Gaming laptops can be expensive, but they don't have to eviscerate your savings account. Over the last few years, some features that you only used to find on the most high-end gaming notebooks have trickled down to low and mid-level models. A PC with a speedy SSD, a high refresh rate display and a GPU good enough for gaming at 1080p can be had for under $1,500.
Tom’s Hardware reviews a large number of gaming laptops with different prices, features, and components. That gives us insight into what kind of performance, materials, displays, and other features you can expect with your budget set at $1,500 or below. Our goal is to highlight the gaming laptops that offer the most in this range.
Most gaming laptops under $1,500 will use Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4050 and RTX 4060 graphics cards. The majority of these systems should come with Intel and AMD's latest chips (Intel Core Ultra or Ryzen 8000 for AMD), though you may come across especially good deals if you're willing to take last-gen tech. That being said, at this price point, try to avoid just 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. You should be able to do a bit better, especially on the high-end.
With one of the best gaming laptops under $1,500, you should be able to run intensive games at 1080p with smooth rates at high or possibly ultra settings, especially if you're considering esports.
The quick list
Bright Display with High Resolution
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (Gen 9) puts a fast, high resolution screen together with a 14th Gen Intel Core i7 and Nvidia RTX 4060 for a fairly powerful gaming system below $1,500. We also appreciated the comfy keyboard and variety of ports.
Thin and light gaming
Asus' TUF Gaming A14 is a travel-friendly gaming laptop that's also a very good option for productivity and won't get you strange looks at the office. Its 100W RTX 4060 can handle modern demanding games at moderate settings, and it switches off the GPU to deliver over 10 hours of battery life when you're doing less demanding tasks.
Best Budget 1080p Gaming
The HP Victus 16 combines solid gaming performance, a bright, 16.1-inch display, and long battery life, making for a great laptop at its price point. We're also fans of its comfortable keyboard, which is great whether you're gaming or working.
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Best Sub-1000 Gaming Laptop
The Acer Nitro 16's AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 are a potent combo. This sub-$1,000 laptop doesn’t miss out on creature comforts with its four-zone RGB keyboard, USB 4 Type-C port, quiet fans, and long battery life.
Another Great Gaming Laptop Under $1,000
The Katana 15 checks all the right boxes with a strong Core i7-13650H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That’s impressive given that many similarly priced laptops only give you 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD (or smaller).
If you can save a bit more
The Aorus 16X's Core i7-14650HX CPU and GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card effortlessly handle modern games on its excellent display, and its built-in speakers won't have you missing your headphones. It also has productive input devices, excellent connectivity (including Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 7), and biometric security from its IR webcam.
The Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,500
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Bright Display with High Resolution
If a bright, fast display is your priority, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (Gen 9) may suit your needs. The 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 screen can go up to 165 Hz and supports G-Sync. On our light meter, it was quite bright for the class at 354.6 nits.
But the Legion Slim 5i also offers other benefits. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and Intel Core i7-14650HX delivered strong gaming performance, and we appreciated the variety of ports. The keyboard and touchpad were both comfortable, which is just as important for when you're not gaming as for when you're getting some playtime in.
There are a few sacrifices you make for the price. The battery life isn't incredible (though unfortunately that's largely par for the course with gaming laptops) and you don't get any biometric security features. Our $1,313.99 review unit came with 16GB of RAM, which is great except that it was in a single-channel configuration, which can affect performance. At least you can upgrade that down the line.
Read: Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (Gen 9) review
Thin and light gaming
As far as gaming laptops go, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 is pretty thin. It's one of a handful of gaming laptops that was released recently in a trend to make lighter machines that would fit in anywhere.
That's a step up for TUF Gaming, which has typically been a far less fancy sibling to the more expensive Strix and Zephyrus lineups. While this isn't as expensive, you still get a nice, understated design that isn't much bigger or heavier than some ultrabooks.
The 100W RTX 4060 laptop GPU can handle modern games at moderate settings, and the battery life ran for over 10 hours on non-gaming tasks in our tests.
Read: Asus TUF Gaming A14 review
Best Budget 1080p Gaming
The HP Victus 16 combines solid gaming performance, a bright, 16.1-inch display and long battery life, making for a great laptop at its price point. We're also fans of its comfortable keyboard, which is great whether you're gaming or working.
The design is simple, but mature. Sure, it can game, but it won't stand out if you happen to bring it into the coffee shop or office. The display is nice and luminous, reaching 313 nits on our lightmeter, which is slightly higher than HP's claim.
The trick with the Victus is making sure you buy it at the right place and right time. HP's website can have good deals if you happen to catch a sale (the one we tested needs to be on sale to hit this price point). But there's an even more powerful version at Costco with 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a GeForce RTX 4060 that's regularly $1,399.99. So be sure to check different retailers to get the best price and configurations.
Read: HP Victus 16 Review
Best Sub-1000 Gaming Laptop
The Acer Nitro 16 takes strong performance, a bright display, and long battery life (for a gaming laptop, anyway) and crams them into a system that costs just under $1,000.
