After a long array of going through lots of laptops out there that can kick some realistic games precisely, I came across some of the best gaming laptops under 1300 dollar. Whereas, it’s not an easy job picking the gaming rigs that can actually take down your favorite modern AAA titles with accuracy.
That’s only possible if the processor, graphics card, RAM, and other specs on a laptop are promising. For $1300, you have hundreds of gaming machines, some are portable and some make you isolate from the rest of the world. However, in the case of the best laptops for gaming under $1300, you can play games on the go which is the biggest benefit of these composites of powerful hardware components.
Now the question that worries you the most is which gaming laptop for our decided budget can do the best. Luckily, the answer to this is the list that I have compiled after cherry-picking the most reliable gaming laptops under $1300. Any of these options is straight away a death note for games that you have been wishing to play.
Best Gaming Laptops Under 1300 dollar Reviews
1. Acer Predator Helios 300: (best gaming laptop under $1300)
The drill: For those who are hunting for more gaming power, the Acer Predator Helios 300 is the one holding it inside for just $1300.
| Processor | 11th Generation Intel Core i7-11800H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 1920 x 1080P, 15.6-inch FHD, IPS panel |
| Weight: | 5.07 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 14.31 x 10.04 x 0.9 inches |
| Operating System: | Windows 11 Home |
The Good
- Comes with a backlit keyboard and a beautiful design.
- GPU and CPU are the recent ones.
- The feature-rich display is meant for gaming.
- Have plenty of features other than the ones mentioned.
The Bad
- Poor battery time.
There are many jaw dropping facts attached to the helios 300 although it is known to people for so many years. Yet the recent upgrades to it make it admirable which includes the graphics card like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 with 6GB GDDR6 memory. With such a GPU on a gaming laptop, no graphics hungry title can stand such power in 1080P settings.
Whereas, the 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H sits at the core of this $1300 gaming laptop having 8 cores that help it clock at 4.6GHz max. On top of that, the 16 GB RAM honors the predator helios 300 in ultimate gaming and multitasking.
Another component like the 512GB SSD is packed right inside of this beast to tackle the data faster than any other storage drive and has enough capacity for your favorite games like Gotham Knights and Scorn.
As expected from a gaming laptop, the battery time is quite unimpressive for normal use with only 3 hours as claimed by the Acer company.
The USB 3.0 ports on this budget flagship are 4 alongside other necessary connectivity options that you may need to transfer and receive data on the Acer Predator Helios 300.
Cheap options with half the price like the best gaming laptops under 700 dollars and gaming laptops for $500 are also worth looking at.
2. ASUS TUF Dash 15: (best gaming laptop under $1300)
The drill: You probably would have seen the gaming laptops but the ASUS TUF Dash F15 is the slim one with an interesting design and components.
| Processor | Intel Core i7-12650H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 1920 x 1080P, 15.6-inch FHD, IPS panel |
| Weight: | 4.41 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 13.94 x 9.88 x 0.81 inches |
| Operating System: | Windows 11 Home |
The Good
- Decent and slim design.
- Lightning fast hardware.
- Backlit KB.
- Acceptable battery time.
The Bad
- Some ports are too close to each other.
There’s no way that the TUF Dash F15 won’t serve you better at 1080P gaming because it has lightning-fast components like the Intel Core i7-12650H with 10 cores that have a clocking speed of 4.7GHz.
In addition to that, it can carry the graphics burden pretty easily with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, a GPU with dedicated memory of 6GB from the GDDR6 Gen. Whereas a 16GB DDR4 RAM tackles the heaviest memories of any game thrown at this gaming laptop.
The storage is good with the 512GB capacity and what makes it faster than any other drive is the higher RPM because it’s an SSD.
Whereas, the 15.6″ screen is wider enough to have some really nice gameplays for your favorite titles plus – it’s full of your desired features.
As expected, the ASUS TUF Dash 15 is the bearer of a 76 Wh battery that allows this machine for almost 7 hours on a single charge.
Apart from all the ports on this gaming laptop, the interesting one is Thunderbolt 4 which is the latest connectivity option that only a few laptops have in a $1300 budget price range.
All in all, this can be a good deal for you if you’re dealing with a cheaper computer for so many years yet haven’t found the one that can do exactly what you wish for on the gaming side.
Also read: Best budget gaming laptops
3. MSI Pulse GL66: (best gaming laptop under $1300)
The drill: The name is MSI pulse GL66 and yes this gaming laptop has a pulsing performance at 1080P settings for the titles like Elden Ring and Horizen Forbidden West.
| Processor | 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 1920 x 1080P, 15.6-inch FHD, IPS panel |
| Weight: | 4.63 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 14.13 x 0.94 x 10.2 inches |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 Home |
The Good
- Ergonomic.
