Gaming laptops have come a long way in the past few years. They are now thinner and lighter than ever before and can handle even the most demanding games.
We’ve compiled a list of the best gaming laptops under 2000 dollars, updated for the winter of 2022. We’ll provide a brief overview of each computer, as well as some pros and cons to help you decide which one is best for you.
So whether you’re looking for a powerful laptop that can handle the most demanding games or you’re just looking for a good deal, we’ve got you covered!
So without further ado, here are the best gaming laptops under $2000 this winter:
Best Overall | The Contender | Best 17″ | |
---|---|---|---|
Laptop | Alienware M15 R4 | Asus Rog Strix Scar 15 | Gigabyte Aorus 17 XE4 |
Graphics Card | Nvidia RTX 3070 | Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti | Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti |
Screen | 15.6″ Full HD 300Hz | 15.6″ Full HD 300Hz | 17.3″ Full HD 360Hz |
Review | Read review | Read review | Read review |
Price (Amazon) | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price |
Table of Contents
Best Gaming Laptop Under $2000: Alienware M15 R4
If you’re looking for a laptop that can handle the most demanding games, look no further than the Alienware m15 R4. It’s got a powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 that will let you enjoy the best graphical settings in all the latest games. Plus, with a 300hz refresh rate, you won’t have to worry about any lag or stuttering.
Many high-end gaming laptops are bulky, but the Alienware m15 R is surprisingly thin and light for a machine with such power. With a weight as low as 4.65 pounds, it’s one of the lightest gaming laptops on the market. In this model released in early 2021, Alienware has also improved the exterior design, giving the m15 R a more premium look and feel while reducing strains and finger smudges.
The keyboard has 1.7mm key travel with 100% anti-ghosting and per-key RGB LED lighting. The glass touchpad is large and responsive, with built-in palm rejection to prevent accidental cursor movement while gaming. You also get a Thunderbolt port, three USB Type-A ports, an HDMI port, a Mini DisplayPort, an Ethernet jack, and a headphone jack.
With the Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card, expect high frame rates and Ray Tracing technology for realistic lighting, shadows, and effects in the latest games. If you look at the Nvidia 3070 gaming benchmarks, you’ll see it gets 60+ fps in almost all games at 1440p. The 10th Generation Intel i7 processor and the fast 1TB SSD storage also help make this one of the best gaming laptops under $2000.
Summary: The Alienware m15 R is the best gaming laptop you can buy for under $2000. It has great performance, a beautiful display, and a sleek design. The only downside is its short battery life, but if you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop that won’t break the bank, this is the one to get.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Best Graphics Card You Can Get for Under 2000 Dollars | Short battery life |
Beautiful 300hz IPS display | RAM is partially soldered, making it hard to upgrade |
Sleek Design |
The Contender: Asus Rog Strix Scar 15
The latest Asus Rog Strix is one of the best gaming laptops you can buy right now. It packs some serious hardware with an Intel Core i9 processor and the NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti graphics card. That makes it more than capable of handling any game you throw at it, and it’ll do so at high frame rates thanks to the 300Hz screen.
This gaming laptop has a sturdy construction, and the light bar at the bottom of the case makes it stand out. It has all the ports you’ll need, including a USB-C port for charging, Thunderbolt 4 support, and an HDMI 2.1 port. With HDMI 2.1, you can view 4L content at 120HZ or 8K content at 60Hz frame frames.
As with most high-end gaming notebooks, expect a shorter battery life than you would find in an ordinary laptop. Another con to be aware of is that it can get quite hot.
The highlight of the Asus Rog Strix 15 is the gorgeous 15.6-inch 1920×1080 IPS display. It’s bright and colorful and has great viewing angles, so you’ll always be able to see what’s going on in your games. The 300hz refresh rate is also a nice touch, and it means that games will look smooth and fluid. Another great thing about the screen is that the colors are accurate enough for even photo and video editing.
