Deal | First GeForce RTX 3060 MSI laptop is already available for pre-order and it's only $999 USD with a 144 Hz display

Nvidia announced just yesterday that laptops sporting Ampere GPUs would start at $999 while higher-end models can reach over $3000 USD. True to their word, models have already begun popping up online with the promised 3-digit price point.

Best Buy is currently accepting pre-orders for the 15.6-inch MSI GF65 equipped with the GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. The low price point is notable because last generation RTX 2060 laptops launched at higher starting prices of around $1300 or $1400 USD while lower-end GTX 1660 Ti or GTX 1650 laptops would start at the $1000 range instead. Performance-per-dollar is therefore better than expected at least for this particular model.

Of course, there are a handful of cut corners. Namely, the GF65 series is home to MSI's budget gaming laptops meaning owners will get a very plastic-y chassis with almost no luxurious features. Things like hinge rigidity or keyboard feedback aren't going to be nearly as sound as on the pricier GE65, either. Secondly, the Core i5-10200H CPU and 8 GB of RAM will absolutely bottleneck the GPU in most titles. The latter is thankfully upgradeable, but the former is already starting to show its age.

See our review on last year's GF65 to learn more about the chassis and its physical features. MSI hasn't changed the design year-over-year and so many of our comments still apply.

• 15.6-inch 1080p 144 Hz display (possibly from Panda)
• Core i5-10200H CPU
• GeForce RTX 3060 GPU w/ 6 GB GDDR6 VRAM
• 512 GB PCIe SSD (upgradeable)
• 8 GB 3200 MHz RAM (upgradeable)
• 2x USB-A, 2x USB-C, HDMI, RJ-45, 3.5 mm combo audio, Kensington Lock
• 51 Wh battery
• 21.7 x 359 x 254 mm
• ~1.86 kg

(Update: Looks like Best Buy has disabled the pre-order button at the time of publishing. Shipments are still listed for a February 2 launch date.)