Best cheap gaming laptop deals

Steam Deck (LCD) | 512GB SSD | $449 at Steam
Okay, the Steam Deck may have had an OLED refresh but the original version is still the archetype of what a mobile PC gaming device should be. It's just as powerful as the most recent model so all those Steam Deck compatible games should run well. It's the OG PC gaming handheld, and it still demands respect.

Asus ROG Ally | AMD Z1 Extreme | 7-inch 1080p | 120 Hz | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | $649.99 $549.99 at Best Buy (save $100)
The most powerful version of one of the best PC gaming handhelds is back at a discounted price. The Asus Ally surprised us at launch with its relatively low MSRP (for a premium Asus product), and now it's even cheaper. Has the time come for you to get in on some handheld gaming action?

HP Victus 15 | RTX 4050 | Ryzen 5 8645HS | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 8 GB DDR5 | 512 GB SSD | $979 $599 at Walmart (save $380)
Let's be upfront about this, nobody wants a laptop with just 8 GB of RAM in 2024. But when you're talking about a gaming notebook that costs just $600, but with a decent RTX 40-series GPU inside it, I can swallow it. Especially when you can easily upgrade the RAM with just a wee screwdriver in-hand. And 16 GB of fast dual-channel DDR5 is just $50-odd right now. The RTX 4050 is just a 75 W variant, so not the outright fastest, but will still definitely do a job at 1080p, and for this money, that's all you can ask.

Asus TUF A16 | RX 7700S | Ryzen 7 7735HS | 16-inch | 1200p | 165 Hz | 16 GB DDR5-4800 | 512 GB SSD | $1,099.99 $699.99 at Best Buy (save $400)
A gaming laptop with an AMD graphics card is a rarity, rarer still to find one with a very tasty discount. Now, the RX7700S isn't the most exciting of graphics card, but it is a GPU that will outperform the RTX 4050 in most games quite comfortably, making this $700 system a very tempting laptop deal. The screen is decent, the memory is large enough, if a little slow for DDR5, and maybe we'd rather more storage space, but all round it's a quality gaming machine for a very good price.

Gigabyte G5 | RTX 4060 | Core i7 12650H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16GB DDR4 | 1TB SSD | $969 at Amazon
The ol' Gigabyte G5 has been a classic when it comes to budget gaming laptops for a long while now, and just when you thought it had disappeared it's back with better specs and a still sub-$1,000 price tag. As we discovered when we reviewed the Core i5 version of the G5, it's a great little gaming laptop, and with the extra storage and slightly better CPU this is a quality machine for the money. If you're happy with just a 512GB SSD (or have a bigger one ready to drop in) you could save a little more cash and go for the 512GB $922 version.

Price check: Newegg $1,124.99

Asus TUF F15 | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13620H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5-4800 | 1TB SSD | $1,399.99 $1,149.99 at Best Buy (save $250)
This is a gaming laptop deal that makes it tough to recommend RTX 4060 machines for anything near to a grand. With a genuine RTX 4070 GPU in a system for this much you're got a lot of gaming power for a great price. We did see a 12th Gen version for $980 around Black Friday last year, so there is precedent, but we've not seen a similarly specced system down around this price since.

Price check: Newegg $1,269.99 | Amazon $1,271.96

HP Victus 16 | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13700H | 16-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5-5200 | 1 TB SSD | $1,199 at Walmart
The Victus range isn't the HP brand that comes to mind when you think gaming laptop, but it's the affordable side of the business which is still able to pack a decent punch for the price. This RTX 4070-powered machine is the cheapest we've found toting Nvidia's third-tier mobile GPU, but it is a 120 W version, not the full 140 W monty. That will still deliver at the 1080p res of this screen and will work comfortably under this relatively slim 16-inch chassis. The rest of the spec—16 GB DDR5 and 1 TB SSD—are exactly what you'd hope for at this end of the market, too. A really good price for a seriously solid machine.

Acer Predator 14 | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13700H | 14-inch | 250 Hz | 1600p | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | $1,999.99 $1,352.94 at Amazon (save $647.05)
It's not the prettiest gaming laptop you'll ever see but underneath the cheap-looking exterior is a pile of really nice hardware. That Intel CPU has 14 cores, 20 threads, and the GPU is a 140W RTX 4070. Backing them up are 16GB of DDR5 RAM and, unusually for this price, a full 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD. Even the 2560 x 1600 screen is good, with a 250 Hz refresh rate and mini-LED backlighting. There's very little to dislike here and it'll be down to whether the lightweight nature or 14-inch panel just aren't right for you.

