Not everyone can afford the upcoming monster laptops in Acer Predator 21X and Alienware 15 and 17. Budget-friendly gaming laptops are made for those with a tight budget. They may not be as powerful but they offer decent gaming. It will only cost you less than $1,000.
Here are the 2016 budget-friendly gaming laptops for hardcore gamers:
Dell Inspiron 15 7000
The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is arguably still the best budget-friendly gaming laptop. The 15.6-inch gaming laptop costs under $800. The Inspiron 15 7000 is powered by Intel Core i5 6300HQ processor. It has the 4 GB GTX 960M, 8 GB of memory, a 256 GB SSD and 1 TB HDD.
According to Elite Gaming Computers, one of the assets of the Inspiron 15 7000 is the GTX 960M video card. The rest of the budget-friendly gaming laptops only have 2 GB of VRAM.
Another plus is the long battery life of Inspiron 15 7000. According to Laptop Mag, the battery can last around 6 hours and 45 minutes. The gaming laptop's slick design is also very appealing. The affordable price doesn't compromise its performance.
ASUS K501UW-AB78
The ASUS K501UW-AB78 costs around $70 less than the Inspiron 15 7000. That may be because it is powered by an upgraded Intel Core i7 6500U. It also has bigger SSD at 512 GGB. Though it only has the 2 GB version of GTX 460M.
The 15.6-inch K501UW-AB78 also has an 8 GB of memory.
Price-wise, the Inspiron 15 7000 is still the best choice. Though you can choose the K501UW-AB78 if you don't mind spending more for a bigger SSD and an i7 processor.
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black
The Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black costs a lot more than the Inspiron 15 7000. The Inspiron 15 7000 offers a lot more in every sense at a more affordable price. Though the Aspire V15 Nitro Black is actually good enough for gaming.
It is powered by Intel Core i7 4720HQ. It has the usual 8 GB of memory, 2 GB of GTX 960M and 1 TB HDD. The 15.6-inch gaming laptop suffers from short battery life. Laptop Mag reports that it only lasted less than three hours.
Lenovo Y700
The Lenovo Y700 is almost the same as the Aspire V15 Nitro Black. They are both quite pricier than the Inspiron 15 7000. It also doesn't offer except its upgraded Intel Core i7 67000HQ. It lacks the 4 GB of GTX 960MX and an SSD. Though it has 8 GB of memory and 1 TB HHD.
The supposed i7 processor of Lenovo Y700 is not even an advantage. The i5 processor of the Inspiron 15 7000 is not far off in your gaming performance.
However, the good thing about Lenovo Y700 is its great audio and JBL speakers. It's also a bit more portable.
ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH71
The ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH71 is considered the most non-budget friendly in this list. In fact, it barely passed the $1000 budget. It is powered by Intel Core i7 67000HQ, a 2 GB of GTX 960M and a 1 TB HHD.
The price amounts to 16 GB of DDR4 memory compared to the usual 8 GB of DDR3. However, it still doesn't make any difference compared to the cheaper gaming laptops. Though it has a better cooling system.
Laptop Mag reports that the chassis is also appealing, but the best asset of ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH71 is its 1080p display.
This is for you if you are after the design, cooling and display. Otherwise, you can choose the other more budget-friendly gaming laptops.
