Who says you have to spend a lot of money to get a good gaming laptop? The prices of laptops are at an all-time high, but don’t get trapped by the absurd prices.
If you know where to look, you can get amazing laptops that do not cost a lot of money. Today, I present the best gaming laptops under $800 that can play all the latest games without breaking a sweat.
For most gamers, especially those studying in a college or working professionally, building a PC from the ground up can be a bit of a chore. Hence a gaming laptop is seen as a more appealing and convenient option.
Choosing the correct laptop, however, is not an easy task, and it involves some understanding of the machine; therefore, before the actual list, we have made a buyer’s guide segment that will help you to make a more informed decision.
Excited to see which laptops I have picked for you. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
In a Hurry? A Quick look at the Best gaming laptops under $800
I don’t want to keep you waiting. The following is a quick glance at my top-picked laptops – reviews will follow suite in the later section.
1. Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3
Excellent gaming performance
Large screen 17.3″ FHD 144Hz IPS Screen
Best Laptop 144Hz large Inches display
Good gaming laptop 800 dollars
9. HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop
Reviews of the best gaming laptop under $800
These are the reviews of the 9 best gaming laptops under $800 that I have picked for you after extensive testing. All these laptops are unique and offer different strengths. Depending on what you are looking for, we have something for everybody.
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1. Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 – 3050 Ti gaming laptop under 800
PROS
CONS
Lenovo produces top-notch gaming laptops and has recently overtaken Dell and HP as the largest manufacturer of laptops which is an embodiment of the high-quality laptops produced by the brand. The Lenovo Ideapad gaming 3 is a great gaming laptop that packs impressive specs for the price. It can not only play every game you throw at but also comes with many features.
Design and Build Quality
Lenovo has played safe with the design of this laptop. The industrial chassis of this laptop is free from any gamery elements, providing the laptop with a very clean and stealthy look. This understated design of the laptop makes it easily blendable in an office or university setting.
And if you plan on keeping the laptop long-term, you need to be extra careful because the build quality of this laptop is not all that great. The chassis is primarily made from plastic with metal reinforcement in key areas. However, despite that, there is flex on the keyboard deck and the screen, which is not very reassuring, to say the least.
Keyboard and TrackPad and Speakers
The keyboard on this laptop is excellent. The keys’ positioning is spot on; since this is a full 104 key configuration, you also get the number pad. The keys are tactile and crisp to press making them satisfying as well as comfortable. The keyboard also has blue backlighting.
As for the trackpad, it features a smooth glass surface with multi-finger gesture support. The Microsoft precision drivers are also well-calibrated hence providing an accurate scrolling experience.
The only minor gripe with the trackpad is regarding its size. The trackpad can feel a bit congested, especially if you are coming from a MacBook. Speakers are a weak point of this laptop. The two bottom-firing speakers produce a tiny and muffled sound. The bass is severely lacking, and the clarity at high volumes is also not great.
Features, Battery life, and Ports
The biggest feature of the display has to be the 120hz refresh rate. For gaming, high refresh rate displays are the way to go because they provide a more immersive gaming experience. With Lenovo vantage software, gamers are also given complete control over their machine performance.
With Ryzen at the core, this laptop also has a solid battery life, perfectly complimenting its “one laptop for everything” charm. These AMD chips are so efficient that during light tasks such as watching youtube, you can expect a battery life of around 7-8 hours. This laptop provides a battery backup of 1-2 hours when pushed to the max.
Despite the relatively slim design, Lenovo has not skimped on the ports. This laptop features many ports, including Ethernet, HDMI, USB 3.2, USB-C, and a combo headphone microphone. The only port we missed on this laptop is an SD card slot, but otherwise, this laptop covers all your connectivity needs.
Display and Gaming Performance
Despite having a 120hz refresh rate, the display used in this laptop is subpar for color accuracy. We measured 63% of sRGB gamut coverage and 270 nits brightness, which is not ideal for anything other than gaming or media consumption.
The gaming performance is where this laptop truly shines, partly thanks to AMD. The latest Ryzen 5 5600h processor in this laptop is a beast. This processor comes in a 6 core and 12 thread configuration and offers great performance.
The Ryzen 5 5600H is paired with the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti, a 4GB VRAM GPU from Nvidia. The Ryzen 5 5600h and the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti lead to amazing gaming performance. This laptop can easily play all modern games at 1080p 60 FPS. During my testing of the laptop, I was able to get the following FPS.
- 62 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 77 FPS in Cod WarZone
- 90 FPS in GTA 5
- 106 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 157 FPS in Valorant
The efficient Lenovo cooling system keeps the temperatures of this laptop well under control. Even during gaming, the laptop never gets too warm. Therefore, the Lenovo Ideapad 3 has no thermal throttling issues like other budget gaming laptops.
If you want to store many games, then you are lucky because this laptop comes with a 512GB NVME SSD. Being an NVME SSD means that the storage drive of this laptop is also very fast and, therefore, makes transferring files very snappy.
The only negative aspect of this laptop is the use of 8GB RAM. 8GB RAM is not sufficient for modern gaming. Soon enough, you will need to upgrade to 16GB RAM, especially if you want to run heavy games like Red Dead Redemption or CoD WarZone.
