It’s amazing where the latest technologies have brought gaming, in particular when it comes to mobility. Modern gaming laptops are almost on par with their desktop counterparts and certain gaming rigs, such as MSI’s GT73VR Titan SLI-058, can play some of the latest releases no problem… two at a time, while also listening to epic music and working on three different video editing projects.
However, performance comes with a price. The most expensive stock models go for around $5000, while custom orders have no price limit, depending on what you put inside and how you want your design. Can most people afford that? No. Can most gamers, at least, afford that? Also no. Is it time to despair because you won’t be able to afford to play your favorite games? Thankfully, not that either.
It’s a fact that you cannot get a gaming laptop for less than, say, $700. There are cheaper versions, of course, but they’re not “gaming laptops” as much as they are “gaming-oriented laptops.” They lack certain features, especially when it comes to the overall design and optimization, which make hardcore gaming pretty much impossible. If you can spare around $1000 on a laptop, however, you can get a bit of the taste of what real gaming means and, even better, many new releases will become accessible as well. Our research has concluded that, while “affordable” does mean different things according to your budget, an affordable gaming laptop should go for around $800-1300. In order to show you exactly what we mean by “affordable gaming laptop”, we also did some of our research and found a couple of models we think you’d be interested in. Here’s what we liked, not necessarily in order of performance:
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1. ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH74
Asus has a tradition in creating amazing gaming laptops, both in the super-expensive and the more affordable price ranges, and this model is no exception. It is a proper gaming laptop, it looks like a gaming laptop, and it certainly behaves like a gaming laptop, in spite of being relatively light and thin at only 1.3” and 5.6lbs (33mm and 2.54kg). In fact, there’s very little difference in terms of size and weight from a classic model.
The components, however, are a different matter. There’s an Intel i7-6700HQ hidden in there, 2.6 and up to 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost, paired with a nVidia GTX 960M, 4GB GDDR5 VRAM. To complete this epic setup, there’s also a more than sufficient 16GB RAM, as well as a 1TB HDD and a 128GB SSD. A true gaming laptop, bad to the bone and ready for the latest releases.
2. Alienware 15 AW15R3-0012SLV
It would bring shame to our list if we didn’t include an Alienware model. Even though they actually belong to Dell, there’s nothing “Dell” in this unearthly piece of hardware – everything looks like it’s from outer space and it’s all ready to carry you to the world of epic gaming. Alienware is not just a gaming laptop, it is the gaming laptop, and that’s both visible at first glance and sensible when you first run the latest Deus Ex on ultra. You can’t usually call Alienware “affordable”, but this model pretty much is.
We can forgive this model for having an i5-6300HQ, 2.3GHz and overclocked up to 3.2GHz. That is because it also has an incredible GTX 1060M, with no less than 6GB GDDR5 VRAM, which is absolutely insane. In fact, it’s so insane that it could do both its job and that of the CPU if that were the case. There are only 8GB DDR4 RAM, but that’s not exactly a problem.
3. Acer Aspire V17 Nitro Black Edition VN7-792G-797VAs
While you can tell that the other ones are gaming models from a mile away, this Acer V17 Nitro comes with a surprisingly slim and classy design. Of course, it’s a 17.6” model, which means it’s pretty big, but you wouldn’t tell from its 0.98” thickness (25mm) that it weighs more than any other on this list, at 6.83lbs (3.1kg). It’s the kind of laptop you wouldn’t be ashamed to bring to a press conference and play CoD while struggling to maintain a poker face.
The specs are just a teeny-tiny bit over the Asus ROG. It has the same processor, the same graphics card with the same amount of VRAM, the same amount of RAM, and the same 1TB HDD. However, this Nitro version also comes with a 256GB SSD instead of 128GB, which is excellent. In fact, it means you can actually install games on the SSD when you’re playing them, instead of saving it for the OS.
4. Lenovo Y700 80NV00Q9US
On the general laptop market, Lenovo has grown impressively in the last couple of years, surpassing companies such as Asus and Acer. It also made its way into the gaming computer market and, while it doesn’t exactly go as high-spec as certain Asus or Alienware models, it offers some excellent options for those who aim for a more affordable gaming laptop.
The specifications on this model are exactly the same as the V17 Nitro, except for the fact that this is a 15.6”. It has an i7-6700HQ processor, an nVidia GTX 960 with 4GB GDDR5 VRAM, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD combo. It also has an excellent keyboard, for which Lenovo is quite well-known.
5. MSI GE62 Apache Pro-014
A relatively new appearance on the computer market, MSI has been busy up until now creating motherboards and the likes. However, they appear to be doing a job at least as impressive as consecrated laptop builders, especially when it comes to gaming laptops. MSI was the first company to introduce the GTX 1080M on a laptop under $1500, and their top models are truly top. Usually, MSI models are quite expensive (some reach $5000 and no, we’re not kidding), but this one is within the affordable budget.
