Top 7+ Best Gaming Laptops under $2000 – Thin & Powerful. Sep 2021

If you’re spending close to $2000 on a gaming laptop, you are spoiled for choices. At the same time, it also makes it difficult to finalize one gaming laptop that you’d invest your money in.

With so many combinations of features, specifications, and design – choosing the best gaming laptop under $2000 is a hard pick. Hence, to ease your trouble, I’ve listed 7 gaming laptops that offer an excellent price-to-performance ratio.

The laptops mentioned below put forward specifications like 300Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, top-of-the-line graphics card, and lightweight design.

Now, without any adieu, let’s jump on to the list, shall we?

Top 5 Best Gaming Laptops under 2000$ in 2021

Image	Products	Speciality	Price
	MSI GS66 Stealth	Best 300Hz Screen Gaming Laptop	Check Price
	Razer Blade 15 Base	Best Design	Check Price
	HP Omen 15	Best HP Gaming	Check Price
	Gigabyte Aorus 15G	Best Specs	Check Price
	Razer Blade Stealth 13	Best Compact Gaming	Check Price

7 Best Gaming Laptops under $2000 in 2021

1.MSI GS66 Stealth – Best Gaming Laptop with 300Hz Screen

The MSI GS66 Stealth is probably the most powerful yet underrated laptop launched in 2020.

Priced just under $2000, the MSI GS66 Stealth has top-of-the-line hardware available in any laptop under $2000.

It features Intel’s 10th generation i7-10875H CPU, 32GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super GPU, 512GB NVMe SSD, and 15.6-inch Full HD display with 300Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time.

The above gaming laptop specifications are mind-numbing and make the MSI GS66 Stealth the most powerful laptop under $2000.

This MSI laptop’s primary audience is on-the-go gamers that need a powerful system at their disposal. Since it’s a laptop, you can carry it anywhere with you and have desktop-like power at your disposal.

Design-wise, this laptop retains the minimalistic design used in the MSI Creator laptop range. The entire laptop is built using aluminum. However, the design doesn’t stand out, and from a far-off distance, it looks like any other regular laptop like these good laptops for gaming under 400.

You get a pleasantly spaced-out RGB keyboard with large keys and single-key RGB customization. At first, the typing experience might feel squishy; however, quickly, you’ll get used to it. The glass touchpad below is of premium quality. It is quite large and easy-to-use; however, you don’t get an integrated fingerprint scanner as seen in the MSI Creator laptop range. 

The palm-rest area features 2W upward-firing stereo speakers on either side. While, these speakers aren’t a replacement to regular speakers; however, it gets the job done.

Additionally, the MSI GS66 Stealth features a plethora of wired and wireless connectivity options, a 99.9 WHr battery, and weighs just 4.63 pounds.

Bottom Line

“You should get the MSI GS66 Stealth if you want a no-compromise gaming laptop for the money you’re paying. It features extremely powerful innards and is the perfect fit for professional work and gaming at an approachable price point.”

2. Razer Blade 15 Base – Best Designed Gaming Laptop

A few years ago, gaming laptops used to be powerful gaming machines with awfully aggressive and bulky design.

Razer changed the game by offering sleek-looking laptops that you can easily carry around and won’t be embarrassed taking to work. The Razer Blade series carries the same legacy and is now offered in Base, Pro, and Advanced avatar.

The Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop ‘Base’ moniker might make this laptop seem a watered-down version than its expensive laptop range. However, it’s the complete opposite.

With this cheap gaming laptop, you get the latest hardware and a powerful CPU+GPU combination of Intel’s 10th generation Core i7-10750H processor and Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 graphics card.

This powerful setup comprises 16GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD for lightning-fast performance.

On the design front, the Razer Blade series design is inspired by the Apple Macbook Pro range and isn’t a bad thing at all. Therefore, this laptop has a unibody design and constructed from an entire aluminum block with a CNC milling process. This complex design procedure gives the laptop a premium feel just like these best chromebook for under $200 and inherently increases the price compared to its competitor gaming laptop.

The Razer Blade 15 Base is completely dipped in matte black color with a florescent green Razer logo on top. In contrast, you can see florescent green ascents throughout the gaming laptop, which further complements the design.

After opening the lid, you are greeted with a 15.6-inch Full HD screen that supports a 144Hz refresh rate. The screen has excellent color accuracy and very slim bezels on 3 sides. These features improve the gaming performance and offer an immersive viewing experience unlike a 500 dollar gaming laptop.