Conclusion
Lenovo Ideapad gaming 3 perfectly slots into the do-everything laptop category. This laptop has a clean and understated design. Still, from the inside, it is packed with amazing power to slash through any game or rendering task you throw at it. This laptop is not all perfect, though, and has a few flaws, the major being subpar picture quality. However, all things considered, it is a great option to consider.
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2. Dell G15 – Good gaming performance
PROS
CONS
The Dell G15 is the latest offering from Dell, just behind the Alienware series. The Dell G15 takes heavy inspiration from Alienware laptops, so what not to like about it. This laptop provides an experience similar to the much coveted Dell Alienware at under $800; it doesn’t get much better than that now, does it?
Design and Build Quality
The Dell G15 looks like a baby Dell Alienware. If you are unaware of the Dell Alienware – let me give you a refresher. It is one of the best looking laptops on the market. The Dell G15 has the same floating screen design which is unique and looks stunning.
Apart from the unconventional screen design, the rest of the laptop is pretty clean and simple. There is not much going on, and the silvery-white finish does not help the laptop either. On the whole, the design of this laptop is quite appealing but not so over the top as other gaming laptops.
While I like the design of the Dell G15, it will require great care to keep it intact because the build quality of the Dell G15 is not very good. The body of the laptop is made from plastic. Although the smooth plastic finish is confidence-inspiring, it is prone to breakage.
The laptop’s screen is also quite wobbly, and the keyboard deck exhibits flex which is not a great sign. If you plan to keep this laptop as a daily use machine, then prepare to take care of it because it will break if not handled properly.
Keyboard and Trackpad
Dell G15 has an amazing keyboard which is great fun to type on. The keys have heaps of travel while also being very satisfying to press. The layout of the keyboard is also perfect. Each key is consistently spaced-out; hence you will have no trouble getting up to your top typing speeds.
Dell G15 has orange LED lighting for the keys. You do get the option to change the brightness of the orange backlighting, which is quite handy.
The trackpad of this laptop has a plastic surface. The texture is smooth, and finger pickup is quite good. Unfortunately, the trackpad is on the smaller side, making it cumbersome to use.
The speakers on the Dell G15 get pretty loud, they lack clarity at high volumes. Also, the bass is quite underwhelming, which is not good for gaming.
Features, Battery Life, and Ports
The Dell G15 has a battery backup of 6 hours when using the laptop for light tasks like browsing, using the office suite, or any other smaller tasks. However, you can get more battery life by reducing brightness.
Many ports on this laptop are placed in very good positions. Some of the more needed ports, such as USB ports, Ethernet port, and the 3.5mm headphone jack, are located on the sides of the laptop.
However, other connectivity ports like the HDMI, USB-C, and power port are located on the back of the laptop. Having the power port on the back is very convenient because it frees the desk from cable clutter. One thing I find lacking here is a Mini-DisplayPort.
Display and Gaming Performance
The Dell G15 comes with a 1080p 120Hz display, which is decent for the price. Although not the best display you can get for your money, it does the job. The high refresh rate smoothes the games and makes for a delightful experience.
In terms of the actual picture quality, don’t expect much. The color accuracy is not the best, and the picture is also somewhat muted. Fortunately, the contrast and the brightness of this panel are good, which takes off the shortcomings of this panel.
The Dell G15 comes with the latest Ryzen 5 5800H processor. This 8-core 16-thread processor is powerful and efficient, making it an ideal fit for this laptop. Aiding the CPU is the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU. The Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti is a 4GB Vram GPU which delivers very good performance.
The Ryzen 5 5800H and the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti result in a gaming laptop that can easily play any game at 1080p resolution. I thoroughly enjoyed playing games on this laptop and was able to get the following average FPS.
- 58 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 70 FPS in Cod WarZone
- 80 FPS in GTA 5
- 102 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 145 FPS in Valorant
With great performance also comes great heat generation. Heat can destroy any gaming laptop, so I am pleased to report that the Dell G15 does not get overly hot. It can get warm to the touch when gaming but nothing out of the ordinary.
As for the other specs, this laptop comes with 8GB of RAM. 8GB RAM is fine for gaming, but can also upgrade to 16GB RAM by paying $40 more. The storage of this laptop is very low. It comes with a 512GB SSD, which provides sufficient storage.
Conclusion
The Dell G15 is neither perfect nor will any other gaming laptop be. However, what you are getting here for $800 is quite remarkable. The key aspects of this laptop are amazing. It has good performance, a high refresh rate display, a comfortable keyboard, and a great design. The main drawback of this laptop is the subpar battery life. However, if you can get around that, then the Dell G15 is a great buy.
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3. Lenovo Legion 5 – RTX 1650Ti gaming laptop
PROS
CONS
Ever since this laptop debuted, the Lenovo Legion 5 has been a hot favorite of many gamers looking for a solid budget gaming laptop. This laptop provides very good specs that make it great for 1080P gaming. Its simple design also makes it versatile and likable in any situation.
Design and Build Quality
The Lenovo Legion 5 has a very simple and clean design. The matte black body of the laptop is not littered with branding or logos. Also, the body of the laptop is very streamlined with simple cuts.
