Cheap gaming laptop deals

Dell G15 | Nvidia RTX 3050 | AMD Ryzen 5 6600H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 120Hz | 8GB DDR4 | 512GB SSD | $949.99 $599.99 at Best Buy (save $350)
If you're looking for a cheap gaming laptop, this Dell G15 for $600 is a good choice for 1080p gaming on a budget. The G15 is a reliable machine and a good candidate for game streaming services like Xbox Game Pass to compensate for the power deficit. 

Asus ROG X13 Flow | RTX 3050 Ti | Ryzen 9 6800HS | 13.4-inch | 1200p | 120Hz | 16GB | 1TB NVMe SSD | $1,499.99 $899.99 at Best Buy (save $700)
This isn't a pure gaming laptop. Instead, it's a very high-quality compact 13.4-inch portable with a fabulous 120Hz 16:10 display, a powerful eight-core AMD CPU, great build quality, and decent entry-level gaming chops. And it's nearly half its original price. Get in.

MSI Katana 15 | 15-inch | RTX 4060 | Intel Core i5 12450H | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | $1,199 $999 at Newegg (save $200)
This is the RTX 4060 laptop to buy right now. For a little over $1,000, you can score a brand new RTX 4060 in a laptop that's not massively underpowered in some other way. Usually, we'd see manufacturers skimp on the SSD or RAM to get the cost down to this level, but here you're looking at a healthy 16GB of DDR5 and a 1TB NVMe drive. Lovely.
Price check:  Amazon $1,289.99

Gigabyte G5 KF | Nvidia RTX 4060 | Intel Core i5 12500H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 8GB DDR4 | 512GB SSD | $1,099 $899 at Newegg (save $200 with coupon)
The Gigabyte G5 (see our review) is our favorite affordable gaming laptop, packing the RTX 4060 GPU for some serious 1080p gaming performance in a budget package. It's a smart spec that essentially uses an otherwise older specification with the simple addition of just the new Nvidia RTX 40-series graphics chip. The 512GB SSD is a bit miserly, but that is upgradeable. The 8GB of DDR4 memory is also upgradeable, and you'll want to bump it to 16GB, so this is a bit of a project buy.

Price check: Best Buy $999.99 | Walmart $999

Asus ROG Zephyrus 14 | Nvidia RTX 3060 | AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS | 14-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | $1,019.99 at Best Buy
If you don't want a hulking gaming laptop, let me introduce the Zephyrus 14 (see our review): a 14-incher that can game without busting your bank balance or your shoulder when lugging it around—no-nonsense specs in a delightful package. While a bit older now versus the RTX 40-series GPUs, this is a very smart package for a low fee.

MSI Katana 15 | RTX 4070 | Intel Core i7 12650H | 15.6-inch | 144Hz | 1080p | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | $1,499 $1,159 Newegg (save $340)
Proof that Nvidia's new RTX 40-series graphics tech doesn't always come at an unreasonable price. This RTX 4070 laptop is relatively affordable and comes ready to roll with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The 15.6-inch screen rocks IPS tech and 144Hz, too. OK, it runs last-gen Intel CPU tech, but with six Performance-cores, it has all the processing power you need for gaming.

Price check: Amazon $1,548.23 | Best Buy: $1,299.99

MSI Crosshair 15 | RTX 4070 | Intel Core i7 13620H | 16-inch | 144Hz | 1200p | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | $1,699.99 $1,399.99 Best Buy (save $300)
We were surprised to see a new 16-inch RTX 4070-powered laptop for only $1,400. This Crosshair has a current-gen Intel CPU, so it's great for working and gaming. Also, the display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, so you get more field of view which is super useful in first-person shooters. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus 16 | RTX 4070 | Intel Core i9 13900H | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | 1440p | 240Hz | $1,949 $1,599 at Best Buy (save $350)
This Zephyrus 16 is one of our favorite next-gen RTX 40-series laptops (see our review of the RTX 4090 version). This flashy machine has a lot going on under the hood and has a beautifully bright QHD+ (2560 x 1600) at a speedy 240Hz. 

MSI Pulse 15 | RTX 4070 | Intel Core i9 13900H | 32GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | 1440p | 165Hz | $1,899 $1,799 at Newegg (save $100)
This laptop offers a higher-spec CPU and more RAM than most you'll find cheaper with an RTX 4070. If you're after a laptop that can deliver for work, creative pursuits, and gaming, this will be a better fit for it.

Price check: Walmart $1,789

Gigabyte Aorus 17H | Nvidia RTX 4080 | Intel Core i9 13900H | 17-inch | 1080p | 360Hz | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | $2,176 at Amazon
This is just about the most affordable RTX 4080 gaming laptop we've found, though it is worth noting it's of the less popular, somewhat vast 17.3-inch screen size. That does make it a good desktop replacement, though not necessarily a great portable system. Still, that Nvidia GPU will fly at the native resolution of this 1080p screen and could get close to those 360Hz figures on your favorite esports games.

Price check: Newegg $2,566.99 | Best Buy $2,199.99 | Walmart $2,199

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i | Nvidia RTX 4080 | Intel Core i9 13900HX | 16-inch | 1600p | 240Hz | 32GB DDR5-5600 | 1TB NVMe SSD | $2,849.99 $2,564 at Lenovo (save $285)
This is a surprise: a discount on the best RTX 4080 laptop I've tested. It's a fantastic notebook, offering performance that can often match and sometimes beat an RTX 4090-based system (see our review). There's a high-performance CPU to back it up, a decent, bright 1600p screen, and a fair amount of storage. All with a discount. 

Price Check: B&H $2,749.99

MSI GF63 Thin | Nvidia RTX 4050 | Intel Core i5 12450H | 15.6-inch | 144Hz | 1080p | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD | £1,199 £799.99 at Very (save £400.01)
Not the most up-to-date spec here, though that CPU is only a last-gen offering. It's backed up nicely with a 40-series GPU. It might struggle to do too much at once with only 8GB of RAM, but you should be able to hit framerates that'll make the most of that 144Hz panel at its native 1080p resolution.

Gigabyte G5 | Intel Core i5 12500H | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 512GB SSD | £1,198.97 £979.97 at Laptops Direct (save £219)
We're big fans of this little budget gaming laptop, and our Jacob loved its "great gaming performance" (check out our review). With over £200 off the original price, this powerful notebook is a great deal today.