Summary: The Asus Rog Strix is a solid contender for the title of the best gaming laptop for under 2000 dollars. It has the latest hardware and an excellent screen, but it can get warm, and with the short battery life, you will have it mostly plugged in.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Premium build quality | It can get hot when running max settings |
The latest hardware | Average touchpad |
Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.1 support | No webcam or optical drive |
Best 17-inch Gaming Laptop: Gigabyte Aorus 17 XE4
If you’re looking for something with a slightly larger screen that can still handle all the latest games with ease, definitely consider the Gigabyte Aorus 17 XE4. This gaming beast has a 12th Gen Intel i7 processor, 32GB RAM, and the best graphics card in the price range.
It features a 17.3-inch display with a 360hz refresh rate with fast response time, making it great for competitive gaming. So no matter what game you’re playing, you’ll be able to enjoy smooth and consistent gameplay.
Gigabyte decided to go for a more subtle and sleek look with the Aorus 15P YD. You know it’s a gaming laptop because of the RGB keyboard, but other than that, it looks fairly discreet, making it suitable for work and play. It has a nice matte black plastic case with an illuminated Aorus logo at the back. The keyboard has a lifespan of 10 million keystrokes, and it’s possible to control the color separately of each key.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 XE4 comes with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM. This makes it lightning-fast and able to handle any task you throw at it. The added RAM also makes it one of the best laptops for streaming and content creation.
Another thing to consider before getting this gaming computer is that the fans can get quite loud when gaming or running CPU-intensive tasks. The upside is that the Aorus 15P YD does a good job of keeping the temperatures down.
Summary: If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that’s both powerful and stylish, the Gigabyte Aorus 17 XE4 is a great option. With a vivid 360hz display and a fast graphics card, it can handle anything you throw at it.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Excellent gaming performance | Bulky |
Large 360Hz screen | Loud fan noise |
Spacious and well-laid-out keyboard |
Best for Games and Work: HP Omen 17.3″
If you’re looking for a laptop that can handle the latest games and still be a great workhorse, the HP Omen is an excellent choice.
Coming in at a weight of slightly above 6 pounds, it’s one of the more heavy laptops on the list. The chassis is sturdy and made almost entirely of metal except for the hard plastic frame around the screen. It has a backlit RGB keyboard with good key travel and a comfortable trackpad. The keyboard has what’s known as N-key rollover, which means it can handle an unlimited amount of key presses simultaneously, so you’ll never lose a keystroke when gaming.
Compared to last year’s model, the HP Omen has no major design changes and what makes it different is underneath its metal chassis. You’ll now find an 12th Gen (Alder Lake) Intel CPU and a graphics card from Nvidia’s RTX 3000-series.
Thanks to the Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card, the Omen can handle any game you throw at it, even at QHD resolution. The RTX 3070 is one of the best graphics cards available right now, and it’s a big step up from the RTX 2070 that was in last year’s model.
The Omen 16 has a large 17.3-inch IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate and comfortable viewing angles. The 2K (2560 x 1440) resolution is great for gaming and productivity. When gaming, you’ll get more vivid colors and better image quality than a 1080p display. The advantage of the higher resolution for work is that you can fit more windows on the screen when multitasking.
When working on the Omen 17.3-inch gaming laptop, there weren’t any throttling or heat issues. The CPU and GPU stayed cool under load, and the laptop never felt hot to the touch.
Summary: The HP Omen is a great combo of power, connectivity, and price. Not only is it one of the best gaming laptops under $2000, but it’s also a great option for productivity.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Fast | Heavier than the competition |
Excellent connectivity | The frame of the screen is prone to fingerprints |
QHD screen with vivid colors |
The Budget Option: Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
Lenovo Legion laptops are known for their great value, and the Pro model is no exception. If you want comparable performance to the best options while spending less, get the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro.
The case of the Legion 5 Pro is made of a combination of plastic and aluminum, which gives it a solid feel. It’s a bit bulkier than other options at this price point, but that’s to be expected with a 16-inch laptop. It does have a webcam with a privacy shutter, but it lacks an SD card reader and has no Thunderbolt support.
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro has a 2560 x 1600 resolution screen with a refresh rate of 165hz. With a brightness of 500 nits, it’s one of the brightest screens you’ll find on a gaming laptop at this price. Additionally, it has excellent color accuracy and covers 100% of the sRGB color space.
Under the hood, the Lenovo Legion Pro is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7-5800H processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. It has 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive. Unfortunately, the SSD is one of the slowest on the list, but fortunately, it’s easy to add a new SSD to the free M.2 slot.
Expect long gaming laptop battery life from the Lenovo Legion Pro thanks to its 130Wh battery. It can handle 5-6 hours of web browsing and video streaming.
Summary: If you want to save some money, the best laptop in the price range is the Lenovo Legion Pro. It has great performance, a bright and colorful screen, long battery life, and it’s easy to upgrade.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Bright and colorful screen | Slow SSD storage speed |
Long battery life | No SD card reader |
Easy to upgrade | No Thunderbolt support |
Most Durable: MSI GP66 Leopard
Another excellent laptop for under 2000 dollars is the MSI GP66 Leopard. It’s extremely fast, has a sturdy design, and stays cool even when gaming.
We love the dark metal exterior on the base, lid, and bezels of the laptop. The bottom of the computer is made of plastic to keep the weight down. Coming in at 5.25 pounds, it weighs around the average for these high-end gaming laptops. There is no flex when you’re pressing down hard on the keyboard, and it’s a surprisingly light gaming beast.
With an 11th Gen Intel i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, the MSI GP66 Leopard can handle any game you throw at it. The 144Hz refresh rate and fast response time it’s awesome for fast-paced games.
The screen has excellent contrast and color reproduction, but it has no QHD resolution like some products above. Furthermore, having a 144hz refresh rate is a significant improvement compared to a 60hz display, but it lags behind some of the other options on the list that come with even higher refresh rates. The difference between 144hz and 300hz is, for most people, not noticeable, but if you’re a competitive gamer, it might give you the edge you need.
Steelseries designed the keyboard, and it’s an excellent keyboard. The keys are clicky and have a fast response time, perfect for gaming. They’re also backlit so that you can play in low-light conditions. The only negative aspect is that each keypress isn’t as deep as some people would like.
It’s disappointing that MSI decided to go for a 65Wh battery. In real-life usage, you’re only going to get around three and a half hours of use. If you’re gaming on the go, you might want to consider another laptop with longer battery life.
Summary: The MSI GP66 Leopard is a great gaming laptop with powerful hardware. The biggest downside is the short battery life. If you can live with that, then the GP66 Leopard is a great choice and is worth considering if you’re looking for a new one.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Good-looking dark metal exterior | Short battery life |
Durable design | Neither 300hz nor QHD resolution |
Good GPU/CPU performance |
64GB RAM and 2TB Storage: ASUS Rog Strix G17
Most gaming laptops under 2000 dollars come with a 1TB SSD and 16 RAM. The Asus ROG Strix G17 comes with a whopping 64GB RAM and a massive 2TB SSD. It also has some other great features to offer:
Coming in just under 6 pounds, the G17 is on the lighter side, considering it’s a 17.6-inch gaming laptop. The dark-gray metal chassis looks good and does a good job at hiding any fingerprints. If you need a webcam for video conferencing, you’ll be disappointed to know there’s no built-in webcam.
Asus equipped the G17 with a powerful AMD Ryzen 7-4800H processor. It has an impressive 19065 CPU Mark score and will handle all your gaming and creative needs without breaking a sweat. If you need to do some multitasking, the G17 can handle that too. It comes with more than enough storage and memory for all your games and applications. The RTX 3060 graphics card lags behind the best gaming laptops, but it’s still a good choice for most games. If you compare the user benchmarks of the 3060 versus the 3070, you’ll see that the 3070 has about 27% higher effective speed.
