Best Budget Gaming Laptop 2022

We all are eye-witnesses to how fast video gaming is dominating things. Previously it was fairly a strenuous job for professional gamers to keep going with demanding video games on their low-end laptops. The days are gone now; there are plenty of budget gaming beasts that ensure smooth FPS and high refresh rates, making the games feel seamless and realistic with their glossy display screens. HP, Acer, Asus, MSI, and Lenovo, etc., are a few of the top brands keeping budget gamers in perspective to help them go with their gaming. They are coming up with laptops that are equipped with better dedicated discrete graphics and other powerful internals.

We have gathered a list of best budget gaming laptops, each discussed in detail below with their designs and specifications to help you narrow your choice. Also, there is a detailed buying guide included to know about the important key features.

Best Cheap Gaming Laptops 2022

1. Asus Rog Zephyrus G15
2. Acer Predator Helios 300
3. Lenovo Legion Y545
4. HP Pavilion 15
5. Acer Nitro 5
6. MSI GF63 Thin
7. ASUS TUF Gaming FX705
8. Dell G5 15
9. Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1
10. ASUS VivoBook F510QA

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Chooshing the Best Budget Gaming Laptop

You might be confused about what is the best budget gaming laptop available in the market right now. Things are not this much straightforward. You need to consider some key factors in deciding whether the laptop is good for budget gaming or not. Some of the essential factors like CPU, RAM, Display, and storage, etc., are discussed below to make it easy for you to have a best pick.

Performance

Apart from having an out-of-the-box graphics card, a good budget gaming laptop needs to have a muscular processor and fast RAM storage, and you will need a lot of storage to store your high-end games and other essential files. Few recommendations regarding best budget gaming laptop’s processor, RAM, Graphics card, and storage are stated below.

Processor: As CPUs cannot be upgraded later on, so better to go with a lot of calculations in your mind regarding future gaming as well. Keeping the budget in perspective, a Core i7 CPU should be considered as more than enough – as it can be easily overclocked (If needed) to the same speed as a Core i9-9750H processor. It is widely observed that a great gaming GPU is more vital in a system despite going for some high-end processor that surely costs a lot. If so tight on budget, you can go for a laptop with a Core i5 processor alongside a mid-range graphics card to keep going with your gaming.

RAM: RAM (Random Access Memory) is the next factor that plays a supreme role in bringing up smooth processing while dealing with a lot of intensive multitaskings at a time. It’s pretty much clear that you cannot go for a 4GB of RAM storage with current-day video games; things are getting really complex in terms of graphics and audio, etc. So anything above 4GB for a top budget gaming laptop would be enough. 8GB of RAM storage is considered the most suitable figure that helps in all scenarios, whether gaming or other intensive programs. To have 12GB or 16GB RAM equipped inside your gaming rig is surely a plus, but to keep things balanced with the budget, 8GB RAM is perfect to go with.

Storage: Most of the time, we have witnessed systems with massive HDD (Hard disk drive), and in order to add boost drive capabilities, they possess a small SSD (Solid-state drive) as well. To have an HDD of 1TB and an SSD around 256GB is a perfect combination for budget side gaming. Most of the best budget gaming laptops listed below are equipped with 512GB of SSD’s because 1TB SSD at this stage will urge you to spend more budget. Getting a huge SSD indeed decreases loading time and does processing faster than ever, but it comparatively costs way more. The storage can be upgraded later on if needed, so here you have plenty of choices to go with.

Graphics Card: One of the key factors that play a vital role in bringing up a seamless and realistic gaming experience. Graphics card is where everything matters; if you are able to pay $1000 or a few more, you can get a handy RTX 2060 graphics card that delivers true efficiency when coupled with a 16GB of RAM storage. Below $1000 to have a GTX 1050 Ti or GTX 1650 inside your budget gaming laptop is useful. Anything below $800, you will need to compromise the better FPS with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 card.

Display

The display factor of best cheap gaming laptops comprises of screen size and resolutions. Speaking about the size first, to have anything between 14 inches to 17 inches is perfect to go with. The screen size adds too much to the portability factor. The laptop with a bigger screen size will be relatively harder to carry with that too with a lot of weight. You will find all the best low-price gaming laptops with screen sizes between 14 and 17 inches on the list below. The following display factor is its resolution. You shouldn’t go with anything less than 1920 x 1080 resolution, no matter how tight you are on a budget. It’s precisely where the real crisp comes when coupled with a good graphics card. An Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 might urge you to look for better resolutions like 2560 x 1440 or above.