Looking down, you can see the beautiful TKL keyboard with Chroma-RGB backlighting. Using the Razer software, you can control the keyboard’s lighting and effects. Moreover, with built-in dynamic lighting effects, this keyboard can adapt to the games you’re playing, like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Warframe, and more on your gaming laptop.

The touchpad below is exceptionally responsive and is sized reasonably for comfortable usage. You get upward-firing stereo speakers situated on either side of the keyboard that offer satisfactory performance.

Bottom Line

“Compared to the MSI GE66 Stealth, the Razer Blade 15 Base lacks few features. However, the extra money you pay goes into offering you a premium experience that we’re used to in the Apple MacBook laptop range.”

3. HP Omen 15-DH1019NR– Best HP gaming laptop

If you’re looking for the epitome of a gaming laptop under $2000, then the HP Omen 15-DH1019NR is a perfect choice.

It is a beast of a laptop that features a Full HD display with a whopping 300Hz refresh rate. The high refresh rate means you can play modern games as high as 300 frames per second (fps).

To bring out 300fps gaming performance, this laptop consists of Intel 10th generation Core i7-10750H CPU. It is a 6-core processor that offers 12-threads, with a processor base clock of 2.6GHz and Turbo Boost up to 5GHz for extreme performance.

This top-of-the-line CPU is coupled with Geforce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q graphics card. It is an 8GB GDDR6 GPU that can offer over 100+ fps on modern AAA gaming titles like Far Cry 5, Battlefield V, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Metro: Exodus, and more with 1080p resolution and Ultra preset.

To support this powerful CPU and GPU combination, HP has included a massive 32GB RAM module in a 2x 16GB configuration. Moreover, you also get 512GB NVMe SSD and Windows 10 Home OS preinstalled.

It features an aggressive gaming laptop design that is usually associated with gaming laptop. However, HP has added a little poise to the design. Thus it doesn’t look hideous like many other gaming laptop we know of.

Once you open the lid, you’ll notice a different screen design on the HP Omen 15-DH1019NR. The two hinges are moved closer, and both ends of the screen are lifted. This design choice gives this laptop a desktop-esque feel to it.

Down below, you get a full-size backlit keyboard with 3-zone RGB lighting. With the inbuilt software, you can customize 3-zone RGB backlighting according to your choice. Consequently, the touchpad is of average size and features 2 physical keys for left and right-click.

The gaming laptop features brushed metal on the top lid and keyboard area. Moreover, you get Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers as standard.

Bottom Line

“The HP Omen 15-DH1019NR is a well-versed example if you’re looking for a power-packed gaming laptop with potent hardware without having to spend much. It is equipped with a plethora of connectivity options with robust CPU, GPU.”

4. Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC – Best Gaming Laptop with Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU

With the Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC, the brand hasn’t left any space for complaints since its offers jam-packed specifications within a compact body.

For starters, this laptop boasts a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS screen that offers a mammoth 240Hz refresh rate and extremely low response time. It’s common to find a laptop for game with a 144Hz screen under $2000; however, the 240Hz improves the experience for the same amount of money.

Talking about its innards, this laptop comes with an Intel Core i7-10870H CPU coupled with a prodigious Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 GPU. This graphics card offers 8GB GDDR6 memory, with a memory speed of 14000 MHz with an awesome Intel Core i7-10750H.

Design-wise, this game laptop retains the Aorus gaming laptop’s traditional look with slight changes here and there. The most significant change is the weight – this laptop now weighs at just 4.4 pounds and is an engineering feat for a gaming laptop packed to the brim.

You get a full-size RGB backlit keyboard that covers the entire length of this laptop. This design choice is decisive; however, a full-size keyboard in a compact laptop means smaller keys. Hence, typing for longer hours on this keyboard will be an issue.

Moreover, the hinges supporting the screen aren’t robust. When you open the screen, you can feel minor wobbles and the same when typing or gaming on this laptop.

The Aorus Control Central software in this laptop lets you customize the laptop’s performance. Within the software, you can control CPU performance and GPU performance. Moreover, you can also control the fan curve and use the software preset to make the task easier.

To improve the gaming performance further, this laptop is equipped with a massive dual-channel 32GB RAM setup and a 512GB NVMe SSD storage drive with an extra slot for adding another drive.

Alongside, all this hardware performance can be easily noticed on the color-accurate Full HD display. It has skinny bezels on 3 sides that offer an immersive experience. With such powerful hardware, it is mandatory to include a bigger battery, and Gigabyte has done just that. This laptop comes with a 99WHr battery life that offers anywhere between 4-7 hours of battery, depending on your usage.

Bottom Line

“The Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC is not the perfect gaming laptop. However, the brand has made a concise effort to make it compact and offer all the necessary features and specifications that you’d expect at this point.”