The Lenovo Legion 5 is a laptop that will not look out of place in the hands of a Board executive or a manager because of its clean look. Therefore, you can carry it around the campus or take it with you for on-the-go gaming.
If you are planning on using this laptop as a portable powerhouse, you would be pleased to know that the build quality of the Lenovo Legion 5 is amazing.
The body of the metal is made from aluminum, which makes it strong and durable. The laptop exhibits no flex, and the screen does not wobble during typing, which is a sign of great quality.
The hinge of the laptop is also very well constructed. It is smooth while maintaining a firm resistance so that the screen does not move around independently.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The Lenovo Legion 5 has a full-size keyboard with a great layout. All the keys are well spaced out, and pressing them is very satisfying. The keys have good travel to them, which makes them not only great for gaming but also for typing long documents. Unfortunately, the keyboard does not come with RGB lighting, and you will have to make do with only a white led backlight.
The trackpad of the Lenovo Legion 5 is aligned to the left. It will take time to adjust to the Lenovo Legion 5 if you come from a traditional laptop with a centrally positioned trackpad. However, as far as the actual use is concerned, this trackpad works very well.
Speakers can make or break a gaming laptop, and the ones on here are decent. They get pretty loud but lack some clarity in the high volumes. The bass is satisfactory; overall, you can certainly use them for gaming but not for music listening.
Features, Battery Life and I/O
The Lenovo Legion 5 has a 120Hz refresh rate, providing smooth and trouble-free gaming. Since this laptop has a 1080p display with relatively low brightness, you get long battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 can easily provide a battery backup of 7 hours with normal use. If you push the laptop and use it for heavy tasks, expect a battery time of 3-4 hours.
You will benefit greatly from the multiple ports on the Lenovo Legion 5. You will have no connectivity concerns when using this laptop with 5x USB-A ports, 2 on the back and the remaining on the sides. You also get a single USB-C port, HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort, Ethernet LAN, and a separate 3.5mm jack for mic and audio.
I would have liked to see a thunderbolt port on this laptop as well, but it does not support that technology due to having an AMD CPU.
Display and Gaming Performance
The Lenovo Legion 5 uses a 1080p 120Hz panel, which has a brightness of 250 nits. 250 nits brightness is on the lower side, and due to the weak brightness, this laptop is not very legible under direct sunlight.
The gaming performance of this laptop is very good; it plays all the latest games like a champ. The combination of the Ryzen 4600H CPU and the Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti churns out a great performance.
This laptop will hit 65 FPS in most games. It did well on the games I played by giving me the following average FPS.
- 52 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 63 FPS in CoD WarZone
- 71 FPS in GTA 5
- 77 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 135 FPS in Valorant
If you store a lot of games on your laptop, you will be disappointed by the fact that this PC comes with only a 256GB SSD. While it has an additional 1TB HDD, it has very abysmal data transfer speeds.
The 8GB RAM capacity is also not ideal. Fortunately, increasing the RAM is not that difficult because this laptop has a vacant RAM slot.
This laptop does not get hot when playing games, which was quite surprising for me. The cooling system of the Lenovo Legion 5 is very robust. The dual chamber design can keep heat out of the system, resulting in great gaming performance.
Conclusion
The Lenovo Legion 5 is ideal if you want a simple and clean-looking gaming laptop that can play all the latest games at 1080p. The fans of this laptop also do not get very loud; hence it is great if you are a student and want to carry it around campus.
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4. MSI GF65 – 144Hz Gaming laptop under 800
PROS
CONS
Portability has become of the utmost importance in gaming laptops and is the highest priority for many gamers. MSI came early to this game and still dominates this segment with some of its models. The MSI GF65 is one such model, and is one of the better thin gaming laptops available around.
Design and Build Quality
This laptop shares the same design as its biggest brother, the MSI GF75. That was already a great-looking laptop, and the subtle changes made here have further refined the look of this machine. The sleek brushed metal finish with the red logo is a sight to behold, especially in the correct lighting.
Since this laptop is primarily made of metal, build quality is not a concern. The hinge and the upper deck of the laptop feel solid, and MSI has done a good job of minimizing the screen wobble and reducing chassis flex.
Keyboard and Trackpad
Most MSI laptops have comfortable keyboards, and this one is no exception. The combination of the right amount of tactility and travel is what sets this keyboard apart from its competitors. The backlighting is also plenty bright and comes in red color.
Unfortunately, the goodness does not extend to the trackpad and tells another tale altogether. Despite the size being reasonable, the clicks feel stiff, and the tracking is inconsistent.
Features, Battery life, and I/O
This is mostly a barebones version of the MSI GF65 that is more oriented towards raw performance rather than features. You do get a couple of handy features in this variant that enhances the user experience. The most significant of which is the compatibility of this laptop with MSI software.
In terms of connectivity, this laptop has the full suite of ports you need daily. Starting from the right side, you get 2x USB-A 3.2 ports, a USB-C port, an Ethernet jack, and a separate 3.5mm jack for the mic and the headphone. The HDMI port is conveniently placed on the back of the device, while the left side holds a USB-A 3.2 port and a power plug.