- Outstanding performance.
- The display is made for gaming.
- Latest tech components.
The Bad
- Poor batter.
- Price more than $1,300.
A little over 1300 dollars but the MSI Pulse GL66 pays the price by giving us the furious CPU, GPU, and other specs. With the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, this gaming laptop can take on most of the games in a single blow and performs smoothly without getting heated up.
Whereas, complimented with an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, sitting at its core to cope with some real processes at the clocking speed of 4.60 GHz. In addition, it’s topped up with 16GB DDR4 RAM to embrace the most popular games out there.
Moreover, the storage is the same as other $1,300 laptops having the 512GB capacity to bear the games that you love and it’s the SSD.
As for the display, the screen size is standing at 15.6 inches alongside the IPS panel, 144Hz refresh rate, 1080P peaking resolution, etc.
Sadly, the battery time is only 3-4 hours and why it shouldn’t after all, it’s a gaming laptop with power hungry components.
Overall, this model can do better than all cheaper options from MSI out there, and especially, you’ll never experience any stuttering or tearing during playing games.
If a 15-inch screen is what you’re not comfortable with, find the best gaming monitor under $200 for yourself to have a better experience.
4. Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58-725A: (best gaming laptop under $1300)
The drill: Stylish and powerful at the same is what Acer Nitro 5 is all about and I am talking about the older models at all, it’s the latest one.
| Processor | 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 1920 x 1080P, 15.6-inch FHD, IPS panel |
| Weight: | 5.51 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 14.19 x 10.67 x 1.06 inches |
| Operating System: | Windows 11 Home |
The Good
- The latest CPU so far is sitting inside.
- Nightmare for games at 1080P.
- Multitasking is easy here.
- Ports rich.
The Bad
- No thunderbolt.
The Nitro 5 is as powerful as it looks to take on popular games like Rainbow 6 Extraction and Total War: Warhammer III in higher settings with ease.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU and Intel Core i7-12700H CPU are some of the reasons behind what this beast is capable of. That’s because these are the latest components with more power than our pick is holding.
On top of that, the memory capacity is plenty, a RAM with a room of 16GB for the brutal of tasks and games. Moreover, the 512GB Gen 4 SSD completes the overall performance and lets us save the games that you love.
The display is the same as the other gaming laptops on the list with more gaming-required features.
As per the test, the battery time touches approximately 7 hours when watching movies or playing games. In short, this is a beautiful-looking medium-level flagship for the ones craving to kick some 1080P gaming.
5. MSI Katana GF66: (best gaming laptop under $1300)
The drill: Another gaming laptop that is cheaper than 1300 dollars yet offers some of the most awesome components for gaming.
| Processor | 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12650H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 1920 x 1080P, 15.6-inch FHD, IPS panel |
| Weight: | 4.85 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 15.63 x 10.24 x 0.9 inches |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 |
The Good
- Fast CPU.
- Decent performance at low settings.
- Acceptable display.
The Bad
- Lacks in many things.
Same as the previous laptop from the MSI on the list, the MSI Katana GF66 has a 12th gen processor but the model is different and it’s the Intel Core i7-12650H with a speed of 4.7GHz.
However, as it falls in the cheaper laptops category, the GPU is compromised and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is one here to deal with your favorite games.
The same is the case for RAM with 8GB which is way low than as compared to the $1300 gaming laptops mentioned. But the SSD is still maintained at 512GB for the Katana GF66 which has a price tag of $1000 max.
The battery time is lower than expected with 4 hours, pretty much another downside for this MSI machine. Yet all other specs are the same as the other flagship laptops including display, ports, etc. All in all, If this laptop is not what you’re looking for, you can check out the best gaming laptops under $800 that can do better than this one.
6. GIGABYTE AORUS 15: (best gaming laptop under $1300)
The drill: The GIGABYTE AORUS 15 is way ahead of all of the 5 ones above having powerful hardware and a beautiful design for the same price as other beasts.
| Processor | 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H |
| RAM | 32GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 1920 x 1080P, 15.6-inch FHD, IPS panel |
| Weight: | 5.07 pounds |
| Dimensions: | 15.63 x 10.24 x 0.9 inches |
| Operating System: | Windows 11 Home |
The Good
- Powerful for high settings.
- Good ergonomics.
- High-end display.
- Long battery time.
The Bad
- No cons.