5. Razer Blade Stealth 13 – Best Compact Gaming laptop

Want a powerful gaming laptop that weighs just over 3 pounds? Then the Razer Blade Stealth 13 should be the ideal choice.

Featuring a 13.3-inch 1080p screen, this laptop weighs 3.26 pounds and offers incredible gaming performance on the go.

The Full HD display offers a 120Hz refresh rate display, which provides fantastic gaming performance and a color-accurate viewing experience like these best laptop under 600 (our recommendations).

On the performance front, the Razer Blade Stealth 13 comes with Intel’s 11th generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU that offers impressive performance. At the same time, gaming and doesn’t drain the battery much.

The CPU is coupled with Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU. This GPU is offered with 4GB GDDR6 memory and capable of playing most modern games without lag.

Design-wise, it retains the same design that we’re used to in Razer laptop. The design is borrowed from its premium siblings and shares design cues with Apple MacBook Pro.

The TKL game keyboard is well spaced-out and offers Chroma RGB for customizing keyboard backlighting. The touchpad below covers the entire vertical area and is relatively wide. The touchpad offers precise response while using regularly.

The entire laptop is built using a single block of aluminum with a CNC milling process. The unibody aluminum built gives this laptop a premium feel. The matte black color makes it stand out from its competition.

Other features include 16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD storage, and USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support.

Bottom Line For Razer Blade

“The Razer Blade Stealth 13 gaming laptop is a premium 13-inch gaming laptop that offers a great balance between games performance and lightweight design. Thus, you can work and play games on the go.”

6. Alienware M17 R3 – Best Gaming Laptop from Alienware

Alienware laptops started the whole rage of best gaming laptops with insane aesthetics. Back then, everyone wanted to get their hands on an Alienware laptop. Compared to the ones sold in the market back then, Alienware laptops looked completely different.

Over the years, competitors caught up to Alienware tricks. Yet, the brand still retains that quirky memory whenever Alienware is mentioned to any 90’s kids.

Current Alienware ones are a big departure from their older gaming laptops. Newer generation ones are sleeker with design that matches current standards. The Alienware M17 R3 retains its previous version’s design, though in a compact casing, and has shed some weight.

This laptop now is just 0.7-inches thick and weighs 5.51 pounds, making the laptop a practical and portable choice. Having said that, this laptop comes with a 17.3-inch screen. It is a significant departure in terms of weight when compared to other 17-inch display best gaming laptops for a gamer.

Talking about the screen, it’s a 17.3-inch Full HD with an IPS display. In terms of gaming, this one offers up to a 300Hz refresh rate and overkill for laptop gaming pc. However, knowing that the Alienware M17 R3 comes with an Geforce RTX 2070 Max-Q 8GB GDDR6 GPU, the 300Hz display makes total sense.

Aesthetically, this looks better than its competitors. It doesn’t have an in-your-face design; however, the running LED strip at the back, dual air exhausts, or the keyboard design makes it feel like a hardcore gaming machine.

Under the hood, you also get Intel’s 10th generator Core i7-10750H CPU, which is coupled with 16GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB SSD storage. However, the laptop doesn’t last much since Alienware has fitted this laptop with a smaller battery life. Expect anywhere between 2-3 hours of battery life on a full charge.

During intense gaming sessions, expect this laptop to get as hot as 90°C, and the slimmer design means you feel the heat too.

Bottom Line For Alienware

“As a kid, if you always wanted to buy an Alienware laptop, then this is your chance. It still retains that quirky design that Alienware is associated with and stands out from a stream of best gaming laptops available in the market. The brand has also kept the price in-check and captivates with its specifications.”

7. Acer Predator Helios 300 – Best 17 inch Gaming Laptop

The Acer Predator Helios 300 is available with a 15-inch and 17-inch screen. While the 15-inch version is a popular pick; however, there’s not much difference in pricing. Hence the 17-inch version featured here offers better screen real estate.

This laptop features a 17.3-inch Full HD IPS display. This has a refresh rate of 144Hz and a response time of just 3ms.

Design-wise, the Acer Predator Helios 300 doesn’t feel as sleek as other gaming laptops available in the market nowadays. It carries the same design language of its previous generation with aggressive styling and exhaust ports all-around.

Once you open the laptop, you are greeted with a massive 17.3-inch display with fairly thick bezels on all 4 sides. The full-size keyboard offers 4-zone RGB backlighting that can be controlled through the built-in software. Whereas the touchpad is of moderate size yet seems tiny in a 17-inch display casing. With the big screen and large casing like asus rog strix scar, the laptop weighs 6.4 pounds.