Battery

The battery life also plays a key role when it comes to the best budget gaming laptop under 1000. It is widely observed that best budget gaming laptops don’t usually offer longer battery backups because of their power consumption, like other Ultrabooks offering 8 to 10 hours of battery backups. To get the most out of the graphics card, you would need to stay plugged in. Some might provide you with longer battery backups, but they surely would be compromising display quality at some space. If you are getting 2 hours of backup on continuous gaming, it’s perfectly more than enough.

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Best Affordable Gaming Laptops 2022

1. Asus Rog Zephyrus G15

Powerful & portable laptop for pro gamers

Asus Rog Zephyrus G15 REVIEW: Asus is famous for completing the dreams of professional gaming geeks with absolute monsters. Asus gaming laptops lineup contains premium level laptops like Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 and Asus Strix Scar 15. Apart from those, Asus has brought some best affordable gaming laptops to help those who are tight on a budget. Asus Rog Zephyrus G15 packs one of the best gaming internals that are capable of delivering absolute true fire power. The laptop holds 15.6 inches of a display screen – surrounded by matte black bezels – that delivers glossy colors and enough in-game details.

Coming towards the specifications of Asus Rog Zephyrus G15, it holds a fast and efficient AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 16GB of lightning-fast DDR4 RAM that perfectly handles multitasking, a huge 1TB of SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 powerful processor that helps the pro-gamers to get smooth gaming experience. The Asus Rog Zephyrus G15, when compared to other best gaming laptops on budget, packs a sleek design, is lightweight, and fairly thin. The keyboard, as previously was under great criticism for shallower travel, is still the same with no modification. It holds a decent port combination, surprisingly missing a Thunderbolt 3 port. The ports include three x USB Type-A 3.1 ports, Rj 45, an HDMI 2.0 port, USB Type-C Gen2 with DP 1.4, and an audio combo jack. Asus Rog Zephyrus G15 being the best gaming budget laptop 2022, provides a battery backup of almost 5 hours.

2. Acer Predator Helios 300

Best for mid-range gaming & creativity

Acer Predator Helios 300 REVIEW: Acer has made worthy modifications in its Predator Helios 300 top rated budget gaming laptop. The Acer Predator Helios 300 2020 is coming up with solid performance both for gaming and outside gaming as well, like dealing with powerful programs in video & photo editing, 3D simulations, software development, etc. They have greatly worked on its battery backup and extended to certain limit to keep the professional gamers up for longer hours. Acer Predator Helios 300 comes with a 15.6 inches display that delivers FHD resolutions with fine colors and more than enough details for a mid ranger gaming laptop.

Acer Predator Helios 300 packs a beautiful futuristic design with all matte black metal chassis perfectly arranging ports around its deck with advanced air-intake techniques. Coming towards the specifications of this best gaming budget laptop, it holds the 7th gen Intel Core i7 CPU, capable of doing wonders for you, a handy 16GB of DDR4 RAM for multitasking, fast 256GB of SSD; assisting the processor in processing power consumptive tasks rapidly. Getting an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 powerful graphics card in a mid-range gaming laptop is indeed a plus; the GPU works fine, providing a smooth gaming experience. The 4-zones RGB backlit keyboard with low key travel feels comfortable while typing. Holds enough ports with a Thunderbolt 3, a beast for faster file transferring, USB 3.2 Gen2, DP 1.4, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1, Ethernet port, an HDMI, and audio combo jack. Acer Predator Helios 300 Provides 7 hours of battery backup on a single recharge.

3. Lenovo Legion Y545

Solid gamig performance yet affordable

Lenovo Legion Y545 REVIEW: For Lenovo Legion Y545, the word budget never means its compromising any key gaming feature. The Lenovo’s entry level budget gaming laptop has so much power under its deck to offer along with radiating perfect looks with its design. The Lenovo Legion Y545 with its bright large display screen providing great frame and refresh rates, understated design, better audio capabilities, better graphics card, huge storage options (HDD & SDD), with 9th gen processor is a perfect alternative for Acer Predator Helios 300 2020. You would be compromising a bit of portability and a good looking RGB backlit keyboard in this Lenovo inexpensive gaming laptop.

