Doesn’t it suck?
You badly want to play a game and see the same stutters like a slow motion video clip, do you like it? Of course, no one does.
That’s why you should be extra vigilant on choosing a gaming computer. But you will not face such issues anymore with the laptops you are going to buy in future as I am here with the list of best gaming laptops under 1000 bucks to bring you into the enchanting world of video games.
I am going to give you nine options. So chances are you will be confused to stumble upon one. That’s exactly why I have an incentive at the beginning of the post in the form of a short guide on how to choose the best gaming laptop for you.
Best Gaming Laptop under 1000 Dollars 2016
I have handpicked the best-in-class gaming laptops under $1000, which you can find in the next section. Here, you are going to read the laptop buying guide.
Are you ready to dive into it? Here you go!
#1. Budget; The First Thing to Decide
If you don’t decide the budget, your quest to find the top gaming laptops will go in vain. Here, I will be talking about best laptops for gaming under 1000 USD. But sometimes, you will have a higher amount to buy a beast.
The higher the budget, the better the choices will be. So invest the maximum you can and, you will not regret doing the same.
You can get a decent gaming laptop from about $800. But for the best specifications and hardware configurations, you need to increase the budget to bag the monstrous performers.
#2. GPU; The Heart of a Gaming PC
Have you ever heard of GPU? As you are looking for the best laptop for gaming, I swear you have.
Graphical Processing Unit aka GPU injects the heavy visuals into the monitor and giving no room for sluggishness. Most of the laptops available today come with Intel HD Graphics onboard. That means you can’t play high-end games with intense graphic scenarios on it.
Rendering the graphics is a tiresome job for the onboard graphics. Hence, you need a separate hardware for the same; that’s GPU. For the better gaming performance, you need the best GPU.
If you check the graphic chip manufacturing companies, you will find only two to be dominant, AMD and NVIDIA. Both the manufacturers have pretty good devices, yet NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 980 M is considered to be the best graphic card available at the moment.
Truth be told, you will have to sacrifice some things when you go for the higher GPU. As the best GPUs work a lot, your laptop can’t be the best regarding battery backup. Moreover, you will have to sacrifice portability and coolness as well.
#3. CPU; The Brain of Backend Arithmetic
When it comes to gaming, I give the best priority to GPU. It is responsible for giving you a blending gaming experience.
But that doesn’t ditch the influence of CPU in computer operations. CPU controls everything except the graphic rendering (like the controls, the movements and all the other backend calculations).
I recommend going with Intel processors. Have you seen any gaming laptops with AMD processor? I am sure you haven’t.
You can choose between i3, i5, and i7. I vote for i5 and i7 as the best gaming processors. And, you must make sure that the processor is a 6th generation one, which can be understood from the model number.
#4. Portability; Want to Carry Around?
Do you have a habit of traveling often? In case you like playing games during the journeys, portability is pivotal for you.
Usually, the dimension of a laptop is stated in inches. According to portability, we can classify them into three.
Maximum Portability:- 13- 14 inches laptops fall under this category. You will find it easy to carry around, but the gaming performance will be the minimum among the three.
Intermediate Portability: – This group includes 15 inches laptops. Both the performance and portability is intermediate here. I think this is the best if you are an avid gamer who regularly travels.
Minimum Portability:- 16- 17 inches are the picks here. Those are heavy among the lot, and you will find them more potent too. The space they have inside them allows the manufacturers to include powerful hardware.
#5. Display; You Need the Best
Gaming is all about graphics, isn’t it?
If your laptop has a poor display, nothing else matters, not even the GPU. So, you need a high-end display to render visuals with every tiny detail and crispness.
Never settle for displays with less than 1920x 1080p (full HD) resolution. For the given resolution, everything including the color temperature and brightness levels will be moderate.
But you should scale up the resolution if you have extra bucks in your pocket. You will not get the best gaming laptop without a great display.
Regarding the reflection of light, displays are of two types, matte, and glossy. The former has the least reflection, but people claim it is not having the best color reproduction either.
If you dig deep, you can find many best touch screen gaming laptops as well. But I don’t think you are going to reap benefits out of it on a large scale. Unless you are a fan of Candy Crush Saga, don’t hesitate to overlook the touch screen facility. It drains your battery out of the blue.
