Amazon Prime day has arrived in force, and it's brought with it some excellent cheap gaming laptops and gaming laptop deals. Get a laptop at a solid discount during a promotion like Prime Day (or Walmart's answer to the parade of deals, The Big Save) doesn't mean you need to compromise on quality. In fact, the nature of a big promotion like Prime Day means that you can get a powerful laptop at the price of a budget machine, so if you're in the market for a portable gaming rig, now is definitely the time to buy. Right now there's a pretty stellar deal on the Acer Predator Helios, for instance, only $900 ($401 off) at Amazon.
Today's deals
So what should you be looking for in a cheap gaming laptop? As I said, just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you need to sacrifice on power and performance: cheap laptops don't have to be bad laptops. You may find a lot of models with older GTX cards, or even the brand new 16-series of cards from Nvidia that pack Turing architecture into a GTX package, but since the majority of laptops are built around 1080p displays, you're not likely to need a ton more horsepower than that anyway. And given how relatively small laptop displays are, FHD still looks very sharp, especially when you're getting it at 120+ FPS. We've already seen some pre-Prime Day sales unfolding, so be sure to keep an eye on our massive Amazon Prime Day PC deals hub when the event properly launches on July 15th for all the latest and greatest discounts.
Cheap gaming laptop deals
$500-$1000
MSI GL63 | 15.6" 60 Hz | Core i5-8300H | GTX 1050 Ti | $750 ($250 off)
This base-tier model of the MSI GL63 has an Intel Core i5-8300H processor, an Nvidia GTX 1050 TI graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It's only a good option if you mostly play lightweight games like Overwatch, Fortnite, CS:GO, and so on.
Dell G5 gaming laptop | $779 (save $330) at Walmart
This gaming laptop from Dell in Walmart's response to Prime Day sale is an excellent budget machine, featuring an i5-8300H processor, 16GB RAM, a GTX 1060, and 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD. Most laptops under $800 only have a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti, so getting a GTX 1060 at this price is a great deal.View Deal
Asus ROG Strix | 15.6" 60Hz | Core i5-9300H | GTX 1660 Ti 6GB | $900 (save $400)
Another great laptop deal from Walmart's Big Save promotion. Packing a mighty 1660 Ti GPU and a 9th Gen Core i5, this Asus laptop is a powerhouse for this price. While the inclusion of only 8GB of RAM is a bit questionable, this is otherwise a killer machine for $900, and even packs a speedy 512GB PCIe SSD. View Deal
Lenovo Legion Y520 |15.6" 60Hz | Core i7-7700HQ | GTX 1060 3GB | $949
At under $1,000, the Legion Y520 is a solid performer, packing a core i7 (curiously, the model that includes integrated graphics) and the aging but still very capable Pascal 1060. It's also helpfully loaded with a speedy 512GB SSD.
View Deal
Acer Predator Helios 300 | 15.6" 144Hz | Core i7-8750H | GTX 1060 6GB | $900
The hardware in this Acer Predator laptop is very solid at this price point, especially when you consider the 144Hz display. One of Prime Day's best options, you can grab it right now for only $900, a full $401 off the list price. View Deal
$1000-$1500
Acer Predator Helios 300 | 15.6" 144Hz | Core i7-9750H | GTX 1660 Ti 6GB | $1,200
This is the stepped up version of the Predator Helios 300, still a great value compared to other models in this price range. It's been upgraded from its cheap laptop sibling to an Intel Core i7-9750 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB NVMe SSD.View Deal
HP Omen 15| 15.6" 144Hz | Core i7-8750H | RTX 2070 | $1,500 ($100 off)
At the top end of this price range you get a lot of bang for your buck. The newly redesigned 2019 version of the Omen 15 packs a powerful RTX 2070 with plenty of horsepower and dedicated cores for ray tracing and DLSS.View Deal
$1500+
MSI GS75 Stealth | 17.3" 144Hz | Core i7-8750H | RTX 2080 Max-Q | $2400 ($600 off)
This laptop is the high-end version of the GS65, our favorite cheap gaming laptop, so if you want to go all out and get the most powerful gaming laptop money can buy, this is a good bet. View Deal
Razer Blade 15 (2018) | 15.6" 60Hz | Core i7-8750H 6 | GTX 1060 Max-Q | $1,600 ($200 off)
Now that the new Razer Blade 15 is available, Razer has dropped the price of last year's model. This isn't an amazing deal, considering other laptops in this price range have better RTX 2060 graphics cards, but we know some people prefer Razer laptops.View Deal
ASUS ROG Strix Scar II | 15.6" 144Hz | Core i7-8750H | RTX 2070 | $1699.00 ($301 off)
This high-end gaming laptop from ASUS is at its lowest price yet. It has an Intel Core i7-8750H processor, an Nvidia RTX 2070 graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. Buy at Amazon
Razer Blade 15 (2019) | 15.6" 144Hz | Core i7-8750H | RTX 2070 Max-Q | $2,400 ($200 off)
