The 8 Best Gaming Laptops Under $1200 In 2022

1. Acer Nitro 5

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$800 in Amazon
Our Rating	9.6 / 10

The Acer Nitro 5, which is available in both 17.3 and 15.6-inch models, is one of the finest budget gaming laptops. A model option for a 17-inch display inexpensive gaming laptop is unusual among entry-level gaming laptops; most sub-US$1,000 gaming laptops have 15.6-inch screens, and the Acer’s bigger screen allows gamers to immerse themselves in their chosen gaming environment. Unfortunately, the bigger displays are now priced at slightly over US$1,000. This laptop has an Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

While the display isn’t as brilliant as it might be, the keyboard is comfy, and there’s even a great camera. The AMD Ryzen 5 4600U processor was coupled with an Nvidia GeForce 1650 graphics card in our evaluation unit. There’s lots of potential for upgrades if you’re handy, but the price is a little high for an entry-level device.

With its low price combined with reliably powerful specs in a cool feature set, it’s undeniable that the Acer Nitro 5 is one of the most economical gaming laptops in existence. Although some sacrifices have to be compromised, none of these affect the laptop’s overall purpose enough to matter, that is to provide a satisfying gaming performance plus the savings it offers.

2. Dell G3 15

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$800 US Street Price
Our Rating	7.7 / 10

Despite the difficulty of finding a budget gaming laptop without compromising specs, the Dell G3 15 delivers fantastic 1080p gaming for about US$1,000, and the battery is actually very good.

The thinner, sleeker design is the most notable change over the older models. The slimmer design, which has thinner bezels surrounding a 144Hz panel, offers it a more high-end feel. If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that doesn’t scream “gamer” as soon as you take it out of your bag, this is a good budget alternative. The display color, however, does not posses a rich color range compared to other budget gaming laptops under US$1200.

3. HP Pavilion Gaming 15

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$710 in Amazon
Our Rating	8.5 / 10

HP’s Pavilion laptops are less expensive than its premium notebooks, but they’re still worth considering and make excellent portable computers. If you want to unwind after a long day at work, there are a few gaming variants with dedicated GPUs.

At US$1,249.99, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 was a little bit more for budget gaming laptops. But its successor model, the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15z-ec200, has a faster AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and a screen with a 144Hz refresh rate for e-sports players, and only cost US$790! A 60Hz variant of the 15z model is even cheaper at US$700.

However, the 15z-ec200 has a significantly slower GPU and limited storage, so although it may appeal to gamers on a budget, it falls short of the slightly less costly Acer Nitro 5 or the slightly more expensive MSI Bravo 15.

The HP Pavilion Gaming 15z’s basic model comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. If you don’t mind lowering the graphic settings, this is more than enough to play even more demanding games.

4. MSI Stealth 15M

Base Model Price (SRP)	Can be as low as US$1200 in some stores
Our Rating	9.3 / 10

The MSI Stealth 15M is a device with a wide range of features, from thunderbolt ports to WiFi 6. Its cutting-edge features will make you feel like Batman while using it. It’s also very relaxing to use due to the Carbon Grey chassis and the build’s finish is ideal for anyone looking for a laptop that matches their calm demeanor. Undoubtedly, the pictures are colorful, and there is a sense of clarity that is evident which you cannot deny. There is also a 144hz refresh rate that eliminates screen tearing.

Despite the slim casing, it features sophisticated hardware including a dedicated Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060 that can play practically every recent game. Furthermore, the 16GB RAM is more than enough for anyone who wishes to multitask and even execute demanding computational activities without experiencing delays.

5. Asus TUF F15

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$1,199 in Amazon
Our Rating	9.5 / 10

The Asus TUF F15 is one of the best gaming laptops under US$1200 in the market. It comes with a Full HD 15.6-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i7-11800H processor. This CPU is a quad-core processor that can reach a maximum clock speed of 4.8GHz while in Boost Mode. A powerful GPU is required to free up any potential bottleneck.

To address this need, it introduces the Nvidia RTX 3050Ti GPU with 6GB GDDR6 VRAM, which is the entry-level processor in the RTX 30 series, offering excellent performance at a more inexpensive price.

It also includes 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 RAM. The random-access memory provided with it is extremely fast with plenty of capacity to tackle demanding programs and games. In terms of storage, it offers 512GB of capacity, allowing you to store larger files without difficulty. To reduce excessive heat buildup, the design is composed of plastic, exactly like other gaming laptops. It is also durable in physical aspects which increases its life span.