#6.RAM; don’t be Obsessed with the Numbers
Yeah, it is true that RAM is the temporary memory. But in order to keep graphic intensive things in memory, you have VRAM (Video RAM).
You need a decent RAM for the right coordination of controls and character movement, and for the responsiveness of the game.
Though you can have a 16 GB RAM, I am sure that an 8 GB one can run all the games without any glitch. If you can go for 16 GB, I have got no offense either.
#7. Keyboard; Your Choice
To be frank, I don’t use the laptop keyboard for gaming purpose. I firmly believe that it deserves soft handling which lacks in normal gaming sessions. So for the gaming purpose, you can use an external keyboard (and a mouse too).
But if you want to proclaim silently that your laptop is a gaming beast. You need a fancy keyboard with customizable lighting options.
In case you like using the inbuilt keyboard for gaming, don’t forget to pick up a laptop with a tactile keyboard. It makes you feel you are actually gaming.
#8. SSD; A Must for Better Pace
No one likes sluggish things, right? If you want your games to load faster, you need a primary storage with good pace. The truth is that no regular HDs will give you a comfortable speed, but an SSD does.
Solid State Drive aka SSD use chips instead of platters that it increases booting time, overall responsiveness, file transfer time, etc.
But they are expensive as compared to the regular HDs. You will not get a lot of space either. So the sensible choice is having an SSD and an HD of 1 TB with high speed (7200 rpm). You can store most used games and things that need the best speed in the SSD.
I have seen some hybrid drives with both SSD and HD storage. I won’t think going for that one hurts.
Best Affordable Gaming Laptops under 1000 Dollars
So here we are, at the core of this post. You are going to have the list of best laptops for gaming that will not end up bankrupting you (arranged in no specific order).
#1. ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71
Asus needs no introduction in the tech world. They have been dominating the minds of gadget buffs since long with their out of the box products.
This is the best Asus laptop for under 1000 dollars. And, they give you two choices that you can buy based on your needs as well as budget.
The design will be the first thing you notice about ROG GL752. With metallic black and signature red color, Asus has done a decent job in the design.
The full HD 17.3 inches display is capable enough to deliver color with the right balance and temperature. And this one of the best gaming laptops under 1000 bucks in 2016 has three USB 3.0 port (with one 3.1 Type-C), an Ethernet port, a mini display or HDMI port, jacks for headphone and mic as well.
The robust 6th generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ clocked at 2.6GHz powers the machine. To render the graphics super efficiently, it has NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphic card with 2GB VRAM. You will not find it difficult to run any intensive game on high settings on this beast.
The 16 GB of RAM gives you considerable amount of free memory even in the middle of a heavy graphic gaming scenario. So, the multitasking will not be a pain at any moment.
And, the laptop is preloaded with Windows 10.
The Hard Disk comes with this laptop has a 7200 rpm speed, and it will not disappoint you in any regard. In case you feel the need for the better speed, you can integrate an SSD also.
Moreover, if you are ready to spend about $99 extra (total $1099), you will get an upgraded version of the same laptop with 4 GB VRM and 128 GB SSD storage.
As Asus focuses more on performance, you will find the battery life to be average. One can’t expect more than 3-4 hours of battery backup for a single charge (in the case of avid gamers).
The keyboard is nicely built with red backlighting. The ergonomics, responsiveness, and tactile feedback are nice enough to allure you.
You may find the presence of bloatware as annoying. But apart from these minor flaws, Asus ROG GL752 is one of the best gaming laptops below 1000 USD.
#2. Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition VN7-592G-71ZL
Acer is not at all a stranger for the techies. Their V15 Nitro perfectly blends the performance and elegance. Though they give multiple choices for the purchase, you will have to satisfy yourself with the base model as the higher versions will cost you way more than 1000 dollars.
The design of this best Acer gaming laptop under 1000 dollars is not vigorous as Asus’s. This one is more of on the side of clean design. If portability is one of your primary concerns, you should really look forward to buying this laptop as the size is only 15.6 inches.
The material Acer chose for the built is matte black plastic. And, you can’t help but appreciate the material selection.
It has one USB 2.0 port and two USB 3.0 ports. You will find other common jacks as well.
The 15.6 inches full HD IPS panel is enough for an avid gaming session.
