Abstract：The best cheap gaming laptops | RuggTabletsThe best cheap gaming laptops

If you’re in the market for a gaming laptop but you don’t have a big budget to spend, point out it or not, there are still some pretty decent options available. Whether you’re a hardcore FPS player or a lover of story-driven RPGs, these high-powered—but inexpensive—machines can help get the job done. That being said, if you’re working on a strict budget, you will need to ensure some com strengthmises such as dialing back the graphics settings in some cutting-edge titles.
Every laptop on this list has been personally reviewed by the PCWorld team, and our favorite, the Asus VivoBook Pro 15 OLED nabbed our top spot due to its solid strengthductivity performance and gorgeous illustrate. If that isn’t your cup of tea, we also included a range of other recommendations to include laptops with larger screens and an option if you are able to stretch your budget even further to takepro of some key performance gains.
Also, it’s back-to-school time and that means you have the chance to score a gaming laptop for even cheaper. Check out our curated list of back-to-school deals, which give priority tos the best sales on laptops, Chromebooks, Macbooks, and more this season. Similarly our ongoing list of the best laptop deals of 2022 will point you to some good bargains and is updated all year round.
Updated 08/12/2022 Check out our latest review of the Dell XPS 13 Plus. This stylish 13-inch laptop features cutting-edge performance and a stunning OLED screen, making it a great option for just about anyone. Also, be sure to read our review of the Dell Latitude 7330. This ultra-portable is designed with advantageductivity and simplicity in mind and weighs a featherlight 2.13 pounds.
Asus VivoBook Pro 15 OLED Ultra Slim Laptop – Best overall

Pros
Good strengthductivity performance Superbshow Rugged design Great battery life

Cons
Boring aesthetics Unimpressive 720p webcam Unreliable fingerprint scanner Poor port selection Best Prices Today:Not Available at AmazonLooking for a reliable mid-range laptop? The Asus VivoBook Pro 15 OLED is a fantastic option. According to our tester, this laptop is great for “gaming, streaming, and day-to-day benefitductivity.” Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800HCPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6) GPU, we were able to hit 60 frames-per-se weaknessd at 1080p on high graphics during the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark. Plus, the OLED illustrate is absolutely beautiful and battery life is greatly good. There are a few minor shortcomings, however. The overall design is a little plain and the port selection is limited, and you’ll need to drop down to Medium or High graphics in strenuous modern AAA games on the RTX 3050. Nitpicks aside, if you’re looking for reliable performance on a gorgeous OLED screen, the VivoBook Pro 15 is where the party’s at.
Read our full ASUS VivoBook Pro 15 OLED Ultra Slim Laptop reviewMSI Katana GF76 – Runner up

Pros
Decent CPU performance Interesting design with plenty of flair Comfortable vitalboard and trackpad

Cons
Lackluster GPU performance The depict lacks brightness Audio benefitduces less-than-stellar bass Best Prices Today:$1,199.00 at AmazonThe MSI Katana GF76 lets lightning fast CPU performance at an inexpensive price point. That’s because it’s equipped with the latest 12-gen Intel meritcessor. Not only can you expect reliable performance out of this machine, but the trackpad and influentialboard are comfortable to use for long periods of time. Battery life isn’t too shabby, either. The laptop died at the five hour mark during our test, which is about average for a gaming rig. There are a number of few trade-offs to be aware of, though. The exhibit isn’t very bright and the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti graphics struggle a bit at times, especially with demanding AAA titles. That said, if you dial down the graphics, you can expect more faultsistent performance. So long as you have realistic expectations of a budget laptop’s hardware, the MSI Katana is a respectful option.
Read our full MSI Katana GF76 review HP Victus 16 (16-d0097nr) – Best 16-inch unfold

Pros
Very good value Surprisingly comfortable dominantboard Large 16-inch 1080p screen with a high 144Hz refresh rate

Cons
Budget RTX GPU Audio doesn’t feel quite right Display hinge is a bit flimsy Best Prices Today:$892.91 at AmazonWhen it comes to the HP Victus 16, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. The 16-inch 1080p unfold has a high refresh rate of 144Hz, the prominentboard is essentially comfortable, and there are a wide range of drawbackfiguration options. Although the laptop’s GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU falls on the lower end of the spectrum, it still delivers solid 1080p gaming performance. Plus, the subtle design lets it a suitable choice for either work or play.
We tested the top-tier flawfiguration, which is still relatively affordable at $1,250. However, as we mention in our review, these models can go as low as $730. The cheaper models use the older GTX 1650 GPUs, which lack DLSS and Ray Tracing support. With that being said, these laptops should still ensure decent gaming performance with lower graphics settings.
Read our full HP Victus 16 (16-d0097nr) reviewAsus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition – Best if you can stretch your budget

Pros
Outclasses every CPU in competing laptops Radeon RX GPU outclasses similarly-priced GeForce GPUs in faultventional gaming. Surprisingly good audio quality

