These Are the Best Budget Gaming Laptops in 2023
Gaming laptops have come a long way in recent years, especially since the introduction of full-size graphics cards to these portable gaming machines. But when it comes to choosing a budget gaming laptop, there’s a lot of bad mixed in with the good. These five laptops are just fine.
Keep in mind, none of these machines will offer 4K gaming, and we’re aiming for sub-$1,000 as we don’t want to spend money on a new gaming laptop. That said, at under $1,000, all of the options you’ll find below are more than powerful enough to keep some of the latest games running, though you might have to fiddle with settings to get the best performance.
ASUS TUV A15
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD.
- Operating system: Windows 11
- Display: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz.
- Battery life: up to 12 hours
ASUS is highly trusted in the gaming industry, and for good reason. Not only does the company make great desktop hardware, but it also offers more than its fair share of great gaming laptops. The ASUS TUF A15 is one of the best budget options on the market right now thanks to RTX 3050 Ti support for ray tracing graphics, a 144Hz refresh rate and up to 12 hours of battery life. It’s the battery life that makes it easy to recommend this laptop, as most of the options you’ll find on lists like this range between six and eight hours on average.
The ASUS TUF A15 is also equipped with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. For the price, the ASUS TUF A15 is a strong contender, even with older hardware inside.
MSI Bravo 15
- Processor: AMD Ryzen R7-5800H
- GPU: AMD RX 5500M
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 512 GB NVMe SSD.
- Operating system: Windows 11
- Display: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz.
- Battery life: six hours
Another big name in gaming, MSI continues to offer great options for their gaming laptops, including solid budget options. The MSI Bravo 15 has many advantages, although the battery life is inferior to the ASUS TUF A15. Regardless, this system is completely made by AMD, which means you can count on an AMD Ryzen processor and AMD graphics on this machine.
These components are more than enough to ensure stable gaming on a 15.6-inch Full HD display with support for frequencies up to 144 Hz for those who want the smoothest frames while playing the latest games. It also comes with Windows 11 and a 512GB SSD, which will ensure that any games you install on it will load quickly.
Acer Nitro 5
- Processor: Intel Core i5-11400H
- GPU: GeForce RTX 3050
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD.
- Operating system: Windows 10
- Display: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz.
- Battery life: 8-10 hours
Acer may not be as well known as ASUS and MSI, but the company still has a lot to offer gamers looking for a solid budget system. The Acer Nitro 5 offers the power of an Nvidia RTX 3050 paired with an 11th Gen Intel i5 mid-range processor. We’ve seen this processor in many gaming laptops before, and while the Acer Nitro 5 is no longer the best in the lineup, its 8-10 hour battery life more than makes up for any of its shortcomings. It also comes with a massive 1TB SSD, which is more than most other budget gaming laptops.
The 15.6-inch Full HD display supports 144Hz for the highest possible frame rate and smooth gaming experience filled with vibrant colors.
MSI Slim GF63
- Processor: Intel Core i7-12650H
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4050
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 512 GB NVMe SSD.
- Operating system: Windows 11
- Display: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz.
- Battery life: five to six hours
The MSI Thin GF63 might not sound like much with its average five-hour battery life, but this beastly gaming laptop from MSI can often be found on sale for under $700, making it a fantastic deal, especially with an Intel Core 12-CPU. th generation. i7 processor. It’s also paired with one of the newest graphics cards on the market, the Nvidia RTX 4050, making it a no-brainer.
Of course, the rest of this machine’s specs are quite in line with what you see elsewhere on our list, so don’t expect it to be the most powerful. However, there is more than enough power to keep you playing all night long. Just don’t expect this gaming laptop to be as portable as it weighs nearly five pounds.
Lenovo IdeaPad gaming 3
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 6600H
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3050
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: 256 GB NVMe SSD.
- Operating system: Windows 11
- Display: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080, 120Hz.
- Battery life: six to eight hours
It might seem odd to see a Lenovo laptop on this list that isn’t one of the company’s mainstream gaming brands: the IdeaPad Gaming 3 is held back by the lack of 16GB of RAM, and the total onboard storage is 8GB. You can update it if you want, but it won’t be the easiest task. Even without this upgrade, you’re also looking for a smaller hard drive compared to the other options on our list. So how did this one get here?
Well, the real strength of the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 lies in its multitasking. Powered by a powerful yet affordable Ryzen 5 6600H processor, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is the perfect combination of workhorse and gaming laptop. It’s not the most powerful option on the market anyway, but it’s relatively cheap – one of the cheapest options on our list as it’s often available for under $600.
Check out all the budget gaming laptops on our list: