Best gaming laptop under $800 in January 2024: the finest budget models
We've hand picked the best gaming laptops for $800 and under including Lenovo, Dell, and ASUS models
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This guide will help you pick the best gaming laptop under $800 in 2024. These are what we consider to be the best budget gaming laptops available, before you reach the ‘mid-tier’ price range at around the $1,000 mark. We have organized the finest models you can buy for around and under the $800 threshold, relative to their main pros and cons. These selections come from a range of manufacturers and have different specs, but they all offer solid gaming performance for the price and would also make solid general use laptops too. If you’re interested in the best laptops regardless of budget, then consider reading our primary best gaming laptop page.
We endeavour to make sure all our laptop buying guides are up to date with the latest products on a monthly basis, so you can rest assured these picks will give you the best bang for your buck. Read further down this page for our Things to consider when buying a gaming laptop under $800 section, if you’re looking for more info on what to expect from the market. If you’re pressed for time however, then we recommend either the MSI GF65 Thin, HP Victus 16, or Lenovo Legion 5.
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01The cheapest RTX 3060 gaming laptop you’re likely to find
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02The laptop with the best GPU & CPU for the priceA great budget-friendly RTX 3050 Ti model
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03An alternative RTX 3050 Ti gaming laptop under $800
Is the best gaming laptop under $800 worth buying?
For the most power in your game-playing machine, you can’t beat a desktop PC, however, sometimes the portability and flexibility that comes with a laptop wins out. Unfortunately, these features don’t come cheap, and only $800 puts you in the upper end of the “budget” end of the spectrum when it comes to gaming laptops. Although there are cheaper units on the market (see our best gaming laptop under $500 page for the cheapest you can go, though we recommend spending more than this) playing the latest AAA games on $800 devices will require you to run the settings down low. Our best cheap gaming laptop page has the top selections we recommend across all our best-ofs up to around the $1K mark, if you’re interested in spending a bit more.
If you don’t mind playing newer games on the lower settings, or are only interested in playing less demanding and/or older games, then a $800 laptop may suit you just fine. If you decide you’re not much interested in gaming after all, you can go even cheaper (see our best laptop under $400 guide for some examples).
Best gaming laptops under $800: reviews
The cheapest RTX 3060 laptop you’re likely to find
MSI GF65 Thin (RTX 3060, 144Hz)
CPU
Intel i5-10500H
Graphics Card
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
RAM
8GB
Max Refresh Rate
144Hz
Resolution
1920 x 1080
Screen Size
15.6”
- The cheapest RTX 3060 laptop GPU you’re likely to find
- 144Hz screen for cheap
- older gen Intel Core i5-10500H
- only 8GB of single-channel RAM
This MSI GF65 Thin is a rare beast in this price range: not only does it have a display with a 144Hz maximum refresh rate, but most impressively, comes with an RTX 3060 laptop graphics card – the most powerful option you’ll see in any of the picks on this page.
Such gaming power does come with sacrifice however – the Intel Core i5-10500H processor is a good few generations old now, and will lead to some performance benchmarking in comparison to other RTX 3060 machines. Still, the additional power the graphics card brings makes it the best gaming performer in FPS terms on this page.
The 16GB of RAM is exactly what you need and the 512GB SSD is also welcome. Build quality is okay, though could be better, and it’s a similar story with the keyboard and trackpad. The peak brightness and color replication of the screen are far from the best, but no worse than what you’d expect for this amount of money. All-in-all, an absolute bargain of a device, though if you’re looking for something more mid-range then take a look at our best gaming laptop under $1,000 or $1,500 guides.
A great budget-friendly RTX 3050 Ti model
HP Victus 16 (RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti, 1080p)
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti (80W)
RAM
16GB
Storage
1TB SSD
Screen Size
16.1”
Max Refresh Rate
144Hz
- superb value
- RTX 3050 Ti GPU
- 144Hz version has decent color replication
- 16.1″ display
- decent battery life
- SD card slot
- screen wobble
- poor build quality
The HP Victus line is HP’s latest range and aims to provide a cheaper alternative to their HP Omen range. Indeed, the Victus offers the best FPS performance per $ of any laptop on this list by some margin. The main sacrifice made to get these laptops down to a cheaper price is build quality, with the lid of the Victus 16 in particular being very wobbly and bendable, although not enough to be a nuisance when gaming so in our opinion. The overall build is very plasticky and it’s far from the most robust feeling laptop around. Still, this is an acceptable trade-off in our opinion – just make sure you treat it with care!
Having said this, the keyboard on the laptop is surprisingly good, feeling quite tactile and clicky for a membrane keyboard, although it does have a lot of flex due to the aforementioned build quality. The touchpad is decent enough though. The speakers on the high-end version we have picked here are also respectable for a gaming laptop, though cheaper versions of the HP Victus 16 reportedly come with lower-quality ones.