The full HD display is bright and clear. It has wide viewing angles, but the colors aren’t accurate enough for professional work. The best thing about the display is the fast refresh rate, which makes gaming smoother and more enjoyable.
The G17 has great audio quality. The speakers are loud and clear, and the bass is deep and punchy. The headphones jack also works well with third-party headphones.
Summary: When you’re looking for the most amount of storage for the price, it’s hard to beat the G17.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Ample storage and memory | Sub-par color accuracy |
Great audio quality | No Thunderbolt support |
Large 17-inch display | No webcam |
Acer Predator Helios 300
The Acer Predator Helios 300 is one of the best gaming notebooks under 2000. It has a great 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD combo and a powerful six-core i7 CPU.
The lid and the base of the Helios 300 are made of aluminum, and the rest of the laptop is composed of plastic. The build quality is good, but there are some areas where it could be better. For example, when you press on the back of the lid, there is some flex.
Typing and gaming on the Predator Helios 300 is a great experience. The keys have a good amount of travel, and the trackpad is large and supports Windows Precision Drivers. Unfortunately, some of the keys are a bit cramped, which can take some time to get used to.
The Predator Helios 300 has a 15.6-inch display. It’s an IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and a 1080p resolution. The screen looks good, and the fast response time is great for gaming.
This laptop is a good option for students who need a powerful laptop for schoolwork and gaming. It’s speedy, thanks to the SSD, and it’s powerful enough to handle demanding programs and games. Like the Asus Strix G17 above, it comes with the Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU. It can run almost any game you throw at it, but it’s not as powerful as the notebooks with 3070 and 3080 GPUs on the list.
It’s best to have the Predator Helios 300 plugged in when gaming, as the battery life is only about 2-3 hours. When the battery is low, you’ll notice some performance throttling.
Summary: The Predator Helios 300 is a great gaming laptop for students or anyone on a budget. It’s fast, has a great display, and is very powerful for the price. Just keep it plugged in when gaming, as the battery life isn’t great.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Good price | Poor battery life when gaming |
Plenty of storage | Cramped keyboard |
4-zone backlit keyboard | Laptops with more powerful GPUs available in the price range |
The Portable 17-inch Option: CUK GS76 Stealth
The CUK GS76 Stealth is a great option if you’re looking for a portable and sleek laptop with superb performance. It’s one of the thinnest gaming laptops on the market, and it has a large 17-inch display. The only downside is that it doesn’t have a very powerful GPU, so you won’t be able to play the latest games at 60+ fps ultra settings.
Compared to the previous year’s model, the new CUK GS76 has 15% better airflow. The design is also slimmer and lighter, making it more portable. It’s a great option if you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop that’s easy to carry around. The CUK GS76 weighs 5.4 pounds, so it’s very portable for a 17-inch laptop for gaming. Its aluminum chassis and full-size keyboard are both very durable, and it has a great range of ports.
One of the best things about this laptop is the excellent port selection. It comes with two USB Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port, one Thunderbolt port, an HDMI port, an RJ45 ethernet port, and a headphone jack.
Compared to the previous year’s model, the new CUK GS76 has 15% better airflow. The battery life is also slightly better, lasting up to six hours on a single charge.
The 2TB SSD is also a significant upgrade, providing plenty of storage space for games, photos, and videos. Having 64GB is almost overkill for a gaming laptop, but it’s nice for future-proofing.
The CUK GS76 Stealth can handle any game you throw at it, including demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher III. The RTX 3060 isn’t the best GPU, but it’s more than enough for most gamers.