To provide an optimal gaming experience, the laptop also includes a backlit keyboard with white lightning. The cooling system is also very well optimized to avoid overheating. Just like other laptops, no matter how good the cooling system is when playing high-end games, the unit becomes a little warm. A twin-fan liquid cooling system successfully regulates overheating.

6. Lenovo Legion 5

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$1,140 in Amazon
Our Rating	9.0 / 10

The Lenovo Legion 5, sometimes called Legion 5 15, is a budget gaming laptop that doesn’t skimp on features like complete lighting, instead focusing on the essentials of gaming. A fast 165 Hz display is included in addition to the GeForce RTX 3060 and a current AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU.

Considering its powerful performance, you might not be bothered by the Legion’s thickness or unaesthetic appearance. It’s centered around a large 15.6-inch 2560×1440 display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, which lies between the more common 15.6- and 17.3-inch screens with 16:9 ratios.

The combination of excellent CPU and GPU outperforms its Intel competitors in multithreaded benchmarks and is a more practical alternative to Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5, which has the same CPU and GPU pairing. It could be a good, more economical choice if you’re prioritizing performance than aesthetics.

7. MSI GF65 Thin

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$1,199 in Amazon
Our Rating	8.9 / 10

The GF65 Thin moniker suggests that this MSI laptop is all about being slim and portable, although it looks kinda bulky compared to other slim models. It’s also competitively priced, especially given the specifications, which include an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card.

It has a 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10750H processor with 16GB of RAM and Nvidia’s RTX 3060 GPU. In desktop computers, those Nvidia 3000-series graphics are really hard to come by, so this laptop is a viable option if you want the power for beautiful graphics and stuff like ray tracing and DLSS.

Given that this laptop also has a 1080p panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, the graphics card is a great addition. The 3060 is also compatible with Resizable BAR, which makes the Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU work together more efficiently. This option enables more optimized communication between the two, as well as improved performance in some games.

8. Asus ROG Strix G15

Base Model Price (SRP)	Around US$1,000 in Amazon
Our Rating	8.8 / 10

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 is a gaming laptop with all-in-one provisions for other high-performing tasks aside from gaming and high-quality hardware. The laptop has a 15.6-inch with a 1920 x 1080p display. The display provides a refresh rate of up to 300Hz, which is a necessary feature for most gaming laptops. It uses an AMD Ryzen 7 processor with an octa-core CPU. This is a powerful CPU capable of handling high-end multitasking and gaming tasks.

The given chipset has a basic clock speed of 2.9GHz. The chipset is built on the 7-nanometer processor node, making it exceptionally power-efficient. The Nvidia’s RTX 3060 with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM provides a balanced performance due to excellent software optimization.

So, which stands the most among these best gaming laptops under $1200?

Since we have already introduced our 8 best-recommended gaming laptops under $1200, we will summarize the specifications of each model through tables for a clearer comparison:

Wrapping it up and based on our own unbiased ratings on a scale of 1-10, we best recommend the Acer Nitro 5. Acer computers are known to be cheaper than most laptop brands, yet they are good performers. This is the same for their gaming laptop, Acer Nitro 5.

Traditionally, legitimate gaming laptops have been pricey, large, may deteriorate faster, uneconomical for the specs, and sometimes, worse than expected once used for actual games. However, as technology advanced and the demand increased, computer manufacturers and developers were able to innovate laptops such as the superb Acer Nitro 5. Although this gaming laptop is in the mid-range, it offers some great specs for playing the newest PC games without hurting your pocket.

For a base model, we get either an AMD Ryzen 5 4600U or an Intel Core i5-10300H CPU, at least an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 15.6-inch 144Hz 1920×1080 display, 8GB DDR4 RAM expandable to 32 GB, and at least 256GB NVMe SSD. The RAM and SSD aren’t very impressive, but you can always upgrade them up to 32 GB DDR4 and 2 TB SSD respectively. It may cost more but is still economical for such upgraded specs.

This is not to say that the other models are less advantageous. As you can notice, we scored all of them with high ratings because they are all, indeed, excellent for gaming and at the same time, economical costing less than US$1200. All these models are cool in their own unique charming ways and they have some similarities too.