We’ve benchmarked budget gaming laptops to help you get the most for your money.
Powerful gaming laptops on the market can really empty your bank account, some features have been getting a bit cheaper over the last few years. Today, you can find a system with a high refresh rate display, a speedy SSD and a GPU that’s good enough to play 1080p games at relatively-high settings for less than $1,500 and, in some cases, far less than $1,500.
evaluates and reviews a wide variety of gaming laptops at every price level and many different configurations. This experience gives us insight into what type of performance, build quality and other features you should reasonable expect with a budget of less than $1,500. We'll highlightwhich systems deliver the most in that price range.
CES 2023 brought along some new GPUs aimed at budget laptops. Keep an eye peeled for new laptops under $1,500 with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4050 and RTX 4060. Most of these systems should come with Intel and AMD's latest chips (13th Gen Core for Intel, Ryzen 7000 for AMD), though some of those won't release until later this year.
We’ll get into this in more detail in the “What to Expect” section further down the page, but with one of the best gaming laptops under $1,500, you should be able to run games smoothly at 1080p with high or possibly ultra settings. But if you get under $1,000, you’ll have to sacrifice the settings or resolution except for on some esports games.
1. Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition
Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,500 Overall
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HXGPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800MDisplay: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 300 HzWeight: 6.61 pounds / 3 kg
TODAY'S BEST DEALS
REASONS TO BUY
+Strong performance
+10+ hours of battery life
+Stays cool to the touch
REASONS TO AVOID
-No webcam
-Mediocre SSD speeds
-Display could be brighter
When we reviewed the Asus ROG Strix G15, it was just over $1,500. Recently, it's dropped a bit with the same AMD Radeon RX 6800M, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB storage drive that we reviewed it with.
The Strix G15 Advantage Edition showed both strong gaming and productivity performance on our tests, competing with laptops using Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 in our suite of games.
But what particularly impressed us was the battery life. It ran for 10 hours and 14 minutes on our battery test, which shamed almost all of its competitors and is longer than some ultrabooks we've tested recently. The laptop remained cool at most touch points. The display could be a bit brighter, but is not unusable. You'll have to bring your own webcam, however, as this laptop doesn't have one. For those who want their laptop to scream "gaming," the G15 is covered in RGB lighting, including a strip on the bottom. There are also a handful of AMD and Asus-themed easter eggs both on the computer's exterior and even inside the laptop, underneath the bottom plate.
Splurge Config: Available for around $1,600 at Amazon(opens in new tab), there's a G15 Advantage Edition config with a 2560 x 1440, 165 Hz display and a faster, Ryzen 9 5980HX CPU. We haven't tested with those specs, but one can expect sharper images and tad more pep.
2. Alienware m15 R7
A High-quality design with solid battery life.
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800HGPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 165 HzWeight: 5.53 pounds (2.5 kg)
TODAY'S BEST DEALS
REASONS TO BUY
+Attractive, high-quality chassis design
+Long battery life when not gaming
+Strong gaming performance
REASONS TO AVOID
-Heavier than the competition
-Storage performance could be better
It's often assumed that even mid-range laptops don't have great construction. That's not the case. In fact, one of the standout aspects of the Alienware m15 R7 is that while its chassis is made of plastic, it feels extremely solid. This is a laptop that can be taken places to game (if you don't mind a bit of extra weight).
In our tests, the combination of an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 traded blows with Intel-based machines using the same GPU, but it's clear that you can play just about anything on this with the right settings.
The Alienware also proved to be efficient in non-gaming tasks. It ran for 8 hours and 57 minutes on our battery test, which involves browsing the web, streaming video and light graphics work. That's far more than most gaming laptops get these days.
There are some knocks — Intel laptops have the AMD-equipped Alienware beat on productivity benchmarks. But if you want a luxury feel and a high refresh rate, this laptop is a serious contender under $1,500.
3. MSI Sword 15
Subdued Design, Lots of Ports
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Core i7-12650HGPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 144 HzWeight: 4.96 pounds (2.23 kg)
TODAY'S BEST DEALS
REASONS TO BUY
+Solid, classy white design
+Good overall gaming performance
+Wide variety of ports
REASONS TO AVOID
-Mediocre webcam and poor audio
-Fans are loud under load
For under $1,400 ($1,349.99 at the time of review), the MSI Sword 15 has a subdued white design and a wide variety of ports to plug in plenty of peripherals and external storage.
A combination of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and an Intel Core i7-12650H proved potent for gaming, though you have to be willing to deal with some the loud fans that MSI is using to keep the components cool. You can try to adjust them in MSI Center.
There's a bit of room for upgrade potential with this device, including a second M.2 PCIe SSD slot if you want to upgrade your storage down the line.
While the Sword 15 wasn't at the top of our productivity benchmarks, it's still powerful enough for some work when you're not playing. You'll still want to keep it plugged in most of the time, however.