11 Best Gaming Laptops under $1500[ Top 11 Best Picks]

Are you feeling upbeat about purchasing new gaming laptops with under 1500 dollars to spare? If yes, then it’s time to play your cards right and choose the laptop that is in sync with your expectations.

Every gaming laptop is different and it certainly isn’t only about the graphics card and the integrated VRAM. If you are a seasoned gamer, you would know that there are several genres to account including MMO, adventure, Real-Time Strategy, Simulations, Racing, FPS or First Person Shooter, Combat, and RPG games.

Moreover, every game relies on a different computing resource. For instance, FPS games like Fortnite, and PUBG are GPU-intensive, where the graphics processor needs to render complex textures with the help of the integrated VRAM. Similarly, demanding racing games like Wreckfest rely primarily on the PhysX engine, thereby emphasizing more on the CPU and then the GPU.

Therefore, gamers who are invested in specific genres need to select laptops that complement their game-playing tendencies instead of overspending on expensive laptops. Professional gamers, who are into holistic game-playing, need to consider a more balanced machine that covers every aspect, including display, processor, GPU, RAM, and battery.

The sub $1500 gaming notebooks aren’t mid-range like the $1000 machines and you need to be careful with the selection process of purchasing them. Also, If you get a relevant device at a lower price, we would recommend you to go for the same and spend the rest of the budget on buying productive accessories like a keyboard, additional RAM, WiFi 6 card, or streaming devices.

As the demand for laptops grows, so does the market. As the number of companies competes for business, the cost of owning a laptop has dropped dramatically. For game-specific laptops, it was expensive to have one with decent specifications. Currently, you can get a basic but functional model for less than $1000. Laptops with this price can run most games without apparent problems. If you have $1500 to spend on your gaming laptop, then you can get something of decent quality, with additional features on the basic model. Here are some best gaming laptops under 1500 dollars.

Things to Consider Before Buying the best gaming laptops under 1500

Gaming is an Avocation for a lot of people. It is not a piece of cake to choose a good gaming laptop. There are a lot of things to consider while buying a gaming laptop. Before buying a gaming laptop you must scrutinize the various components of gaming laptop. To make it easier for you to buy a good gaming laptop we have listed the main elements that you must look after before buying a good gaming laptop.

1. Build Quality

Gaming laptops are mainly found in metallic, aluminum, or high-quality plastic finishes and are comparatively heavier than normal laptops or ultrabooks. Metallic finishes or aluminum finishes are recommended the most. It’s not like plastic builds are not good but metallic bodies are more durable and can withstand excessive heating too.

2. Graphic Card (GPU)

Graphics cards are the most essential component in a gaming laptop that determines the gaming experience for the users. For casual gamers, a Graphics card with 4GB of DDR5 is sufficient. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 1650TI, 1660, or 1660TI are preferred more. Similarly, Graphics cards of more than 6 GB are recommended for hardcore gamers.

3. Processor (CPU)

The processor is the base to look after before buying a gaming laptop. The better the processor the better will be the overall performance of the laptop. For ideal gaming, The latest Ryzen 5 or Intel i5 will be sufficient however, for hardcore gaming, the latest Ryzen 7 or Intel i7 is the most.

4. Memory and Storage

Games consume a lot of cache memory and storage in a laptop. So, for a good gaming laptop, the memory(RAM) and storage(HDD/SSD) must not be compromised.

At Least 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and 1TB HDD with expandable slots are required for a good gaming Laptop.

5. Thermals

Thermals are the major component that causes more impact in a gaming laptop. Before buying a gaming laptop, one must look after the vents, fans, and additional cooling system. Laptops that heat fast and reach a very high temperature have bad thermals and are not considered good gaming laptops. So it is best to go after laptops with good thermals.

6. Keyboard and Touchpad

Generally, people use external keyboards and mice for gaming purposes. Anyhow, for occasional use, a Full-Size keyboard with a bigger arrow key and backlighting is better. Similarly sensitive touchpad with a smooth surface is best for a gaming laptop.

7. Display

The display of a laptop enhances the gaming experience. For a gaming laptop, you must choose a laptop with 1080p resolution or more with a 120Hz or more refresh rate. You will need a better CPU and GPU to fully utilize your refresh rate on the laptop.

8. Price

The main component at the end comes with the pricing of the gaming laptop. You must pay the price by going through the specification and estimating the cost. A basic model or ideal gaming laptop comes within 125000 and costs more for a high-performance gaming laptop.