You will find the processing power is more than sufficient with 2.6 GHz Core i7 6700HQ processor. Unlike the first Asus model, you will get only 8 GB of RAM. Because 8 GB is enough for a gaming laptop, Acer has compensated it with extra VRAM. You will get a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M GPU with 4 GB RAM.
And, the hard disk has 1 TB space to store your files. But the 5400 rpm speed is not dominant as compared to ROG GL 752’s 7200 rpm. You can connect an SSD using the extra M.2 port available in the device.
The way Acer managed the portability, design and power deserve applause because we don’t usually find this much power in a 15.6-inch laptop. So according to me, this is the best portable gaming laptop under 1000 dollars.
The one con I found out on Acer Aspire V15 Nitro is related to the touchpad. You may find it lacks the responsiveness often unlike the outstanding keyboard. It may be a deal breaker at times. Maybe this issue is the problem of our unit only. And, you will get Windows 10 preloaded.
Overall, I can vote this laptop as one of the best gaming laptops under $1000.
#3. Dell Inspiron i7559-5012GRY
Another best portable laptop for gaming under 1000 dollars comes from Dell.
As we all know, Dell is a reputed laptop manufacturing brand with a pretty good track record. If you check the Amazon sales page, you will find out it offers a bunch of choices. And, one version goes out of your league due to expensiveness.
The version I have here is powered by 6th Generation Intel Quad Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz Processor. If you want the other color version featuring red, you will have to lower the configuration all the way down to i5. So, I don’t think you should worry about color much.
Further digging into the spec sheet will drop your jaw. It has got a display with the 4K resolution! Yeah, you heard it right. Most probably, this is one of the best dell gaming laptops under $1000 with a 4K display. I can’t find one from other manufacturers with the same resolution as well.
In case you are looking for the best bang for the budget gaming laptop under 1000 bucks, you can choose the i5 version as it costs only $799 (price may slightly vary with time). But you have to satisfy yourself with a full HD display.
It has three USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port to connect to external displays as well.
But I really think 4K display with i7 should be your pick. Moreover, the display is a touch type too. And, this made me skeptical about the battery life.
You will get an 8 GB DDR3L RAM and dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M with 4 GB memory. So, you can expect it to perform well even in some adverse multitasking and intensive graphic scenarios.
The hard disk has 1 TB capacity with 8 GB of cache space to speed up the ongoing processes. But the speed is not up to the mark being 5400 rpm. The lap lacks an optical drive too.
And, the flamboyant display is cheered up by preloaded Windows 10.
But come on, you are getting a 4k display, i7 processor, dedicated GTX 960M graphics chip with 4 GB VRAM. Who cares about optical drive then??
#4. Lenovo Y700
Lenovo is known for their budget laptops. But their ‘Y’ series is well known for better performance as well.
You can choose from four different variants based on the RAM and the hard disk capacity; 8GB with 256 SSD, 8GB with 1TB HD, 12 GB with 256 SSD, and 16 GB with 1 TB SSD. The first two variants fall under sub-1000 category. But you have to spend $50 and $150 extra for the last two models.
If you don’t keep a lot of files on your laptop, you must go for 12 GB RAM with 256 GB SSD. You will be amazed to see how fast the system carries out each process.
The design is the same for all the variants which include black and red keyboard backlighting. On both sides at the top of the keyboards, you will find a net-like lighting, and I found it fascinating.
It has got two USB 3.0 ports along with a single 2.0 one. Unlike the previous one in this list of best gaming laptops under 1000, Y700 has a dedicated DVD-RW drive.
All the variants are powered by Intel 2.6 GHz Core i7 6700HQ. So, you will never find the lack of the processing speed power. With 12 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD (my recommendation due to budget limitation), you will never find it difficult to run intensive games. Or you can purchase the higher version for $150 extra. But for the speed enhancement, you need to spend further on getting an SSD.
If you are a Lenovo fan and looking for best Lenovo gaming laptops below 1000 dollars, this could be it.
The full HD 15.6 inches display does a decent job in showing colors with the right amount of balance, contrast, and brightness.
Just like all the other gaming laptops I have mentioned in this list, this one also got a NVIDIA GeForce 960M with 4 GB memory. So I challenge you to throw a difficult game at it.
Another remarkable aspect is the presence of JBL speakers coupled with Dolby digital sound. Owing to that, you can hear even the nuanced details in the audio through the inbuilt speakers.
Preloaded Windows 10 adds charm to the machine.
