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We aren’t the ones arguing that even the best gaming laptops can have the same authority over video games as your PC rigs. But there’s no denying that portability is all the more relevant today. Moreover, some of the best laptops to buy these days offer serious performance to rely on. You can choose from a high-end MSI, Dell or Asus gaming laptop, or go with one of the under $1000 models. Either way, there are a number of quality products we can suggest to you.
Best Gaming Laptops Under $1000 in 2021
Picking the best out of a horde of products – on a budget, mind you – is always an uphill task. So we have broken it down into a series of reviews where we will suggest the best laptops for different categories. This time around, we have picked up gaming laptops under $1000 that can suit a number of usage types.
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Dell G5 Gaming Laptop G5587
The Dell laptops have been all the rage for a while now. However, most of the times you’d find them at the higher end of the price spectrum. Not this time though! In fact, for a price below $1000 there’d hardly be a GTX 1060 laptop, but this one is – among other things.
Going up from the 4GB variants of their competitors, Dell Inspiron G5 gets you an 8GB DDR4 to match the Coffee Lake processor. The laptop screams superiority: apart from the 128GB M.2 SSD, it has a 1TB HDD too!
Technical Analysis: Dell G5 Gaming Laptop G5587
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8300H 8th Gen 2.3 GHz Coffee Lake (Turbo 4.0 GHz)
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 RAM
- Storage: 1TB 5400 RPM HDD + 128GB SSD
- Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1060 6GB DDR5
- Display: 15.6 Inch IPS Full HD Anti-Glare
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Battery: Up to 5 hours
- Weight: 6.2 lbs
Do not get confused here because of the super non-creative naming practices of Dell. There is another Dell G5 15 laptop but it is a newer iteration of this one. We weren’t able to include it in the list primarily because of the market prices being higher than the $1000 mark. Otherwise, the newer G5 would have been an even better pick.
And when we say even better, it means the existing stature of the Dell gaming laptop is quite high as it is. In fact, among the gaming laptops that we have tested, nothing got ahead of it in performance. This is all thanks to the category-leading Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. Almost all of the other manufacturers save the extra $100 by settling for the GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti. By swapping that for the much better GTX 1060, Dell G5 15 has managed to outshine almost all competition.
This was made possible by the new Max-Q technology of Nvidia which enables more powerful graphics cards for use in laptops with a cap. As a result, lesser internal heat is produced, leading to a reduced need of more intense cooling systems. This, in turn, allows for greater space inside the chassis, letting the manufacturers fit bigger graphics cards in smaller sized laptop models.
Agreed, the graphics card even with its 6GB VRAM is of no comparison with the market-leading models like the GTX 1080 Ti, but it is still way ahead of what other gaming laptops below 1000 are offering. Moving on, you get a top-notch 8th gen coffee lake processor coupled with an 8GB DDR4.
Honestly, what matters the most to a laptop’s gaming performance is the graphics card. And there is only one other considerable product with a matching card as this one: Acer Predator Helios 300. But even the Helios has a processor that is a little slower, and also only a 256GB SSD and no HDD storage.
There is an element of better RAM in the Predator laptop, but you can always add more RAM to your laptop down the line. It is things like the processor that are more permanent to the laptop. The bottom line here is that while there is no doubt that either one of them is the best gaming laptop under 1000, the Dell G5 laptop is more future proof.
RUNNER-UP:
ASUS ROG G531GT 2019
When you see an ASUS ROG laptop, you can bet that it will be a great gaming laptop. This laptop packs quite a punch with the GTX 1650 4GB GPU, but let us be honest you can find a powerful GPU than that in laptops these days, which is why it is a runner-up. Otherwise, this laptop has all the best features to make it a gaming system, like 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD for higher capacity, 256GB SSD for faster loading times and RGB lighting which is a must-have for all gamers. It is also equipped with the 9th Generation Intel Core i7-9750h CPU which is a standard for gaming laptops with its high boost speeds.
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MSI Alpha 15
The MSI Alpha 15 is what we call an all AMD laptop by MSI, it is super affordable and costs under the $1000 mark.
The MSI Alpha 15 not only has an AMD CPU but also an AMD GPU. Not a lot of AMD GPU laptops out there in the first place so this laptop is unique in its own right.
Technical Analysis: MSI Alpha 15
- Processor: Ryzen 7 3750H 2. 3 – 4GHz
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 SDRAM
- Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX5500M 4G GDDR6
- Display: 15. 6″ FHD (1920*1080)
- OS: Windows 10
- Weight: 3.46 ounces
The MSI Bravo 15 is rebranded MSI GL65 with AMD components, it is almost identical to it in all ways except for the logo and branding. You can see that instead of the red Dragon logo we have a green bird one.
So let us talk about the specs right away, it has a Ryzen 7 3750H CPU in it. The Ryzen 3750H is a 4-Core, 8-Thread CPU, and has a base clock of 2.3GHz while it boosts up to 4.0GHz.