Best Gaming Laptops under $1500

MSI GL66

If you’re looking for a laptop with the best graphics card under $1500 go for the MSI GL66. Inside this gaming beast, there’s the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. Let’s start with looking at how well it performs in some of the most popular PC games:

When looking at the RTX 3070 gaming benchmarks you’ll see all games will run smoothly at ultra settings. Many games will even hit 144 fps, something that is supported by the MSI’s 144hz screen.

The 15.6-inch IPS display has a contrast ratio of 1320:1 and covers 93% of the sRGB color coverage. This means the screen is vivid and has accurate colors.

MSI claims the design is thin and made for gamers that want to carry it around all day. With a weight of 4.63 pounds (2,1 kg), it’s fairly light for being a gaming laptop, but it’s far from being ultraportable. The lid is made of metal, but the rest of the case is made of plastic. It’s sturdy, but the plastic case makes it feel cheaper than if it had a full metal exterior.

With two fans and six heat pipes, the cooling system does a good job of keeping the MSI cool, but the fan noise is noticeable, and some gamers might find it too loud. The battery is the laptop’s weakest point and you need to have it plugged in for longer gaming sessions causing it to be mid-range gaming laptop.

A recently released component in this laptop is the 8-core Intel Core i7 processor. It’s from Intel’s 11th generation, Tiger Lake, and will, when combined with the 16GB DDR4 RAM, provide excellent performance in both games, everyday use, and work.

The MSI GL66 has a beautiful 144hz display and top-notch gaming performance. However, the powerful hardware will drain the battery fast, and the fans have to work hard, so be prepared for loud fan noise and having it mostly plugged in, also ASUS ROG Strix G15 is a nice alternative to the MSI GL66

Acer Predator Helios 300

The first version of the Acer Predator Helios 300 capable gaming machine was released in 2018. Since then, Acer has made updates to the model every year. The latest model weighs around half a pound less than its predecessor with a weight of 5 pounds (2,25 kg). The lid and the base are made of aluminum, and the thin bezels and the rest of the exterior are made of plastic.

The keyboard is a 4 zone backlit keyboard with see-through concave WASD keys. It’s a solid keyboard, but it feels a bit cramped. On the right side of the keyboard, there are USB ports, a MiniDP port, and an HDMI port. It has no SD card reader, and the laptop lacks Thunderbolt 3 support.

This laptop has 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, and an Intel Core i7-11800H processor. The graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, released for laptops in March 2021. If you look at the gaming benchmarks over at notebook check, you’ll see it’s capable of running almost all modern games at 60+ on high or ultra graphics settings.

The 15.6-inch screen has a response time of 3ms and a refresh rate of 144hz. This means it’s ideal for gaming, especially games where you can take advantage of the smoother frame rates and faster response times. The colors are also accurate, and it has a solid contrast ratio of 1220:1.

HP Victus 16

Released in April of 2022, this is HP’s latest gaming machine, and it’s one of the best gaming laptops for gamers that want that extra edge against the competition.

The specs are identical to the Acer Helios 300 above. This means it has the power to run high-end games with smooth frame rates at the highest settings.

The large 16-inch screen will give you an immersive gaming experience with its crisp colors and fast refresh rate. It has an 84% screen-to-body ratio, but we wish the bottom bezel was a bit smaller.

Although the laptop’s keyboard has a numeric keypad and a smooth typing experience, it’s not fully RGB backlit. If you’re looking for a gaming machine that screams gamer, it might not be for you, but the white backlighting does give it a more professional look.

When it comes to connectivity, it has all the ports you’ll need for connecting external devices. In addition, it comes with a 720p webcam; however, the webcam does not have a privacy shutter. Another minor drawback is that the HP Victus does not have a Thunderbolt 4 port.

During battery tests, it lasted less than 5 hours of video playback and only around 2 hours of gaming, so you might need to have this gaming beast plugged in.

Gigabyte A5 X1

Most of the best gaming laptops under 1500 dollars come with Intel processors. However, Gigabyte offers an AMD Ryzen option with their A5 X1 gaming laptop. If you compare the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU against the Intel Core i7-10750H, you’ll see it has a 10% higher effective speed and a faster base clock speed (3,3Ghz vs. the Intel’s 2.6 GHz). That makes it an excellent choice for gamers who want to future-proof their system.

The chassis has a simple, understated design that’s not too flashy. It’s also relatively thin and light for a gaming laptop, weighing 4.68 pounds. In addition, it comes with the Windows 11 operating system and has almost no bloatware.