If you want a thin 15-inch laptop that has plenty of power for both workstation productivity and games, the latest Razer Blade 15 isn't a bad choice—though it's still pricey. The brand new, 2019 model comes complete with a might RTX 2070 and is ready to crush even demanding triple-A titles. View Deal
Our favorite cheap gaming laptops
MSI GS65 Stealth deal
1. MSI GS65 Stealth
Powerful and elegantly designed
CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | RAM: 16GB DDR4-2666MHz | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) wide-view 144Hz | Storage: 512GB M.2 SSD | Battery: 82 Whr | Dimensions: 15.08 x 10.24 x 0.69 inches | Weight: 4.19 lbs
If you're looking for a gaming laptop that combines elegant design, power, and portability, then the newly redesigned MSI GS65 Stealth is an absolute winner. It's thin and light enough to be used as both a working notebook and a relatively powerful gaming PC, and thanks to some smart design, it's actually slightly smaller than most 15" laptops, while offering the same amount of screen real-estate. The redesign improves upon an excellent foundation with a hardware refresh (including a 9th Gen processor and Nvidia's Pascal-architecture-in-a-GTX 1660 Ti) and an improved touchpad.
That performance isn't wasted. The Stealth packs a 144Hz display, a great panel to pair with the new CPU and GPU. It's also got a speedy and relatively capacious (by solid state standards) SSD drive, which helps speed up boot times and shave a few seconds off in-game loads. There's also the now industry standard 16GB helping of DDR4 at 2666Mhz, plenty of RAM for the current bumper crop of triple-A extravaganzas.
The battery life is very impressive too at 87Whr, and there are some lovely flourishes, like an RGB-capable Steelseries keyboard, a powerful webcam, and the aforementioned silky smooth glass touchpad. It's a perfect hybrid machine for gaming or work, and one of the most elegant looking laptops we've gotten our hands on.
2. Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model
A new look for a powerful gaming laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7-8750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q | RAM: 16GB DDR4-2666MHz | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS 144Hz | Storage: 512GB SSD | Battery: 80 Whr | Dimensions: 9.25 x 13.98 x 0.68 inches | Weight: 4.63 lbs
With Razer you know what you're getting: a quality product, made with gamers in mind above all else. The new refresh of the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model is the epitome of this thinking, with everything tailored specifically for gaming use. At the top of the heap of impressive stats is the 2080 Max-Q GPU, the slim version of Nvidia's ray tracing powerhouse. In terms of raw power, this iteration of the Blade 15 is extremely well specced, though the price you pay for that performance nudges it just slightly out of the final tier of our roundup above.
That said, this machine justifies its price tag. It's a lovely, finely-crafted laptop, built around a CNC-milled aluminum chassis and available in either the standard matte black or Razer's lovely new Mercury White, a silvery, almost fae finish. Don't let its looks deceive you, though - if you're looking to actually take your gaming on the road, and you expect a little roughness along the way, the Razer 15 remains one of the most durable options in an increasingly crowded market. People often bandy around the phrase 'Razer tax' when they want to knock the company's output, but in this case at least what you're actually paying for is attention to detail, and fit and finish.
3. Gigabyte Aero 15 Classic
Best in class battery life and great specs
CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | RAM: 16GB DDR4-2666MHz | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS 144Hz | Storage: 512GB SSD | Battery: 94.24 Whr | Dimensions: 14 x 9.8 x 0.74 inches | Weight: 8.18 lbs
If you're looking for a gaming laptop that will last the journey on longer trips, and give you more performance per charge, then the Gigabyte Aero 15 leads the pack here. With a whopping 94.24Whr battery, you can get upwards of six hours of heavy use from it, before needing to plug in. Given that the Aero's base specs are comparable to the other laptops in this list, that extra juice suddenly becomes very important.
What you get here is a 1660 Ti GPU, the same i7-9750H processor as the MSI, alongside 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB Intel 760P SSD. In terms of performance, then, it's very much on a par with the best. It's also one of the first laptops to utilize Microsoft's Azure cloud AI platform to optimize in-game performance, which ultimately means a handful more frames per second to kick out to the 144Hz panel.
Gaming laptop retailers
If you can't find exactly what you're looking for here, we won't be offended, promise. A good tip is to check out some of the big retailers' landing pages, where they're constantly updating prices and deals. Some common options are below, leading straight to their latest selection of gaming laptops.
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