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Finding the Best Budget Gaming Laptop: A Comprehensive Guide
For gamers seeking a cost-effective solution, discovering the ideal budget gaming laptop involves achieving sufficient performance for playing demanding 3D games. This must be done without significantly compromising on aspects such as display quality and overall construction. It also means avoiding discounted older models with outdated or soon-to-be-obsolete components. Here’s expert guidance on key considerations to maximize the value of your investment in a gaming laptop.
Key Considerations for Affordable Gaming Laptops
Price Point
The quest for an attainable affordable gaming laptop often begins with pricing. Fortunately, it is possible to acquire a fully functional gaming laptop equipped with contemporary components, capable of running today’s games smoothly, for around $1,000. This cost might be reduced further when taking advantage of available sales. Major manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo frequently offer promotional discounts, enabling considerable savings if timed judiciously.
Those with budgets exceeding $1,000 can access models featuring more potent hardware, as well as brighter and faster displays. Additional benefits may include customizable per-key RGB lighting and sleeker designs.
Operating System
- Windows Dominance: While Apple’s macOS is widely favored for general use, Microsoft Windows remains the preferred operating system for gaming laptops, particularly in the budget category.
- MacBook Limitations: While high-end MacBook Pros can run some games, they are considerably more expensive than their Windows-based counterparts
- Chromebook Alternative: For those on a strict budget, Chromebooks offer an alternative. ChromeOS presents a streamlined and intuitive user experience, primarily operating through the Chrome browser. While direct installation of Windows PC games isn’t feasible, certain Chromebooks designed for gaming are compatible with cloud gaming platforms like Xbox Game Pass.
Display Specifications
Screen Size and Aspect Ratio
The majority of gaming laptops incorporate either a 15-inch or 16-inch screen. Although, there are some smaller 14-inch models, along with larger 17- and 18-inch options. The newer 16-inch models, which feature a taller 16:10 format ratio, are gradually replacing the more traditional 15.6-inch models that use a traditional 16:9 widescreen configuration. The 16:10 screens are often preferred. For most gaming, a 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution (16:9 ratio) suffices, the increased vertical space offered by a 16:10 screen enhances versatility during non-gaming tasks like web browsing and document editing. All things considered, a larger screen generally provides a more immersive gaming experience.
Refresh Rate
Another vital display characteristic for gamers involves the refresh rate, which determines the frequency at which the display updates its visual output. The displays on most gaming laptops, even lower-end models, offer variable refresh rates. Such rates can synchronize with a game’s frames per second (FPS) to prevent distortions like screen tearing (apparent disjunction in displayed content) and stuttering (irregular screen updates).
- High Refresh Rates: While leading manufacturers have upgraded their flagship 1080p setups to 360Hz, a 240Hz maximum is typically adequate for most gamers who seldom achieve frame rates exceeding 240fps.
- Budget-Friendly Options: Cheaper gaming laptops typically provide 120Hz, 144Hz, and 165Hz refresh rates, which should meet requirements if the GPU struggles to push frame rates beyond 165 fps.
Resolution
Even if gaming at resolutions above 1080p isn’t anticipated, selecting the highest resolution affordable is advisable. Text and image clarity on larger 15- or 16-inch displays may appear blurred at 1080p or a 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution for laptops with a 16:10 aspect ratio. A Quad HD (QHD) resolution (2,560×1,440 pixels or 2,560×1,600 on a 16:10 display) produces sharper text and images; however, games can be played at a lower resolution, if desired.
Processor (CPU)
The processor, commonly referred to as the CPU, functions as the laptop’s central processing unit. Intel and AMD are the leading CPU manufacturers for Windows laptops, with Qualcomm recently entering the market with its Arm-based Snapdragon X processors. Both Intel and AMD provide a diverse array of mobile processors with processors designed for different laptop styles, such as power-saving chips for ultraportables or faster processors for gaming laptops. Generally, faster processor speeds and higher core counts correlate with enhanced performance.
Battery performance is more closely tied to CPU architecture (Arm versus x86) than core count. Apple’s Arm-based MacBooks and the first Arm-based Copilot Plus PCs demonstrate superior battery longevity compared to x86-based processors from Intel and AMD.
Graphics (GPU)
The graphics processor manages all display-related tasks and accelerates graphics-related (and increasingly AI-related) operations. Windows laptops use integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU) graphics solutions. An iGPU is embedded within the CPU package, whereas a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM), improving performance by directly accessing it. All gaming laptops will feature a dGPU from either Nvidia or AMD, with Nvidia being the more prevalent of the two. Many budget gaming laptops are equipped with entry-level RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 GPUs, and some newer models feature next-gen RTX 5060 (and higher) GPUs
Memory (RAM)
16GB of RAM is highly recommended. 8GB stands as the absolute bare minimum when considering memory. RAM stores data for actively running applications, which can quickly deplete available resources. If RAM is insufficient, the system resorts to swapping data between RAM and SSD, which reduces speeds. It is impotant to note that memory is now commonly soldered onto the motherboard. Most manufacturers disclose this, but if the RAM type is LPDDR, assume it’s soldered and can’t be upgraded
Some PC manufacturers install a stick of RAM and leave an empty internal slot. You may need to contact the laptop manufacturer or find the laptop’s full specs online to confirm. Check the web for user experiences, because the slot may still be hard to get to, it may require nonstandard or hard-to-get memory or other pitfalls, including voiding the warranty.
Storage (SSD)
Although cheaper, larger capacity hard drives are still used in some budget laptops, faster solid-state drives (SSDs) have mostly displaced hard drives in laptops. Generally, these can improve performance. For a gaming laptop, an SSD with capacities under 512GB is not recommended, unless you don’t mind frequently uninstalling games to make room for new ones.