The Best Budget Gaming Notebooks

September 2021 update. These notebooks offer the best bang for the buck: maximum performance at a low price. They are thus ideally suited for beginners. Find your next gaming notebook that will balance your expectations with your budget below.

Christian Hintze 👁 (translated by Finn D. Boerne), 10/07/2021 🇩🇪 🇹🇷 ...

To make this list, a notebook must meet two requirements first and foremost. First, given that this is a list of affordable notebooks its price shall not exceed 1,500 Euros. Keep in mind that the prices listed in the table below are updated daily and can thus differ from day to day. And second, these laptops must be equipped with a mid-range gaming-capable GPU, such as a GTX 1650 or an RX 5500M, capable of running most recent games in FHD (1920 x 1080) in medium to high details smoothly. More powerful GPUs, such as the GTX 1660 Ti or the RX 5600M, should thus be capable of running most current games smoothly in 1080p and maximum settings. Other gaming top lists:

The Best Gaming Notebooks (particularly powerful gaming notebooks)
The Best Thin & Light Gaming Notebooks (lightweight and thin gaming notebooks)

The Best Budget Gaming Laptops

Position	Total Rating	Date	Model	Height	Weight	Size	Resolution	Screen
1	85.9 %	06/2021	Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM Intel Core i7-11800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD	24.9 mm	2.3 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
2	85 %	07/2021	Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR-AZ061T AMD Ryzen 7 5800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD	24 mm	2.3 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
3	84.3 %	09/2021 new!	HP Victus 16-e0179ng AMD Ryzen 7 5800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD	23.5 mm	2.5 kg	16.10"	1920x1080	matte
4	83.7 %	10/2020	Aorus 5 KB Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	28 mm	2.1 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
5	83.4 %	09/2021 new!	Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL AMD Ryzen 7 5800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	26 mm	2.5 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
6	83.3 %	02/2021	MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK AMD Ryzen 7 4800H AMD Radeon RX 5600M 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	28 mm	2.6 kg	17.30"	1920x1080	matte
7	82.9 %	11/2020	Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	22.9 mm	2.5 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
8	82.8 %	01/2021	HP Omen 15-en0375ng AMD Ryzen 7 4800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	23 mm	2.2 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
9	82.4 %	02/2021	Asus TUF Dash F15 FX516PR Intel Core i7-11370H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD	20 mm	2 kg	15.60"	1920x1080	matte
10	81.3 %	08/2021	Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R5Z7 AMD Ryzen 7 5800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD	24.9 mm	2.7 kg	17.30"	1920x1080	matte

The table above contains an overview over the best budget gaming laptops for less than 1,500 Euros reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
Link: all devices in this class reviewed

1st – Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM

The TUF Gaming F15 has almost no bells and whistles but offers a good performance at a low price. Equipped with an Intel Core i7-11800H and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU the TUF FX506HM offers a good price-performance ratio.

High CPU and GPU performance allow the FX506HM to stand out of the mid-range crowd.

The TUF FX506 series is currently not yet available in North America.

Pricecompare

Top 10 Laptops
Multimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks

under 300 USD/Euros, under 500 USD/Euros, 1,000 USD/Euros, for University Students, Best Displays

Top 10 Smartphones
Smartphones, Phablets, ≤6-inch, Camera Smartphones

2nd – Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR

Admittedly the TUF Gaming A15 is slightly too expensive for this list but only marginally so. In return, you get a full-fledged RTX 3070. At a price of 1,529 Euros you get a great and powerful gaming laptop at an affordable price point.

The Asus TUF Gaming A15 offers good gaming performance and long battery life.

The TUF Gaming A15 is currently not yet available in North America.

Pricecompare

4th – Aorus 5 KB

Gigabyte’s Aorus 5 KB is based on barebone made by gaming expert Clevo. Our review unit’s compact 15-inch chassis encompassed a Core i7-10750H paired with a GeForce RTX 2060, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB large SSD, and a 144 Hz panel.

