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
– Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,000
1. Lenovo Legion 5 15.6″ Gaming Laptop
2. ASUS ROG Strix G15 15.6″ Gaming Laptop
4. HP Pavilion 15.6″ Gaming Laptop
5. Lenovo Ideapad L340 15.6″ Laptop
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.
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NAME | SPECS | RATING | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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TOP PICK
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 |
Lenovo Legion 5 |
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/10 | |
|
RUNNER-UP
|
 |
ASUS ROG Strix G15 |
|
/10 | |
|
VALUE
|
 |
Acer Nitro 5 |
|
/10 | |
|
BUDGET
|
 |
HP Pavilion |
|
/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.
1. Lenovo Legion 5 15.6″
The best gaming laptop under $1,000
The Lenovo Legion 5 is our current pick for the best gaming laptop under $1,000. This Lenovo gaming laptop comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor, an RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It also comes with a larger 15.3″ 1080P 165Hz display.
With the Ryzen 7 CPU, RTX 3050 Ti GPU, and 16GB of RAM, you’ll be able to max out any game you throw at this laptop. Not to mention, the addition of the 165Hz refresh rate display will provide an incredibly smooth in-game experience.
The one down side of this Ryzen 7 gaming laptop, though, is that it technically doesn’t come in at under $1,000. Rather, it comes in at ~$1,050. However, for that extra $50, you get a better processor, a better GPU, more memory, and a higher refresh rate than the options listed below.
So, in the end, if you’ve got ~$1,000 to spend on a new laptop and you can bump your budget up just another $50, this laptop is going to give you a much better hardware configuration than any of the other sub-$1,000 gaming laptops out there.
2. ASUS ROG Strix G15 15.6″
Our runner-up pick
While the Lenovo Legion 5 listed above was our pick for the best option under $1,000, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 isn’t that far behind it. It does come in at just under $1,000, too, so if you have a strict budget, this ASUS gaming laptop might be your best bet.
This laptop comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB Of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It’s display is a 15.6-inch screen that has a 1080P resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate.
In comparion to our top pick, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 has a slightly weaker CPU and GPU, has half the memory, and has a slightly slower refresh rate. And, it’s only ~$50 cheaper. That’s why we recommend choosing the Lenovo Legion 5 over it. Not to mention, the Acer Nitro 5 listed below has nearly identical specs and you can grab it for nearly $200 less.
However, if the price were to come down on the ASUS ROG Strix G15, it might be an option worth considering. But, for now, it’s our Runner-Up pick.
3. Acer Nitro 5 15.6″
The best value gaming laptop under $1,000
Despite being quite a bit cheaper than some of the other options on this list, the Acer Nitro 5 is currently one of the best gaming laptops under $1,000.
The Acer Nitro 5 comes with an Intel Core i5-10300H processor, an RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB NVME SSD. It also has a 15.6″ 1080P display that has a 144Hz refresh rate.
The combination of the i5-10300H and the RTX 3050 GPU are enough to max out pretty much any game on a 1080P display. And, the 144Hz refresh rate will make games run much more smoothly. This is especially true for competitive games that rely on split-second decisions like Rocket League, COD, Fortnite, etc.
The one downside of this Acer gaming laptop, though, is that it doesn’t come with much storage out of the box. The 256GB SSD is fast, but it probably isn’t large enough to accommodate the average PC gamer’s library. You can always grab an additional 2.5″ drive, though, and add to the Helios 300 if you need more storage.
The bottom line, though, is that with the i5-10300H processor and RTX 3050 GPU, the Helios 300 won’t provide as much performance as the Lenovo Legion listed above. However, it does come in at ~$200 cheaper—so, you can save a bit of money without sacrificing too much performance.
4. HP Pavilion 15.6″
The best budget gaming laptop
If you don’t have much over $700 to spend, but you need a 1080P laptop that will allow you to play pretty much any game with no problems, then this HP Pavilion gaming laptop is worth checking out.
At just under $760, it is one of the more affordable options on this list. This HP Pavilion comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor, a GTX 1650 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. And, it has a 15.6″ 1080P 60Hz display.
That’s not bad for a ~$750 gaming laptop, as it it a powerful enough hardware configuration to where you should expect to be able to max out most games, and, for more demanding titles, play them on medium settings.
So, the bottom line is that, if you’re strapped for cash and you don’t quite have the budget to get the Acer Nitro or the Lenovo Legion listed above, this HP Pavilion laptop is a solid alternative.
5. Lenovo Ideapad L340 15.6″
Honorable mention #1
As mentioned above, the Lenovo Ideapad L340 is one of the cheapest options on this list. It comes in at just under $700 and sports an Intel Core i5-9300H, a GTX 1650 GPU, 8GB of DDR4 memory, and a 512GB SSD. It also comes with a 15.6″ 1080P 60Hz display.
While we did choose the ASUS TUF FX505DT as our top budget option, the truth is that you could make a strong case for the L340 in its place. The L340 does come with the slightly better processor and the larger SSD at a slightly lower price.
However, we felt the FX505DT’s 120Hz refresh rate helped give it the edge over the L340. If you don’t require the higher refresh rate, though, and you’re find gaming on a 60Hz display, then the L340 would actually be the better option.
6. ASUS ROG G531GT 15.6″
Honorable mention #2
One option you might want to consider if you don’t quite have enough to get the GT75 or the Acer Predator Helios 300, is the ASUS ROG G531GT.
It comes with an Intel Core i7-9750H processor, a GTX 1650 GPU, 8GB of memory, a 512GB SSD, and a 15.6″ 1080P 60Hz display.
While it doesn’t have a higher refresh rate display, it is one of the more affordable laptops out there with a new 9th Generation Intel Core i7 CPU. And, the GTX 1650 that it comes with will help it push any game you throw at it.
We do think the ASUS TUF FX505DT and Lenovo Ideapad L340 offer a better price-to-performance ratio. But, if you require a higher-end processor for more CPU-intensive tasks and you don’t have the money to get the GT75, the ASUS ROG G531GT would be a nice alternative.
7. Dell G3579 15.6″
Honorable mention #3
If you’re looking for a very affordable gaming laptop that will give you enough performance to run your favorite games at 1080P, you might want to consider the Dell G3579.
At just a little over $600, this Dell gaming laptop comes with an Intel Core i5-8300H processor, an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti GPU, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a 15.6″ 1080P display.
These specs won’t be enough to max out today’s top titles, but this system will be able to run any game on at least lower settings. For popular non-demanding games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Rocket League, this laptop will be able to run them with no problems.
And, for games like Fortnite, PUBG, and Apex Legends, you’ll be able to run them on this laptop on lower-to-medium settings with a decent framerate.
So, if you’re strapped for cash, but you need a solid laptop for gaming, the Dell G3579 is worth checking out.
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).
john thomas says
In this article not include a nitro gaming laptop. This laptop is cheap price and great performance. This is one of the best gaming laptops under $1000 laptop.
Micaiah says
Hello,
What do you think of the New Acer Nitro 5 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-5-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-ti-512gb-ssd-obsidian-black/6413248.p?skuId=6413248) Please tell me if this is a good option for a budget gaming laptop because this seems like a pretty good option