A few years ago, buying a gaming laptop meant you had to spend thousands of dollars for a big and bulky thing that could barely play most video games for more than an hour. Luckily, that has changed drastically in the past two to three years, and you can now get some really excellent laptops, even at budget prices. That said, gaming laptops do remain expensive compared to non-gaming laptops, especially if you want to play some of the best PC games, which is why we’ve gone out and found our favorite gaming laptop deals for you. We’ve picked several choices at different prices and performance brackets, so you can pick something that fits your needs best, and if you’re not totally convinced and might want something else, you can check out these laptop deals.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is an excellent budget option, and while it won’t be able to play the latest games at max settings, it’s still pretty good. Under the hood it has an RTX 3050, which is an entry-level GPU that will handle most free-to-play games relatively ok with lower graphical settings. It also comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor, which is a mid-range option and will handle most games just fine, plus will let you get some productivity work done as well. As for the screen, it’s 15.6 inches big and runs at FHD at 120Hz refresh, which won’t massively stress the RTX 3050, which is good.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 — $800, was $1,200
Acer
If you want something with a bit more power and yet still budget-friendly, this Acer Predator Helios Neo is the perfect match, especially since it runs an RTX 4050 under the hood which, again, is an entry-level GPU, but it does give you access to DLSS 3.0. You also get a larger 16-inch screen with a whopping 165Hz refresh rate, although the resolution sits at FHD, which actually isn’t a bad thing considering you’re more likely to hit a higher refresh rate with the lower resolution. Luckily, even for being a budget gaming laptop you get 16GB of DDR5 RAM, so you won’t have trouble running lots of windows an apps, although the 512GB of storage could be a bit bigger in an ideal world.
The Acer Nitro 5 is a good gaming laptop to consider if you’re looking for some value. It has internal hardware that’s hard to find at such a great price, including a 12th-generation Intel processor with eight cores, 16GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, which is an entry-level GPU. These work together to make your gaming experience immersive and smooth, and a 512GB solid-state drive makes for a lot of space to store your favorite PC games. You also get an impressive 17.3-inch screen that runs at FHD and a 144Hz refresh rate, although the RTX 3050 might struggle with that without graphical setting compromises.
Dell G16 gaming laptop — $1,000, was $1,200
Dell
From one of the best laptop brands, the Dell G16 gaming laptop is a tempting proposition. It has a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor paired up with 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage. Already onto a good thing with the storage and memory, there’s also an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, which is great for the majority of the latest games. Perhaps the biggest highlight is its 16-inch QHD+ screen with 2560 x 1600 resolution and 165Hz refresh rate ensuring everything looks super sharp. It all fits into a shell that’s the same size as a 15-inch laptop so it’s more portable than you’d expect.
Lenovo Legion Slim 7i gaming laptop — $1,340, was $1,770
Arif Bacchus / Digital Trends / Digital Trends
Packing a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage is a good start for the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i. It also has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card so it’s all up to date. Paired with that is a 16-inch WQXGA screen with HDR 400 support, 100% sRGB, 500 nits of brightness, 240Hz refresh rate, and 2560 x 1600. That means whatever you play will look gorgeous. Other useful extras include a per-key RGB backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader, and 1080p full HD webcam. It’s sleek and lightweight as you’d expect from the maker of some of the best thin and light gaming laptops. It’s ideal if you have ambitions to stream your gaming time.
Alienware m18 gaming laptop — $1,410, was $1,770
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
From one of the best gaming laptop brands, the Alienware m18 is a great gaming laptop if you want a desktop replacement. It has a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor paired with 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage. There’s an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, too, but the true highlight here is the huge 16-inch full WQXGA screen with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, and 3ms response time. It means it isn’t the most portable of laptops but it’s perfect if you don’t have the room (or inclination) for a desktop gaming PC. Alienware Cryo-tech advanced cooling gives you plenty of system stability while there’s Dolby Vision support, Dolby Atmos, a great keyboard and much more.
Alienware x14 R2 00 $1,500, was $1,900
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
While there is a lot of focus on bigger screens, there are a lot of great smaller gaming laptops that pack a punch. For example, the Alienware X14 R2 has a 14-inch display, but it runs a 2560 x 1600 resolution and can hit an impressive 165Hz refresh rate. It also comes with an RTX 4060, which should be powerful enough to do a hundred frames or so at medium settings at this resolution, although that can be increased if you play a game that runs on DLSS 3.0. You’ll also be happy to know you get 16GB of DDR5 RAM, an impressive 1TB SSD, and an Intel Core i7-13620H processor, which will easily knock most games and productivity tasks out of the park.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 — $1,600, was $1,950
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends / Digital Trends
If you want one of the best bangs for your buck when it comes to gaming laptops, then the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is probably it since it balances all the specs really well. It runs an RTX 4070, which is a solid 2K GPU, while also running a 16-inch 2K monitor, so neither is overpowered or underpowered. The monitor can also hit a 240hz refresh rate which, granted, you’ll struggle to hit without serious graphical compromises, but at least you have the option to prioritize what is important for you. It also comes with an Intel Core i9-13900H, one of the most powerful CPUs on the market, so you could even potentially stream to Twitch or YouTube with this laptop, which is neat.
More gaming laptop deals we love
We’ve only touched the surface when it comes to great gaming laptop deals. While we’ve highlighted the very best options, there are many more. This includes some cheap deals as well as some high-end gaming laptops. Brands include HP Omen, Alienware, Lenovo Legion, Asus, and many others. Take a look below at what’s out there.
Getting into gaming can be an expensive hobby, especially if you're building a new PC from scratch and want to get the best GPU that you possibly can. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, GPU prices have skyrocketed, especially for RTX 40-series cards, and they don't look to be coming down any time soon, whether you're going for AMD or Nvidia. Luckily, there are still quite a lot of great deals you can take advantage of that will let you snag a card for a great price, and we've collected some of our favorites below. That said if you'd rather go for something that's already been put together, check out these gaming PC deals instead.
XFX SPEEDSTER SWFT210 AMD Radeon RX 6600 Core 8GB GDDR6 -- $230, was $280
XFX is a pretty well-known brand that makes AMD Radeon GPUs, so you're getting a good-quality device right out of the gate. It has an impressive 8GB GDDR6, at least for this price bracket, and will give you a bit longer life out of it when games start using up a lot more VRAM, even at lower graphical settings. While the base clock runs at 2.0 GHz, the boosted clock speed is 2.5 GHz which is pretty good, and the whole thing is unlocked, so you could theoretically boost it higher if you have the right cooling. This RTX 6600 can support resolutions up to 8K, but really, this is an ideal 1080p gaming GPU.
Best OLED monitor deals: Get an OLED screen from just $450
Up to a couple of years ago, OLED technology only really existed in OLED TVs and very-high-end monitors that cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Luckily, the prices have come down quite substantially, even on the best OLED monitors, especially as the market gets more saturated with options. That means that if you tend to use a monitor for the majority of your content consumption, such as gaming, then you can grab an OLED monitor for a great price and experience amazing visual fidelity and reproduction.
To that end, we've gone out and scoured all the major retailers and brands to find our favorite OLED monitor deals out there and compiled them below. That said, if you haven't quite found what you're looking for, or feel you aren't ready for an OLED monitor, be sure to check out some of these other great monitor deals.
LG UltraGear 27-inch gaming monitor -- $660, was $1,000
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