We liked the device’s maintenance options but were not particularly fond of its noise emissions under load, which turned out to be very high.

Pricecompare

5th – Lenovo Legion 5 15 G6 AMD

No bells and whistles (such as backlit keys) but pure and raw gaming performance in return, thanks to a GeForce RTX 3060 paired with a brand-new AMD Ryzen 5600-series processor and a fast 165 Hz display.

The Legion 5 15 Gen 6 focuses on the most important core abilities of any gaming laptop: high performance and a fast display.

Our review unit is currently not available in North America, and availability is rather limited in general. Amazon has a single lesser-equipped SKU listed for sale at slightly over $1,000.

Pricecompare

6th - MSI Alpha 17

Just like Dell’s G5 the MSI Alpha 17 comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H paired with an AMD Radeon RX 5600M.

In this configuration, it performed very similarly to Dell’s competitor. Its main strengths are its powerful speakers, a decent battery life of around 7 hours when browsing the web at medium brightness, and its 17-inch 144 Hz panel. With that said we would have wished for a higher color gamut as the FHD display was only capable of covering 59 % of the sRGB color space.

The MSI Alpha 17 performs at a similar level as Dell’s G5 15 and benefits from its powerful AMD CPU and decent battery life.

The three available SKUs listed on Amazon differ in storage space and RAM and are available for $1,350 (16 GB/512 GB), $1,450 (16 GB/1 TB), and $1,800 (32 GB/2 TB).

Pricecompare

7th – Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315

At a price of right around 1,500 Euros our Acer Predator Helios 300 review unit almost did not make this budget gaming notebook list.

For your money, you get a powerful gaming combination consisting of a Core i7-10750H paired with a GeForce RTX 2060, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512 GB large SSD. In our review, we particularly liked its 144 Hz display, its backlit keyboard, and its fast Wi-Fi. Downsides include the lack of Thunderbolt 3.

Pricecompare

8th - HP Omen 15

The HP Omen 15 has been a hot contender for this top 10 list for many years now. This time around, we would like to welcome the Ryzen 7 4800H and GeForce RTX 2060-equipped SKU. Its battery life was great, its 60 Hz display unfortunately was not. Other AMD-equipped models offer 144 Hz panels instead. In addition to poor color space coverage, it could have also benefited from a higher brightness and higher contrast ratio. We also find some other minor annoyances, such as a slow Wi-Fi modem and a rather wonky display lid.

Nevertheless, we dare say its price-performance ratio is good. We also had the Intel SKU in review, see here.

HP's Omen 15 offers a good battery life and a powerful CPU/GPU combination. However, this particular 60-Hz panel is a major no-go.

The only currently available AMD SKU on Amazon comes with the slower GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU and costs $1,300. Our review unit SKU is available on Newegg for $1,500.

Pricecompare

9th – Asus TUF A15

The smaller 15-inch sibling to the TUF A17 is called – surprise, surprise – TUF A15, and its pros and cons are almost identical. Unlike the A17’s GTX 1660 Ti the A15’s similarly powerful GeForce RTX 2060 comes with support for Raytracing, although that might not be relevant for all gamers.

Similar to the A17 we liked the A15’s high-contrast 144 Hz display and its good battery life, and disliked its poor color space coverage and connectivity (no card reader, no Thunderbolt 3).

Pricecompare

10th – Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41

The first of three Nitro devices on this list features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU paired with am AMD Ryzen 7 5800H and 16 GB of RAM. And while CPU performance is top notch the GPU is thwarted somewhat by its 100 W TGP limit, and thus performed below average.

The 17-inch Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41 offers plenty of performance for its price.

The AN517-41 is available on Amazon for $1,700.

