Best Gaming Laptops Under $1500


If you are just after the quick answer for the best gaming laptop under $1500 our personal recommendation is the Alienware 17.

Today I will be talking about the best gaming laptops under $1500. For this ranking I’ve tested a dozen budget gaming laptops to see their performance.

One thousand dollars is the minimum for getting decent gaming laptops that allow you to play comfortably any of the latest games. You can buy cheaper ones, but if you can afford a bit more then the quality of your gaming laptop will be far superior.

We have reviewed a number of high quality laptops that will be a great buy and perform well for most gaming needs.


In this article we will review the following gaming laptops that you should be able to pick up for less than 1500 bucks:

5 Best Gaming Laptops under $1,500

Features:

  • Quad Core i7-4710HQ 2.5 GHz (Turbo 3.5 GHz)
  • GeForce GTX970M GPU with 3 GB RAM
  • 8 GB DDR3 RAM
  • 1024 GB HDD Disc
  • 17.3-Inch Full-HD IPS Display
  • Windows 8.1
  • Performance in Games 85%
  • Features 98%
  • Quality & Design 97%
  • Total 91.25%

Features:

  • Quad Core i7-5700HQ 2.7 GHz (Turbo 3.5 GHz)
  • GeForce GTX970M GPU with 3 GB RAM.
  • 16 GB DDR3 RAM.
  • 1024 GB HDD Disc
  • 17.3-Inch Full-HD IPS Display.
  • Windows 10
  • Performance in Games 85%
  • Features 96%
  • Quality & Design 92%
  • Total 89.5%

Features:

  • Quad Core i7-5700HQ 2.7 GHz (Turbo 3.5 GHz)
  • GeForce GTX970M GPU with 3 GB RAM.
  • 16 GB DDR3 RAM.
  • 1024 GB HDD Disc and 128 GB SSD
  • 15.2-Inch Full-HD IPS Display.
  • Windows 8.1.
  • Performance in Games 87%
  • Features 92%
  • Quality & Design 91%
  • Total 89.25%

Features:

  • Quad Core i7-4720HQ 2.6 GHz (Turbo 3.5 GHz)
  • GeForce GTX960M GPU with 2 GB RAM.
  • 16 GB DDR3 RAM.
  • 512 SSD
  • 15.6-Inch 4k Ultra-HD IPS Display.
  • Windows 8.1.
  • Performance in Games 82%
  • Features 95%
  • Quality & Design 97%
  • Total 89%

Features:

  • Quad Core i7-5700HQ 2.7 GHz (Turbo 3.5 GHz)
  • GeForce GTX970M GPU with 3 GB RAM.
  • 8 GB DDR3 RAM.
  • 1024 GB HDD Disc + 128 GB SSD
  • 15.6-Inch Full-HD IPS Display.
  • Windows 8.1.
  • Performance in Games 83%
  • Features 93%
  • Quality & Design 87%
  • Total 86.5%

What the Best Gaming Laptop Under $1500 should have?

The Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) –

The power of the gaming laptop would ideally determine the power of its graphic processing unit (GPU). A dedicated graphic card is required to play the most modern games. You will be able to play many games with an integrated GPU but it would be on much lower settings.

You may find that some games will not run on it. So, if you have to select between a cheaper laptop with an integrated GPU and a laptop with a dedicated GPU, you are strongly advised to go for the dedicated GPU.

You will save in the long run even if you spend a little extra for the dedicated GPU.

The CPU –

The second important part of a gaming laptop is the processor (CPU). It may not be as important as the GPU but you can’t underestimate the importance of it. It will have an overall effect on the performance of your gaming laptop. At least an i5 processor is recommended for gaming purposes.

Even though the i7 would be a great processor for gaming, the i5 will also get the job done. Most of the people ask me whether a quad core processor or a dual core process is best for a better gaming experience. Many games are not possible to use the four cores in the quad core processor.

But there are enough games that could be played using the four cores. If you have any program running on the background which could use these cores, you will be left with more free space to play your games.

The RAM –

Playing games on a laptop will greatly affect its the memory of the laptop. The minimum requirement is an 8.0 GB RAM. This will be almost enough for any game, but a 16.0 GB RAM would be ideal if you can afford it.

Other Important Features –

There are many other important things to consider when buying a gaming laptop. If you don’t consider these features, you may make a bad choice when purchasing the laptop.

For example, you must decide if you want a numeric keyboard or not. A numeric keyboard is great for working on Excel and other Spreadsheets, but you also must remember that a numeric keyboard consists of smaller keys, which could be uncomfortable to operate on a laptop, especially when playing games.

The number of USB ports in the laptop is extremely important to consider before purchasing one. You should go with a laptop that has at least 3 USB ports. The external keyboard, a mouse and a flash drive will fit into these three USB ports quite easily. The screen size is also extremely important when purchasing a gaming laptop. A 17-inch screen would be ideal for playing games. Playing games on smaller screens are quite uncomfortable.

If you think that a 17-inch screen is too small for you, the best thing is to plug-in an external monitor with a 21-inch screen to the laptop when playing games. If you need to have two windows open at one particular time, an external monitor would do the trick.

If you are confused as to how to connect the external monitor to the laptop, the most common method is to use either a D-Sub or a HDMI port. D-Sub are available in old laptops.

They are not good for playing modern games that require higher resolutions. HDMI is the best for playing games.

A HDMI enabled laptop will help to get the best quality pictures when an external monitor is connected through it. This way, you even can connect a TV that is of 70-inches to the laptop.