It is good that the power plug is not crowded with other ports because you will frequently need that port to juice up the battery of this device. This laptop has a battery backup of 6 hours.
Display and Gaming Performance
The display of the MSI GF65 gets the job done. The laptop has decent picture quality with a refresh rate of 144Hz. The display has great contrast but lacks brightness which affects outdoor legibility.
As far as the gaming performance is concerned, the hardware inside this machine is similar to other competing laptops. Therefore with an Intel i5 11400 and Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti, gaming performance is a non-issue.
This laptop easily runs most games at decent frame rates at medium to high settings. It provided me with the following FPS when playing games.
- 59 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 72 FPS in Cod WarZone
- 83 FPS in GTA 5
- 100 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 162 FPS in Valorant
Besides the CPU and the GPU, the other specs of this laptop are not impressive. It comes with 8 GB DDR4 RAM, which is on the borderline of being limited for gaming. On top of that, it also features a 512GB NVME SSD. 512GB storage space is quite low compared to other gaming laptops.
Conclusion
On the whole, the MSI GF65 is a great laptop that comes with very good specs. This laptop can play any game at 1080p resolution with relative ease. The laptop also does not look bad. Although not the prettiest, this laptop has some interesting design elements. Therefore, it is a great choice if you are looking for a portable gaming laptop under $800 that is powerful and looks good.
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5. Acer Nitro 5 – Best laptop under 800
PROS
CONS
Acer has stuck with a gamery design for the nitro series despite the rivals opting for a more industrial design. The sharp lines and curves of this laptop are helped by the red accents found through the chassis to make the design more striking.
Design and Build Quality
Acer has stuck with a gamery design for the nitro series despite the rivals opting for a more industrial design. The sharp lines and curves of this laptop are helped by the red accents found through the chassis to make the design more striking.
It seems that all the attention was given to making the laptop more flashy because the actual construction of the laptop is relatively poor. The screen is very wobbly and the keyboard deck has a good amount of flex. The feeling of the smooth plastic does not help either.
Keyboard and TrackPad
The keyboard of this laptop has a good layout and keys have good tactility. The travel is minimal but there is nothing to complain about here and with slight adjustment and usage one can easily get a comfortable typing experience.
The trackpad also serves its purpose pretty well. It has accurate pickup and the drivers are well-calibrated for multi-finger navigation and scrolling. A small niggle that we have with the trackpad is that the surface attracts finger oil and dust too easily and has to be cleaned frequently.
Features, Battery Life, and Ports
Besides the Acer’s nitro sense software there is not much to talk about in the feature segment of this laptop and the software itself is nothing to ride home about so let us proceed to the battery of this laptop which is probably the most highlighting aspect of the Acer Nitro 5.
This laptop has a 57Wh battery and when that is combined with the power-efficient Ryzen processor the numbers for the battery are quite amazing. During media playback or browsing, this laptop can easily give you 10 hours worth of battery life which quite frankly is unheard of in a gaming laptop especially at this price point.
This laptop has also got you covered when it comes to the connectivity of a device because the port selection of this laptop is vast. Acer Nitro 5 includes an Ethernet port, 3x USB 3.1 ports, 3.5mm headphone out, and an HDMI port which is linked directly to the graphic card.
The power plug of this laptop is conveniently placed at the back of the device so that you can have an interrupted gaming experience.
Display and Gaming Performance
The display of the Acer Nitro 5 is quite good, and offers competitive specs compared to other sub $800 gaming laptops. It has a 144Hz refresh rate at 1080p resolution, which makes gaming quite smooth and enjoyable.
The picture quality of the screen is quite mediocre. The contrast is quite good but the panel lacks brightness which makes it difficult to read outdoors. The color accuracy is also not that impressive.
On the other hand, the gaming performance for the price is excellent. In this laptop, the Ryzen 4600H is aided by the Nvidia RTX 3050 and they combine to deliver amazing fps. When playing games on this laptop, it delivered the following frame rate.
- 52 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 65 FPS in Cod WarZone
- 77 FPS in GTA 5
- 94 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 133 FPS in Valorant
This configuration of the laptop comes with 8GB of ram which fortunately is easily upgradeable. You also get a 256GB SSD to boot which although being a PCI-E one has slow speeds.
This laptop easily soars past 100fps in esports titles like Valorant or CSGO and for AAA games you are also looking at stable 60fps though some more demanding games may require you to turn down the settings.
Conclusion
Acer Nitro 5 carries an attractive design that will appeal to most gamers out there. The hardware packed inside this chassis is also top-notch for the price. Despite having so much power at its disposal this laptop has chart-topping battery life. The main drawback of this laptop is the subpar build quality, however, if you don’t want to take it with you everywhere, then the Acer Nitro 5 is a great choice.
Very good gaming performance
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6. HP Victus 16 – $800 dollar gaming laptop
PROS
CONS
The Hp Victus 16 is the latest entry in the HP lineup. This 16” laptop has a very interesting concept. It has a clean and simple finish that makes the laptop highly versatile and suitable for all sorts of situations. Due to its exceptional performance and lightweight design, this laptop is an ideal daily companion on which you can play games.