Pricecompare

Top 10 in Comparison

Test Results

	Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM	Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR-AZ061T	HP Victus 16-e0179ng	Aorus 5 KB	Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL	MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK	Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5	HP Omen 15-en0375ng	Asus TUF Dash F15 FX516PR	Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R5Z7
Display
Display P3 Coverage	41.9		72.6	63.4	65.4	39.55	65.15	39.12	66.93	36.7
sRGB Coverage	62.9		100	92.85	96.3	59.15	92.31	57.62	98.12	55.3
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage	43.3		73.5	64.77	67.5	40.86	66.32	40.42	67.93	37.9
Response Times
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *	28.4 ?(15.6, 12.8)	12 ?(6, 6)	9.6 ?(5.2, 4.4)	14.4 ?(7.6, 6.8)	13.6 ?(6.8, 6.8)	40 ?(19.6, 20.4)	17 ?(9, 8)	30.4 ?(16.4, 14)	12 ?(6.8, 5.2)	18 ?(8, 10)
Response Time Black / White *	21.6 ?(11.6, 10)	8 ?(4, 4)	14.4 ?(8.4, 6)	11.2 ?(6.8, 4.4)	9.2 ?(4.4, 4.8)	29.2 ?(15.6, 13.6)	11 ?(6, 5)	20.8 ?(11.6, 9.2)	10 ?(5.6, 4.4)	14 ?(7, 7)
PWM Frequency		1250 ?(20)						200 ?(99)	23580 ?(30)
Screen
Brightness middle	268.3	297	361	318	350	254	319	297	286	282
Brightness	257	268	341	298	350	254	294	275	275	255
Brightness Distribution	84	84	88	87	96	93	83	88	91	85
Black Level *	0.34	0.22	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.23	0.22	0.33	0.25	0.24
Contrast	789	1350	1203	1060	1167	1104	1450	900	1144	1175
Colorchecker dE 2000 *	5.05	1.36	2.44	2.49	3.9	4.12	4.42	4.54	2.43	5.91
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *	15.43	3.82	6.37	5.06	8.2	19.66	8.54	18.92	6.33	10.98
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *	3.21		1.26	1.53	1.6	3.78		4.66	0.83
Greyscale dE 2000 *	5.5	1.88	4.6	1.6	5.5	3.2	4.84	2.1	3.5	5.85
Gamma	2.35 ^94%	2.48 ^89%	2.268 ^97%	2.211 ^100%	2.15 ^102%	2.179 ^101%	2.39 ^92%	2.066 ^106%	2.32 ^95%	2.32 ^95%
CCT	7392 ^88%	6768 ^96%	6609 ^98%	6714 ^97%	7414 ^88%	6754 ^96%	6850 ^95%	6291 ^103%	7145 ^91%	7372 ^88%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)		63		65		41	60	40	68	35
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)		99		89		59	92	58	91	55
Noise
off / environment *	24.8	26	24	25	24.2	25	25.2	24	24	26
Idle Minimum *	24.6	26	24	26	29	31	25.2	24	25	26
Idle Average *	24.9	26	25	30	29	32	25.2	25	30	33.1
Idle Maximum *	24.9	27.4	34	34	29	33	25.2	37	35	31.3
Load Average *	27.1	46.6	44	53	53.5	38	43.5	45	53	49.8
Witcher 3 ultra *	46.4		50	51	53.5	46	53.1	48	48
Load Maximum *	49	49.3	52	56	53.5	54	56	51	54	49.6
Heat
Maximum Upper Side *	46.4	46.7	51	50	42.6	44	44.1	42	55	44
Maximum Bottom *	45.4	55.9	52	49	52.2	43	48	54	56	52.7
Idle Upper Side *	26	37.1	46	35	24.9	25	25.2	28	29	32.6
Idle Bottom *	27.4	38.1	41	31	25.3	24	25.7	29	32	32.1
Battery Runtime
Reader / Idle	660	1043	511	538		629	624	1200	957	608
WiFi v1.3	473	685	354	285	290	438	280	628	544	334
Load	119	145	76	58	105	91	108	108		86
H.264					259		338			420
Power Consumption
Idle Minimum *	9.5	10.2	5	8	7.3	9	2.9	4	9	18.7
Idle Average *	12.1	12.8	10	12	10.5	12	13.2	9	11	22
Idle Maximum *	22.5	15	20	21	15.7	18	19.8	22	16	25.2
Load Average *	99.5	130	108	128	108	76	105	102	107	134.7
Witcher 3 ultra *	157	137	145	138	175	136	127	119	121	135
Load Maximum *	173.5	184	189	217	228	222	177	182	162	157

