Finding deals on gaming laptops can be a full-time job, as manufacturers and retailers shift prices around all the time. We’ve tracked down nine portable powerhouses at big discounts for you to ponder. These PCs have speedy processors, cutting-edge graphics cards, and plenty of RAM to make it all work. We’ve tracked down the top deals on laptop gaming PCs, split up into three different price ranges. Here are the most attractive gaming laptop discounts for December.
The Hottest Gaming Laptop Deals for December
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Acer Nitro 16 Gaming Laptop for $756 (list price $999.99)
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Lenovo LOQ Gaming Laptop for $849.99 (list price $999.99)
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HP Victus Gaming Laptop for $555 (list price $610)
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Gigabyte Aorus 15 Gaming Laptop for $1,199.99 list price $1,699)
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HP Omen Slim Gaming Laptop for $1,699 list price $1,999)
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MSI Katana 15 HX Gaming Laptop for $1,399 list price $1,529.99)
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Asus 2025 TUF F16 Gaming Laptop for $2,199.99 list price $2,499.99)
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Alienware Area-51 Gaming Laptop for $3,514.99 list price $3,699.99)
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MSI Stealth 18 AI Gaming Laptop for $2,479.97 (list price $2,899.99)
The Best Budget Gaming Laptop Deals
Not rolling in dough but still want to enjoy gaming on the go? Good news. You can take home a solid gaming laptop that can run most of the software on the market (maybe not at the highest settings) for around a grand. We’re breaking our list into three categories, starting with the budget models. These price drops bring each of them down to under a thousand bucks.
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Acer Nitro 16 Gaming Laptop
Specs: AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS CPU | GeForce RTX 4050 GPU | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
How does a 21% discount on a capable Acer portable with a just-released 50-series Nvidia graphics card strike you? The RTX 4050 is a solid pick for mobile gaming, and pairs brilliantly with this laptop’s 16-inch WUXGA IPS display that refreshes at 165Hz. It’s maybe not a resolution monster, but for liquid-smooth gameplay at lightning speeds, this might be the best budget PC you can buy. The RGB backlit keyboard is spacious and responsive, and the chassis has plenty of ports for peripherals.
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Lenovo LOQ Gaming Laptop
Specs: AMD Ryzen 5 7235HS CPU | GeForce RTX 4050 GPU | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD
This Lenovo model is an interesting compromise. While the RTX 4050 graphics card has been pretty solidly surpassed by the 5050, it’s competent and well-tested, as is the Ryzen 7 processor. However, the real value lies in the whopping 32GB of DDR5 RAM, along with a full 1TB of SSD storage—both rarities in the budget space. PCMag has a full review of this unit, noting that it has a great keyboard. Although the chassis is entirely made of plastic, it still feels solid and durable.
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HP Victus Gaming Laptop
Specs: AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS CPU | GeForce RTX 2050 GPU | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Here’s the lowest-priced laptop on our list. While HP isn’t everybody’s first choice for gaming hardware, this is a perfectly acceptable portable PC with decent build quality, functional components, a full-sized keyboard and number pad, and plenty of ports for all your peripherals. PCMag reviewed the Victus and said it benchmarked well and had impressive battery life, but screen brightness left something to be desired.
The Best Laptop Deals Under $2,000
Willing to spend a little more to get a little more? A bunch of really solid laptops hit that sweet spot and won’t empty your bank account. This is also where the discounts start getting steeper, with some of these gaming laptops seeing $200 or more off the purchase price.
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Gigabyte Aorus 15 Gaming Laptop
Specs: Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU | GeForce RTX 4060 GPU | 16GB RAM | 1TBSSD
Hitting right at the midrange of the midrange, the Gigabyte Aorus 15 is a gaming machine that will capably handle all of the top titles of 2025. The 15-inch QHD screen has a zippy 165Hz refresh rate, making it great for fast action, and PCMag’s review notes that it brings “a premium experience and the latest PC gaming tech to budget-strapped gamers.” One thing to note is that performance takes a hit when you’re off the charger, so it might not be a great option for extended trips with no access to power. Aside from that, this is a killer deal.