Our $999 review unit included an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS and Nvidia Geforce RTX 4050, which did well enough in our benchmarks. We loved the 1920 x 1200, 165 Hz display with G-Sync support, which is great for esports at high frame rates. It was also brighter than competitors at 371 nits on our light meter. It also includes USB 4, the latest version of USB Type-C.
Even though this is a budget laptop, we would still like to see better speakers and an improved webcam. But for less than $1,000, the Nitro 16 is a solid package.
Read: Acer Nitro 16 Review
Another Great Sub-1000 Gaming Laptop
The MSI Katana is a budget gaming notebook that will leave some breathing room in a $1500 budget. We tested a model with a Core i7-13620H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 offering strong 1080p performance for just $999.
You still get 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage for that price, though the chassis could be a bit nicer.
The display isn't the most colorful, but it's fairly fast at 144 Hz, especially for competitive gamers. We also appreciated the quality of the speakers for the price.
Read: MSI Katana 15 Review
If you can save a bit more
While this is a list of gaming laptops that cost $1,500 or less, we have to mention the Gigabyte Aorus 16X, which is currently selling for $1,599.99. For $99.99 more, you get an RTX 4070, which we think is worth saving a little extra for. It offers far better performance (especially paired with the Intel Core i7-14650HX).
You also get strong connectivity, including Thunderbolt 4, and the latest networking standard in Wi-Fi 7. In our review, we also praisedt the vibrant 16-inch screen.
Gigabyte's software isn't the best, and, like many gaming laptops, it's not exactly a winner on battery life (it lasted about 5 hours and 31 minutes on our test), but the performance for the money is there. I'd keep an eye on this one for a sale to drop below the $1,500 around the holidays.
Read: Gigabyte Aorus 16x review
Quick Shopping Tips
What to Expect From the Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,500
- GPU: Your gaming laptop’s graphics card has the single biggest impact on its ability to deliver smooth frame rates with sharp details. If you find a laptop with an RTX 4070 card on sale for less than $1,500, consider it a steal. However, barring extraordinary sales or closeouts, the best graphics cards you can normally find in this price range are the AMD Radeon RX 6800M or the Nvidia RTX 4060. Both cards can deliver smooth 1080p gaming at high or ultra settings or solid frame rates with ray tracing enabled. The RTX 4050 can provide reasonably smooth performance at 1080p, but we wouldn’t recommend it for ray tracing.
- Screen: Gaming laptop screen sizes range between 14 and 17 inches, though 15 inches is the most common. Expect 1080p resolution and a refresh rate between 120 and 165 Hz on the best gaming laptops under $1,500. Those are all fine numbers since the system won’t be powerful enough to play at higher resolutions or frame rates that outpace those refresh rates. Look for subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) differences in color quality and brightness. If you see a laptop with a 2560 x 1440 display, consider it a bonus, but you'll be hard-pressed to find that screen resolution unless the model is on a big sale or closeout.
- CPU: Don’t be too picky about the CPU, as the GPU is much more important for gaming in this price range. You can usually find Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs on sub-$1,500 systems, though you may find the best deals on laptops with chips that are a generation old – Intel 13th Gen Core or Ryzen 7000 series. You will also see some Core i5 and Ryzen 5 CPUs on cheaper systems, and those should be more than adequate for most people who are primarily gaming and not also using them for video editing or other intensive work.
- RAM: Expect to find 16GB of DDR4 or DDR5 RAM, which is more than adequate for most, in the best gaming laptops under $1,500. As you drop down to less than $1,000, you will see some models selling with 8GB of RAM. If you buy an 8GB model to save money today, strongly consider upgrading the RAM on your laptop with after-market DIMMs, which should cost you $40 to $80. Some models, particularly thinner ones, may have soldered RAM. If that's the case, make sure you splurge on enough to last you at least a few years.
- Storage: The best gaming laptops under $1,500 will likely come with 512GB NVMe SSDs that offer strong performance, but only enough storage space for a few games. If you can snag one with a 1TB drive, that's a huge plus, though like RAM, that may be something you can update down the line.
Many sub-$1,000 models will have a meager 256GB drive, which is barely enough for the operating system and may not be enough for space-gulping AAA games. In either case, consider upgrading with a secondary drive or new primary SSD, either of which should cost less than $100 for 1TB.
Bottom Line
There are noticeable differences even between gaming laptops with similar key specs. Two systems with the same graphics card and CPU may have some performance differences based on how good their cooling systems are, something you can’t tell just from reading a spec sheet or looking at the laptop in a store. A cooler-running system can jump up to and maintain higher clock speeds, which allow for higher frame rates. Some of these systems may be able to run basic local AI workloads, especially those with more powerful GPUs or the most recent processors from Intel or AMD.
Raw performance shouldn’t be the only factor in choosing the best gaming laptop under $1,500 for you. You also need to consider the design, feel of the keyboard and touchpad and screen quality. All of those things vary a fair amount between models, so it pays to do some research before pulling the trigger.
Discounts on the Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,500
Whether you're shopping for one of the best gaming laptops or another model that didn't quite make our list, you may find some savings by checking out our lists of Dell coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes, Razer promo codes or Newegg promo codes.
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