Summary: If you’re looking for a 17-inch gaming laptop with all the bells and whistles, the CUK GS76 Stealth is a great option. It’s got great performance, superb connectivity, and a fast TB hard drive.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Excellent performance | Struggles hitting 60+ fps on the latest games |
Great connectivity | Long battery life |
Fast 2TB hard drive | Dim screen |
Asus Rog Zephyrus
The design of the Asus Rog Zephyrus is, for the most part, excellent. It’s a slim and light machine that is easy to move around with you. It’s compact and has a beautiful smooth magnesium alloy finish. A weird design decision is the placement of the power plug right in the middle of the laptop’s left side.
The keyboard on the Asus Rog Zephyrus is backlit and has decent key travel. Unfortunately, it does not include a NumPad which could be a deal-breaker for some people. The trackpad is large and responsive as well.
Gaming on the Asus Rog Zephyrus is a great experience. The visuals are clear and bright, and the frame rate is smooth. The laptop includes an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3070 with Max-Q design and an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor. It has 16GB of RAM, but it’s soldered onto the motherboard, so you can not upgrade it.
You can expect to get about four hours of battery life when gaming on the Asus Rog Zephyrus, which is not great but not terrible. The biggest downside of the Zephyrus is the high temperature when gaming. The fans are also quite loud, but they help keep the laptop from reaching dangerous temperatures.
Summary: It might be worth considering the Asus Rog Zephyrus as your next laptop for gaming. It has outstanding visuals and a smooth frame rate. However, the battery life is not the best, and it can run pretty hot.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
QHD (2560 x 1440 Pixels) resolution | Runs quite hot |
Excellent AMD Ryzen CPU | Loud fan noise |
Good keyboard and a large and responsive trackpad | Weird power plug placement |
The Ultimate Guide To Buying a Gaming Laptop Under $2000
So you’ve decided it’s time to take your PC gaming hobby up a notch and buy yourself a gaming laptop. Congratulations! The world of portable gaming is a great place to be, with many amazing titles that you can play on the go. But with such a wide variety of gaming laptops available on the market, which one should you choose?
In this guide, we will walk you through everything you need to consider before making your purchase. In this article, we will take a look at some of the most important factors to think about when buying a gaming laptop under $2000. By considering these factors, you can be sure that you are getting the best laptop for your needs and budget. This buying guide will focus specifically on the 2000 USD price range. For a more general guide on choosing a gaming laptop, click here.
Choosing The Right Graphics Card:
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a gaming laptop is the GPU. This is what will determine how well your games look and run. Almost all of the best gaming laptops have an Nvidia RTX graphics card. The Nvidia RTX 30 series is the latest and most powerful graphics card.
There are some good options with the previous RTX 20 series cards, but the latest Nvidia generation has significant performance gains. For example, if you compare the user benchmarks of the Nvidia RTX 2070 versus the RTX 3070, you’ll see that the RTX 3070 has a 25% higher effective speed and 27% higher average score.
If you’re looking for the best gaming laptops under $2000, look for a product with either the Nvidia RTX 3070 or Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card. The RTX 3070 is a great option because it offers excellent performance while still being relatively affordable. The RTX 3080 is even better, but it’s still pretty uncommon in the price range.
The most significant advantage of the RTX-series over the previous generations is the ray tracing feature. Ray tracing is a rendering technique that creates more realistic lighting effects by simulating how light behaves in the real world. It’s a pretty new technology, and it’s still being developed, but some games already support it, and it looks fantastic.
Nvidia also uses a new technology called DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling. DLSS is a machine learning technique that upscales images to improve image quality. It’s still in its early stages, but it shows a lot of promise.
Getting a Processor That Can Handle The Latest Games
The next important thing to consider is the processor. You want a processor that can handle the latest games without any issues. The best gaming laptops under $2000 will have either an Intel Core i-series or AMD Ryzen processor.
Both of these options offer great performance and should be able to handle any game you throw at
Screen Size, Resolution, and Refresh Rate:
Size
Most gaming laptops have 15-inch or 17-inch displays, but there are a few 14-inch and 18-inch options out there.