Powering the Helios 300 is Intel’s 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, coupled with a fabulous Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU that offers 8GB GDDR6 video memory.

You also get dual-channel 16GB DDR4 RAM and a colossal 1TB NVMe SSD storage that offers a great combination between storage and speed like in asus rog strix scar.

Acer states that the Full HD display covers 100% sRGB color space, which means the display is color accurate. Plus, it also features Killer’s Double Shot Pro WiFi 6 chip and Killer’s E2600 Ethernet port for faster wired and wireless connectivity.

Bottom Line For Acer Predator

“The Acer Predator Helios 300 offers a massive screen real estate to play modern games without squinting your eyes. Additionally, it offers a powerful CPU and GPU combination along with a huge amount of RAM and SSD storage.”

Things to Consider while Buying Gaming Laptops under $2000

1. Processor

Best Gaming laptops under $2000 tend to have the top-of-the-line processor available in the current market. That’s why most ones in the above list feature the latest 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H CPU. This processor has a base clock of 2.6GHz, and under extreme load, it can Turbo Boost up to 5GHz.

Thus, under normal circumstances, this processor won’t cause significant drain on your laptop’s battery life. Whereas in times of need, the processor can provide that extra boost of performance.

Other processors included in the above list are Intel Core i7-10870H and Core i7-10875H that offer comparable better performance than the Core i7-10750H.

2. Graphics Card

Graphics Card is the heart when it comes to gaming laptops. The most popular graphics card at this price is Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Max-Q. However, a couple of mentioned above come with Nvidia RTX 3070 graphics card as well. 

There’s no discernable difference between the two cards; however, the RTX 3070 is the latest of the lot. Hence RTX 3070 based ones are slightly pricier.

You also get Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics that offers a great combination between performance and battery life.

3. Refresh Rate

If you’re spending close to $2000 on a gaming laptop, it is essential to get one with a 144Hz refresh rate. Few ones mentioned in this list offer around 240Hz and 300Hz refresh rates with 3ms gaming response.

A higher gaming refresh rate ensures gamers can visibly experience the increased frame rates that the hardware in your laptop can generate. Traditional 60Hz laptop display can’t process more than 60fps while playing high frame rate games.

4. Weight

With the advent of modern gaming machine technology, gaming laptops no longer weigh a ton. Many high-end gaming laptops under $2000 weigh close to 4.5 pounds. This weight reduction is an enormous improvement compared to budget gaming laptops that weighed over 9 pounds a few years ago.

Thus, make sure gamers are not compromising on gaming machine performance and portability factor too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ideal display screen size for gaming laptops?

You get featured-packed gaming laptops available in both 15-inch display and 17-inch display version. While 17-inch display laptops offer better real estate for games – you have to deal with few issues like lower pixel density display, extra display weight, and reduced portability.

On the other hand, 15-inch display gaming laptop under 2000 improve on these issues and offer a favorable smooth gaming experience in close-range gaming.

Moreover, with Thunderbolt 3 or HDMI ports, you can connect your gaming laptop to a monitor or TV and enjoy games on a bigger display.

Do gaming laptops have long battery life?

Few gaming laptops mentioned above come with a 99Whr battery. In a regular laptop, such a big battery would offer 10-12 hours of battery life on full charge. However, the powerful hardware on a budget gaming laptop draws more power even when not gaming.

Plus, the gamers love RGB backlighting, sophisticated cooling system, and high refresh screen draw extraordinary amounts of power. For example, the Alienware M17 R3 laptop is fitted with an 86 WHr power battery life. However, with regular games usage, the premium gaming laptop under 2000 can last only between 2-3 hours on a full charge.

What is the ideal RAM size of a gaming laptop under $2000?

Most gaming laptops under $2000 for gamers come with 16GB RAM, whereas a couple of gaming ones in our list also include 32GB RAM for games.

While 32GB RAM seems like overkill; however, the bigger, the better. 16GB RAM is more than enough for a gaming laptop that costs under $2000. Later, if needed, you can upgrade to 32GB RAM as required.

Conclusion

As you’ve seen above, you get a wide variety of gaming laptops under $2000, ranging from 13.3-inch display to 17.3-inch display. A few years ago, if you wanted a premium gaming laptop for gamers, you’d have to give up on compact design and deal with heavy weight.

However, you’ll find models that offer incredible performance in the above list yet being very lightweight.

Moreover, Nvidia has gone gun-blazing with its RTX GPUs for games. Hence, gamers get powerful RTX 2070 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Super, and RTX 3070 GPUs in laptops under $2000.

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