In terms of the core components then, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor performs well, and has the added advantage of extending the laptop’s battery life to levels above what the Intel versions can manage: expect at least 7 hours during general usage (web browsing, word processing, and the odd YouTube video) with the most advanced display option, which is decent if not amazing. The 1080p displays reportedly can last up to 10-11 hours, which is very impressive.
The specific Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card the Victus 16 comes with isn’t the most powerful in TGP terms compared to other laptops out there with the same GPU model, however compared to the GTX 1650 and 1650 Ti machines in the same price range it is substantially better. Not only do you get better FPS performance in-game, but you also have superior DLSS support to enhance this further.
A 16-inch display at this price is welcome. As to the quality of the display, this varies substantially depending on which one you go with. The 165Hz 1440p/QHD version is the best of the bunch, hitting around 99% sRGB, making it suitable for color work, and with a stated 3ms response time (likely to be higher in reality, but still great at this price). However, opting for the RTX 3050 Ti GPU plus this display will likely take you out of the range of $800 budget. The 144Hz 1080p option has a lower 7ms response time and substantially worse color replication, but still does the job and has a respectable peak brightness. We wouldn’t recommend going with the cheaper options than this though, as they are likely capped at 60Hz. Still, all things considered, the HP Victus 16 is one of the best value gaming laptops out there.
An alternative RTX 3050 Ti gaming laptop under $800
Lenovo Legion 5 (RTX 3050 Ti, Ryzen 5 5600H)
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5600H
Graphics Card
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
RAM
8GB DDR4
Max Refresh Rate
120Hz
Resolution
1920 x 1080
Screen Size
15.6″
- RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU option for cheap
- powerful CPU option for the price
- 120Hz refresh rate for cheap
- Good battery life
- only 8GB of RAM
If the two top picks don’t tickle your fancy, then the Lenovo Legion 5 is a great alternative pick from a brand which regularly features in our best gaming laptop guides.
The graphics card this laptop comes with is the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti – again, not one of the best performing graphics cards we’ve ever seen, though usually the best you’re likely to see in any machine on this budget. This Lenovo Legion 5 comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H CPU – a solid performer. It also means good battery life again, extending to around 7 hours of non-gaming use, with all battery saving settings enabled.
The build quality is however a bit better than our top two picks – the machine feels sturdier with less of a plasticky feel and screen wobble. The keyboard is also of a respectable quality.
A 15-inch, GTX 1650 gaming laptop under $800
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (GTX 1650)
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 4600H
Graphics Card
Nvidia GTX 1650
RAM
8GB
Max Refresh Rate
144Hz
Resolution
1920 x 1080
Screen Size
15.6”
- AMD CPU good for low-level workstation tasks
- 144Hz screen
- 512GB SSD
- very long battery life
- not thin or particularly portable
- narrow color gamut
The ASUS TUF Gaming A15 comes in a variety of SKUs (i.e. specific configurations) at the budget level, and this version comes with a Ryzen 5 4600H processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. The Ryzen processor is the best available on this budget, though it should be noted that the GTX 1650 Ti is superior to the vanilla GTX 1650 this machine comes with, which means this laptop cannot claim to have the best gaming performance in terms of FPS at this price point.
However, the 144Hz display is a feature that is hard to come by for a c.$800 machine. Whilst you will not be able to play the latest, most demanding games at speeds that touch 144FPS, older games such as CS:GO or COD will certainly be able to reach these levels if you don’t mind playing on medium-low settings. This means for gamers interested in playing competitively on these fast-paced titles for whom effective frames are paramount, the ASUS TUF Gaming A15 is a very attractive contender.
On top of this, the 512GB SSD and very long battery life (expect around 8 hours doing taxing non-gaming tasks) also put it ahead of some of the other offerings on this page, assuming you don’t mind the somewhat chunky build of the laptop.
Finally, the color gamut of the screen may be somewhat narrow, making it unsuitable for color work, however, the contrast ratio is good and brightness levels do the job, making it a fine machine for gaming.
A 17-inch model with a GTX 1650 GPU
MSI GF75 Thin (GTX 1650)
CPU
Intel Core i5-10300H
Graphics Card
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
RAM
8GB
Max Refresh Rate
120Hz
Resolution
1920 x 1080
Screen Size
17.3”
- 17.3” display for a budget price
- 512GB SSD
- relatively quiet fans
- relatively lightweight
- narrow color gamut
- upgrading RAM breaks warranty
The MSI GF75 17.3 inch version is a fairly rare sight at under $800 in that it has a larger screen than you’d commonly get for this price on a laptop with the hardware to play games. It would be nice if the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 was the more powerful Ti version, but the Intel Core i5-10300H CPU at least offers powerful single-core performance. Ultimately what you are paying for is the 17 inch, 120Hz display, and for gaming purposes, it’s a solid screen. The hardware should be able to handle demanding games on the lower settings, and on less demanding games you will be able to reach the 120 FPS cap.