Design and Build Quality
HP has stuck to a tried and tested design language with the Victus 16. This laptop has a simple and minimalist design that does not look out of place in any situation.
The deep matte gray color of the laptop looks quite pleasing to the eye and is a nice change from the usual black or white color laptops that we see all too often.
Rather than the HP logo, this laptop comes with a V on the lid. To remind you that you are using an HP Victus and not just any ordinary Hp laptop, the word Victus is also spelled around the keyboard deck.
The laptop’s general hand feel is quite good, however, I cannot say the same for the build quality. The screen of the Hp Victus shakes very badly which is very distracting when gaming.
Keyboard and Trackpad
HP keyboards seldom disappoint, and this is not the one you should worry about. The HP Victus 16 has a full-size keyboard, meaning that the Numpad keys are also included here. Despite having a full-size layout, the keys are well-spaced out and easy to press.
Each key press is characterized by a satisfying feeling making this keyboard very comfortable to type on for longer durations. The travel of the keys is also very reasonable. They neither feel too shallow nor too springy, making them ideal for typing.
The trackpad of the HP Victus 16 is as good as its keyboard. The surface of the trackpad is smooth and well-calibrated. Since it uses Windows Precision drivers, gestures and multi-finger support are not a problem. Each time, it picks up gestures with great accuracy.
The large size of the trackpad is also great because it provides more room for finger movement. My only minor gripe is the trackpad being aligned to the left rather than the middle. However, after getting some used to this should be a non-issue.
Features, Battery Life and I/O
The HP Victus 16 comes with Windows 11 out of the box. Upgrading Windows manually is time-consuming, so HP Victus gives you the luxury of spending your time and energy on gaming rather than updating Windows.
Another neat feature of the HP Victus is the support for 144Hz refresh rate. Gaming is incomplete without high refresh. 144Hz makes every gameplay better and smoother as opposed to 60Hz; therefore, you will enjoy gaming on this laptop.
You will get hooked on playing games continuously for long durations. At those times, you will thank the 7-8 hour battery life of this laptop. It comes with a 70 Whr battery, which is quite large for the segment.
The HP Victus 16 fully facilitates users when it comes to gaming. This laptop comes with multiple ports for connecting devices and peripherals.
The bulk of the ports are on the laptop’s left side, including an SD card slot, combo 3.5mm audio/mic jack, USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, and a barrel-style power port.
The power port is located at the corner, so it won’t interfere with the mouse or other USB devices. However, if you feel the need, you can use the 2x USB-A ports on the laptop’s right side.
Gaming Performance and Thermals
The games played on this laptop look spectacular due to the excellent 1080p display. The panel’s brightness and contrast are top-notch, providing a very immersive gaming experience.
However, a good display is meaningless if the laptop cannot play the latest games. With the HP Victus 16, you don’t need to worry about gaming performance because this laptop comes with top-notch specs.
An Intel i5 12450H CPU is powering this laptop, which is paired with the Nvidia GTX 1650 4GB graphics card. The combination is enough to chew through the latest games at 1080p resolution. Every game I threw at this laptop turned out great, and I got the following average FPS.
- 50 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 61 FPS in Cod WarZone
- 68 FPS in GTA 5
- 80 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 138 FPS in Valorant
This laptop is able to achieve these FPS figures without getting too hot, which is a great feat to accomplish. Since the laptop does not get too hot, the fans also stay relatively quiet.
The one thing holding this laptop back is its 8GB RAM. If you want to keep this laptop for a long time, the first thing you should be doing is upgrading RAM to 16GB. Storage space is also not that impressive, with this laptop only coming with a single 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD. Hence you will need to upgrade that too eventually.
If you are hesitant to upgrade the RAM and NVMe SSD, HP provides you the option of paying $40 more to get 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD.
Conclusion
The HP Victus 16 is a fantastic gaming laptop you can use exclusively as your daily machine. This laptop is good for gaming and does other tasks very proficiently, making the Hp Victus 16 an excellent choice for anyone looking for an all-around gaming laptop that can be used for all tasks.
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7. MSI GF75 – Large screen 17.3 gaming laptop under 800
PROS
CONS
Large screens are mostly reserved for flagship laptops and are rarely found on budget gaming laptops. However, the laptop we have featured here from MSI not only comes with a large 17-inch display but also has some amazing hardware packed inside the slim chassis, therefore, making it the best 17-inch gaming laptop under $800.
Design and Build Quality
MSI GF75 is a big laptop, but the size of this machine never becomes overwhelming. This is mainly due to the rather slim profile of this laptop, and honestly, we have to commend MSI here for doing such fine work with the chassis of this laptop.
Although the design of this laptop is nothing special, this laptop has a premium feel about it. Something which is commonly not synonymous with gaming laptops. We feel that this premiumness comes from the materials used for the construction of this laptop, specifically the brushed metal that covers the keyboard deck and the screen lid.
Needless to say, MSI GF75 is built really well. The construction of this laptop is top-notch, and the fit and finish speak for themselves. There are no creaks to be had with this laptop, and the screen flex is also minimal.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The advantage of the large screen size also extends to the keyboard deck. Despite the upper deck of the chassis reserved for cooling, you still get correctly spaced keys that are good to press.
