Gaming laptops tend to have considerably higher prices than normal ones. However, there are some models of cheap gaming laptops that you should know about. These teams are fabulous and allow you to play the best AAA titles smoothly, but without involving a large financial outlay.
Guide Index
Best cheap gaming laptop brands
As for the best cheap gaming laptop brands that you can find in the market, here we recommend the following:
ASUS TUFF
ASUS TUF (The Ultimate Force) It is the name of the cheap gaming products of the Taiwanese ASUS, among them there are models of cheap gaming laptops. This brand is intended for those gamers who do not want to invest large amounts of money in their equipment, as is the case with ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers), which are high-end products.
Despite being cheaply priced, this is not to be confused with a poor quality laptop. On the contrary, it is equipment with a quality finish, with top-of-the-line components. best hardware brands and with pretty good performance. In addition, they are designed to offer everything a player can expect from a computer, with a large screen, performance, RGB decoration, etc.
MSI
The Taiwanese company MSI (Micro-Star International) is also one of the serious competitors of ASUS. MSI has several series of laptops cheap gaming, as is the case with the Bravo, Leopard, Stealth, etc. This signature has been specialized in high performance equipment, and that shows in every detail of these teams.
A firm to trust when it comes to gaming equipment, since it is leader in this sector worldwide, putting its expertise in motherboards and hardware, as well as its partners (Intel, NVIDIA,…), at your fingertips with these affordable models.
HP Omen
the american brand HP has also wanted to delve into the world of gaming with its own brand OMEN. This firm is well known for being one of the leaders in terms of laptops worldwide, but not only equipment for home and professional use, you also have cheap gaming laptop models (although there are also expensive ones).
In addition, these Omen teams are ideal for combine work and play in the same team. A team with great recognition in the sector, off-road, and that can be a good purchase for the whole family.
Acer Nitro
Taiwanese brand Acer has always been characterized by offering laptops with an excellent quality / price. Thus they have managed to open a gap and become one of the largest sellers of this type of equipment in the world. In addition, the firm launched the Nitro brand, a team specially designed for gamers.
Nitro models are gaming laptops with a rather ambitious hardware configuration, thus giving you the performance you need for your AAA titles, such as a powerful CPU and a dedicated GPU. However, its price is not that high, so it is ideal if you are looking for something on a moderate budget.
Lenovo Legion
The big Chinese technology giant acquired the ThinkPad division of IBM, and the patent portfolio helped it gain experience in notebooks for the business sector. However, it has also expanded into other market segments, such as gaming, and it has done so with its Lenovo Legion brand.
Despite being one of the leaders in computing and supercomputing, Lenovo has adjusted the prices of its equipment well, so you can find a Legion with a price that suits your pocket. However, a low price does not mean second-rate hardware, quite the opposite. You will find excellence in every detail.
Razer
the singaporean Razer specialized in manufacturing high-end hardware specially designed for gaming. Initially with peripherals, but later also taking the step to gaming laptops for all tastes and pockets. It is true that this brand is not synonymous with low price, but quite the opposite. But it is also true that there are some somewhat more affordable models.
Without going any further, some of their Razer Blade they have reasonable prices. But you will see that every euro invested is worth it, since they seek to squeeze the performance out of each component, with the best of the current state-of-the-art hardware, and with extreme quality.
How is a cheap gaming laptop
For choosing a good cheap gaming laptop, you have to keep in mind some important considerations. Among the most prominent are:
Screen
It is important, when choosing the laptop, that:
- The screen is at least 15″ or larger, such as 16 or 17″ ones, since that will help you view the game in a more pleasant size than equipment with small screens.
- The screen resolution should be like minimum FullHD (1080p). You shouldn't get too obsessed with a 4K either, especially not for those prices. The ideal would be between FullHD and QHD (1440p).
- El panel type or technology it is also important for gaming. Each one has its pros and cons:
- TN or Twisted Nematic: It's a cheap type of LCD display, with very fast response times, however it doesn't offer the best colors, and has limited viewing angles.
- VA or Vertically Aligned: these types of panels have low latency, very fast response times, and very rich colors. Fantastic qualities for gaming, but it also has its pros, such as possible blurring issues with fast images.
- IPS or In-Plane Switching: It is a more modern LCD panel technology, and very widespread. It has very rich and bright colors, very wide viewing angles, and good overall performance. However, they do not have as fast response times as the previous ones and they are somewhat more expensive. However, when in doubt, IPS may be the best choice for everyone.
- The refresh rate, that is, the updating speed of the images on the screen, must be high. of at least 90Hz or higher. You should also not look for equipment with too high clocks, since being a cheap gaming laptop, the GPU probably cannot generate a commensurate FPS rate…
- The response time has to be as low as possible. The ideal thing for gaming is to always look for screens less than 5ms. The lower the number, the faster the pixels will switch from one color to another.
- If the screen has support for technologies such as NVIDIA G-Sync or AMD FreeSync, this can be ideal for preventing the panel refresh rate and GPU FPS from being mismatched.
Processor
As for the processor, the cheap gaming laptop you choose should have un Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 at least. Obviously you cannot expect that for those prices they include a Core i9 or Ryzen 9, and you are not going to notice a very noticeable difference with the Core i7 and Ryzen 7, as games are not as well optimized to take advantage of higher core counts, but instead benefit more from single-core performance.
