You don't have to break the bank in order to get a quality Gaming setup. In fact, you don't need to spend more than $1,000. Updated on Sept. 27, 2023 CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. Read how we test products and services. We'll give you two: one that costs $1,000 and is a great pick if you are buying your first gaming laptop, and a second option if you have a bit more to spend for a system with a few more bells and whistles and 3D graphics muscle. The Acer Nitro 16 is the best cheap gaming laptop overall, which is a newer and larger version of the 15.6-inch Acer Nitro 5 that's long been a favorite budget gaming laptop. There's an Acer Nitro 16 on sale at Newegg right now for $1,000 that features the latest silicon from AMD and Nvidia. Most budget gaming laptops at this price are last year's models with last year's parts, but the Acer Nitro 16 boasts an AMD Ryzen 5 7000 series CPU and GeForce RTX 4050 graphics to power the roomy 16-inch, 16:10 display.If your budget stretches past $1,000, we recommend Dell's G15 or G16 Gaming Laptop. The G15 models are based on a 15.6-inch, 16:9 panel, and the G16 units have a 16-inch, 16:10 display. Both offer a sturdy if not particularly exciting dark gray chassis that's a mix of plastic and aluminum, but the lack of attention-seeking, gaming-specific design details allow the systems to pull double duty as a mobile gaming rig and workhorse laptop. Pricing for a RTX 4050-based G15 Gaming Laptop starts at $1,050. The G16 series starts at $1,100.Read more: How to Buy a Gaming LaptopOur recommendations are based on our reviews and testing. Our aim is to help you get your ideal gaming experience on a cheap laptop. We'll update this list of the best cheap gaming laptop options as we review new products. Also, if you need help deciphering what specs to look for on a good, cheap gaming laptop, we've got some advice below.We liked the Acer Nitro 5 when we reviewed it last year. It stuck to a basic script of providing solid performance for the price along with a speedy 144Hz, 15.6-inch display with enough gamer-centric features -- chunky, gaming-friendly keys with RGB backlighting and Nitro Sense software for controlling the system's gaming settings. The Nitro 16 is the latest addition to Acer's budget gaming line, and, based on our gaming laptop testing, we like the look of the Nitro 16 model that's $200 off right now at Newegg and selling for only $1,000. It features a modern CPU/GPU duo of an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS processor and RTX 4050 graphics to go along with a sufficient 16GB of RAM. The 16-inch display has a 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution with a tall 16:10 aspect ratio and 165Hz refresh rate.Acer Nitro 5 reviewWe liked the Acer Nitro 5 when we reviewed it last year. It stuck to a basic script of providing solid performance for the price along with a speedy 144Hz, 15.6-inch display with enough gamer-centric features -- chunky, gaming-friendly keys with RGB backlighting and Nitro Sense software for controlling the system's gaming settings. The Nitro 16 is the latest addition to Acer's budget gaming line, and, based on our gaming laptop testing, we like the look of the Nitro 16 model that's $200 off right now at Newegg and selling for only $1,000. It features a modern CPU/GPU duo of an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS processor and RTX 4050 graphics to go along with a sufficient 16GB of RAM. The 16-inch display has a 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution with a tall 16:10 aspect ratio and 165Hz refresh rate.Acer Nitro 5 reviewThe 15.6-inch G15 series and 16-inch G16 line both deliver the latest CPUs and GPUs and roomy displays. Unless you plan to take with laptop with you on daily trips, we recommend the larger G16 model. Not only is its 16-inch display slightly larger on the diagonal, but it also has the taller 16:10 aspect ratio that makes it much roomier. And a similar G16 model costs only $50 or $100 more than a G15 model. Both feature 13th-gen Intel processors along with RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs -- Nvidia's latest graphics processors for budget gaming laptops. The G16 lets you go up to an RTX 4070 GPU.The G15 starts at a reasonable $1,050 for a configuration that includes a Core i5-13450HX CPU, 16GB of RAM and RTX 4050 graphics. The standard G15 display is a full HD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, but you can upgrade to a blazing 360Hz FHD panel or a QHD panel at 240Hz. Dell's G15 and G16 models are basically more budget-friendly versions of those from its Alienware division but still capable of playing the latest AAA titles.Dell G15 and Dell G16 reviewThe 15.6-inch G15 series and 16-inch G16 line both deliver the latest CPUs and GPUs and roomy displays. Unless you plan to take with laptop with you on daily trips, we recommend the larger G16 model. Not only is its 16-inch display slightly larger on the diagonal, but it also has the taller 16:10 aspect ratio that makes it much roomier. And a similar G16 model costs only $50 or $100 more than a G15 model. Both feature 13th-gen Intel processors along with RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs -- Nvidia's latest graphics processors for budget gaming laptops. The G16 lets you go up to an RTX 4070 GPU.The G15 starts at a reasonable $1,050 for a configuration that includes a Core i5-13450HX CPU, 16GB of RAM and RTX 4050 graphics. The standard G15 display is a full HD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, but you can upgrade to a blazing 360Hz FHD panel