If you need a gaming laptop but are working with a moderate budget, we’ve rated & reviewed seven of the best gaming laptops under $1,000 to help you find the right option for your needs.
Gaming laptops are always going to be outperformed by custom-built and pre-built gaming desktops on a dollar-for-dollar basis. However, desktops aren’t viable options for gamers who need a more portable option. And, fortunately, there are decent gaming laptops out there in the ~$500-$1,000 price range.
In this guide, we’re going to take a look at seven of the best gaming laptops under $1,000 that are currently available. We’ve rated the seven laptops below based on their gaming performance and the price tags they come in at to give you a good idea of what kind of value they offer. So, if you’ve got a moderate budget and you’re looking for a solid gaming laptop, one of the options listed below should work for you.
Table of Contents
1. Quick-Look: Top Gaming Laptops Under $1,000
2. Top Pick: Dell Inspiron 15.6″
3. Runner-Up: Acer Predator Helios 300
A Quick Look at the Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,000
In order to simplify finding a solid option for your needs, we’ve provided a quick-look table below that showcases our picks for the best gaming laptops under $1,000 in a few different categories. We’ve selected our picks for the best option under $1,000 overall, the runner-up, and the best value gaming laptop under $1,000, as well as listed the cheapest option on this list.
| NAME | SPECS | RATING | |||
TOP PICK |  | Dell Inspiron |
| /10 | |
RUNNER-UP |  | Acer Helios 300 |
| /10 | |
VALUE |  | MSI GV62 |
| /10 | |
BUDGET |  | Dell Inspiron 15 5000 |
| /10 |
*If you click on the “Read Review »” links you will jump to our overview on that specific laptop. You can also keep scrolling down see our thoughts on our Honorable Mention picks.
Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000:
Dell Inspiron 15.6″
In our opinion, the best gaming laptop under $1,000 right now is the Dell Inspiron 15.6″ gaming laptop. Gaming performance is going to mainly come down to the graphics card that the laptop comes with. And, Dell’s Inspiron 15.6″ is one of only two options under $1,000 that comes with a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card in it.
The other option is the Acer Predator Helios 300 laptop that is listed below. But, while both laptops have a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card in them, the Dell Inspiron comes with a slightly better processor (a six-core i5-8300) and more storage (a 128GB SSD and 1TB hard drive) as well. And, most importantly, the Dell Inspiron comes in at ~$50 cheaper than the Helios 300, too.
The Helios does come with 16GB of RAM, but considering how easy it is to add additional memory, and the fact that most games still don’t use more than 8GB anyway, in our opinions, saving $50 and getting the better processor is the better deal.
The bottom line, though, is that for the price you pay and the laptop you get, this Dell Inspiron is likely the best gaming laptop under $1,000 right now.
Our Runner-Up Pick:
Acer Predator Helios 300 15.6″
The Acer Predator Helios 300 is a solid gaming laptop for under $1,000 and closely rivals the Dell Inspiron listed above in terms of overall performance. In fact, in gaming performance alone, the Helios 300 will perform at a pretty much identical level to the Dell Inspiron.
And, while the Helios 300 does come with a larger SSD (256GB for the Helios 300 compared to 128GB for the Dell Inspiron) and more memory, too (16GB compared to 8GB), the Inspiron has the better-performing processor and it has a lot more storage capacity with its secondary 1TB hard drive, too.
But both the Helios 300 and the Dell Inspiron both come with a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card and in terms of gaming performance, that is as good as you’re going to get for a laptop under $1,000. In fact, you can expect both the Helios 300 and Inspiron to run today’s top games on medium-to-higher settings with high framerates.
So, while we think the Dell Inspiron offers slightly better value, the reality is that both will serve you well. So, if this laptop goes on sale, or if you prefer having more memory now and a larger SSD now, then it might be worth it to choose over the Dell Inspiron.
Best Value Gaming Laptop:
MSI GV62 15.6″
The MSI GV62 15.6″ gaming laptop is our pick for the best value gaming laptop under $1,000. We previously gave that title to the HP Omen 15 that is currently listed in our Honorable Mention section. However, both the GV62 and the Omen 15 comes with similar specs, but the GV62 comes in at over $1000 less than the Omen 15.
The MSI GV62 comes with an Intel Core i5-8300H processor, a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB graphics card, and 8GB of DDR4 memory. It also comes with 16GB of Intel Optane memory and a 1TB hard drive.
When comparing the GV62 to the Omen 15, the two laptops have the same screen (1080P 15.6″), the same processor, and the same graphics card. The HP Omen 15 does edge the GV62 out by offering more memory (12GB compared to the GV62’s 8GB) and a 128GB NVME SSD instead of 16GB of Intel Optane memory.
So, if you want to spend a bit more to get a little bit extra RAM and more SSD storage, then the HP Omen 15 is probably the better bet for you. If you’re looking for the best price-to-performance option out there, the GV62 is the better option. Both laptops, though, will be able to run most games on at least medium settings at solid framerates.