The most important thing is that they are processing units with a high clock rate, since that improves single-core performance and that will make video games work better.
On the other hand, avoid laptops with a previous generation processor, since the performance may be lower and they could be obsolete, when it comes to meeting the minimum recommended requirements of a game, sooner.
Graph
Avoid iGPUs at all costss, that is, the integrated graphics. These graphics are not an option for gamers. If the computer you buy has an iGPU, it's not a major problem as long as they have a dGPU or dedicated GPU. dGPUs have higher performance, and have dedicated VRAM memory, which will be much more beneficial for gaming.
Keep in mind another important thing, and that is that when a laptop has an iGPU, even if it has a dedicated GPU, the image will pass through the iGPU, since it is the one that is connected to the screen, and this can reduce performance somewhat. . Some modern laptops have technologies like the MUX Switch which prevents this by directly linking the dGPU to the display's video input.
Don't expect to find cheap gaming laptops with dedicated graphics high-end, since they have quite high prices. What you could find, and it would be an important point, is computers with a previous generation of high-end GPUs, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800. These graphics are still exceptional today, and they are more than enough for any AAA title. Of course, if you have the opportunity to choose a Radeon RX 7000 Series or a low-end GeForce RTX 40 Series, then better…
RAM
As for RAM memory, it is important that it have a capacity of at least 16 GB. Don't worry so much about whether it's DDR4 or DDR5. With a DDR4 the performance is quite good, and there is not as much difference as many may think.
Some they think that for gaming a computer with 32 GB or more is better, but this is not true. You are not going to find a noticeable difference that is worth the investment in RAM. With 16 GB all AAA titles work quite well (except for some exceptions like Microsoft Flight Simulator), another thing is that you use streaming programs at the same time that you are running the game, then perhaps a little more memory can be positive.
Storage
Last but not least, always you should choose an SSD in front of an HDD. Also, within SSDs, you should select cheap gaming laptops that have an NVMe PCIe drive, as these are faster.
Some may think that the SSD does not influence video games, but it does. In most titles it will make them load faster, and in lopen world os, it may also affect the FPS rate. And it is that these video games need to load a large amount of data from the SSD and if it is fast, it will accelerate the FPS rate, which is not only affected by the CPU, GPU and RAM as you can see.
Is a gaming laptop for less than €1000 good?
To have a gaming laptop It is not necessary to spend 2000, 3000 or more euros, as many think. These teams are a luxury, but they are not essential to play AAA titles in an enjoyable way. Gaming equipment between €700 and €1500 can be quite good solutions.
Don't think there's going to be that much difference between a team of €800 and one of €3000. The performance gained with the most expensive equipment is not worth the €2200 difference. Keep in mind that today's higher gaming requirements fit those cheap gaming gear quite well. To give an example, here are some cases:
- Forza Horizon 5:
- Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT processor
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- RAM memory: 16 GB
- Cyberpunk 2077:
- AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-6700X processor
- Graphics card: AMD Radeon 6800 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
- RAM
- The Witcher III: Wild Hunt:
- Intel Core i7-3370 or AMD FX-8350 processor
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 or AMD Radeon R9 290
- RAM: 8GB
- Dying Light 2:
- Intel Core i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon 6800XT graphics card
- 16 GB RAM
Where to buy a cheap gaming laptop
Finally, it is also important to know the trusted stores where you can buy a cheap gaming laptop:
- Amazon: The American online sales platform has a large number of cheap gaming laptops among its products. You will be able to choose from a wide range of them, but keep in mind that you should always make sure that they have a keyboard in Spanish. On the other hand, it is a secure platform, with all purchase and return guarantees. And if you have Prime, you will have fast delivery and no shipping costs.
- El Corte Ingles: ECI is also another alternative to buy cheap gaming laptops, although they do not have the most competitive prices. This Spanish chain offers, however, the possibility of buying it in person from any point of sale or buying it online from its official website.
- Media Markt: The German chain of technology products also offers the double purchase modality. On the one hand, you can order your laptop from their official website so that they can send it to your home or go to any of the nearest Mediamarkt centers you have.
- PC Components: The Murcian PC Componentes also has a very wide repertoire of cheap gaming laptop models, and with good prices. In addition, it is a safe shopping site and deliveries are usually fast if they are in stock. In this case, there is only online modality, unless you live in Murcia and can go to the store to pick up the order.
Is a cheap gaming laptop worth it? My opinion
Finally, if you still have doubts about whether it is worth buying a cheap gaming laptop or not, the truth is that yes it's worth it. The motives?
- It allows users or gamers who do not have a large budget to also enjoy gaming like anyone else.
- You can save hundreds of euros on the purchase and get good results on the latest AAA titles, since the differences between cheaper equipment and extremely expensive ones are not high enough to be worth it.
- It is preferable to invest about €1000 in a laptop and renew it after 2 years, instead of spending €2000 or more, and having to put up with that equipment for longer to amortize that price. Keep in mind that it is preferable to have a new generation of CPU or GPU, than to have an outdated high-end model. For example, an RTX 4060 has better performance than an RTX 3060 Ti, and it is also compatible with new versions of technologies such as DLSS 3.0, etc.
