Ah, the gaming laptop. Truly the noblest kind of them all, with those sleek curves, succulent form and most of all, unalloyed power required to run those sweet, sweet AAA games. But sometimes you’re just too plain broke to buy one. Well, don’t call the suicide hotline just yet, for, under the benevolent and awesome guidance of our Lord and Saviour Gabe Newell (may Postal 3 manifest itself here on Earth as it is in Heaven), we here at EXP.gg will renew your will to live with our curated selection of affordable gaming laptops!
*Handel’s Hallelujah begins playing*
1. ASUS X454YI
- Processor: AMD A8-7410
- RAM: 4GB DDR3L (upgradeable up to 12GB)
- GPU: Radeon R5 M330DX
- Display: 14” HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 500GB HDD
As a sort of pregaming before we get to the rest of the list, this one’s for all of you slaving away at McModernSlavery’s as a cashier/janitor/human test subject but still want a decent laptop to game on. With a price hovering around USD350, you can play all the games you’d like at Low or Medium settings, but don’t expect it to go above 30FPS!
2. ASUS A455LF-WX185D
- Processor: Intel Core i5-5200U
- RAM: 4GB DDR3L
- GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT 930M
- Display: 14” HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 500GB HDD
For those of you with less than 650 dollars for a budget, hurry and get this modest yet powerful cruiser. With a GT930M under the hood, rest assured that even the most demanding AAA games will run at decent framerates at medium settings.
3. Acer Aspire E5-553G
- Processor: AMD FX-9800P
- RAM: Dual Channel 2 x 4GB DDR4 SDRAM (upgradeable up to 16 GB)
- GPU: AMD Dual Graphics Radeon R8 M445DX 2GB
- Display: 15.6″ HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD
With prices ranging from 650 to 750 dollars (depending on your exact preferred specs), get ready to finally have a laptop with 8 bitchin’ gigs of RAM! It’s even got a RAID-enabled 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD hybrid thing going on for it. Still, don’t crank everything up to Ultra High or you just might find yourself in need of a new computer.
4. Acer Aspire E5-476G
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8250U
- RAM: 4GB DDR4 (upgradeable up to 32 GB)
- GPU: Nvidia Geforce MX150 2GB
- Display: 14” HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 1TB HDD with 2 free SSD expansion slots
Need a reliable all-rounder? With just 750 dollars, you can get the E5-475G! With an MX-150 discrete graphics card backing up the mid-range i5-8250U, this model may not be the Gibson, but it’ll hack through any AAA game’s stubborn lag just the same.
5. Asus A456UR
- Processor: Intel Core i5-7200U
- RAM: 4GB DDR4 (upgradeable up to 8GB)
- GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT 930MX
- Display: 14” HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 1TB
You know what, just get the damn A455L. It’s only a little bit more money and yet you’d have so much more raw computing power.
6. HP Pavilion 14-AL168TX
- Processor: Intel Core i5-7200U
- RAM: 4GB DDR4 (upgradeable up to 8GB)
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT940M 2 GB
- Display: 14” HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 1TB SATA
For those of you tired of the usual suspects: Acer, ASUS, Acer, ASUS, we’ve thrown a respectable good old American manufacturer in the mix. At prices hovering around 850 dollars, Hewlett-Packard’s offering is a decent machine for those who’d like to play semi-AAA games at top-notch visual quality.
7. Lenovo IdeaPad IP300 D3ID
- Processor: Intel Core i7-6500U
- RAM: 4GB DDR3
- GPU: AMD Radeon R5-M330 2 GB
- Display: 14” HD (1366×768) 16:9
- Storage: 1TB SATA
An i7 for the price of a Pentium III? Count us in. For only 750 dollars, get your hands on this mitzvah right now. Come on, get off your tuches!
8. ASUS X550IU
- Processor: AMD APU FX-9830P
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB GDDR5
- Display: 15.6” HD (1920×1080)
- Storage: 1TB
This budget blazer offers 4 gigs of video memory for the low, low price of 850 dollars! (CALL TODAY! WE TAKE AMERICAN EXPRESS). With a luxurious 15.6″ screen, capable of supporting Full HD output (1920×1080), what’s that? Okay, your card number is 4222…
9. Asus X550VX
- Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 (upgradeable up to 16GB)
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M GDDR5
- Display: 15.6” HD (1920×1080)
- Storage: 1TB
A 100 dollar ante-upping to money earmarked for an X550IU gets you this beauty. With a top-of-the-line GTX 950 and i7-6700HQ (!), who can resist? It’s like the damn Borg, believe you me. It’s insidious.
10. Lenovo Y520
- Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 (upgradeable up to 16B)
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050TI 4GB
- Display: 15.6” HD (1920×1080)
- Storage: 1TB
With a price tag of around 1100 dollars, this laptop well-commands such. A titanic GTX-1050TI will make sure you can crank everything up to 11 and it won’t burn out. Just make sure you have a cooling pad.
And remember, if you’re overwhelmed by all the choices, just give up and get a PlayStation 4! 😛
Kthxbai.