Our Budget Pick:
Dell Inspiron 15 5000
The cheapest option that we’ve chosen to list in this guide is another Dell Inspiron laptop. However, unlike our top overall pick listed above, this Dell Inspiron model comes with hardware that isn’t quite as powerful—but it does come in at a lot lower of a cost.
For just a little over $650, this Dell Inspiron model is affordable and it will offer anyone who is playing non-demanding esports titles (Fortnite, Overwatch, Rocket League, League of Legends, etc.) with enough performance to run them at max settings with ease.
This Inspiron comes with a quad-core Intel Core i5-7300HQ, 8GB of DDR4 memory, a 1TB hard drive, and a 1080P display. And, for ~$650 that is a pretty good value in terms of what you pay versus what you get. Of course, it won’t come anywhere near matching the performance of a $600 desktop gaming PC, but in comparison to other similarly-priced laptops, this Inspiron is a pretty good deal.
Honorable Mention #1:
HP Omen 15
In terms of the best value option under $1,000, the HP Omen 15 is an option worth considering. It doesn’t come with a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card in it, but the GTX 1050 Ti 4GB graphics card that it does come with is no slouch in 1080P gaming.
In fact, with a 1050 Ti, you can expect to play pretty much any modern AAA title on medium (or higher) settings with good framerates.
However, at its current price of just over $920, it doesn’t come with quite the price-to-performance ratio that the MSI GV62 does. Both laptops do offer similar specs and the HP Omen 15 does come with a bit more RAM (4GB more) and a larger SSD than the GV62, but the GV62 comes in at over $100 cheaper.
So, unless you are willing to pay ~$120 for 4GB of more memory and a 128GB SSD over 16GB of Intel Optane memory (which is what the GV62 comes with), then you’d be better off with the MSI GV62 laptop listed above.
Ultimately, both laptops come with the same processor (Intel Core i5-8300H) and graphics card (GTX 1050 Ti 4GB) and so they will deliver very similar performance in games.
Honorable Mention #2:
ASUS TUF Thin
The ASUS TUF Thin is another solid gaming laptop for under $1,000. This ASUS laptop comes in at just under $700, making it a direct competitor to the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 that we chose as our best budget option.
The two also offer similar specs, with the ASUS TUF Thin coming with a newer Intel Core i5-8300H processor than the Inspiron’s older i5-7300HQ processor. The ASUS TUF Thin also comes with a 1TB hybrid SSHD whereas the Inspion only comes with a standard mechanical hard drive. Both options come with a 15.6″ 1080P screen and 8GB of DDR4 RAM.
However, where the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 stands out over the ASUS TUF Thin is in its GPU and its lower price tag. The Inspiron laptop comes with a GTX 105 4GB graphics card and costs about ~$35 less than the ASUS TUF Thin, which comes with a slightly weaker GTX 1050 2GB GPU.
So, while the two options are similar, if you want better in-game performance, the stronger graphics card and lower price on the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 makes it the better budget gaming laptop. However, the ASUS TUF Thin is a nice alternative if you could utilize the better processor and the hybrid hard drive.
Honorable Mention #3:
ASUS ROG Strix
Finally, we have this ASUS ROG Strix gaming laptop. While this gaming laptop from ASUS will be fine for running games like League of Legends, Rocket League, Dota 2, etc., for the price it comes in at, you could get a much better-performing laptop.
It comes in at just under $1,000, putting it at a price that is more expensive than our top pick, the Dell Inspiron 15.6″ and at the same price as our runner-up pick, the Acer Predator Helios 300.
The problem is that, while those two laptops come with GTX 1060 6GB graphics cards, this ASUS ROG Strix only comes with a much weaker GTX 1050 4GB graphics card. Where the GTX 1060 6GB can run more demanding games on higher settings, the GTX 1050 4GB will have to run them on lower-to-medium settings instead.
The ASUS ROG Strix isn’t without its perks, though. ASUS’s ROG Strix laptop does come with a solid storage configuration (a 128GB SSD and a secondary 1TB hybrid drive) and it comes with a 120Hz refresh rate display.
In our opinion, though, those additions don’t quite make up for the lower-end graphics card, as that is going to have a bigger impact on in-game performance.
Need A Solid Gaming Laptop Under $1,000?
While we always recommend that gamers build their own gaming computers so that they can get the most performance out of their budgets, we also realize that certain users will need the mobility that a laptop offers. If you are interested in building your own PC, check out our guide on the Best Cheap Gaming PC Builds Under $1,000 to see the difference in hardware you can get. And, if not, and you absolutely need a gaming laptop instead, one of the affordable gaming laptops listed above should work for you
If you want to look at more affordable options, you can also check out our guide on the Best Budget Gaming Laptops (Under $500).
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