Gigabyte gaming notebooks have also included a 240hz 15.6-inch display with excellent viewing angles and top-notch color reproduction. The biggest downside of the screen is the 831:1 contrast ratio. Most of the gaming laptops on the list have at least a 1000:1 contrast ratio.

The Gigabyte Aorus A15 X gaming laptop is a great choice for gamers looking for a powerful and affordable option.

It has the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, which is faster than most processors on the list. It’s also one of the few laptops on this list to come with the powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card.

It can handle all the latest games at ultra settings. Games such as Far Cry 6, The Witcher 3, Forza Horizon, and Cyberpunk ran all smoothly on the highest settings with ray tracing enabled.

Overall, the Gigabyte Aorus X15 is a great gaming laptop. It has some powerful features and can handle most games on the market. For its price, it’s an excellent option for gamers on the go.

HP Omen 15

If you’re looking for a desktop replacement to run the latest games, then one of the best options is the HP Omen 15. This 15-inch gaming beast is fast, durable, and will run modern games smoothly.

The HP Omen 15 new gaming laptop has a subtle look with its lid closed. It’s not until you open the lid that you’ll see that this is a laptop made for gaming. The keyboard has a clear tactile keystroke, and you can adjust the RGB keyboard backlighting in four separate zones. The touchpad is responsive and has two physical buttons.

With a weight of over 5 pounds and a somewhat bulky design, it’s not the most portable option, but it’s nevertheless sturdy and well-designed.

If you play competitive multiplayer games, you’re going to love the 144hz full HD screen. It has a fast response time, vivid colors, and excellent image quality.

This pc gaming laptop won’t let you down when it comes to running the latest games. It has a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 1075H CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and the RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU.

As a result, it will run almost any AAA game smoothly on ultra graphics settings. The 512GB SSD is fast, but 512 GB of storage is on the lower side.

Luckily, it has a 1TB HDD for that extra storage space. You can also easily pop off the bottom plate after unscrewing some screws to upgrade the SSD or the RAM.

Even with the demanding hardware, it’s still able to stay cool even after long gaming sessions. Unfortunately, the battery won’t last very long.

Expect less than 4 hours of video playback on a full charge and even less when gaming.

The HP Omen is a powerful gaming laptop that will run modern games at ease. Thanks to the excellent keyboard and the fast 144hz screen, it’s an excellent choice for competitive gamers.

Razer Blade 15

Razer claims to be the smallest best gaming laptop under 1500 dollars globally with its 15 R Razer blade. Razer is a well-known and trusted brand in the gaming community and produces light and smart gaming laptops. 

This is the lightest, with the chassis weighing less than 4.5 pounds. If it is so thin, then where can you connect external devices? 

Well, it doesn’t miss any of its connectivity options with a full range of ports on the body, including multiple USBs and even a full-size HDMI port.

It has the latest 8th generation processor and the top GeForce graphics card from Nvidia. It is the newest and most powerful graphics processor on the market. When you look at the size of the laptop, it’s fantastic.

The screen is small but still gives you more than enough to see what you’re doing, keeping it compact. The sound quality is not bad either for its dual speakers or for rounding out the experience.

This budget gaming laptop ticks each box in terms of specifications and comes under the sign of 1500 dollars. For this reason, it is at the top of our list.

MSI Pulse GL66  

In gaming laptops under 1,500, you can get MSI GL66. MSI are veterans on the laptop scene. They are known for their large size, and their game-specific design allows for the most captivating experience possible with a laptop.

 The large, high-definition full screen is 17.3 ″ and refreshes at a frequency of 144 Hz so that fast games will be displayed without problems.

Inside, it has 16 GB memory and a 512 GB SSD, and the latest Nvidia GeForce graphics card. 

This excellent gaming laptop has a solid chassis with a red and aluminum pattern to match the brand. It also has a red backlight on the keyboard. It’s just a beast among other gaming laptops.

Acer Predator Triton 300

The Triton 300 perfect gaming laptop has all the specs you’ll need to fully enjoy smooth gaming on the highest graphics settings. The RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU from Nvidia combined with the Intel Core i7-10750 CPU and 16GB DDR4 RAM makes for an excellent gaming experience.