If you’re often on the move, a smaller screen might be a better option because it’ll make the laptop lighter and more portable. On the other hand, a larger screen will often give you a better gaming experience if you primarily use it at home.
Resolution
Full HD (1920×1080) is still the most common option in this price range, but a few laptops have higher resolutions like 2560×1440 (QHD) or even 3840×2400 (4K).
Higher resolutions will result in sharper and more detailed images. In addition, the powerful components in these laptops can often handle the extra strain of running games at higher resolutions.
However, it’s important to remember that higher resolutions will also put a greater strain on the battery and will often result in shorter gaming sessions. Furthermore, many games won’t support resolutions higher than Full HD, so for some gamers, it’s might be unnecessary to invest in a higher resolution screen.
Refresh Rate
Another important factor to consider when choosing a gaming laptop is the screen’s refresh rate. A higher refresh rate means that the image on your screen will update more frequently. The FPS, or Frames Per Second, is the number of times that your screen refreshes each second. A higher refresh rate will result in a smoother gaming experience and can be beneficial for gamers who need split-second reactions.
Most gaming notebooks under $2000 have a 144hz screen. However, some models have a 240hz, 300hz, or even 360hz rate display. Going from a standard 60hz screen to a 144hz screen is a big difference that most people will notice. Going from 144hz to 240hz or higher is not as noticeable for most people but can still benefit competitive gamers.
Ample Memory and Storage
Memory, also called RAM, is what your computer uses to store temporary files while you are using it. The more RAM your laptop has, the more smoothly it will run. Most gaming laptops under $2000 come with at least 16GB of RAM. If you can, get 32GB of RAM. It will future-proof your system and allow you to run more demanding programs and games smoothly.
Storage is what you use to store your files permanently. A gaming laptop under $2000 will usually come with a 1TB SSD (Solid State Drive). Some laptops might have a larger SSD or a combination of an SSD and HDD (Hard Disk Drive). If you have a lot of large files, like video or photography files, look for laptops with a larger hard drive.
Cooling and Battery Life
Common issues with gaming laptops are poor battery life and overheating. So make sure to get a laptop with good cooling and enough battery life to last you through even the longest gaming sessions.
Some laptops come with special features to help with cooling, like extra fans or thermal management software. These can be helpful, but they’re not always necessary. For example, if the laptop is running hot, you can often use a cooling pad to help dissipate the heat.
When it comes to battery life, there’s no easy answer. It depends on the games you play, how high you set the graphics settings, and other factors. Generally speaking, you can expect around two to five hours of gaming on a laptop with a standard battery.
A Keyboard Designed for Gaming
A laptop’s keyboard is essential for two reasons:
- You will be spending a lot of time typing and playing games on it.
- Some keys are also explicitly designed for gaming.
These special gaming keys can include macro keys, which can be programmed to perform complex actions with a single press. Or they could have highlighted WASD keys so you can find them easily while you’re in the heat of battle.
Look for a laptop with a backlit keyboard. This will come in handy when you’re playing games in low-light conditions. Most of the keyboards in the price range will have per-key RGB backlighting. This means it’s customizable, so you can set it to any color you want.
Conclusion:
Picking the best gaming laptops under $2000 is a tough task because many great options are out there. However, we hope that our list has helped you narrow down your choices and find the perfect laptop for your needs!
The gaming notebooks above were selected based on a combination of factors, including performance, features, and value. In addition, we’ve read both expert and user reviews to get a well-rounded idea of each machine’s strengths and weaknesses. So, whether you’re looking for the best overall gaming laptop or the best value for your money, one of these laptops should be a great fit for you.
The Alienware m15 R4 is our top pick, followed closely by the Razer Blade 15 and the Gigabyte Aorus 15P YD. All three of these laptops offer great value for money and will give you the best possible gaming experience. Overall, the Alienware has the best gaming performance, while the Razer has a better screen, and the Gigabyte has a more powerful GPU. Which one to get depends on your needs and preferences. No matter which one you choose, you can’t go wrong!