It also has a 15.6″ 1080P display that has a 144Hz refresh rate. The Acer Nitro 5 comes with an Intel Core i5-10300H processor, an RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB NVME SSD. But, for now, it’s our Runner-Up pick.ĭespite being quite a bit cheaper than some of the other options on this list, the Acer Nitro 5 is currently one of the best gaming laptops under $1,000. However, if the price were to come down on the ASUS ROG Strix G15, it might be an option worth considering. Not to mention, the Acer Nitro 5 listed below has nearly identical specs and you can grab it for nearly $200 less. That’s why we recommend choosing the Lenovo Legion 5 over it. In comparion to our top pick, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 has a slightly weaker CPU and GPU, has half the memory, and has a slightly slower refresh rate. It’s display is a 15.6-inch screen that has a 1080P resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. This laptop comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB Of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It does come in at just under $1,000, too, so if you have a strict budget, this ASUS gaming laptop might be your best bet. While the Lenovo Legion 5 listed above was our pick for the best option under $1,000, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 isn’t that far behind it. So, in the end, if you’ve got ~$1,000 to spend on a new laptop and you can bump your budget up just another $50, this laptop is going to give you a much better hardware configuration than any of the other sub-$1,000 gaming laptops out there. However, for that extra $50, you get a better processor, a better GPU, more memory, and a higher refresh rate than the options listed below. The one down side of this Ryzen 7 gaming laptop, though, is that it technically doesn’t come in at under $1,000. Not to mention, the addition of the 165Hz refresh rate display will provide an incredibly smooth in-game experience. With the Ryzen 7 CPU, RTX 3050 Ti GPU, and 16GB of RAM, you’ll be able to max out any game you throw at this laptop. It also comes with a larger 15.3″ 1080P 165Hz display.

This Lenovo gaming laptop comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor, an RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The Lenovo Legion 5 is our current pick for the best gaming laptop under $1,000.

Good small gaming laptop