Welcome, glorious PC Master Race!

How to decide which laptop is for you? First of all, decide on your budget. Best laptops under $1000 will usually cost just shy of this number, but you can find some great value for a quintuplet of Benjamins and up. Other than that, decide how portable you want it – 17″ and up are better suited, but not as portable as 15- or lower ones. Speaking of screens, avoid laptops with low resolution (anything less than 1920×1080), and avoid touchscreens, as they’ll drain your battery by the time you get Grimgor to Blackfire Pass. Get a comfortable keyboard, a solid graphic card (doesn’t have to be fancy), and invest in solid state storage.

Table of Contents

Best Laptop under 1000 dollar Comparison

Best Gaming Laptop for $1000

1. ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71

Finding top gaming laptops under 1000 is not easy because more often than not you’ll be bumping your head against that magical limit. The ASUS Republic of Gaming GL752VW-DH71 may be just under this figure, but rest assured you’ll feel where the money went. The keys are ergonomically designed and highly responsive to reduce the stress on your hands.

This beast features 6^th Gen i7-6700HQ Quad Core CPU clocked at 2.6GHz (a beast inside a beast) and 16GB DDR4 RAM for Flash-level speeds; the storage capacity gives you 1TB at 7200RPM for 20+ high-maintenance games.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphic card comes with 2GB VRAM for smooth rendering.

Enjoy gaming online with Gigabit Dual-Band 802.11AC ultra-fast Wi-Fi and GameFirst III technology prioritizes the flow of the game data across your network.

The screen of this model unit is 17.3″ IPS FHD 1920 x 1080 matte finished, allowing you glossless and stress-free gaming.

Pros:

The hardware is remarkably fast.
It’s as fast as Reclusiarch Mikelus’ health regeneration rate on its own, but also easily upgradable for even greater speed.
Very convenient and optimized connectivity options.
3–5-hour battery life.

Cons:

No SSD available.
The laptop is too big to be easily carried.

If you were planning to get the best gaming laptop under $1000, you might as well walk the extra mile and get the ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71. Its 6^th Gen i7 Quad Core processor and 16GB DDR4 RAM provide smooth sensation even on medium to high settings for most modern behemoths.

Best Gaming Laptop under $1000

2. MSI GE72 APACHE-264

The MSI GE72 APACHE-264 is one of the best gaming laptops under $1000. This hunky devil is a dedicated gaming platform that comes with pre-installed Windows 8.1 OS. This model is a part of the GE62/72 Series, which always has a backlit and colorful keyboard

It sports a 17.3″ 1920 x 1080 screen that provides you with exceedingly vibrant image and clear and crisp graphics.

The heart and soul of this bad boy is the 4^th Gen Intel Core i7 4720HQ CPU that clocks at 2.6GHz and a bestial 12GB DDR3L SDRAM that make it fast enough for smooth LoL or DOTA2 session on high settings, or any Triple-A on mid. Naturally, there’s always the possibility of enhancing the rig with an SSD.

The rendering is further enhanced by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX960M graphic card with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM.

The storage capacity is one whole terabyte, allowing you to run Witcher 3, Overwatch, GTA V and Fallout 4, and still have four times as much free space left.

Pros:

Great rig runs AAA games at mid settings and older ones at high without hassle.
Great value for money.
Sturdy build with sleek-looking backlit keyboard.

Cons:

Can run Witcher 3 and Fallout 4, but at sub-par fps rates.
You need to send it to a licensed service to upgrade memory HDD SDD to avoid breaching the warranty.

If you were specifically browsing the Interwebz looking for a dedicated gaming laptop under $1000, the MSI GE72 APACHE-264 is the thing for you

Best Laptop under $1000

3. Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK

Finding laptops under $1000, especially gaming ones, could at times prove tiring, but rewarding. One of the prized fish you could reel in is the Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK with pre-installed Windows 10 OS (it’s not as bad as it sounds). It’s incredibly versatile and able to support not only demanding games, but also some of the CPU heavy programs, like 3D rendering or compiling, what have you.

This is a 15.6″ portable brick, with accent on the second part. You can carry it around easily enough, but it really comes into its own on desks. Its sturdy, sleek and stylish exterior comes with matte finish and red chassis.

The screen is 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels) LED-lit Truelife, giving you a viewing experience that is more crisp and more vivid than offered by lower resolution displays that have anti-glare coatings and lower contrast ratios.

