If you qualify for the federal government’s Economic Impact Payment, it should be showing up in your account sometime soon. I know people who have not only already gotten theirs, but already spent it, too. If you’ve been thinking about picking up a new gaming laptop, it’s a great use of your “free” money.
If you’re looking for a more comprehensive list, check out our guides to the best cheap gaming laptops and the best gaming laptops, regardless of price.
Don’t see the lists below? Click here.
Gaming Laptops for $1200 or Less
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If you’re looking for a new gaming laptop for under $1200, the specs of the laptops above are pretty par for the course. Barring special promotions, you can generally find gaming laptops with RTX 2060 or GTX 1660/1660 Ti graphics cards coming in under the $1200 mark. Some are even down below $1000, making them a better deal. Keep in mind when you’re buying a gaming laptop which features you value. You might be able to squeeze in a bigger GPU or slightly better CPU, but it comes at the price of less RAM or SSD storage.
My personal pick from this list would be the Gigabyte Aorus gaming laptop. There’s an instant $300 rebate, so the price comes out to $1099 and it’s pretty stacked. My PC display is 144Hz and I don’t think I ever want to go back, so having it in a well-equipped, on-sale gaming laptop is just the icing on the cake. Check out our review of the (newer) Gigabyte Aorus 15G to get a rough idea of what to expect.
Gaming PCs for $1200 or Less
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Desktop gaming PCs will always offer you more bang for your buck than a laptop. You can build one yourself for less money, and while it’s enormously rewarding, it’s also terrifying if you’re inexperienced. I’ve put together a lot of PCs over the years, and I still have a twinge of horror when I power it up for the first time. Another disadvantage to building your own PC right now is tracking down all the parts. You might be able to get the CPU and GPU you want, only to find yourself waiting on the right motherboard. In any case, there’s no shame in buying a prebuilt.
Unlike the gaming PCs of a decade ago, modern prebuilt gaming PCs aren’t built from proprietary, unswappable parts. Essentially they’re built with the same stuff you’d use to build your own, but with a warranty. Since they’re no longer doing stuff like soldering the GPU in place, you can upgrade as you see fit. Check out our guide to the best gaming PCs for a full list of our recommendations not restricted by price, if you’re feeling a little extra spendy.
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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.
Source: IGN.com The Best Gaming Laptops and Prebuilt PCs for Under 00