Here are the top low-cost gaming laptops right now

The times have changed for students and gamers. Gaming notebooks are now more portable and easier to use than ever. We are going to find the cheapest gaming laptop - all of which are under $1,000.

In the process of finding the cheapest gaming laptop, we encountered countless machines with Intel or AMD integrated graphics. Finding a laptop under $600 is not difficult, but there are still many shortcomings in game performance, especially if you have a plan to play the game. Fortunately, we are still able to find several discrete graphics notebooks that meet our standards. This is the preferred list of our best budget friendly gaming laptops.

1. Lenovo Y530

The Legion Y530 is priced at $849 and comes with an Intel Core i5-8300H, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 128GB SSD + 1TB hard drive and 8GB DDR4 memory. In addition to these internal components, the $849 Y530 offers the same cute features as the $1,500. These include: ultra-thin bezel, Harman speakers with Dolby sound, full-size white backlit keyboard, excellent cooling and a full killer look.

$850 might be enough to get you a pretty good gaming desktop, but if you’re looking for an all-in-one laptop with balanced gaming performance and portability, the Lenovo Legion Y530 might be the perfect choice. With a PCMark score of 4608, the Y530 proves that it can do everyday computer tasks and more. 3DMark Fire Strike scores up to 6598 with almost no replacement for the desktop GTX 1050 Ti.

If you are looking for a machine to run the latest games, such as Black Action 4, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or the upcoming Battlefield 5, in brilliant 60 or higher FPS, you may need to adjust some settings of the Legion Y530. But for almost all the old classic and multiplayer games, this laptop is more than enough.

2. Acer Predator Helios 300

Acer’s Predator Helios 300 offers incredible value proposition. If you can find it in sales, sometimes it’s less; it offers a GTX 1060 6GB graphics card that can lock 60 fps to near maximum settings in most games over the past few years. The system lacks any fancy screen features such as high refresh rate or G-Sync, and you may want to consider investing in a large hard drive to back up a 256GB SSD. But when you think about super-affordable price tags, those little ones don’t make much sense.

The Acer Predator Helios 300 tops the list of the highest performing gaming laptops, and its budget won’t hurt the bank. Its price is about $200 higher than our overall preferred Lenovo Legion Y530, but the Helios 300 can do well in the high-end environment even with the latest games. If you only want excellent game performance of $1,000, it would be the best choice.

3. Acer Nitro 5

Among all the budget gaming laptops we tested, Acer’s Nitro 5 is one of the largest and heaviest. It may not be the most beautiful, but AMD-powered Nitro 5 may only offer the best gaming performance per dollar. Intel may have monopolized the gaming notebook market with its efficient and powerful CPU, but AMD’s mobile RX 560X can be used with the Ryzen system for compelling reasons.

If you are looking for pure gaming performance and don’t care about vanity or quality of life features such as thin borders and lightweight construction, the Acer Ryzen-powered Nitro 5 is a good choice.

4. MSI GF63 8RC

The MSI GF63 8RC is the lightest budget gaming laptop we’ve tested so far. At as low as $649.99, the GF63 comes with Intel’s i5-8300H, 8GB of DDR4 memory, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1050 and one of the thinner borders we’ve seen in this price range. The only obvious drawback is the lack of an attached SSD. The laptop is equipped with a 1TB hard drive, which means you may want to upgrade your storage.

With its highly competitive price tag, Newegg’s exclusive MSI GF63 8RC is one of the cheapest gaming notebooks we’ve found with the GTX 1050 discrete graphics card. Its price is slightly higher than Acer’s Aspire E 15, but compared to laptops with integrated graphics, the GF63's gaming performance has increased by 67% and performance has increased several times. If your budget is tight, the GF63 can provide everything you need in your laptop without having a big impact on your wallet.

5. MSI GL63 8RC

If there is a feature, we never thought of a budget game laptop, it is a high refresh rate display. It is difficult to obtain 120Hz and 144Hz panels in the budget space. They are usually reserved for advanced laptops over $1,000, but the MSI GL63 8RC from Wal-Mart is only $689. The GL63 is significantly larger and heavier than the GF63 we reviewed earlier, but due to its excellent performance and scalability, it is still easy to recommend.

Adding another RAM and SSD will immediately turn the GL63 from a budget gaming laptop to an advanced laptop. If you are used to the high refresh rate display in the desktop game. On the other hand, if you have no problem with the 60Hz display, the GF63 may be more suitable for you.

I believe this answer will help you a lot. If you don’t have enough budgets to buy your favorite game laptops, if you have a better choice, you are welcome to discuss it with us.