Best cheap gaming laptop deals

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HP Victus 15 | RTX 4050 | Ryzen 5 8645HS | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 8 GB DDR5 | 512 GB SSD | $645.99 at Walmart
Let's be upfront about this—8 GB of RAM is not enough in 2024. But when you're talking about a gaming notebook that costs just $650, but with a decent RTX 40-series GPU inside it, I can swallow it. Especially when you can easily upgrade the RAM with just a wee screwdriver in hand. And 16 GB of fast dual-channel DDR5 is just $50-odd right now. The RTX 4050 is just a 75 W variant, so not the outright fastest, but will still definitely do the job at 1080p. For this sorta money, that's all you can ask.

Price check: Newegg $679.95

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MSI Cyborg | Core i7 13620H | RTX 4060 | 14-inch | 1200p | 144 Hz | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $1,099.99 $749.99 at Best Buy (save $350)
The chassis on the Cyborg is far from the nicest, but it's very difficult to argue with a super-slim and portable 14-inch gaming laptop for this price. It's got a decent Intel chip, a fast screen, a decent spot of RAM and that RTX 4060 to play with. It's a lower powered model, but it should still do fine at 1080p with a bit of setting tweaking.

Price check: Amazon $1,149 (32 GB version)

Lenovo LOQ 15ARP9 | RTX 4070 | Ryzen 7 7435HS | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5-4800 | 512 GB SSD | $1,199.99 $879.99 at Walmart (save $320)
This is the cheapest RTX 4070 gaming laptop we've seen in quite a while, and a deal that seems to have stuck around after the Black Friday sales. There's a decent gaming CPU, a reasonable amount of dual-channel memory, a speedy screen, and that all important GPU to play with. The 512 GB SSD is small, however, but you can easily upgrade it with the spare NVMe slot inside.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13620H | 16-inch | 165 Hz | 1200p | 512 GB SSD | 16 GB DDR5 | $1,599.99 $1,149.99 at Best Buy (save $450)
This might not have the fancy OLED display of the latest model, but it's still an ultra desirable, RTX 4070-sporting, super slim and portable machine. The SSD could do with an upgrade in the near future to a larger model, but the sheer amount of excellent hardware crammed into this stylish chassis still makes for a winner in 2024.

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MSI Katana 15 | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13620H | 16-inch | 144 Hz | 1200p | 1 TB SSD | 16 GB DDR5 | $1,185 at Amazon
You're only getting a 1080p screen here, which is a bit of a shame as the rest of the components are all excellent. Still, that RTX 4070 will have no problem pushing that 144 Hz panel to its limits in many games at that res, plus the 10-core (six P-core, four E-core) CPU has some decent DDR5 to play with. It's not perfect, but for this money, it's a very solid deal.

Price check: Newegg $1,299

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MSI Sword | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13700HX | 16-inch | 1200p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | $1,599.99 $1,249.99 at Newegg (save $350)
A cheap RTX 4070 laptop with a powerful processor—who said the laptop sales were over this year? Sure, the CPU is last-gen, but all of the models at this end of the market tend to be. The 1200p screen and well-sized SSD make this one of the top picks right now for sheer value for money.

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Lenovo Legion 5i | RTX 4070 | Core i9 14900HX | 16-inch | 1600p | 240 Hz | 32 GB DDR5 5600 | 1 TB SSD | $1,849 $1,449 at B&H Photo (save $400)
Lenovo Legion gaming laptops have been excellent performers for a while now, and this one has specs to impress. The CPU is a 24-core (8 P-cores/16 E-cores) powerhouse, plus you get a proper 32 GB of RAM to play with. Match that with a 140 W RTX 4070 and a 240 Hz screen and this laptop is virtually flawless for the money. 2 TB of storage would be nice if I was being picky, but 1 TB will do you fine.

Price check: Best Buy $1,899.99

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Acer Predator Triton Neo 16 | RTX 4070 | Core Ultra 9 185H | 16-inch | 2000p | 165 Hz | 32 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | $1,575 at Amazon
Let's start with a caveat—the chassis here isn't exactly beautiful. But everything else about this laptop is great for the price, including a 140 W RTX 4070, a 16-core (six Performance, eight Efficient) Meteor Lake chip and a 16-inch 2000p LED-backlit IPS display. That resolution might be a bit much for the RTX 4070 in demanding games, but there's always DLSS 3 to keep the frame rate smooth. 32 GB of DDR5 is great to see, too.

Price check: Newegg $1,827.99

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Lenovo Legion Pro 7i | RTX 4080 | Core i9 14900HX | 16-inch | 1600p | 240 Hz | 32 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | $2,799.99 $1,999.99 at B&H Photo (save $800)
Lenovo's Legion series of laptops have become firm favorites on this page for their fantastic performance, great chassis designs, and sheer overall desirability. This one's specced to the hilt (with the exception of the SSD, which could be larger), and is pretty much the sort of machine 16-inch dreams are made of. For $2,000, it's a great price on a properly powerful high end beast.