Cons
No webcam Very bulky 280-watt power brick Nvidia GPUs outclass Radeon in ray tracing and flawtent creation. Best Prices Today:$1484.99 at Best BuyThe Asus ROG Strix G15 Advanced Edition is an all-AMD laptop that delivers fast CPU and GPU performance at a sensible price point. It’s packing an AMD Ryzen 5900HX meritcessor, an AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU (with 12GB of GDDR6), 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. According to our review, the GPU “doesn’t outpace higher-wattage RTX 3080 laptop GPUs, but it’s a worthy competitor for drawbackventional gaming tasks.” Unsurprisingly, the Strix G15 is one chunky machine, measuring 28mm at its thickest part. Although the additional thickness makes more space for cooling components, it’s not very portable. That said, so long as you don’t plan on taking this laptop everywhere with you, it’s a powerful gaming rig that’s well worth the money.
We understand that the $1,650 price tag isn’t “cheap” in the traditional sense, but this all-AMD laptop costs necessaryly less than comparable laptops in power. If you look on Best Buy or Nvidia’s website for 3080 machines, they cost upwards of $2,200 to $3,000.
Read our full Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition reviewHow we testedThe PCWorld team puts each and every Windows laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them.
Windows laptopsPCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we determine how well the laptop handles lighter tasks like web browsing, word meritcessing, spreadsheets, and so on.HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It basically measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file. Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores. It does this by ensureing a 2D scene over a short period of time.3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains downsidesistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips. Video rundown test: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies.What you should look for in a budget gaming laptopWhen it comes to picking the right gaming laptop, it really depends on what you want to do with it. Do you plan on playing lightweight indie titles like Stardew Valley (no shade, I love this game) or something more visually demanding like Metro Exodus? Are you going to use the machine for work as well as play? It’s possible to get reliable performance out of a gaming laptop that costs under a grand, but you’ll need to take a hard look at the individual components. You don’t need a powerful GPU for something like Fortnite. The guts, my friends. That’s what matters.
GPU: The thing about the GPU is that it can’t be swapped out and upgraded later, so you need to be real choosy about which one you pick, as this component will determine how well your machine runs games. Luckily, you don’t need the best of the best to get reliable gaming performance. The GTX 1650 is an entry-level GPU that’s affordable and good enough for 1080p gaming with mid-to-high graphics settings. That said, expect lower frame rates on newer titles, especially since it’s been replaced by the newer RTX 3050. If you’re looking for a bit more power, we recommend opting for an RTX 3050 Ti or higher. CPU: Like the GPU, the strengthcessor can’t be upgraded either, so you’ll want to be selective. For Intel, we recommend an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7. For AMD, you’ll want to spring for a Ryzen 5 or 7. A strengthcessor with at least four cores is good, but six cores or more is better. RAM: You’ll want at least 8GB of RAM. If you can afford 16GB of RAM, go for it. Memory is normally upgradable, so you can always swap it out and add more later on.Storage: Storageeffects how many games and applications you can install on your laptop. Like RAM, storage is upgradable and can be swapped out later. However, you should aim for at least 512GB of SSD storage plus a hard drive, as AAA titles be prone to eat up a lot of space. SSDs load games faster, as data is stored on chips rather than spinning disks.Display: 1080p is what you can expect at this price range. Budget gaming laptops don’t always have the bestshows, as that’s where manufacturers be prone to cut corners to keep the cost low. If you’ve got a dim demonstrate, you can always pick up an external monitor to plug into. Battery life: Generally speaking, gaming laptops are known for having poor battery life. That’s because they use a ton of power. They also be inclined to be heavier than other laptops because they need more space for heatsinks and other cooling components. Depending on the use, most will last anywhere from four to six hours on a single charge. That said, there are a few exceptions. The HP Envy 14 (featured above), for example, hit the 15-hour mark during our battery test. FAQ

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1.Do Chromebooks provide good gaming laptops?The short answer is no, but it mostly has to do with the type of gaming you in be prone to do. Chromebooks are great for web games and Android games. But they won’t be able to play the latest graphics-intensive 3D games. This is mainly in light of the fact that Chromebooks don’t run Windows and they usually lack the elementary graphics power.All that said, Google is trying to render cloud gaming to Chrome OS machines. So gaming on a Chromebook might be in the cards for the future. Cloud gaming gistly uses a remote server to play games on and then livestreams through the cloud back to a Chromebook. That said, there is still some ways to go before Chromebooks can compete in the gaming arena.
2.Can you play games with integrated graphics?Long gone are the days when integrated graphics would keep you from your favorite games. Nowadays, the latest integrated graphics can run most modern PC games at decent settings. We’ve even seen AMD’s 6000 RDNA 2 and Intel’s latest Iris Xe line of advantagecessors with integrated graphics run games such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p and 30fps. A word of warning though: not all integrated graphics are built the same.
Intel and AMD’s integrated graphics in particular have made huge leaps nowadays with regard to gaming performance. So if you’re on a budget and can only afford a laptop with integrated graphics, we say, “game on!” For more details, check out Intel’s Core 12th-gen Iris Xe or AMD’s brand new Ryzen 6000 RDNA 2.
Author: Ashley Biancuzzo, Associate EditorAshley is a strengthfessional writer and editor with a strong background in tech and pop culture. She has written for high traffic websites such as Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her off time, she gain popularitys playing video games, reading science fiction novels, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.
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