or a QHD panel at 240Hz. Dell's G15 and G16 models are basically more budget-friendly versions of those from its Alienware division but still capable of playing the latest AAA titles.Dell G15 and Dell G16 reviewWe recently reviewed an HP Victus 15 with an outdated Core i5 CPU and GTX 1650 graphics that we liked at its sale price of $580. We like the updated Victus 15 lineup even more; it starts at $750 with a $250 discount for a config with a modern, 13th-gen Core i5 CPU and previous-gen RTX 3050 graphics. That's a great price for any variety of RTX graphics, and HP offers a few upgrades for reasonable price increases that let you bump up to a Core i7 and RTX 4060 graphics. We also recommend doubling the baseline 8GB of RAM to 16GB for $80 -- that's money well spent. The all-plastic, all-black body is a bit flimsy but not too bulky. The 15.6-inch display is rated for a dim 250 nits, but you can upgrade to a 300-nit panel for a brighter picture. There's also an upgrade that increases the refresh rate from the standard 60Hz to 144Hz for smoother motion in games, but unfortunately, you are forced to choose between a 144Hz, 250-nit display or a 60Hz, 300-nit display.HP Victus 15 reviewWe recently reviewed an HP Victus 15 with an outdated Core i5 CPU and GTX 1650 graphics that we liked at its sale price of $580. We like the updated Victus 15 lineup even more; it starts at $750 with a $250 discount for a config with a modern, 13th-gen Core i5 CPU and previous-gen RTX 3050 graphics. That's a great price for any variety of RTX graphics, and HP offers a few upgrades for reasonable price increases that let you bump up to a Core i7 and RTX 4060 graphics. We also recommend doubling the baseline 8GB of RAM to 16GB for $80 -- that's money well spent. The all-plastic, all-black body is a bit flimsy but not too bulky. The 15.6-inch display is rated for a dim 250 nits, but you can upgrade to a 300-nit panel for a brighter picture. There's also an upgrade that increases the refresh rate from the standard 60Hz to 144Hz for smoother motion in games, but unfortunately, you are forced to choose between a 144Hz, 250-nit display or a 60Hz, 300-nit display.HP Victus 15 reviewDespite having a lot of plastic, the Asus ROG Strix G15 feels pretty well constructed and also offers per-key RGB keyboard backlighting and an underglow strip of LEDs along the front edge, which lets you customize the look of this 15.6-inch budget gamer more than other models that offer multizone RGB lighting at most. And the Strix G15 isn't all flash, delivering a previous-gen but powerful-enough Ryzen 7 6800HS CPU and RTX 3050 GPU for $1,000. We also like getting 16GB of RAM instead of the meager 8GB that you sometimes find at this price.Asus ROG Strix G15Despite having a lot of plastic, the Asus ROG Strix G15 feels pretty well constructed and also offers per-key RGB keyboard backlighting and an underglow strip of LEDs along the front edge, which lets you customize the look of this 15.6-inch budget gamer more than other models that offer multizone RGB lighting at most. And the Strix G15 isn't all flash, delivering a previous-gen but powerful-enough Ryzen 7 6800HS CPU and RTX 3050 GPU for $1,000. We also like getting 16GB of RAM instead of the meager 8GB that you sometimes find at this price.Asus ROG Strix G15The 16-inch Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 is an updated version of the 15-inch Legion 5i Pro we reviewed and like last year for its strong performance for the price and bright, fast display. The latest 16-inch version supplies a high-res 2,560x1,600-pixel, 165Hz display, and you can upgrade to an even faster 240Hz panel. The latest 13th-gen Intel processors are on offer along the latest RTX 4050, 4060 and 4070 GPUs. Lenovo constantly rotates discounts, so pricing is always a moving target. But right now, the Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 line starts at $1,100 for a Core i5/RTX 4050 config.Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022) reviewThe 16-inch Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 is an updated version of the 15-inch Legion 5i Pro we reviewed and like last year for its strong performance for the price and bright, fast display. The latest 16-inch version supplies a high-res 2,560x1,600-pixel, 165Hz display, and you can upgrade to an even faster 240Hz panel. The latest 13th-gen Intel processors are on offer along the latest RTX 4050, 4060 and 4070 GPUs. Lenovo constantly rotates discounts, so pricing is always a moving target. But right now, the Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 line starts at $1,100 for a Core i5/RTX 4050 config.Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (2022) reviewThe IdeaPad Gaming 3 has neither the most exciting design nor the brightest, fastest display, but this 15.6-inch budget gaming laptop starts at only $700 and offers reasonable upgrades. It's a great pick if you are looking for your first gaming laptop and don't have a lot to spend. The baseline model is discounted to $700 right now at Lenovo, and the upgraded model at $830 is an even better deal. It supplies an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, 16GB of RAM and RTX 4050 graphics. That mix of components costs $1,000 or more nearly everywhere else. The tradeoff for getting such a low price is putting up with a dull, 250-nit display and low-res 720p webcam.Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 reviewThe IdeaPad Gaming 3 has neither the most exciting design nor the brightest, fastest display, but this 15.6-inch budget gaming laptop starts at only $700 and offers reasonable upgrades. It's a great pick if you are looking for your first gaming laptop and don't have a lot to spend. The baseline model is discounted to $700 right now at Lenovo, and the upgraded model at $830 is an even better deal. It supplies an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, 16GB of RAM and RTX 4050 graphics. That mix of components costs $1,000 or more nearly everywhere else. The tradeoff for getting such a low price is putting up with a dull, 250-nit display and low-res 720p webcam.Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 reviewDell XPS 17 9730: Dell's 17-inch content-creation laptop delivers a huge display and strong performance, but at its price an OLED display should be included.LG Gram 17 (2023): The Gram is amazing for its size and weight, but its dGPU is a generation behind, and the price is high.Acer Swift X 14: The 14-inch Swift X delivered excellent performance and an OLED display in a small package and with plenty of ports to boot. Its design, keyboard, touchpad and speakers didn't match the rest of the package.Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Much like the Acer Swift X, the Slim Pro 7 gets you good performance in a small body, but the other parts aren't quite as nice.Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra: The sleek and speedy 16-inch Ultra laptop is a no-brainer for devoted Samsung Galaxy fans. There's much to like here for everyone else, too.The review process for laptops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features with respect to price. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments. We test all laptops with a core set of benchmarks, including Primate Labs Geekbench 5 and 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10, a variety of 3DMark benchmarks (whichever can run on the laptop), UL Procyon Photo and Video (where supported), and our own battery life test. If a laptop is intended for gaming, we'll also run benchmarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Rift Breaker (CPU and GPU) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price.The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. You can find a more detailed description of our test methodology on our page on how we test computers. For gamers on a tight budget, the trick to finding the right gaming laptop is getting enough performance to play 3D games without sacrificing too much in other areas like the display and overall build quality -- while also avoiding older models on sale with outdated or soon-to-be-outdated parts. Here's our expect advice on what to consider to get the most gaming laptop for your money.The search for an affordable gaming laptop for most people starts with price. The good news is you can find a perfectly serviceable gaming laptop with modern components capable of playing today's games for roughly $1,000. And sometimes less than that if you find a model on sale. Dell, HP, Lenovo and other manufacturers are constantly rotating discounts, so you can lock in a great deal if you time it right. If your budget allows you to spend more than $1,000, you'll find models with more powerful components and brighter and faster displays along other bonuses like per-key RGB lighting and thinner designs.While MacBooks running Apple's MacOS are popular for home, work and school use, Microsoft Windows is the choice for gaming laptops, especially budget gaming laptops You can run some games on higher-end MacBook Pros, but they are very expensive compared with cheap, Windows-based gaming laptops. If you are on a tight budget, you could consider a Chromebook. ChromeOS is a different experience than Windows -- more streamlined and easier to use. But limited in that basically everything runs through the Chrome browser. Still, there are some Chromebooks for gamers.Most gaming laptops feature either a 15-inch or 16-inch screen, although you'll see some smaller 14-inch models as well as a few 17- and even 18-inch behemoths. Newer 16-inch models with taller 16:10 aspect ratios are starting to replace 15.6-inch with a more traditional 16:9 widescreen ratio, and we generally favor the boxier 16-inch models. You'll likely do most of your gaming at a 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, which has a 16:9 ratio, but the more vertical space afforded with a 16:10 display makes the laptop more useful outside of gaming when you are scrolling through web pages and long documents. Another important display spec for gamers is refresh rate -- the number time times per second a display refreshes its image. Most gaming laptops, even cheap ones, have displays with variable refresh rates that can sync to the frames per second of a game to prevent artifacts like tearing (where it looks like parts of different screens are mixed together) and stutter (where the screen updates at perceptibly irregular intervals).All the major companies have bumped their flagship 1080p configurations to 360Hz, but for many gamers, they're not essential: 240Hz max should be fine for those few times you can get frame rates above 240fps. On cheaper gaming laptops, you'll generally see 120Hz, 144Hz and 165Hz refresh rates, which should suffice if you have a lower-end GPU that won't push frames rates past 165 fps.Even if you don't plan on playing games at resolutions higher than 1080p, we suggest getting the highest resolution you can afford. Because on a larger 15 or 16-inch laptop display, text and the edges of images can look fuzzy on a 1080p -- or a 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution on laptops with a 16:10 aspect ratio. A Quad HD (QHD) resolution of 2,560×1,440 pixels (2,560×1,600 on a 16:10 display) will result in crisper text and images, and you can always choose to play games at a resolution lower than the maximum.The processor, aka the CPU, is the brains of a laptop. Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for Windows laptops. Both offer a staggering selection of mobile processors. Making things trickier, both manufacturers have chips designed for different laptop styles, like power-saving chips for ultraportables or faster processors for gaming laptops. Their naming conventions will let you know what type is used. You can head to Intel's or AMD's sites for explanations so you get the performance you want. Generally speaking, though, the faster the processor speed and the more cores it has, the better the performance will be.The graphics processor, or GPU, handles all the work of driving the screen and generating what gets displayed, as well as speeding up a lot of graphics-related (and increasingly, AI-related) operations. For Windows laptops, there are two types of GPUs: integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU). As the names imply, an iGPU is part of the CPU package, while a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM) that it communicates with directly, making it faster than sharing memory with the CPU. All gaming laptops will feature a dGPU from either Nvidia or AMD. Nvidia is the more popular of the two. For budget gaming laptops, you'll see many models with the entry-level RTX 4050 GPU or step-up RTX 4060 GPU as well as older models with previous-generation RTX 3050 or 3060 GPUs.For memory, we highly recommend 16GB of RAM, with 8GB being the absolute bare minimum. RAM is where the operating system stores all the data for currently running applications, and it can fill up fast. After that, it starts swapping between RAM and SSD, which is slower. Also, many laptops now have the memory soldered onto the motherboard. Most manufacturers disclose this, but if the RAM type is LPDDR, assume it's soldered and can't be upgraded. Some PC makers will solder memory on, however, and also leave an empty internal slot for adding a stick of RAM. You may need to contact the laptop manufacturer or find the laptop's full specs online to confirm. And check the web for user experiences, because the slot may still be hard to get to, it may require nonstandard or hard-to-get memory or other pitfalls, including voiding the warranty.You'll still find cheaper hard drives in budget laptops and larger hard drives in gaming laptops, but faster solid-state drives have all but replaced hard drives in laptops. They can make a big difference in performance. For a gaming laptops, we don't recommend going with less than a 512GB SSD unless you really like uninstalling games every time you want to play a new game. You can find a good cheap gaming laptop, but they certainly have performance limitations compared to more expensive laptops. The components necessary for an enjoyable PC gaming experience are expensive, which means even entry-level gaming laptops are still typically between $700 to $1,000. Also, because these models use lower-end components, the gaming performance they'll have on today's demanding AAA games might not hold up for future titles. Cheap gaming laptops are worth considering if you typically play older games or games that aren't graphically demanding or you're OK playing at reduced graphics quality to maintain fast frame rates. They're also a suitable option if you're looking for a laptop for work or school, but with enough graphics power for casual gaming during your downtime.For the best gaming experience with a budget gaming laptop, you 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. A cheap gaming laptop with a previous-generation, entry-level Nvidia RTX 3050 normally starts around $700. That chip gives you enough graphics performance to play the newest demanding games at medium settings. Spending between $800 and $1,000 (or perhaps a little more) will get you a laptop with a newer RTX 4050 or 4060 GPU for a better gaming experience.With the CPU, memory and storage, your choices are a little more flexible for a budget gaming laptop, especially the latter two. Because many games such as first-person shooters rely more on the graphics chip than the CPU, you don't necessarily need the fastest available. Going with a more midrange CPU like an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 is a safe bet.Also, gaming laptops, especially cheaper ones, let you easily expand or upgrade your memory and storage. If you're going to skimp, this is the best place to do it with the expectation you'll upgrade eventually and put your cash into the GPU and CPU instead.Beyond the graphics chip, look for: Most of your money is going toward components, so the other parts -- the display, keyboard and trackpad and build quality -- are going to be OK, but not fantastic. This is why we lean toward models like the Dell G15, which has its power input and other ports on the rear for a cleaner setup when connected to external peripherals. It also has a decent battery life, which is something that typically falls by the wayside on cheap gaming laptops.That said, display quality has improved on entry-level gaming laptops in the past couple of years, particularly when it comes to refresh rates. It's now common to find 120Hz or 144Hz displays offered, which will make fast movement in your games look smoother and give you a more responsive experience. It's not worth paying extra for, though, unless the GPU is capable of faster frame rates for your games, too.