Are you tired of paying $400+ for a gaming laptop? Here’s why. You’ve probably seen the headlines like “Gaming laptops now as cheap as desktops” and wondered how these things could possibly be that inexpensive.
In fact, the answer is very simple. They aren’t! But don’t let the hype fool you. Cheap gaming laptops have their own set of problems.
As has been noted in many reviews, the cheapest gaming laptops have issues with display quality, cooling, build quality, and even the keyboard. They are cheap for a reason. Let’s take a look at what you should look for when buying a cheap gaming laptop
Table of Contents
Cheap Gaming Laptops: What to Look for
Display
This is the most important feature of any gaming laptop, and the cheapest gaming laptops usually don’t have great displays. You can get by with a basic 1080p screen on a laptop that costs less than $500, but it’s not ideal.
You should look for at least a 1920×1080 screen at a minimum. You’ll want a high refresh rate at 60Hz, and ideally, you’ll want to look for a 4K display. The latter is not a necessity, but if you can find a 4K screen, it will make the difference between a blurry display and one that is clear and sharp.
A 4K display can cost you anywhere from $100 to $300, and a 1080p display will run you about $50 to $100 more. You’ll need to decide whether a 4K display is worth the extra money.
As far as display quality goes, the cheaper the laptop, the worse the display quality. If you are willing to spend a little more, you can get a decent display on a budget.
Cooling
This is another area where you’ll want to pay a little more. A cheap gaming laptop is not going to have a great cooling system. This means that you’ll want to avoid laptops with fans that are loud. In fact, you should avoid laptops with fans.
The fans are not very quiet, and they will probably run all the time. You should look for laptops with a fanless design. If you are going to be using the laptop outside, you’ll want to avoid laptops with a passive cooling system. These tend to be noisy, and they’ll be a little harder to keep cool.
If you are going to be gaming on your laptop, you’ll want to look for a laptop with a good cooling system. This means that you’ll want to avoid laptops with an integrated graphics chip. Integrated graphics tend to be less powerful than dedicated graphics chips, and they don’t offer the performance that you need for a laptop with a powerful graphics card.
If you are going to be using the laptop for other things, you may want to look for a laptop with a dedicated graphics chip.
CPU
You don’t need a lot of power in a cheap gaming laptop, but you do need a decent CPU. The best budget gaming laptops have Celeron and Pentium processors, which are just as powerful as the Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs found in more expensive laptops.
You don’t need to spend more than $400 to get a laptop with a decent CPU, but if you want a cheap gaming laptop with a better CPU, you’ll need to spend more. You’ll want to spend around $500 for a laptop with a Core i5 CPU.
A cheap gaming laptop with a Celeron or Pentium processor will be fine, but you’ll need to spend around $300 to get a decent CPU.
RAM
This is the most important feature of a gaming laptop. A cheap gaming laptop will have only 2GB of RAM, and you’ll want to avoid that. If you are going to be gaming on your laptop, you’ll want to get at least 4GB of RAM.
You’ll want to look for a laptop with at least 4GB of RAM. A cheap gaming laptop with only 2GB of RAM will be fine, but you’ll want at least 4GB. You’ll want to avoid laptops with less than 4GB of RAM.
As far as RAM goes, the best budget gaming laptops have 4GB of RAM. You’ll need to spend about $500 for a laptop with 4GB of RAM. You can spend a little more and get a laptop with 6GB of RAM. If you want a laptop with 8GB of RAM, you’ll need to spend more than $600.
A laptop with 8GB of RAM is going to be much more powerful than a laptop with 4GB of RAM. It will make a huge difference in the performance of the laptop. You’ll be able to run more applications at once, and you’ll be able to play more games at once.
Why Are Gaming Laptops So Expensive
There are a few reasons why gaming laptops are so expensive. The first is that they are a niche product. Most people don’t need a gaming laptop. The second reason is that gaming laptops are built to be powerful. A laptop with a powerful CPU, a powerful GPU, and lots of RAM will cost a lot of money.
The third reason is that the price of a gaming laptop is set by the market. If there is a market for a laptop with a powerful CPU, a powerful GPU, and lots of RAM, then the price will be high. If there is no market for a laptop with a powerful CPU, a powerful GPU, and lots of RAM, then the price will be low.
The final reason why gaming laptops are expensive is that they are a relatively new product. A few years ago, there was a market for cheap gaming laptops. Companies like MSI and Gigabyte were making laptops with low-end CPUs and GPUs.