The company claims the battery life will be 5 hours.
#5. Alienware AW15R2-1546SLV
I have already shared a Dell gaming laptop here. But you might know that Dell has a dedicated brand for gamers and, it’s called Alienware.
If you know anything about gaming laptops, chances are you may be terrified by the name in this post. Why because Alienware laptops are on the expensive side, and you can’t usually find one under $1000.
In case you have got an extra $69 to spend, you can move on to this best Alienware laptop under 1000 USD.
The design profile is sleek and robust that you will find it sturdy with the carbon fiber used for the production. Even though having a solid design, this laptop has an impressive weight of 7.1 pounds only. And, you will not find any issues in carrying around the lap as it is only 15.6 inches in dimension.
With the conventional Alienware design, AW15R2 captivates every game addict’s mind.
I know you may be disappointed to see the processor. Most of the gaming laptops in this list have an i7 processor, but this one is powered by an Intel 2.3 GHz Core i5 6300HQ chipset.
But your disappointment can be turned into joy if you check the GPU. Yeah, it has an
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M with 2GB GDDR5, which obviously is superior to GTX960M. So, you can expect fairly good gaming experience. The full HD screen will not fail to impress you with visuals with oozing quality.
The 8 GB DDR4 RAM is more than enough to support the video memory in avid gaming sessions. Though you get only 1 TB hard disk with 7200 rpm, you can buy and connect an SSD as well.
It has all the conventional ports (HDMI, USB Type-C, Ethernet etc.) and connectivity options.
If you have an undying passion for gaming that you keep on playing for long hours, you will need a cooling pad and a USB fan because the heating is apparent.
#6. HP Pavilion 15-ak010nr
Are you searching for the best HP gaming laptop under 1000 USD? Then, you will find this useful
The very first thing you notice on an HP laptop is its compelling yet minimalistic design. HP continues the same with this laptop as well.
As you don’t have to spend as much as for other items on this list, HP Pavilion makes compromises on certain things.
It has two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 ports with HDMI, audio, and mic jacks as well. It also has a card reader slot for faster file transfer.
You are getting the best processor available today; Intel Core i7-6700HQ clocked at 2.6 GHz. But you may feel this one lacks advanced innards as you go further.
The 8 GB DDR3 RAM is sufficient for multitasking and handling extreme gaming scenarios. But the GPU is not the best-in-class. You are getting a GTX950 M with 4 GB video RAM.
With only 5 pounds of weight, this is one of the lightest gaming laptops under 1000 dollars.
The 15.6 inches full HD WLED screen is enough to deliver pretty good visuals. And, the gradient hybrid green color in hexagonal pattern adds charm to the design.
Though it has got a 1 TB hard disk, the 5400 rpm speed may disappoint you as most of the laptops come either with an SSD or with HD of 7200 rpm speed.
The backlit keyboard is soothing to the eye and never makes your eyes tired due to excessive lighting or lack of lighting.
Though the configuration of this gaming laptop of inferior to the other ones here, the reviews on Amazon says, it doesn’t have a significant performance issue.
Moreover, the battery backup is about 7 hours (claimed by the company itself).
#7. MSI GL62 6QF-893
MSI is the reputed brand when it comes to gaming laptops. And, you may think it’s impossible to get a good MSI gaming laptop under $1000. But this one proves you are wrong.
You have got everything perfect on this laptop. Right from the design, the company convinces us. It has a decent design (nothing to boast about though).
The 15.6 inches full HD screen is fair enough to give you an in-depth gaming experience. It has got all the necessary ports and slots with standard connectivity options.
One thing I found as a pitfall is the lack of backlighting on the keyboard. It may not be an issue for those who don’t operate their laptop in darkness. But for me, backlighting would have been better.
If you want to cut the price and dying to have an MSI gaming laptop, you can go for either of the other two options for which you have to sacrifice RAM and processor.
The processor of this variant is the supreme one; that’s 6th generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ clocked at 2.6GHz. The powerful processor coupled with a 12 GB RAM is more than enough for any intensive multitasking situation.
The MSI beast is not far behind with the graphic chip either. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2GB VRAM gaming graphic card can run any of the games with high graphics in the ultimate settings without any stutter.
For faster data transfer, the company has opted for a USB Type-C port as well.