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HP Omen Slim Gaming Laptop
Specs: Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU | GeForce RTX 5070 GPU | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD
HP’s Omen gaming line typically delivers pretty solid midrange contenders, and their venture into lightweight portables with the Omen Slim laptop seems like a resounding success. PCMag has a hands-on with this machine, where the team praise its good build quality, performance-oriented component loadout, and port selection. The 16-inch WQXGA display has a blazing 240Hz refresh rate, so you can push the RTX 5070 graphics card to the limit. Slicing $300 off makes it a tremendous value.
Credit: Amazon
MSI Katana 15 HX Gaming Laptop
Specs: Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU | GeForce RTX 5060 GPU | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD
The MSI Katana 15 HX is a high-quality midrange gaming laptop that hits a sweet spot between price and performance, especially with a 9% holiday price drop. PCMag reviewed this laptop and said that it was “a quick performer for its price class, with long enough battery life, though its restrictive SSD space and middling display are concessions to reach that price.” That said, there’s nothing easier than hooking up an external drive for your whole Steam library, especially with plenty of ports at your disposal. Exceptional cooling performance is another strong point of this one, with dual fans, multi-heat pipe Cooler Boost 5, and a shared-pipe design.
The Best High-End Gaming Laptop Deals
Now we’re playing with the big boys. If you’ve got a little extra cash on hand and are comfortable dropping coin, you can get a gaming laptop that competes with any high-end desktop out there. Models from Alienware and Lenovo will blow your mind, and bigger prices equal bigger discounts—over $500 off the list price in some cases.
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Asus 2025 TUF F16 Gaming Laptop
Specs: Intel i7-14650HX CPU | GeForce RTX 5060 GPU | 64GB RAM | 2TB SSD
Here’s a tremendous deal on a bulky but battle-ready gaming machine. You get an absolutely dominant 14th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, coupled with a 50-series GeForce RTX graphics card and an absurd 64GB of RAM in this stocky but MIL-STD-810H-certified durable portable PC. Throw in a spacious 2TB internal SSD and a passel of accessories, including a wireless mouse and RGB backlit half-keyboard for gaming, and put a $300 discount on top, and you’ve got a great high-end option.
Credit: Amazon
Alienware Area-51 Gaming Laptop
Specs: Intel Ultra 9 275HX CPU | GeForce RTX 5080 GPU | 64GB RAM | 8TB SSD
If you’re getting a big holiday bonus this year, the Alienware Area-51 is a great thing to blow it on. This laptop is juiced up with some of the absolute best components you can pack into it, including a warp-speed Intel Ultra 9 processor, cutting-edge RTX 5080 graphics card, massive RAM loadout, and an 8TB SSD. Needless to say, with all that and an 18-inch screen, it’s pretty heavy. PCMag has an extensive review, where testers say that this machine is “Alienware’s ode to its current brand identity and a showcase for what the best current mobile components can do.” The biggest drawback is battery life, so pack your charger.
Credit: Amazon
MSI Stealth 18 AI Gaming Laptop
Specs: Intel Ultra 9-185H CPU | GeForce RTX 4080 GPU | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD
For something a little less expensive that’ll still squeeze the juice out of your favorite titles, the MSI Stealth 18 AI is a great pick, especially with a comfy 14% price drop. Built around a bright, clear, 18-inch QHD+ display with a 240Hz refresh rate, your games will look great on the go. Under the hood, a capable Intel Ultra 9 processor coupled with Nvida’s RTX 4080, one of the top picks of the last generation, unleashes speedy performance. Wi-Fi 7 support and plenty of ports give you connectivity for days, and the keyboard and touchpad both feel great.
Gaming Laptop Buying Guide
When you’re in the market for a gaming laptop, there are a few important features to keep in mind:
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Modern computer games are typically processor-intensive, so a fast multi-core CPU is key. All of the laptops we’ve selected for this list feature processors several steps above what you’d find in a standard business laptop, typically Intel’s Core model.
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The GPU is also important, as games need that extra oomph to render cutting-edge graphics. Thankfully, the crypto run on GPUs has mostly ceased, and these are available for fair prices once more.
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The final factor that you need to consider is size and weight. Depending on how you want to use your gaming laptop, you may opt for a heavier, less portable system to increase performance or something lighter for more mobility.
Frequently Asked Gaming Laptop Questions
Is a Gaming Laptop Worth It?