• The Triton 300 is quite lightweight and has a weight of 4.41 pounds. It has a plastic chassis with an exterior of aluminum. The dark abyssal color and the rounded edges give the laptop a clean look, but the surface is prone to fingerprints. You can adjust the RGB of the keyboard in four separate zones. The touchpad is enjoyable but can be a bit sensitive at times.If you usually play competitive FPS games, you’re going to love the screen for playing games. It has a 144hz refresh rate and a 3ms response time. The 15.6″ full HD IPS display has vivid colors and is excellent for FPS games such as Apex Legends, and Overwatch. With a 1TB NVMe SSD, you’ll get ample storage space as well as fast load and boot times. Another advantage of this PC is how easy it’s to upgrade it.
• It’s easy to open it up and add more RAM or install an additional hard drive. As with most gaming laptops, there are some issues with battery life and heat management. The battery life is on the shorter side when gaming, and it tends to get hot during longer gaming sessions.

The Triton 300 from Acer has great value for the price. You’ll get a light gaming laptop with a vivid 144hz display with an excellent gaming experience.

Just be aware that it tends to run hot, so you might need to buy a cooling pad or an external fan.

Asus TUF F15

Asus released a gaming beast with excellent gaming performance, but there are some things to consider before you go for this laptop.

The Asus TUF is pretty lightweight for being a 15-inch gaming PC. Asus decided not to include a CD/DVD drive, and there’s also no webcam or fingerprint reader to keep it slim.

The USB-C port on the side does support Thunderbolt, and it also has an ethernet port if you want to have it plugged in directly to your router for the best possible internet speed.

The backlit keyboard has a deep 1.7mm key travel, but the keyboard layout leaves a lot to be desired.

It has no print screen or Insert-key, and the enter key is smaller than the right shift key. The arrow keys are also in my option a bit too small for comfortable gaming.

This laptop has the right hardware to compete with the best. The NVMe SSD is lightning-fast, and the Intel Corei7-11800H is a fast CPU from Intel’s 11th generation of processors.

The Nvidia 3060 graphics card is a solid GPU that will run the latest games with ease.

The thing that makes the Asus TUF F15 stand out is the 76Wh battery. Many gaming laptops have a far smaller, around 50Wh, battery.

The larger battery means it will last about 9 hours of web surfing on a full charge.

If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that has a long battery life and plenty of storage, then this might be a perfect choice. Just be aware that the keyboard layout has some quirks, and it can run quite hot.

Lenovo Y540 Legion

If your main priority isn’t the best possible GPU but rather the best overall hardware, then what you’re looking for might be the Lenovo Legion Y540.

This gaming laptop comes with 32GB DDR4 RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 1TB HDD. With 32GB RAM, you can be sure that it will handle serious multitasking and ram-demanding applications such as editing software without any lag.

Most gaming laptops don’t even come with a 1TB SSD, but the Lenovo Legion Y540 has 2GB of storage! The processor is the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750H. It’s still one of the better CPUs on the market, but these days you can find more powerful processors from Intel’s 10th and 11th generations.

Even if the graphics card doesn’t match up to the RTX 2070 and RTX 2060 GPUs of the top options, the included Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 will still provide a smooth gaming experience on older and non-demanding games.

If you look at the FPS of the graphics card here, you’ll see it will run most games smoothly but will have some issues with more demanding games on ultra settings.

The Lenovo Y540 features an IPS display with wide viewing angles, a refresh rate of 144hz, and a 1920 x 1080 (full HD) resolution. It’s a bright screen and works well outside. The colors are alright for gaming but not accurate enough for professional design work.

With a chassis made mostly of aluminum, holding the Lenovo Legion Y740 gives a durable and premium impression. It has an overall high-quality design, but the webcam placement (bottom of the screen) gives the webcam awkward viewing angles.

Another thing to be aware of is that the battery won’t last more than 2-3 hours before you need to charge it.

With 2TB of storage and 32GB RAM, the Lenovo Legion Y540 has the best storage on the list. The GPU, however, lacks in performance compared to the competition.

CUK GF65

The creator of premium gaming laptops for gamers to live out their adventure on the highest level, MSI provides one of its most impressive machines yet.

The all-new CUK GF65 Thin Notebook features impressive specs, a thin design, and RTX graphics at an attractive price point. 

The 15.6″ screen boasts up to 144Hz refresh rate display with a 45% NTSC color gamut for vivid RGB colors and high contrast visuals.

The Processor is Intel’s i7-10750H CPU, arguably one of the best processors for gaming laptops.

This 2.6 GHz (4.5GHz Turbo) processor has a 12 MB L3 cache and is based on the Coffee Lake architecture to handle up to eight processing threads simultaneously.

Its 45 W TDP makes it suitable for a gaming laptop, and its eight cores are able to handle demanding programs (video editing, audio production, etc.) quickly.