The Lenovo Legion Y545 packs a great good-looking design with its dark gray aluminum lid and narrow bezels around the display screen, enabling the 15.6 Inches to deliver content in an immersive manner with FHD (Full high-definition) resolutions. The laptop provides enough power with its 9th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 1TB of massive HDD, and 512GB of lightning-fast SSD. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti, compared to the graphics card of Acer predator Helios 300 at higher price, is way more better with excellent gaming capabilities. The Lenovo Legion Y545 holds a good number of ports to offer you room for creativity by connecting essential peripherals, including 3 x USB Type-A 3.1, 1 x USB Type-C 3.1, Ethernet port, headphone/microphone jack, an HDMI port along with a Mini-Display Port. This best budget gaming laptop on heavy workloads lasts around 4 hours of battery backup with normal use.

4. HP Pavilion 15

Excellent for 1080p gaming

HP Pavilion 15 REVIEW: HP has introduced its best budget friendly gaming laptop with out of the box great performance with its 9th generation powerful processor, a muscular graphics card that helps to witness realistic graphics with better color combinations and enough in-game details. The HP Pavilion 15 is your ideal partner with a friendly budget to keep you up with latest games like Fortnight, DOTA, PUBG, Call of duty, Overwatch, etc. You would have observed gaming laptops providing low battery backup hours, here with HP Pavilion 15, the case is totally different. It provides an unbelievable 9 hours of battery life playing continues high-end games.

The HP Pavilion 15 design comprises a futuristic design with all matte black plastic, obviously not too shiny in terms of durability. It holds micro-edge bezels around the display screen that feel pretty satisfying. Even though the laptop is on the budget side, but provides excellent firepower for gaming geeks. It comes with a 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9300H processor, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD, and a powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. The HP Pavilion 15 holds a decent array of ports, including 3 x USB Type-A 3.1 ports, a USB Type-C port, an HDMI port, and a headphone/microphone jack. You surely won’t witness anything that HP Pavilion 15 lacks to provide for your gaming. Going this far, a budget gaming laptop, providing everything from a powerful processor to a muscular graphics card and great battery life, needs your special attention while shopping for the best budget laptop for gaming.

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5. Acer Nitro 5

Entry-level gaming laptop

Acer Nitro 5 REVIEW: Acer Nitro 5 coming next on the list of best budget gaming laptop, rejoicing the budget friendly gaming geeks with its above average performance and a bright large display screen. The professional gamers may find Acer Nitro 5 short on storage, not enough glossy with display, but for its around $800 price tag, it is surely providing enough power for low end video gaming. It comes with a comparatively low SSD storage where you can suffer to install many of the demanding vide games. The large 15.6 inches display screen with FHD (Full high-definition) resolution backed by a high-performance NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti graphics card, delivers great display performance.

Acer Nitro 5 design-wise carries no flaw. It comes with matte black plastic and a relatively thick bezel around the screen. Red trimmings on the laptop’s keyboard radiate a pretty much professional aesthetic look. Performance-wise, the Acer Nitro 5 provides excellent gaming performance with its 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7300HQ processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM storage that is enough for multitasking, a fast 256GB SSD. The Nvidia’s pascal architecture GeForce GTX 1050Ti graphical processor provides smooth 1080p gameplay. The Acer Nitro 5 holds a good plethora of input/output ports, including a USB 3.1 Gen1 port, USB Type-C, USB 3.0 port, 2 x USB 2.0, an HDMI 2.0, and an audio jack. The best cheap gaming laptop provides almost 4 hours of battery backup with a single recharge.

6. MSI GF63 Thin

Portable mid-range gaming laptop

MSI GF63 Thin REVIEW: MSI GF63 Thin coming up next on the list of best budget gaming laptops 2022, is a worthy participant with great power performance for what it costs. It provides enough firepower when it comes to video gaming with its 9th Gen Intel processor, thin bezels around the large screen, greater RAM storage, and a sturdy graphics card unit to bring seamless gaming experience. The price tag may bother you slightly but what it offers under its deck pays perfectly for its price. Playing high-end games like PUBG, DOTA, Fortnight, Call of Duty, Need for speed, etc. won’t be an issue for this beast to work with.

