People a few years back would ridicule you if you had asked which is the best gaming laptop under $1000 in the States. But it is 2022, and things have changed a lot.
Whether you are an amateur gamer or are looking for a mid-range upgrade, $1000 is a sweet spot. Today, many options are sitting under the $1000 mark, letting you play your favorite titles without sacrificing much on other features.
Series like TUF from Asus and Victus from HP have redefined what users could expect in the $700-$1000 price point. It has propelled others like Acer, Lenovo, and Dell to develop their versions of what we can call budget gaming laptops.
This guide will help you find the best gaming laptop under $1000 in 2022.
Typical Specs to Look For in a $1000 Gaming Laptop
For the best gaming laptop under $1000, here are the typical specs that will suffice for you in 2022:
Processor – Asus Ryzen 7 (5th gen H-series)/ Intel i5 (11th or 12th gen H-series)
RAM – 16 GB 3200Mhz or higher
Graphics – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti/ NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 1660Ti / AMD Radeon™ RX 6000s with RDNA 2 architecture
Screen – 15.6 FHD (LED-backlit) or higher
Battery – 90Whrs (nothing lower than 70Whrs)
Storage – 1TB HDD (7200 RPM) + 256GB SSD (PCIe 3.0 or higher) / 512GB PCIe 3.0 or higher
Weight – Under 6 lbs
List of Best Gaming Laptops under $1000
1. Lenovo Legion 5 (Ryzen 7, 2021)
Highlights:
165Hz FHD IPS panel
Comes with a lot of ports
16GB RAM
Cons
Missing regular updates
The weight distribution isn’t the best
The Lenovo Legion 5 with AMD Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti is one of the serious contenders for the best laptop under the $1000 tag. It comes with Nahimic Audio packed in 2 x 2W speakers to allow excellent audio and a bright IPS panel to deliver speed and efficiency on budget.
2. Asus TUF Dash 15 (Intel i7, 2021)
Highlights:
Strong battery life for a gaming laptop
Excellent gaming performance
MIL-STD 810 certified
Cons:
Fans tend to get loud while gaming
The display panel brightness could be better
Asus has churned out excellent devices in the last few years with its TUF lineup. The TUF Dash packs in a lot and is a serious contender for the best gaming laptop under $1000. It comes with an i7-11370H paired with 4GB DDR6 RTX 3050 Ti. In addition, the Taiwan giant has packed in 512Gb PCIe storage and 8GB DDR4 ram (both of which are upgradable). As a result, it can easily run most AAA titles at medium to high settings.
3. Dell G15 (AMD Ryzen 7, 2021)
Highlights:
Stable and trustworthy performance
Design stands out
Above-average battery life
Cons:
Chassis feels heavy
The display
The G15 is from the stable of Dell, which has a rich history of producing excellent gaming laptops. The 2021 G15 version is no different and packs a hefty Ryzen 7 5800H processor paired with 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti for handling extreme graphics requirements. It also packs a 120Hz FHD panel, which, though excellent, falls behind competitors offering 144Hz and 165Hz in the same price segment.
4. Acer Nitro 5 (Intel i7, 2021)
Highlights:
Packs a 144Hz FHD IPS display
Comes with Acer CoolBoost Technology for optimum efficiency
Option to add another SSD up to 1TB
Cons:
Bulky at 4.85 pounds
The display lid is flimsy
The Acer Nitro 5 2021 edition packs several configurations at the $700-1100 mark. The version we are talking about is the i7- 11800H one with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 ti. It has an FHD 144Hz display that is IPS-rated, making it an excellent choice for gamers. In addition, it has a 512GB NVMe SSD with an 8GB DDR4 ram for effortless storage and workflow management.
5. HP Victus 16 (AMD Ryzen 5, 2021)
Highlights:
Price hovers below $900
Excellent thermal performance
Wide port choices
Cons:
The competition offers Ryzen 7
Frequent frame drops in certain processor-heavy games
The HP Victus 16 is one of the cheapest gaming laptops with an NVIDIA RTX Series card. It offers a 16.1-inch IPS screen with micro-edge technology for an excellent viewing experience. In addition, it packs in a powerful AMD Ryzen 5 5600H chip paired with 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 to handle everything you throw at it with ease. A 512GB PCIe storage handles the storage, and you have 8GB of DDR4 RAM for all your needs.
The last few years have democratized PC gaming and made it accessible. With so many good options available for under $1000 and packing RTX cards and top-of-the-line processors, we often ponder whether we need to spend more than that to enjoy playing our favorite games?
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