The essence of this little devil is the Intel Quad Core i7-6700HQ CPU clocked at 2.6 GHz, along with the 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM; to render assistance (pun not intended), there’s the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB GDDR5 graphic card.

Pros:

10-hour battery life.
Big bang for the buck, very fast performance.
Keyboard is comfortable and quiet, perfect for typing.
It’s as versatile as Windrunner in Dota 2.

Cons:

Trackpad feels somewhat cheap and gives out hollow thuds with every click.
It’s quite weighty for its size.

The Dell Inspiron i7559-2512BLK is one of the top laptops under $1000, not only as a dedicated gaming platform, but also as a multitasking tool. If you’re willing to sacrifice a measure of mobility for versatility, this is the way to go.

Best Value for Money

4. Acer Aspire E 15 E5-573G-79JP

Although you could conceivably get a $400 rig and be done with it, you’d soon fall into temptation to upgrade it, and the result would be, price- and quality- wise, the same as if you bought the Acer Aspire E 15 E5-573G-79JP, only more hassle.

The screen is 15.6″ Full HD Screen, whose rendering abilities are augmented by NVIDIA GeForce 940M with 4GB VRAM.

This pupster features a 5^th Gen 2.4-GHz Intel Core i7-5500U processor with 3 MB Cache. The 8GB DDRL3 SDRAM complements the CPU nicely, enabling it to handle most of the newer, graphically demanding games at low to mid settings. The CPU boosts up to 3.0GHz thanks to the Turbo Boost Technology.

Most of the work runs on the integrated Intel graphics, but once you start gaming, the NVIDIA GeForce 940M with 4GB VRAM steps in. For its own storage, the laptop makes use of 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive.

Pros:

Excellent value for money.
Up to 6-hour battery life.
Easily upgradable, with tones of tutorial videos on YouTube.
Great for beginners.

Cons:

Speakers are sub-par.
Substantial amount of annoying preloaded bloatware.

The Acer Aspire E 15 E5-573G-79JP is, hands down, best value for money, and is a dedicated beginner gaming laptop.

Best Ultrabook under $1000

5. Alienware AW13R2-1678SLV

We’ll kick off the list with the Alienware AW13R2-1678SLV, a real Tyrion Lannister of gaming laptops under 1000 bucks. The 13“ size makes it easily portable, while the metal reinforced keyboard provides premium gaming experience with uniform responsiveness.

When it comes to the holy trinity of gaming hardware (CPU, GPU and RAM), the folks at Alienware didn’t disappoint, which comes as no surprise from a dedicated gaming laptop manufacturer. The processor is Intel Dual Core 6^th Gen i5-6200U with 2.3GHz clock (although Dual Core is not great, it’s redeemable), while the capacity is 8GB RAM / 500GB HDD with 8GB SSD (Solid-State Drive – a device for permanent storage) to significantly reduce your load time.

The screen is high-res (1920×1080), and the cooling system lets you have a smooth gaming experience with most modern games, such as Fallout 4, or heavy CPU programs.

Although the exterior is plastic, this little brick is thick and sturdy throughout, so it’s able to withstand some punishment (although this probably does not cover rage-quitting).

Pros:

It’s light and easily portable.
Keyboard is very soft and with good travel distance.
The laptop is a multitasker beast.
4-hour battery life for intense gaming.

Cons:

Trackpad appears to be of sub-par quality, which, for the price, is unacceptable.
Speakers are adequate, but not great.

If you’re willing to sacrifice some speed for movability, the Alienware AW13R2-1678SLV is just the thing for you. It’s a big investment, so make sure to read up before committing.

Final Verdict

Gaming laptops under $1000 are increasingly easy to come by as the technology becomes more affordable. However, the price-tags still indicate quality, so there are no cheap things here. Even if you’re working on a tight budget, you’ll need to shell out a pretty penny for quality rig. We also encourage you to check out our guide on laptops under 1000 for your consideration.

Hopefully, this list of top gaming laptops under $1000 will help you make a decision, but just to be sure a short recap:

For maximum mobility, go with the Alienware.

If you want to get into PC gaming who want the portability of a laptop without breaking the bank – take the Ace.

If versatility and multitasking is what you require, then the Dell Inspiron is your best friend.

To get the best dedicated gaming laptop under $1k, go for MSI Apache; however, if you’re willing to go the extra mile and shell out a full brick, take the ASUS ROG.