The GPU is the RX 5500M which is the mobile variant of the RX 5500 GPU, so it is packed with all of the AMD goods. The RX 5500M works greatly and can run games at ultra settings. Of course, you do not get any of the goodness that is offered in the RTX GPUs though.
For memory, you have 16GB of RAM, and for storage, you have 512GB of NVMe SSD. The laptop does not seem to have problems with thermals like the Bravo 15. But it also has a subpar display. So using this display for anything other than gaming would not give you good results.
Using this laptop for content creation would be a serious mistake, this laptop is only good for gaming. One thing though, the laptop does not have a powerful battery, while gaming you can barely get around 3.5 hours of battery life.
Now, for the price range, this laptop is not bad in the least. But other brands offer significantly better laptops in the same price bracket.
Would we suggest this laptop? If you want to go team AMD there might not be a better laptop in the market. But this laptop has a poor battery life and a substandard display.
RUNNER-UP:
Asus TUF Gaming FX504
Not only does this Asus gaming laptop bear very similar hardware specifications but also a very similar aesthetic. To start with, it also has an 8th Gen i5, coupled with a GTX 1050 (albeit not a Ti variant) as well as a choice between 256GB SSD or 1TB HDD. These are largely similar to the MSI model above, although there’s no special treatment like the thermal cooling solutions. Nonetheless, the Asus TUF Gaming FX504 is a solid choice with a ballpark price that falls around the same $700 mark as the MSI gaming laptop.
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Acer Nitro 5 AN515
None of us are new to Acer laptops, and if you are just looking for a budget pick to start gaming on the go, look no further. The Acer Nitro 5 isn’t the beast that the Dell G5 15 or ASUS FX504 are, but you will get your hands on an 8th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 with a 256GB SSD installed.
For just a little over 600 dollars, this stands as a worthy choice for budget gaming laptops. Although you can get better than the pre-installed 8GB DDR4 should be enough coupled with the Coffee Lake Processor that can turbo up to 4.0 GHz.
Technical Analysis: Acer Nitro 5 AN515
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8300H 8th Gen 2.3 GHz Coffee Lake (Turbo 4.0 GHz)
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 RAM
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB DDR5 VRAM
- Display: 15.6 Inch IPS Full HD Matte Coated
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Battery: Up to 7 hours
- Weight: 5.95 lbs
There are budget laptops under 500 dollars too, but we are currently, looking for slightly better models ranging between 500 and 1000 dollars. There is a huge range of products to choose from and the list keeps evolving on a daily basis. Therefore, it is hard to pick one product that would stay relevant for sufficient time.
If you seriously wish to avoid that drill, we might have just the right machine for you. The Acer Nitro 5 doesn’t come with the looks of an expensive laptop but does carry competent components. The only thing really good about the aesthetics is the red backlit keyboard that goes very well with the red and black finish. However, the back cover and keyboard quality aren’t too lovable.
But if you can move past the cosmetic aspects you will see how this could be a reason why the Acer laptop is able to do well in performance areas given the price point. In multiple tests and reviews, the Acer laptop has fared decently in terms of processing power. The quad-core processor is strong enough to run medium level graphics settings on all the games you’ll buy.
Component wise, there is a choice between 8th gen i5 and i7 as well as AMD Ryzen 5 2500U. And to keep things responsive you can also opt for the quicker 256GB SSD instead of the 1TB HDD variant. It comes with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050, 1050 Ti (4GB GDDR5) or AMD Radeon RX 560X. Performance wise, these cards have been benchmarked as slacking. But at its sub $150 price point the card offers good value for money.
One of the key features making it a worthy choice include an anti-glare 15.6 inch full HD display. While that is a common feature, you wouldn’t find it as frequently in budget laptops. On the same front though, the thick bezels around the display really take away the charm of the insides just as much as the back cover does to the exterior.
However, there is more. Since it is a laptop that has been made with gaming in mind, Acer has included controllable fans. With these, you get to maintain the speed of the fan in line with the intensiveness of the work. This too isn’t a frequented feature in low to mid-range laptops.
RUNNER-UP:
Dell Inspiron 15 5000 5577
If not the Acer Nitro 5, here’s one of the cheapest gaming laptops that we came across in the process. The Dell Inspiron 15 has a number of variants, and this is a slightly basic iteration. At a similar price to our top budget pick, the Dell gaming laptop also gets you similar specs. There is 8GB RAM, on a Core i5 although it is a 7th gen processor. Nonetheless, the 6MB cache does help go beyond 3.5 GHz. The storage is also a standard HDD and not SSD. There isn’t much to choose between but if for some reason our first pick isn’t available, the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 won’t be a completely bad choice.
No matter what price tier you are comfortable with, there is always a good gaming laptop you can buy. Same is the case with the company you choose; there is always going to be a good Asus, Dell or MSI gaming laptop that won’t cost a fortune. So why spend so much on the premium-priced products?
Although we have only covered laptops under $1000 here, there are tablet-laptop as well as standard laptop models that you can get for below $500 too. We will be covering those in our next guide, but until then do tell us if you found this guide helpful.