Price check: Newegg $2,747.99 (2 TB version)

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Steam Deck (LCD) | 256 GB SSD | SteamOS | $399 at Steam
Okay, the Steam Deck may have had an OLED refresh and there are heaps of more powerful handhelds around, but the original version is still the archetype of what a mobile PC gaming device should be. It's just as powerful as the most recent model so all those Steam Deck compatible games should run well. It's the OG PC gaming handheld, and it still demands respect, although this particular model does have quite a small SSD. Replacing it later with a larger model is no great hassle, however.

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MSI Claw 7 A1M | Intel Core Ultra 5 135H | 7-inch screen | 512 GB SSD | Windows 11 | 16 GB RAM | $699 $429.99 at Newegg (save $269.01)
I have to admit the MSI Claw is not our favorite handheld gaming PC. That would be the Asus ROG Ally X. However, below a certain price threshold, the MSI Claw 7 becomes worth a look, and I believe we're just about at that price threshold here. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 'Meteor Lake' chip, this chip is the cheapest of those available, but it can deliver some fairly reasonable performance in games thanks to the same eight Xe-cores as the higher models. It's just not as fast as AMD's options.

Price check: Amazon $429.99

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ROG Ally | Z1 Extreme | 7-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $589.99 $481.93 at Amazon (save $108.06)
The original ROG Ally—still a strong performer even next to its improved sibling, the ROG Ally X. That's because they are both powered by the same Z1 Extreme chip from AMD. Considering the money off the original Ally, there's something to be said for choosing this over the X, though the bigger battery life on the X is definitely a huge improvement.

Price check: Best Buy $499.99

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Lenovo Legion Go | Z1 Extreme | 8.8-inch screen | 16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | $699.99 $548.99 at Amazon (save $151)
The Legion Go is one of the more polished handhelds on the market, with a sleek 8.8-inch screen and detachable controllers. That screen is a little overkill for the lil' AMD chip inside this machine, the Z1 Extreme also found in the ROG Ally, but it's great for playing indies on while relaxing. One of the controllers also becomes a mouse if you need it, which is a bit of a gimmick but works pretty well.

Price check: Newegg $548.99 | Best Buy $649.99 (1 TB version)

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Steam Deck LCD | SteamOS | 256 GB | £349 at Steam
There's no deal on the Steam Deck right now, but since the launch of the OLED model, you can buy the mid-sized LCD for a good price. It's still a wicked handheld, too, most of all because of its custom SteamOS operating system.

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Gigabyte G5 | RTX 4060 | Core i5 13500H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5-4800 | 512 GB SSD | £849 £749 at Currys (save £100)
We're big fans of this little budget gaming laptop, and our Jacob loved its great gaming performance (check out our review). With some genuine 1080p gaming chops on offer for a substantially lower price than we've seen previously, this makes for a tidy little gaming laptop for not much cash at all.

Price check: Amazon £815.88

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Gigabyte Aorus 7 | RTX 4060 | Core i5 12500H | 17.3-inch | 1080p | 360 Hz | 16 GB DDR5-3200 | 512 GB SSD | £999.95 £899.99 at Overclockers (save £99.96)
A slightly odd set of components here, but if you're looking for a large-screen laptop with decent gaming performance at a budget price point, this is a darn good shout. That large screen might be only 1080p, but it's super speedy, and it's well matched with an RTX 4060 and a 12th Gen (but still performant) Intel mobile chip.

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Acer Predator Triton Neo | RTX 4070 | Core Ultra 9 185H | 16-inch | 2000p | 165 Hz | 32 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | £1,499 at Amazon
This might not technically be on discount, but it's still a lot of laptop for the cash. Here you get a 2000p speedy panel in combination with an efficient yet very gaming-capable CPU, paired with 32 GB of RAM and a decent 1 TB SSD. It's not the prettiest machine, but it's a very portable, very powerful gaming powerhouse in a slim chassis.

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MSI Vector 16 | RTX 4080 | Core i9 13980HX | 16-inch | 1200p | 165 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | £1,741.83 at Amazon
When it comes to the hardware running under the bonnet, this 16-inch MSI Vector certainly has the goods, what with that Intel Core i9 processor and an RTX 4080 making a very tempting package indeed. Bit of a shame about the 1200p display and 16GB of RAM, but at least the screen's a good 'un with a 144Hz refresh rate and a nice and bright panel. There's a huge amount of performance here, making this machine a sizeable chunk of power for a little over £1,700.