MSI GF63 Thin comes with a compact design, all durable metallic chassis, and a mix of metal and plastic made bottom panel makes the laptop to radiate a professional look. It has 4.9mm of bezels with an 82% of screen to body ratio. The 15.6 Inches display with FHD resolutions delivers glossy colors and incredible detail overall, making the display to look realistic. The robust performance is backed by a 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H processor, 16GB RAM, and lightning-fast 512GB of SSD. The MSI GF63 Thin holds a good number of ports to offer you room for creating your necessary peripherals and devices. It comes with three USB Type-A 3.2 ports, a USB Type-C port (not Thunderbolt 3 standardized), an Ethernet port, an HDMI, along with a headphone/microphone combo jack. MSI GF63 Thin provides almost 6 hours of battery backup with a single recharge.

7. Asus TUF Gaming FX705GM

Large display, Strong performance

Asus TUF Gaming FX705GM REVIEW: Asus TUF Gaming FX705GM is one of the finest laptop from ASUS on the list of best budget gaming laptops 2022. The large vivid display along with a powerful performance from processor and graphics card, are two of the best selling points of ASUS TUF Gaming FX705. This best budget laptop 2022 comes with a 17.3 Inches large display screen with FHD (Full high-definition, 1920 x 1080) resolution that defines the color and details to perfection ensuring a realistic gaming experience. You won’t surely find any flaw when it comes to gaming performance at this price tag.

Asus TUF Gaming FX705GM comes with a metallic lid and plastic-made chassis that look like aluminum because of its brushed finish. The laptop noticeably isn’t much portability friendly because of its 5.73 lbs weight; you can’t easily carry this much larger display screen laptop that too with massive weight. The performance of ASUS – TUF FX705GM is backed by an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750H processor; for intensive multitasking, it has a 16GB RAM storage and 512GB of lightning-fast SSD drive. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphical processor plays a vital role in bringing up smooth and lag-free gaming performance. The Asus TUF FX705GM holds a useful plethora of ports, including two USB Type-A 3.0 ports, USB Type-A 2.0, an HDMI port, a DC-in port, and a headphone/microphone jack. On a budget gaming laptops list, Asus TUF Gaming FX705GM needs to be considered twice.

8. Dell G5 15

Best value gaming laptop

Dell G5 15 REVIEW: Dell coming up with its best value budget gaming laptop, the Dell G5 15 provides a perfect combination of internals for gaming and other intensive chores. The fast processor, amazing graphics card, and out of the box display performance. Dell G5 15 comes with a 15.6 inches of FHD (Full high-definition, 1920 x 1080) display resolutions that delivers vivid, accurate, and glossy colors, making the games to look realistic and interesting. The laptop’s display power is further assisted by Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card that delivers great refresh rate making the gameplay smooth and uninterrupted.

The Dell G5 15 holds a futuristic design with all-plastic chassis; Dell has kept the design to work both in video gaming and office as well. The Dell G5 15 firepower is backed by a 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H processor, and to handle multitasking, it has 16GB of RAM storage that works perfectly fine apart from gaming as well, like dealing with video and photo editing tools, engineering-related programs, etc. It holds 256GB of SSD to assist the processor in dealing with intensive processing. The Dell G5 15 never falls short of providing quality input/output ports. It includes USB 3.2 Gen1 port, USB Type-C connector, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, SD card reader, audio jack, and an HDMI port. The Dell G5 15 provides a battery backup of almost 7 hours on a single recharge to keep you up with longer gaming sessions.

9. Lenovo Flex 14

Best for productivity & low-end gaming

Lenovo Flex 14 REVIEW: Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1 is the name of excellence in the world of gaming. With the affordable price and best features, it is one of the favorite budget gaming laptops among the users. There comes a 14 inches display with 1366 x 768 so it’s capable of projecting games and movies for you with clear graphics. Moreover, the weight is only 1.87 pounds so it’s the portable option to be carried to school, college, business meetings, and even on travel. Also, there is a front-facing webcam on its topmost bezel so you can take online classes and business meetings on it with some clear image results.

There are some best specs of the Lenovo Flex 14 that make it the super-best gaming machine. It is housed with an Intel Pentium Gold 5405U processor with 4GB RAM, so combining both these features makes the overall performance of this laptop just love for gaming sessions. As concerned with the graphics, Intel Integrated Graphics is located inside it that is not up to the mark, but for less power-hungry games, they work better. The battery life here is the best one as compared with other gaming laptops. Its battery lasts around 8 hours that is more than enough for a gaming laptop. Furthermore, a 128GB NVMe SSD provides a good capacity for storing data, plus it also enhances its speed. At last, budget price, good design, and best specs all are the reasons for the fame of the Lenovo Flex 14.