The GPU is the RTX 3060, which has 6 GB of GDDR6 RAM. This is a powerful graphics card in its class.

 This laptop also comes with 32GB DDR4 2933MHz RAM and 1TB NVMe Solid State Drive for quick data loading time when it comes to gaming, making sure that no matter what game or level you’re on.

There is always more power available because of how much faster data can be loaded from your SSD

it is a perfect fit for medium to high settings on most modern games. This GPU has excellent heat management, and the thin design of the laptop allows air to stream through easily to keep itself cool. 

It also possesses incredible cooling characteristics due to its thin bezel, which keeps your hands safe from intense heat radiating inside the laptop when running games or editing video content without overheating.

All these benefits are ensured by MSI’s innovative Cooler Boost 4, featuring double pipes connecting both sides of the CPU & GPU.

Conclusion

Choosing the best gaming laptop under 1500 can be hard and time-consuming. That’s why I created this guide where I’ve shown you what to look for and summarized the most powerful gaming laptops you can get today.

If you want the most powerful gaming laptop you could get, I would recommend the MSI GL66. It has the best graphics card you can get for the money and an excellent 144hz screen. If you’re looking for a 17-inch gaming laptop, then the Sager NP7879PQ is a great choice.

If you are still here reading, there is only one thing to do. Scroll up, pick that one gaming laptop under 1500 you like, and click “Check price.” You will be sent to Amazon, where you can read customer reviews and get more information.

If you decide to buy it from Amazon, I receive a small commission that will help this site to continue to grow and provide information about the best gaming laptop deals.

No matter what option you go for, if you pick one from the list, you can be happy that you just got one of the best gaming laptops under 1500.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q #1) Do all Gaming laptops overheat?

Answer: It is true that gaming laptops do come with general heat management features. However, with peak usage, they tend to get heated easily. Most of these best gaming laptops for 1500 USD can provide proper care, and also they tend to remain cool.

However, during peak hour usage, the laptops can easily get overheated. But it is not a major warning if your laptop gets overheated. Most gaming laptops can control the temperature in case of overheating.

Q #2) Do gaming laptops last long?

Answer: A laptop that has a good configuration with high-end specs will support you for longer durations. It is thus very important for any laptop to have a good hardware component if you want to increase your laptop performance and make your gaming sessions better.

Gaming laptops come with more air vents, which can make the device more durable and thus fit lasts longer.

Q #3) What’s the difference between a gaming laptop and a regular laptop?

Answer: A regular laptop with budget-friendly specs cannot deliver a high refresh rate and even support high graphics during games. For this, you’ll need better specifications which will make it difficult for your regular laptop to perform at best.

This specifically means that you’ll require a gaming laptop to perform for you. They support high graphics with multi-core performance.

Q #4) Do cooling pads help gaming laptops?

Answer: The main role of a cooling pad is to create more airspace and help your laptop to maintain a modular temperature.

Cooling pads can be placed just below your laptops. They will make the base of your laptop much cooler, and thus it will help in reducing any type of overclocking needs. If you are considering purchasing a gaming laptop, it is also helpful if you get a cooling pad.

Q #5) How do I stop my laptop from overheating while gaming?

Answer: To be fair, there is no such way by which you’ll be able to stop your laptop from being heated. Because of processors and internal hardware components, it will get heated.

But you can actually save your laptop from getting overheated. Using a cooling pad for your laptop will help you in doing so. Also, try to keep the laptop in such a way that the air vents are clear.

Q #6) What is the most important specification you should look for in a sub $1500 gaming laptop?

Although the preferred set of specifications might change, it is always advisable to opt for a GPU that supports the Turing Architecture and, therefore, Turing Shaders.

With high-end shading technologies at the helm, it becomes possible to enjoy productive game-playing at maxed-out presets.

Q #7) What Is The Best Gaming Laptop For Under $1500?

However, there are other options on our best-of list which beat this ASUS machine in specific areas such as image quality

At present the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is our pick for the best overall gaming laptop for 1,500 USD – this laptop is currently head and shoulders above the competition in terms of gaming performance per price.

Do more expensive laptops last longer?

The functional life of a laptop is not necessarily determined by how much you pay for it, but it does often have an impact. Brands like Razer and Apple tend to charge a premium for their products but build their laptops to a sturdier standard, and you can feel the quality of the materials they use.

This does not necessarily mean the internal components of their laptops are engineered to a higher standard, however. Efficient internal cooling often means that components will last longer. We suggest reading reviews on specific laptop models for both build quality and cooling before making your purchase.