They lack the crispness that you expect from a laptop keyboard nowadays but rather have a good amount of travel without being too mushy. As for the backlighting, this keyboard comes with red backlighting, which is to be expected because it is the red flagship color of MSI.
Like the keyboard, the trackpad on this laptop is also good and responsive. It supports gesture and multi-finger navigation and is tuned well.
Features, Battery Life, and Ports
MSI GF75 has some really useful features that are aimed at enhancing the experience of the user. The MSI dragon center, which this laptop is compatible with, has to be one of the best tuning software in the industry based on the features it provides. You get a handy one-click optimization toggle that, across the board, improves the performance of the laptop for a better gaming experience.
This laptop also has a built-in play store emulator, which basically provides you with a fully-fledged google plays store experience; hence you can use effortlessly use any app that would otherwise not be natively supported on windows. This laptop also has a HI-RES audio Dac, so those of you who rely on high-quality headphones for their audio are covered here.
Due to this Dac, you get a separate mic and headphone connection. Talking about connectivity, the other ports you get with this laptop include an HDMI out, 2x USB-A 3.2, an Ethernet jack, and a USB-C. So basically, this means you are covered in all regards and should have no problem connecting any device or peripheral.
The only major downside of this laptop is the subpar battery life. At this point, we all know that Intel-based machines provide subpar battery performance compared to AMD Ryzen-based machines; therefore, considering the fact this laptop only provides around 5-6 hours of runtime on light usage and only lasts an hour under heavy use.
Display and Gaming Performance
This laptop comes with an IPS panel which is great. The IPS panel provides great viewing angles and more punchy colors. The biggest advantage of this panel is its support for a 144hz refresh rate.
Gamers who are fond of fast-paced games know the worth of a high refresh rate, and even if you are not a hardcore gamer, a 144hz refresh rate still adds more value to the purchase by providing a smoother screen navigation experience.
The hardware components used inside this laptop ensure a great gaming experience for the user. The Intel i5 10300H processor, although not as powerful as competing Ryzen CPUs, gets the job done.
The graphics card used here is the Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti, which is also found on most other competing laptops. This graphic card is perfect for this category of laptops because it is a solid performer for the price. It plays games really well at 1080p and gives the following average FPS.
- 50 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 60 FPS in CoD WarZone
- 68 FPS in GTA 5
- 76 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 130 FPS in Valorant
We were thoroughly surprised when it came to the storage because this MSI GF75 comes with a 512 GB NVME SSD, while other competitors only feature a 256GB drive. You are still getting a single 8GB RAM stick here. Still, luckily, it is user-replaceable, and adding another stick is easy. All of these components are cooled by a complex system of heat pipes and fans. MSI has done a job here, and this laptop never gets uncomfortably hot to the touch.
Conclusion
The MSI GF75 is truly a one-of-a-kind laptop in this price range. Firstly you are getting a large screen which is beneficial for gamers because it provides extra real estate. The screen also supports a 144hz refresh rate. The keyboard is also comfortable and can be used for typing long scripts. The MSI GF75 is an ideal gaming laptop under $800 for someone looking for a large-screen laptop that can replace his gaming desktop.
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8. Asus Tuf F17 – Large screen 17.3 best laptop for under 800
PROS
CONS
Who does not want RGB right? The trend of RGB backlighting has been seeping through every component of the gaming industry and we are at a point now where even sub $1000 laptops have an RGB keyboard. In this price range the best laptop with RGB keyboard is the Asus Tuf F17 that not only carries good aesthetics but also has great performance for 1080p gaming.
Design and Build Quality
The design of this laptop is unmistakably gamery with sharp creases in the body and the expansive cutouts for cooling. You get a centrally etched TUF logo on the screen lid as well as TUF branding on the keyboard deck. Surprisingly, this laptop still manages to maintain a rather slim profile despite the powerful hardware inside.
To achieve this design sacrifice on the build quality had to be made. The entire construction of this material is from plastic and due to the sharp lines, it feels less dense. The screen is particularly wobbly and the chassis has a concerning level of flex to it.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The laptop’s keyboard is fantastic. It is right up there with the best keyboards in this price range. The keys are tactile while also having a decent amount of travel. The cherry on top is the single-zone RGB lighting for the keyboard. The colors are configurable through the Asus armory crate software.
The trackpad is also large and has a smooth surface. You also get physical clicks which is appreciated because it leads to a more consistent click. The trackpad also supports multi-finger gestures and navigation.
Features, Battery life, and Ports
Asus Tuf F17 is compatible with the armory crate software that lets you control the different profiles of the laptop and also allows you to configure the RGB lighting of the keyboard. The different performance profiles alter the behavior of the laptop.
As for the other features this laptop has decent speakers which are mounted to the side of the chassis for better audio dispersion. Talking about the sides you will find a variety of ports scattered mainly on the left side. The ports include HDMI, RJ45 ethernet jack, 2x USB-A 3.2, USB-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right side, you get a lonely USB-A 3.2 port.
When it comes to battery life, you will get weak time out of this machine. The average battery life hovers around the 4-hour mark when using the laptop casually and barely pushes past 1 hour when playing games.