The last gaming laptop is a complete monster that you must have because the GIGABYTE AORUS 15 is the only one on the list with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD.
Apart from that, the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H is way more powerful for games that aren’t able to play on a cheap gaming laptop. This gets us to the 2.7 GHz clock speed and on turbo, it can touch 4.7GHz to bring down the toughest tasks.
Whereas, the GeForce RTX 3060 is added to the hardware collection to cope with the graphics demanding games with high FPS at higher settings.
Moreover, the display is 240Hz and you have already seen the other $1300 laptops which are standing at 144Hz only.
Surprisingly, the battery life also stands out from the others, having 8 hours of surviving time on video playback and games. shortly enough, the GIGABYTE AORUS 15 is the prior option as compared to others that must have for exactly $1300.
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How I picked the best gaming laptops under $1300
Picking anything blindly has its consequences and none of us can afford that. The same is the case for gaming laptops, one small mistake can end us up buying an outdated or useless machine. That’s when I decided to create a checklist of features and specifications that a $1300 gaming laptop must have and I went through almost 50 high-end laptop units and I compiled it even further to a list of 6 on the basis of the checklist that I created. Whereas, it took me almost 2 days of continuous research to get to the right options. The checklist included the processor, graphics card, RAM, storage, display, design, and battery life and I am going to break down each one next. The aim is to have the latest hardware components on our machine and following these steps can also help you choose the right option on your own.
Processor
The CPU requirements are pretty much easy to fulfill if you are aware of the latest changes made to the processor’s technology. If not, here’s what you need to do, pick a gaming laptop that can be clocked at 4.6GHz and has an ideal processing power for modern games. The CPUs like 11th Gen i7-11800H are capable of that and as we have a budget of $1300 for a gaming laptop, it’s pretty much easy to have such CPUs on a laptop. However, you’re not bound to Intel’s only, AMD CPUs are also playing the best role in crushing down the barbarian processes. CPU from AMD like Ryzen 7 5800h is similar to the Gen i7-11800H. Of course, there are some price differences but overall they are designed to take down the heaviest programs, and games.
Graphics Card
The Nvidia RTX 4000 series is on the verge of release but we don’t have the graphics cards from the 4000 series right now. We’ll stick to the finest of GPUs from the RTX 3000 series because these are the latest ones right now that can handle graphics hungry games with ease. This is when the GeForce RTX 3060 or any similar graphics card from Nvidia comes in. For a gaming laptop under $1300, such GPUs are ideal as they deliver the right Frames per second in higher settings. The same is the case when a laptop has the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT or any latest GPU from AMD.
RAM
The latest RAM generation these days is DDR5 and most expensive gaming laptops have them. I worked really hard to find the 1300 dollar laptop that is housed with the latest memory. Sadly I failed, instead, I picked the laptop’s DDR4 memory which still falls under the latest tech categories. Whereas, I set an ideal memory of 16GB for these budget gaming laptops.
Storage
Excluding the HDD, the SSD is a component for storing the data that I kept on priority for the laptops for $1,300 that I am going to review later. Typically, most of these machines are equipped with 512GB SSD, and investing a little more in a gaming laptop can give you a 1TB storage capacity. Let’s stick to the 512GB space for now to have the best games on our laptops.
Screen
The screen makes a significant difference in a gaming laptop especially when the display is features rich and of a perfect size. There aren’t many differences between the new and old displays but still, I have picked the options the 15.6 inches screen, 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time on most of them, 1080P resolutions, and IPS panel. All these features on any screen ensure a tearing-free gaming experience and detailed images delivered if you want to use a $1300 gaming laptop for other entertainment purposes.
Battery Life
I never expected an acceptable battery life from a gaming laptop before researching this part but guess what? some of these 6 options come has a 3-4 hours battery time when playing games. Lithium Ion batteries are what you’ll find inside these beasts which aren’t best when graphics cards and other components start eating up power. However, it’s still better than the older batteries found on outdated laptops and 4 hours is pretty much reasonable for these models.
Faqs
Is a $1300 gaming laptop worth it?
Yes, on most of the parts the best laptop for 1300 dollars is the one that can the graphics intense games in 1080P settings. If that’s what you’re looking into, one of these laptops can do miracles for you.
What GPU is inside a gaming laptop for 1300 dollars?
GPUs like the RTX 3050, 3060, and 3070 are what you can get inside a laptop for this budget and they are powerful enough to deal with graphics complex tasks with ease.
Is RAM important for gaming?
Of course it is because, without an ideal RAM, your games can lag because of the memory lack. To solve that, most of the $1300 gaming laptops come equipped with 16GB of RAM.
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