The color space on the display is somewhat narrow, rendering it unsuitable for any color-focused workstation uses, however it’s perfectly adequate for games. Perhaps the biggest annoyance is the fact that the 8GB RAM (below what we’d generally advise using) cannot be upgraded without breaking the warranty – so you will have to calculate the risk of this trade-off. Fortunately, the 512GB SSD the machine comes with, means upgrading the SSD is not such a big priority.
This MSI GF75 is surprisingly light for a laptop with a 17.3” display, and for a gaming laptop it actually has relatively quiet fans, even when under moderate loads. Both of these features adds to its usefulness as a portable working/gaming machine, though as with all gaming laptops you’ll need to plug it in to have good performance on any moderately demanding game. All the above makes the MSI GF75 an option worth considering for a budget 17-inch device.
Things to consider when buying a $800 gaming laptop
For a more thorough look at what to think about when shopping for a new device no matter what the price, have a quick scan of this same section on our best gaming laptop page. Below is a quick summary of things to consider when shopping to a $800 budget specifically.
Realistic expectations of gaming performance
The portability advantages of laptops, coupled with the engineering challenges of putting powerful components into a laptop’s chassis and effectively cooling them, means you typically pay at least 50% more on a laptop compared to a desktop computer for the same Frames Per Second (FPS) in game.
Limiting your budget to $800 unfortunately means you cannot expect to be able to play the newest releases on high settings and get a good FPS. At this level, even medium graphical settings on demanding may be a stretch, though certainly low settings will be feasible. At this price point and lower if you want decent FPS on high settings you will need to stick to somewhat older games, or at least newer ones that have less graphical demands. Broadly speaking, you could probably expect to get around 70-90 FPS on GTA V on high settings on most of the laptops listed below. If you want more than this then we would advise you either consider spending more and have a look at our best gaming laptop for under $1,500 page, or alternatively consider a desktop PC you can build yourself or a prebuilt computer, for under $800.
Maximum refresh rate
At around the $800 mark, 144Hz screens become uncommon, and the typical maximum is 120Hz. Having said that, 144Hz do occasionally crop up on this budget, though usually, they sacrifice some other aspect.
Resolution
Under $800 the best native resolution you can hope for in a gaming laptop is 1920 x 1080. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as 1080p is the resolution many competitive gamers who play fast-paced online shooters would use anyway, no matter their budget. On top of that, unless you are looking for a screen side above 15 inches its debatable how much you’d get out of higher resolution screens anyway.
Hard drive & RAM
Typically we’d say 256GB for an SSD in a laptop or desktop PC is too small a size to be practical. Many of today’s games can reach 50GB plus, and once you’ve installed the operating system this doesn’t leave a lot of room. Unfortunately at under $800, 256GB becomes much more common. If the laptop you have your heart set on only has 256GB then we’d advise upgrading the SSD to a larger one or adding an additional SSD or HDD. Similarly, 8GB RAM becomes common in laptops at around $800. We’d strongly advise upgrading this to 16GB where possible.
Color replication
At this price point, screens with a wide color gamut become hard to find. 100% sRGB replication is unlikely, as good color accuracy, although there may be at least one example on this page which has this in its favor.
Ports & connectivity
Ports and sockets are usually at the bottom of a customer’s priorities, hence manufacturers of budget laptops tend to sacrifice them first before other components. Hence, you’re unlikely to find SD card readers or Thunderbolt support in laptops under $800, and the amount of USB coverage may not be as extensive.
Temperature
Given the relatively low-powered components in these low-budget machines, you’re unlikely to suffer much from overheating or thermal throttling, but just in case you can always pick up a cheap laptop cooling pad or laptop stand to help reduce this.
Best gaming laptop under $800 FAQs
Will a gaming laptop under $800 play the latest games?
Although a gaming laptop under $800 will likely meet the minimum requirements for every game currently released, the quality of gameplay on the newest, most demanding titles, even with the graphical settings turned down, won’t be the best. Older titles or less demanding games however should run well on low-medium settings, depending on the specific game in question.
What is a good gaming laptop under $800?
All of the selections in our guide are ‘good gaming laptops’ for the money, covering different brands, screen sizes, and GPU types. Out current favourite is the MSI GF65 Thin as this is the only one you can buy for this price point with an RTX 3060 graphics card, but some of our other picks with RTX 3050 Tis or RTX 3050s are better in other respects – it all depends on what you prioritize most.
Final Word
This has been our guide to the best gaming laptop under $800 in 2024. We hope that this has helped you decide which one is right for you. If you are thinking of spending a bit more or a bit less on your laptop purchase, take a gander at our other laptop guides for different budgetary constraints which are listed in the recommended articles alongside this page, including our best gaming laptop under $700 and under $1,000 guides.
If you are having second thoughts about choosing a gaming laptop over a desktop PC, take a looksie at our guides on high-end desktop builds for under $1,000 and also the best pre-built PC for under $1,000.