This particular model is powered by the same i7-6700HQ we’ve already gotten used to. There’s also the same GTX 960M, but it only has 2GB GDDR5, which is quite weird coming from MSI. At any rate, it’s not weak and it can successfully handle some of the latest releases. It also has 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and 128 GB SSD, which is exactly what you need. The keyboard is also a plus if you like colorful stuff – it’s a rainbow-colored LED-backlit beauty.
A gaming laptop, affordable or otherwise, is a sensitive thing and one single bad component can ruin your experience. As such, there are a couple of things you should pay special attention to when you’re shopping for such a device. Here’s what we think is essential:
The CPU
For that kind of money, it’s indisputable that you should get an Intel Core i7. There are certain i5 models within the lower price ranges, but it doesn’t exactly cut the cake. An i7, on the other hand, and especially an HQ or HK version will make your computer fly.
Yes, we know, it’s not exactly as important for gaming as the GPU. However, it is essential for literally everything you’re doing, gaming included, and thus must be put at the very head of the list. Not to mention that higher requirement games will not forgive you for the sin of getting an i3 *shudders*.
As far as AMD processors go, you can find models like the FX9800P, the A12-9700P, or the A12-9600P within the budget. They’re all good processors, although they do have a tendency of overheating faster than their Intel counterparts. We generally recommend that you get an Intel CPU, but if you find something that tempts you and runs on AMD, we advise you to read the reviews, compare it to the Intel model nearest in terms of performance, and then buy if it seems appropriate. Generally, AMD processors are a bit cheaper and that’s important if you want an affordable gaming laptop.
The graphics card
There’s nothing that spells “gaming rig” better than a hardcore graphics card. It’s the very thing that makes all those amazing images possible, all that smooth detail, fluid motion, superb scenery, and so on. Even better, a good graphics card will not only work for gaming, but also for other applications such as video editing, 3D design, and so on. In short, it’s a must-have if you’re planning to use your laptop for seriously demanding tasks. Even an affordable gaming laptop should be able to show something impressive here.
As it is the case with the CPU, there’s a choice between nVidia and AMD graphics cards and the exact same things can be said: AMD (or, rather, their ATI branch) produces good graphics cards, but they tend to overheat a lot. They’re not quite as common either, although an AMD CPU will always come with an AMD graphics card. As far as nVidia goes, it’s simple: the higher the numbers, the better. You can get a GTX 965M or even 970M for that kind of money, and that’s more than enough for some serious gaming. Don’t forget about the video memory either – 2GB is already quite enough, but within this price range it’s quite possible to find cards with 3GB or even 4GB GDDR5.
The RAM
Speaking of memory, make sure the RAM is plenty and fast. You should get at least 8GB DDR4, but it’s not uncommon to find 12 or even 16GB, which are obviously better.
The storage
The means of storing information have gone a long way in the last decade. While before you didn’t have much of a choice and just got the biggest HDD you could afford, now you can pick between eMMC, HDD, and SSD.
The first one is not of interest here. It’s mid-way between the other two in terms of speed, which is not bad, but the biggest cards only reach 64GB. You can mostly find them in Chromebooks and the likes, as well as very small laptops.
HDDs are rather slow compared to SSDs, though that doesn’t have such a significant effect on gaming itself. They are also more prone to both errors and mechanical damage, as they have moving parts. What’s more, they have a minimum size limit, which means they can’t get as small as SSDs can. They only hold two advantages compared to SSDs: size and price.
SSDs are incomparably faster than HDDs, but they’re still limited in size. You can get a 1TB SSD in certain MacBooks, but those are upwards of $2000 and are completely useless for gaming. Many affordable gaming laptops featuring an SSD have either 256GB or 512GB. Our recommendation is to find one such laptop; you can always get an external HDD with as much capacity as you want and it’s not like you’re playing ten games at the same time anyway.
The screen and sound system
While the internal components do all the actual job, you literally can’t enjoy any gaming experience without a screen, and the speakers are also quite important themselves. You can expect the screen of an affordable gaming laptop to be at least FHD (1920×1080), though QHD displays may also appear, with a 60Hz refresh rate. This is more than enough for a 15.6” laptop, as beyond FHD it’s likely that you simply won’t see the difference in details.
As about the sound system, we advise that you read the reviews before purchasing. You can’t always connect your laptop to an external sound system, nd many games have soundtracks that really make the whole game, and it would be a pity if you missed that because of poor-quality speakers.
The battery
Unfortunately, we have to tell you: gaming is entirely incompatible with long battery life. Consider yourself a lucky gamer if you can play for three hours or so. And yes, this applies to higher-end models too. The batteries on those are actual monsters, but so are the other components and the consumption is correspondingly high.
The connectivity
In order to get the maximum response out of a keyboard, mouse, external display, and so on, it’s important that you have the right ports for them. Luckily, modern laptops generally feature USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports, as well as HDMI and so on. The 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard is also great, allowing for high-speed connection which really makes the difference when you’re doing some hardcore online gaming and you don’t want to experience some equally hardcore lag.
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