* ... smaller is better

Benchmarks

3DMark | 3DMark 11 | The Witcher 3

3DMark - 1920x1080 Fire Strike Score (sort by value)
Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	19131 Points ∼49%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR-AZ061T GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	20237 Points ∼52%
HP Victus 16-e0179ng GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-1T00	17711 Points ∼45%
Aorus 5 KB GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro (ASX8200PNP-512GT)	15034 Points ∼38%
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV	19980 Points ∼51%
MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H, Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB	14806 Points ∼38%
Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, WDC PC SN730 SDBQNTY-512GB	14732 Points ∼38%
HP Omen 15-en0375ng GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-512G	14526 Points ∼37%
Asus TUF Dash F15 FX516PR GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11370H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	16769 Points ∼43%
Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R5Z7 GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix BC711 1TB HFM001TD3JX016N	19155 Points ∼49%

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value)
Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	23461 Points ∼55%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR-AZ061T GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	23459 Points ∼55%
HP Victus 16-e0179ng GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-1T00	22166 Points ∼52%
Aorus 5 KB GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro (ASX8200PNP-512GT)	18491 Points ∼44%
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV	23146 Points ∼55%
MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H, Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB	19927 Points ∼47%
Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, WDC PC SN730 SDBQNTY-512GB	17684 Points ∼42%
HP Omen 15-en0375ng GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-512G	18798 Points ∼44%
Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R5Z7 GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix BC711 1TB HFM001TD3JX016N	22631 Points ∼53%

The Witcher 3
1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+) (sort by value)
Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	75.3 (73^min - 79^max) fps ∼42%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506QR-AZ061T GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	78 fps ∼43%
HP Victus 16-e0179ng GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-1T00	70.9 (60^min) fps ∼39%
Aorus 5 KB GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro (ASX8200PNP-512GT)	57 (47^min) fps ∼32%
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV	71.5 (68^min, 68^P1 - 76^max) fps ∼40%
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV	67 (64^min, 64^P1 - 71^max) fps ∼37%
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV	62.8 (59^min, 60^P1 - 67^max) fps ∼35%
MSI Alpha 17 A4DEK Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H, Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB	61 (50^min) fps ∼34%
Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, WDC PC SN730 SDBQNTY-512GB	64.8 fps ∼36%
HP Omen 15-en0375ng GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-512G	56.4 fps ∼31%
Asus TUF Dash F15 FX516PR GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11370H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	76.7 fps ∼43%
Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R5Z7 GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix BC711 1TB HFM001TD3JX016N	78.4 (34.9^min, 42.9^P0.1, 53.9^P1 - 146^max) fps ∼44%
1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) (sort by value)
Asus TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	143.9 (136^min - 155^max) fps ∼42%
HP Victus 16-e0179ng GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-1T00	135 (114^min) fps ∼40%
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH-82JU00C6GE-FL GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV	146 fps ∼43%
Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77N5 GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-10750H, WDC PC SN730 SDBQNTY-512GB	110.7 fps ∼33%
HP Omen 15-en0375ng GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-512G	107 fps ∼32%
Asus TUF Dash F15 FX516PR GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11370H, SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N	126 (6.31^min, 37.3^P0.1, 79^P1 - 291^max) fps ∼37%
Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R5Z7 GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, R7 5800H, SK Hynix BC711 1TB HFM001TD3JX016N	135 (16.7^min, 43^P0.1, 83.5^P1 - 285^max) fps ∼40%