Display and Gaming Performance
Truth be told most gaming laptops in this price range have somewhat similar displays and none of them is spectacularly better than the rest of the pack. This laptop also slides right into the pack with an IPS display that has an sRGB coverage of 60%.
The brightness is also average, nothing extraordinary though you do get good viewing angles which is the tale with most gaming laptops in this list that have an IPS panel. This IPS panel is special because it comes with a refresh rate of 144Hz at 1080p resolution.
Talking about gaming performance, this laptop packs the best hardware you can find in this price range. The 10th generation Intel processor and the Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti are solid performers and can run all modern games at decent frames, which are as follows:
- 50 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 60 FPS in CoD WarZone
- 68 FPS in GTA 5
- 76 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 130 FPS in Valorant
For running modern graphic intensive games, you will require an additional Ram because this laptop only ships with an 8GB stick but luckily there is an unpopulated DIMM slot.
Conclusion
Asus Tuf F17 has great potential and the only thing holding it back is the weak battery life. Many gamers will appreciate the features this laptop offers. If you only plan on playing casual games then you cannot go wrong with the Asus Tuf F17 and if you are an RGB addict, then this is just the laptop for you.
Unique and distinct design
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9. HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop – 144Hz refresh rate makes gaming smoother
PROS
CONS
Hp has been in the laptop game for a while now, and they clearly know how to make mass-appealing laptops. The Pavilion 15 is such a laptop that pleases everyone. It has a great blend of power, aesthetics, and functionality in one single package that costs less than $800.
Design and Build Quality
Hp’s design approach with their recent gaming laptops has been minimal. Therefore this pavilion also incorporates an elegant design with subtle hints of flashiness that refrain it from dwelling into the boring category. The flashiness here comes from the use of green color in the HP logo and as well as the deck of the keyboard.
For a gaming laptop, the profile of this pavilion is rather slim, which shaves down weight and makes the laptop a convenient companion for everyday carry. The build quality for this purpose is also acceptable.
Although this laptop has an entirely plastic body, it is still constructed solidly. There is some flex to the screen and the keyboard deck, but that is present in most of the competing gaming laptops under $800 as well, so I cannot fault HP here.
Keyboard and TrackPad
At a glance, the keyboard’s layout feels congested mainly because the arrow and the nav cluster keys are not separated but as far as using the keyboard is concerned. It has a good tactile feel, and the keys have a decent amount of travel for comfortable typing.
The color used for the keyboard backlighting is green which ties in nicely with the other green accents scattered throughout the body. No complaints about the trackpad on this model as well. It works completely fine without any hiccups. The Windows Precision drivers it uses have great gesture control and allow for fine finger scrolling.
Features, Battery Life, and Ports
With the pavilion, you are not getting any surface features, so let’s get to the technical ones. The best feature of this laptop has to be the inclusion of a front-mounted speaker grill. This greatly affects the perceived audio quality because the sound is directed right toward the user.
In gaming and media consumption, this speaker setup provides more detailed audio, making the overall experience much more enjoyable. Hp has thrown in tuning software with this laptop, allowing you to control different aspects of the laptop.
The battery life is one area where this laptop has fully blown me away. The HP Pavilion 15 comes with a large battery which provides around 7-8 hours of backup on light usage.
As for the connectivity, you won’t feel left out with this laptop. HP Pavilion 15 has a diverse and rich I/O, including USB-A, full-size SD card, USB-C passthrough, RJ45 ethernet port, HDMI out, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Display and Gaming Performance
Before we begin on the picture quality, one side note we would like to add is that this laptop comes in two variants. We have featured the IPS version of the laptop, so the rest is only valid for the said variant.
The IPS display used in this laptop produces rich colors with good accuracy. Being an IPS panel, the viewing angles are also exceptional. The only major shortcoming of this display is the subpar peak brightness.
As for gaming itself, the combination of Intel i5 9300H with Nvidia GTX 1650 makes short work on any esports title you throw at it, while the more intensive AAA games will require you to turn down the display settings a notch. For instance, this laptop gave me the following average FPS when playing games.
- 49 FPS in Red Dead Redemption
- 61 FPS in CoD WarZone
- 68 FPS in GTA 5
- 66 FPS in Forza Horizon 5
- 135 FPS in Valorant
You get a 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD to store all of your games, which has very fast read and write speeds. This laptop is not perfect, though, and the 8GB RAM it comes with is not enough for gaming in 2024. Luckily upgrading the RAM is a simple task, and this laptop has a vacant RAM slot that you can use.
Conclusion
The HP Pavilion 15 is a laptop that perfectly slots in with other budget gaming laptops. This device fulfills all the requirements of a good daily laptop without being flashy or blingy. It has good performance, a great battery life, and a decent display. It is also among the very few laptops in this price range that provide a front-mounted speaker. Like all laptops, it is not perfect. However, if you want a subtle yet powerful laptop, you cannot go wrong with this pavilion machine.
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Are Gaming Laptops Under $800 Worth It?
It is a popular misconception that you need to spend a healthy amount of money to get a decent gaming laptop. While this was true back in the day, now things have changed.
On the contrary, I would like to point out that in the $800 price bracket, some really good deals are to be had. Furthermore, due to the competition, more and more premium stuff is trickling into the lower end of the market, making these machines all the more worthwhile.
