down in trying to figure it all out for yourself.

Here’s what you’ll want to take into account when shopping for a gaming laptop:

  • CPU: Also called a processor, your CPU is basically your computer’s brain, and will dictate how speedy your laptop can process inputs, store data, and execute on outputs correctly. Your processor is in constant communication with the other parts of your computer, so it’s important that the device’s central nervous system is a good one.

  • GPU: The GPU (or graphics card) does what it sounds like it does: It ensures that your games can run at their intended graphical quality. The better the GPU, the better your laptop can render details like textures, anti-aliasing, ray tracing, and more (you can always change these settings within your games to better suit your graphics card, but the better the GPU, the closer you can get to those higher-end settings).

  • System Memory (or RAM): Your RAM, like your CPU, is also extremely important in determining overall performance. RAM provides short-term memory storage for applications so that they can access data quickly, storing information that your computer is actively using. For budget gaming laptops, you shouldn’t settle for anything less than 8GB of RAM.

  • Storage: When it comes to storage, you’ll normally find yourself deciding between a hard drive (HDD) and a solid-state drive (SSD). HDDs can have a higher storage capacity than SSDs, but at the cost of lower performance. The good news is that some gaming laptops come with a dual-storage approach, opting for an HDD as the main storage method, with a smaller SSD built in that you can dedicate to your more performance-demanding games.

  • Display: That nice GPU you bought will be wasted if you don’t have a nice display to marvel at its brilliance on. You’ll mainly want to look for three things here: resolution, refresh rate, and size. For our money, we say go for a 1080p resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate (which means you can run up to 60 frames per second on your screen). The size, however, is up to your preference — gaming laptops usually come in at 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch displays.

  • Keyboard: The keyboard is another vital part of your overall experience with a gaming laptop. Comfort is definitely a factor, but you’ll also want to decide whether you want full-range RGB backlight settings (totally fine to skip out on the fancy stuff here), and if you like the layout of the keys themselves. For example, if you find that you desperately need a number pad on your keyboard, you’ll want to double-check to make sure that it’s there — not all gaming laptops have one (not all 15.6-inch options at least, almost all 17.3-inch laptops will have one).

What’s the best gaming laptop for less than $1,000?

Luckily, you can get a pretty nice gaming laptop for under $1,000. Keep in mind that you may not be able to run graphically demanding games on one, but you’ll be able to play whichever games you want for the most part.

So, which gaming laptop should you buy? Here are our picks:

The Acer Nitro 5 is our favorite budget pick because, for one thing, it's the cheapest on our list.

But that low price wouldn't mean anything if it wasn't also a good laptop, which it totally is. In fact, it has a lot of the same inner components as a few of the more expensive options in this roundup. Perhaps the most impressive selling point of this laptop (other than the price) is its 9-hour battery life. Most gaming laptops at this price will last 7 hours on the high end, for comparison. 

The price does come with some downsides, though. Most notably, the graphical performance in conjunction with the Intel 11th Generation Core i5 processor isn't as great as our other picks (that's not to say it looks bad, though). But hey, you can't have it all, and that low price point is hard to beat.

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The best storage specs you can ask for in a budget gaming laptop is a combination of a large HDD paired with a smaller SSD that's dedicated to the more demanding games in your library. Well, no gaming laptop under $1,000 better exemplifies that than the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i

The IdeaPad Gaming 3i impresses with its 1TB hard drive, which should leave plenty of room for most (if not all) of your game library. In addition, you'll get a 512GB SSD on which you can store games that require a boost in speed and graphical processing power. 

And if that's not reason enough to seal the deal already, the device contains a powerful set of internals that should keep your favorite games running swimmingly, as well as a striking display and chassis design. 

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MSI GF63 Thin

MSI GF63 Thin

Best lightweight gaming laptop

Planning on traveling with your PC? The MSI GF63 Thin gaming laptop is going to be your best bet. 

We love this laptop not only for its compact, thin-bezel design that's great for storing in a backpack, but also for its other components. At this price, you're getting a really solid setup — an Intel Core i5-9300H processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, 256GB SSD, and a 1080p full HD display. 

It's fast, packs stellar visuals, and is all tied together in an ultra-portable package.

