Best cheap gaming laptop under $1,000 for 2021 – CNET [CNET]

August 13, 2021 Thomas Giboney

The microchip shortage has made it more difficult to get a good deal on a gaming laptop. Not that you can’t find worthy gaming laptops between $700 and $1,000, just that stock is limited so really good bargains tend to disappear fast. The good news is that when you can find one, they’re typically loaded with the latest Intel or AMD processors, newer entry-level discrete graphics and displays with faster refresh rates.

That means that you’re not limited to low-res gaming on these machines, so getting an immersive experience playing games like Apex Legends, CS: GO, PUBG, Fortnite and Minecraft won’t be a problem. And while an affordable gaming laptop still costs a pretty penny, frugal gamers can save even more money if they look for laptop deals on a refurbished or open-box gaming laptop from the likes of Best Buy, Amazon, Micro Center and Woot.

To help you get your ideal gaming experience on a cheap laptop, our recommendations, based on our reviews and testing, are below. And if you want to improve your gaming and work-from-home experience, you may want to look into some inexpensive gaming gear to help you do it. We’ll update this list of the best cheap gaming laptop options as we review new products.

Dell G15

$960 at Dell

Acer Nitro 5

Read our Acer Nitro 5 review.

$720 at Best Buy

HP Pavilion Gaming 15

Read our HP Pavilion Gaming 15 review.

$755 at Walmart

Just a bit above $1,000

These laptops’ prices tend to fluctuate just around the $1,000 mark, occasionally dropping below it.

Lenovo Legion 5/5i

$1,100 at Lenovo

Buying tips for a cheap gaming laptop

Older laptops with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 20-series GPUs are still around, but the options aren’t as good as they once were. A cheap gaming laptop with an entry-level GTX 1650 normally starts around $700 if you can find one. That chip gives you enough graphics performance to play the newest demanding games at low-to-medium settings. Spending between $800 and $1,000 (or a little more) will get you a laptop with a GTX 1650 Ti, a 1660 Ti or even an RTX 3050 or 3050 Ti for a better gaming experience.

For the best gaming experience with a budget gaming laptop, you’ll want to make sure you get the most graphics power you can afford from the start since this can’t be upgraded later, unlike memory or storage. If you’re on a strict budget, go with an Nvidia 1650 graphics card, which will give you good gaming performance on newer games at medium or high settings with cheap laptop prices starting down around $600. If you can afford to spend closer to $1,000, you’ll be better off in the long run as you’ll be able to play more demanding games now and later.

Beyond the graphics chip, look for:

A 10th- or 11th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7, or AMD Ryzen 4000 or 5000 series processor.
At least 8GB of memory (aka RAM) and the capability to add more post-purchase.
At least a 256GB solid-state drive, a combo of 128GB SSD storage and a hard drive or a large solid-state hybrid drive.

Most if not all gaming laptops let you easily expand or upgrade your memory and storage, so again, it’s best to put your cash into the GPU and processor. Sure, you’ll get more for your money with a gaming desktop, but if you don’t have room for one or you must have mobility, these budget gaming laptop options are worth the investment.