Price check: Newegg $1,596

HP Omen Transcend 14 | RTX 4060 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 14-inch | 120 Hz | 2880 x 1800 | OLED | 512GB SSD | 16GB DDR5-7500 | $1,729.99 $1,329.99 at HP (save $400)
This lovely 14-incher is pretty expensive for an RTX 4060 but it's still the best compact gaming laptop around. You get an excellent OLED panel as standard and a 65W GPU that will still deliver a quality gaming experience. The 512GB SSD is a bit small, but you can configure the machine with a 1TB drive if you're willing to spend a bit more. Shame the battery life isn't so good, but that's small gaming laptops for you

Gigabyte Aorus 17H | RTX 4070 | Core i7 13700H | 17.3-inch | 1440p | 240 Hz | 16GB DDR5-4800 | 1TB SSD | $1,749 $1,529 at Amazon (save $220)
This is a big laptop that, for once, hasn't packed with the most power-hungry components. That Core i7 is easier to keep cool than an i9 and it's a more suitable match for the 140W RTX 4070 alongside. It is $200 more than the Asus TUF above but you're getting a much nicer display.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i | RTX 4080 | Core i9 13900HX | 16-inch | 1600p | 240 Hz | 32GB DDR5-5600 | 1TB SSD | $2,749 $1,999 at B&H Photo (save $750)
Let's be honest, at this point, this isn't a deal on the best RTX 4080 laptop I've tested, this is just the price that it is. It's effectively been on offer at B&H at this level for a year now, but it's a fantastic notebook, offering performance that can often match and sometimes beat an RTX 4090-based system (see our review). There's a high-performance CPU to back it up, a decent, bright 1600p screen, and a fair amount of storage. All with a discount.

MSI Bravo| RTX 4060 | Ryzen 7 7735HS | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 512GB SSD | £999.99 £749.97 at Laptops Direct (save £250)
With a 105 W TGP on its RTX 4060 GPU, this surprisingly affordable MSI machine puts it at the top of our list of gaming laptop deals. That's way beyond the awful 45 W Cyborg (which you should absolutely avoid) and speedier than the Gigabyte we love so well. The SSD is a bit sad, and the AMD chip isn't the full Zen 4 deal, so you don't get the battery sipping 780M integrated graphics (just the Zen 3+ 680M), but it's still a lot of laptop for £750.

Gigabyte G5 | RTX 4060 | Core i5 12500H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 512GB SSD | £1,099 £799 at Currys (save £250)
We're big fans of this little budget gaming laptop, and our Jacob loved its great gaming performance (check out our review). With over £250 off the original price and some genuine 1080p gaming chops on offer, we reckon this makes quite a tidy deal. It's a bit more expensive than the above Medion P25 but the RTX 4060 is much better for gaming.

Price check: Amazon £799

Asus TUF | RTX 4060 | Ryzen 5 7735HS | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 512 GB SSD | £894.97 £849.60 at Cyberpower (save £45.07)
This isn't the cheapest RTX 4060-powered laptop around, but it's the one that will likely give you the most performance thanks to its 140 W TGP. The Gigabyte above makes do with 75 W, so this is pushing the silicon a whole lot further and that will show in the gaming benchmarks. The TUF laptops are quality budget machines, too. Not as sleek as the Asus ROG notebooks, but they've got it where it counts. Well, except for that miserly 512 GB SSD, that is.

Price check: Amazon £894.97

MSI Katana 15 | RTX 4070 | Core i9 13900H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144 Hz | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | £1,399 £1,099 at Currys (save £300)
Phew, those are some pretty impressive specs at a similarly impressive discount, from a trusted brand no less. Yes, it's only got a 1080p screen, and yes, 32GB of RAM instead of the included 16GB would be nice, but for just £1,149 you get a super-fast Core i9, an RTX 4070 and a 1TB SSD. That's a bit of a magic combo if you ask me, and at a bit of a magic price too. That GPU isn't running at peak performance, however, with just a 105 W TGP, but that still gives it enough juice to cope with that 1080p screen even if it's not the full 140 W deal.

Price check: Amazon £1,150

Asus TUF A15 | RTX 4070 | Ryzen 9 8945H | 15.6-inch | 1440p | 165 Hz | 32 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | £1,899.60 £1,599.60 at Cyberpower (save £300)
She may not be the cheapest, or prettiest, but this packed Asus machine has got a lot going for it. That 165 Hz IPS panel is high-res and the RTX 4070 is running at its top 140 W power limits. And that chonky chassis only helps that. You're also getting a ton of DDR5 memory and a decent 1 TB of fast SSD storage, too. 

MSI Vector 17  | RTX 4080 | Core i9-13980HX | 17-inch | 1200p | 165 Hz | 16GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD | £2,097.90 £1,899 at Ebuyer (save £198.90)
When it comes to the hardware running under the bonnet, this 16-inch MSI Vector certainly has the goods, what with that Intel Core i9 processor and an RTX 4080 making a very tempting package indeed. Bit of a shame about the 1200p display and 16GB of RAM, but at least the screen's a good 'un with a 144Hz refresh rate and nice and bright panel. There's a huge amount of performance here in quite a slim and svelte package, making this machine a lot of power for under the magic £2,000 marker.