The latest generation hardware you get for this price is more capable than we used to. Hence, these days sub $800 laptops can easily run AAA games at decent frame rates on high settings.
Esports or older games will run exceptionally well on this new hardware, e.g., CSGO will regularly hit 150+ fps on any of these machines.
Buyer’s Guide
The Buyer’s guide is my comprehensive take to provide you all the information you need to make a smarter purchase.
Including the Buyer’s Guide wouldn’t have made any difference for me; however, for you – it is quite important to know all the characteristics of a gaming laptop. So, that next time you want a laptop for yourself, you can make a more informed decision.
What are the first steps in buying the best gaming laptop?
Before you begin searching the market for a gaming laptop, there are some factors you need to consider. These are important because they will help you buy the right gaming laptop at the right place. Hence, making your search much easier and fruitful.
Your first and the most important consideration should be which game you are going to play on the laptop. All games have different requirements. Therefore, if you have any particular game you want to play, you need to make sure the laptop supports it.
The easiest way of knowing if a laptop supports your favorite game is by checking its system requirements. System requirements are the standardized specs that are needed to run the game. The game will run if the system requirement matches with the specs of the laptop.
Don’t know how to identify the specs of a laptop? Let’s look at some basic specs and characteristics of a gaming laptop.
Processor
Gaming laptops come with either Ryzen processors or Intel processors. Both are equally capable; however, you need to make sure that the laptop you buy has at least a 6-core 12-thread processor.
Any processor with fewer cores will not be future-proof, and you won’t be able to the latest AAA games. So from the side of Intel, get at least the I5. As for AMD, get at least a Ryzen 5.
However, AMD Ryzen processors are much more efficient. So, if you want a quieter laptop that gets less hot, then AMD Ryzen is a better option.
Intel still has some advantages – it supports thunderbolt, which is very handy if you want to connect external GPUs or displays.
So, the choice really boils down to what you want in your gaming laptop. However, from either side, at least a 6-core 12-thread processor is a must.
High Refresh Rate Displays
It is no secret that a high refresh rate is better for gaming. A higher refresh panel is much smoother and provides a faster pixel response. Still, some manufacturers try to sell you a 60hz panel rather than a 120hz or a 144hz.
If you want to use your laptop for gaming – which you should be doing, then go with a 120Hz or 144Hz laptop. 60Hz won’t provide you a good gaming experience. To find out more check my article on expected refresh rate.
Graphics Card
A discrete graphics card is the pinnacle component of a gaming laptop. Fortunately for you, most gaming laptops in the sub $800 price range come with either an Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti or a GTX 1650ti.
These GPUs can easily play all the latest games at 1080p resolution without a hitch. Still, I would get the RTX 3050 Ti because it is a better card. If you don’t have that option, you can go with the Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti, but you shouldn’t go any lower. To find out how much FPS you can expect, check out my article on how much FPS you can get on RTX 3050 Ti.
Build Quality
Not all laptops are built the same, yet we commonly see people ignoring the build quality aspect of a laptop. We reckon this is a very important aspect because a laptop is also a daily companion, so it needs to be solid to survive the day-to-day wear and tear.
Of course, as a consumer, look for a laptop that uses metal or aluminum for its construction because they are more rigid than plastic. At least ensure the hinge is made from metal because the screen hinge is a pressure point, and if it is not properly reinforced, it can break.
Keyboard and Trackpad
A good keyboard or trackpad can make or break a user’s experience and take away the thrill of using the laptop daily. Mainly there are two types of keyboards.
The first are the ones that have a sharp tactile click. Although they provide a sense of satisfaction, these tend to fatigue the fingers. Then there are the mushy long travel keyboards that lack any satisfying feel.
You should aim for a laptop keyboard that provides decent tactility and travel to have the best of both worlds.
As for the trackpad, their calibration and tuning depend entirely on the manufacturer. So the best you can do on your part is to get a laptop with a smooth tracking surface.
Speakers
Good speakers are vital for a smooth experience because, in certain situations, headphones are not accessible. Therefore you are left with the stock speakers of the laptop. Unfortunately, most laptops do not offer decent features at this price range.
Therefore in most of the laptops on the list, there is no mention of speakers because they all have 1.5W dual speakers that are tiny and recessed. However, the ones that do contain good speakers are mentioned in the feature segment of the product.
Salient Features
Many extra features enhance the user experience and can come in any shape or form. For example, most manufacturers have tuning and monitoring software for their laptops, which can be considered a salient feature.
There are other unique features as well, depending on the laptop. So make sure to see if a laptop offers you a salient feature because it can be very beneficial on a daily basis.
This brings our article to a close. However, before I wrap everything up, I should tell you that all the laptops I have selected for you are included on the list after stringent testing.
Each laptop is tested and then assigned a score based on its performance and how the laptop is to use daily. Then only the top-ranked laptops with the highest scores are picked.
Rest assured all these laptops are very good and you won’t be disappointed by any one of them.
Before you go, let me know which laptop you like the best. Also, if I have missed any laptop you would like to see featured on the list, drop its name in the comment section, and I will check it out.