10. Asus VivoBook F510QA

Great for basic gaming

Asus VivoBook F510QA REVIEW: If you are looking for a best budget gaming laptop that fulfills all your gaming needs without having the need for deep pockets, have a look at this ASUS VivoBook F510QA. It comes with 15.6 inches minimal bezel screen having the 1920 x 1080 resolution so it projects the movies and games with some best graphics beyond the expectations of users. As per its 3.7 pounds weight it’s less portable one as compared with other gaming laptops in the same category. Also, the keyboard here is just perfect for long typing sessions because of its well spaced keys with better key travel.

When it comes to the performance of VivoBook F1510QA, there are some of its best specifications that make its overall performance good and speed up the power-intensive tasks. It is equipped with an AMD Quad-Core A12-9720P processor, so you will possibly never face any kind of delay during graphics-intensive processes such as gaming. ASUS also kept something special for the gamers in this model: the AMD Radeon R7 graphics card. Furthermore, with the support of a 128GB SSD, this laptop delivers some extra speed and better storage capacity to its users. In addition, it is addressed with comprehensive connectivity options, including USB 3. 1 Type-C, USB 3. 0, USB 2. 0, and HDMI. Finally, the VivoBook offers 6 hours of battery life.

When is the best time to buy a cheap gaming laptop?

The last two months are when you get the best deals on gaming laptops every year. It starts from Black Friday and ends on the new year sale. However, there are multiple deals available throughout the year by different sellers. In the past couple of years, we have seen the prices of laptops have gone up. So, if you have a gaming laptop on your mind and you know it is available for a price you can afford, we recommend purchasing it now. Also, please keep visiting this page for cheap gaming laptop deals, we update it every time there is a good deal available.

What should I look for in a cheap gaming laptop?

Besides some premium features, everything you see on a high-end gaming laptop is also available on budget gaming laptops. The only difference is the specifications. If you went through our roundup of best budget gaming laptops, you would have seen some very powerful gaming laptops. It’s just that they are not equipped with the ultimately powerful internal components, rather second tier.

CPU: You will have two options to choose from, namely AMD and Intel. For Intel processors, make sure you do not go below core-i5 processors. And for its generation, even a 7th Gen Intel processor is powerful enough to tackle mid-range gaming loads. For AMD, make sure it is AMD Ryzen 3 or above. Recently, AMD has manufactured some of the best gaming processors at a very low price. This is why some of the best gaming laptops available at low prices are equipped with AMD CPUs.

Graphics Card: Unless your budget is very minimal, you should look for good graphics like the GTX 1650 or even RTX 2060. Make sure, in any case, do not go below GTX 1050 or an RX560x if it is an AMD card. These cards are readily available in cheap gaming laptops. Anyway, if your budget is too low and your gaming needs are minimal, even a built-in GPU like Intel UHD graphics will also work, but it won’t be a lot of fun.

RAM: 8GB and not less in any case. This is the least capacity of RAM you should drop to. Initially, try to go as high as 16GB, but if there are budget constraints, just buy an 8GB gaming laptop, and you can upgrade your RAM later on.

Apart from these three important aspects, make sure you have enough storage space in the form of an SSD. Conventional hard drives are slow, and we no longer see them as primary data storage sources in new gaming laptops. You will come across both options on some laptops, which is even better but mind your budget. Also, the display resolution and refresh rate are important to check out. Almost all budget gaming laptops have a 1080p display, and it should be this way. Anything below this will be pathetic gaming. As far as the refresh rate is concerned, a display with 120Hz is the best shot. However, even a 60Hz display is best if the price goes up.

Why are some gaming laptops cheaper than others?

If you’ve been looking for many gaming laptops, you must know this happens. Sometimes you come across gaming laptops with the same specs but different manufacturers, and there is a noticeable price difference between them. A lot of factors are at play in this scenario. Sometimes the processor generation is older, while in other cases, certain features are missing from one laptop while other specs are similar. You should not get confused by this, if you like a laptop and can afford it, just don’t spend your energy by looking more. These price differences are a fact, and its reasons are a lot.

Final Words
Our job is done for now; the article is solely made for you if you are a budget gaming user. Thoroughly go through the detailed buyer’s guide included above and select your best budget gaming rig easily.
Good Luck!