If you’re on the go a lot or don’t want to invest in a dedicated gaming desktop, then yes. Modern technology enables gaming laptops to run just about anything a desktop can, and with adjustable performance settings, most games will work just fine on your portable. Your standard business-grade laptop computer just can’t push the processing power to make that happen. The good news is that you don’t have to use your gaming laptop for gaming exclusively; that extra speed and hardware can be used for content creation, media streaming, and other high-CPU-demand tasks just as well.
How Many Years Does a Gaming Laptop Last?
Battery life for a gaming laptop is usually a little bit shorter than that of a business or school laptop, simply because the power demands for the hardware are larger. That said, a solid gaming laptop battery should last three to five years of regular usage. Taking good care of your device, protecting it from power surges, and charging it fully will help extend that timeframe. As to whether your gaming laptop will always be able to play the latest and greatest games, that’s a hard question to answer. Many of these devices have room to add more RAM and storage space, keeping them viable for a longer period.
What Are the Best Gaming Laptop Brands?
Many competitors battle in the gaming laptop space. Some top names to look for include Alienware, which Dell owns; it has a reputation for extremely powerful devices targeted at hardcore gamers. Razer laptops are visually slick, usually incorporating customizable LED lighting. Asus’s Republic of Gamers line comes in a variety of form factors with gamer-friendly features like hardware monitoring. Lenovo’s Legion line and HP’s Omen gaming laptops are also quite solid.
Which Is the Best Laptop to Buy for Gaming?
The world of gaming laptops changes regularly, and there is a wide range of options depending on what kind of experience you’re going for. If you’re just picking something up to play on the go with lower settings, we recommend the Lenovo Legion Slim Gen 8, which gives solid performance at a nice price. If you don’t have a desktop system and you want a laptop to be your primary gaming machine, something more robust like the Alienware M18. For an even deeper dive into the world of gaming laptops, check out PCMag’s comprehensive guide.
Which Is the Best 2-in-1 Gaming Laptop?
One of the newest trends in portable computing is the rise of the 2-in-1 laptop, which comes with a touch screen that can be rotated around to essentially act as a tablet. There aren’t many 2-in-1s that are good for gaming because the heat management of the GPU requires a little more casing size. One notable exception is the Asus ROG Flow X16, which is a powerful machine that really delivers on its 16-inch WQXGA display. It’ll run you north of $2,000, though.
How Much RAM Is Good for Gaming?
Space and power consumption are vital considerations in a laptop, so every component you put in needs to have a purpose. System memory, or RAM, is one of the key elements of a computer, allowing the system to store and retrieve information faster than a solid-state drive. RAM is essential for running complex programs like games and multitasking. A decent gaming laptop should have 16GB of RAM to handle most games.
Is Asus or MSI Better?
Two of the biggest names in gaming laptops are MSI and Asus, and they both have a robust lineup of configurations to choose from. Picking one manufacturer over the other is a complicated question, but we have a few metrics that might help. In general, Asus systems have the lead in component price, so you’ll get better internals for what you spend. MSI often releases devices with better screen quality, though. In terms of build quality, they’re pretty similar. Asus is probably the best all-around choice, but MSI might be the better pick for games.
Is HP Better Than MSI?
HP is another popular contender in the gaming laptop space courtesy of its Omen line, which are typically solid if unspectacular performers that lack some of the visual style of other gaming machines. MSI is a more gaming-focused brand, so on the whole, if you were comparing two similarly priced units, we’d opt for the MSI as you’re more likely to get the performance you want. If your laptop isn’t going to be used exclusively for entertainment, HP might be a better option due to its more flexible approach.
The Hottest Gaming Laptop Deals
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Acer Nitro 16 Gaming Laptop for $756 (list price $999.99)
-
Lenovo LOQ Gaming Laptop for $849.99 (list price $999.99)
-
HP Victus Gaming Laptop for $555 (list price $610)
-
Gigabyte Aorus 15 Gaming Laptop for $1,199.99 list price $1,699)
-
HP Omen Slim Gaming Laptop for $1,699 list price $1,999)
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MSI Katana 15 HX Gaming Laptop for $1,399 list price $1,529.99)
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Asus 2025 TUF F16 Gaming Laptop for $2,199.99 list price $2,499.99)
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Alienware Area-51 Gaming Laptop for $3,514.99 list price $3,699.99)
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MSI Stealth 18 AI Gaming Laptop for $2,479.97 (list price $2,899.99)