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Solid processing power and high-grade graphics combine to provide a satisfying gaming experience, but the HP Pavilion can easily moonlight (or perhaps daylight, in this sense) as a highly capable work computer too. The laptop looks mostly unassuming at first glance, but switch on the bright green backlit keyboard and peep the large rear fan vents and you'll know this machine is made for gaming. It also has a wide-vision HD camera with integrated dual array digital microphone, and dual speakers with high-end audio by Bang & Olufsen. You can even stretch the battery life up to 8.5 hours — though that will drop significantly with intense gaming.

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With boosted RAM, a Ryzen processor and a far-superior graphics card for this price point, the Asus TUF gaming laptop is a fantastic choice that falls just around the 4-digit price mark. Not only can it easily handle the latest video game titles at peak performance, but it also has an RGB backlit keyboard that looks damn cool with the customized color of your choosing. Even better, it's made with military-grade construction for enhanced durability, and it boasts dual fans with a patented, self-cleaning Anti-Dust Cooling system to keep your laptop from overheating while playing the most demanding games.

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Topics Gaming

How we tested

How we chose

Though we haven't had the opportunity to conduct hands-on testing with all of these gaming laptops ourselves, we did put forth hours of careful research to ensure that we were curating a selection of the best laptops for gaming, while specifically seeking out options to cater to budgets under $1,000.

First, we consulted with our team's laptop specialist, Lead Shopping Reporter Dylan Haas, for some of the best budget gaming laptops on the market right now. We also considered the top performers from big brands like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, MSI, and Acer, and narrowed the choices down to those that have been highly praised by both consumers and experts in the field. In order to stay within budget, we also kept a close eye on older gaming laptop models that are still available but may have dropped significantly in price since their release because their components aren’t “the latest and greatest” (though they’re still highly functional).

To ensure the best range of laptops for gamers on a budget, we took several factors into consideration, including:

  • RAM: Gaming laptops require a good amount of memory to perform well, so we opted to include only those with at least 8GB of RAM.

  • CPU and GPU: Aside from RAM, a good gaming laptop needs a powerful processor and graphics card to handle demanding video games. Our baseline was the Intel Core i5 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 — affordable components with just enough performance for most gaming needs. However, we also made sure there were a few options with superior components for this price point, such as AMD Ryzen processors with six or even eight cores, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 for enhanced graphics.

  • Budget: Naturally, this was the biggest determining factor of whether or not a gaming laptop would make the cut for this roundup. Gaming laptops tend to be quite expensive — even at the base level — but we made sure to include some of the most budget-friendly options. That said, we also strived to include options that stretched the limit toward that $1,000 benchmark to maximize quality and value.

Frequently Asked Questions


If you’re going to boil it down to just the most important specs, you’ll want to put most of your focus on the computer’s GPU and CPU, or the processor and graphics card, respectively. RAM is also going to be pretty important, but as long as you have 8GB, you should be good. These will be the things that make or break your experience with your gaming laptop, as they work in tandem with each other — having a good GPU and CPU will ensure that your games run as they should, and look great while doing it.

When it comes to baseline specs, we recommend getting a six-core processor or higher (the AMD Ryzen 5 and Intel i5 are good examples), and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 at least for your GPU. These fall somewhere within the medium price range, but have more longevity than a quad-core processor, which some say may become obsolete soon as games are starting to require more and more power to run them reliably.

You'll notice that some developers will actually release the minimum specs needed to play their games, which can be helpful, but make sure you know the difference between the "minimum" and "recommended" specs. Going with the minimum will save you money, but the game still might chug a bit. Recommended specs will net you a more than satisfactory experience without you needing to buy the absolute top-of-the-line internals for your rig.

author photo
Dylan Haas
Lead Shopping Reporter

Dylan Haas is a Lead Shopping Reporter for Mashable, where he covers all things gaming, pets, fitness, and sleep. Before joining the team at Mashable, Dylan received a B.A. in Communications from Pace University and contributed to publications like Paste Magazine, Bandsintown, and others following a brief stint as a Marketing and Management Assistant in the music industry.

When he's not writing or testing products, you can find Dylan playing lots of video games, working out, spending time with loved ones (especially his dog, Stevie), or watching reality TV. Follow him on Twitter at @iamdylanhaas, or send him an email at [email protected].


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