The speakers are loud enough and with the exclusive 360-degree surround sound system from Nahimic, the audio experience will be a treat. Moreover, the audio boost feature brings the best out of your headphones too.
Oops! I have forgotten one thing. This is one of the best gaming laptops under 1000 with SSD of 128 GB to make it run like a cheetah! The 1TB regular HD is fast enough with 7200 rpm also.
#8. New Toshiba Satellite S55T
Maybe you have been searching for a good Toshiba gaming laptop under 1000 bucks. The quest for the best Toshiba laptop for gaming brought me to this product.
Being released recently in June 2016, Satellite S55T has got a lot of enchanting features.
The brushed aluminum in satin gold design looks appealing to the eyes. The texture on the backside is exciting, and the excitement finds no boundaries as we open the laptop. The design of the keyboard is also captivating. The texture can be seen here too.
It has got three USB 3.0 ports, audio jacks, Ethernet port, card reader and an HDMI port with 4K output support.
The full HD backlit 15.6 inches display makes this one of the best thin gaming laptops under 1000 dollars. As a cherry on the cake, the screen supports touch interface too.
The Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor 2.6GHz with 12 GB DDR3 RAM works hand in hand to give you a flawless gaming experience at any moment. Sadly, the RAM is not user upgradable.
You may feel awkward by the graphic chip to know it is GTX 950M. But believe me! It can withstand extreme gaming sessions due to the presence of 4 GB video memory.
Both HD and SSD are the primary storage devices you get on this laptop. The first one has 1 TB space whereas the second one boasts about 128 GB capacity. The combo works well to provide the best speed ever seamlessly.
Unlike the previous one and a bunch of other items on this list, Toshiba Satellite S55T is a gaming laptop under 1000 with backlit keyboard.
You are getting a Windows Home edition 64 bit OS. And, the battery will last up to 6 hours according to the company claim. But I doubt whether it will be the case taking the touch screen into consideration.
#9. CybertronPC Tesseract 15 SK-X1
Maybe you are hearing the name CybertronPC for the first time. I too got familiar with the name only recently. But the price to feature ratio they offer even outperforms some of the established players in the industry.
There’s nothing much to talk about the design. No special matte or texture finish here to boast about. But they have included a bunch of ports on the backside of the laptop as an unconventional move.
The ports include four USB 3.0s, an HDMI, a VGA, a mini display port, and a 6-in-1 push card reader. If you place the laptop close to the wall or any obstacle, you may find it difficult to reach the back side.
Intel i7-6700HQ 2.60GHz Quad-Core Processor makes sure the laptop efficiently manages every task that being thrown at it. The processor along with the 8 GB DDR3 RAM works all together to give you a comfortable computing experience.
They haven’t sacrificed much in the GPU segment as well. Tesseract 1S has got a Nvidia GeForce GTX60M with 2 GB video memory any sort of graphic be it intense or pure, like a cakewalk.
The antiglare display allows you to indulge in gaming even if you are in outdoor conditions. And, the backlit keyboard makes it effortless for you to play games in the darkness. Being one of the best gaming laptops, CybertronPC Tesseract 15’s WASD keys on the keyboard have got a bit more lighting than others.
The 1 TB HD allows ample amount of storage but still it has only 5400 rpm speed. You can go for an SSD upgrade, though.
You will realize the value of this laptop when you know the company provides a genuine Windows 10 64 bits Home subscription with every item.
The one-year parts& labor warranty makes you feel secure while handling the laptop. Moreover, you will get a lifetime free tech support.
Final Verdict
So you have finished reading my list of best gaming laptops under $1000. Truth be told, it’s impossible to point out the best one for you without knowing your budget and exact needs.
Hence, make up your mind to settle down on a budget and list out the features you want. Then, you can land on the perfect gaming laptop for you.
As you see in this list, 17-inch laptops are very rare in this price range. And, this restriction needs you to increase your budget so that, you can have more choices.
Having the budget as a constraint, you may have to sacrifice one thing for the other. If everything comes right on a product, don’t hesitate to pick that up.
If you feel confusion in the selection process, you can use the comment section down below to ask me directly. Don’t forget to describe your budget and needs precisely in the comment.
I will be more than glad to help you out by giving you the best one.
Have a second to share this post if you think I need appreciation. This post took hell lots of time for the research. So, I hope you will share this with your social media fellas.
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