The best budget gaming laptop is an even bigger steal for Prime Day

A Gigabyte G5 gaming laptop on a blue background.
(Image credit: Gigabyte)

US price

Gigabyte G5 KF | Nvidia RTX 4060 | Intel Core i5 12500H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 8GB DDR4 | 512GB SSD | $1,099 $899 at Newegg (save $200 with coupon)

Gigabyte G5 KF | Nvidia RTX 4060 | Intel Core i5 12500H | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 8GB DDR4 | 512GB SSD | $1,099 $899 at Newegg (save $200 with coupon)
The Gigabyte G5 (see our review) is our favorite affordable gaming laptop around right now, packing the RTX 4060 GPU for some serious 1080p gaming performance in a budget package. It's a smart spec that essentially uses an otherwise older specification with the simple addition of just the new Nvidia RTX 40-series graphics chip. The 512GB SSD is a bit miserly, but that is upgradeable, but the 8GB of DDR4 memory is the tougher issue. Again, the memory is upgradeable, but it's still a bit frustrating—still, a great gaming laptop for the money.

Price check: Best Buy $950 | Walmart $999

What do you call it when our current best value gaming laptop gets a deep discount? That's not the setup for a joke, I'm actually asking. Hyper-affordable? Ultra-value? Whatever name you'd give it, it applies to the Gigabyte G5, which you can currently snag for well under a grand—in the US and the UK—in this year's crop of Prime Day gaming laptop deals.

This is our pick for the best value gaming laptop right now, and there's a good reason for that. Despite its low price point the G5 is a serious bit of kit, boasting a current-gen Nvidia GPU (the RTX 4060) and a glittering, glimmering 1080p, 144hz screen. That's more than enough to handle pretty much anything you can throw at it—especially when you switch on DLSS 3 and Frame Generation in games that support it—and in a durable, compact package too.

That's not to say there aren't any drawbacks, mind you. That 512GB SSD is downright stingy, and will probably have you juggling your game installations the second you want to play anything really sizable. Fancy playing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor? Better uninstall, well, almost everything else. Don't worry too much though, this is one of those friendly laptops that lets you upgrade its storage, so you can always whack a 1TB or greater SSD in there later on down the line.

And, wouldn't you know it, there just happen to be some great Prime Day SSD deals going down today, too. How fortuitous.

The same goes for that Scrooge-like 8GB of RAM in the Newegg version of this laptop. It ain't enough, but you can always put another stick in there if it all gets too much. Or, uh, not enough. You know what I mean.

Quibbles aside, this is a lot of laptop for relatively little money, and if it was a steal at its regular price point it's downright larcenous now. If you've been looking for something sturdy and cheap that still packs a punch, you can't really do better right now. When PCG's Jacob Ridley scored the machine a lofty 83% in his Gigabyte G5 review, you can bet it earned it.

UK price

Gigabyte G5 | Intel Core i5 12500H | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 512GB SSD | £1,198.97 £979.97 at Laptops Direct (save £219)

Gigabyte G5 | Intel Core i5 12500H | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 15.6-inch | 1080p | 144Hz | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 512GB SSD | £1,198.97 £979.97 at Laptops Direct (save £219)
We're big fans of this little budget gaming laptop, and our Jacob loved its "great gaming performance" (check out our review). With over £200 off the original price that makes this powerful notebook a great deal today.

Price check: Amazon £1,049.98

Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 on a teal deals background with the Asus logo displayed on screen.
The 240 Hz OLED gaming laptop of my dreams is down to the lowest price I've seen yet
The Lenovo Legion 5i gaming laptop on a teal deals background
I still can't beat the sheer value for money this 240 Hz Lenovo RTX 4070 gaming laptop provides for $1,399 and it's starting to bug me
The Dell G16 7630 RTX 4070 gaming laptop on a teal deals background
It might be a bit of a chonk, but this 240 Hz RTX 4070 Dell gaming laptop is a seriously powerful machine for $1,300
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 14-inch gaming laptop on a teal deals background.
Time for me to tap the Asus G14 sign once more: This RTX 4060 model is $1,100, OLED, and the 14-inch gaming laptop I'd buy today
The Lenovo Legion LOQ gaming laptop on a blue background
Okay, so it's not technically in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, but this is the cheapest RTX 4070 gaming laptop you'll find today
The Acer Predator Triton 14 gaming laptop on a teal deals background.
I've found a rare treat: A 250 Hz 14-inch RTX 4070 gaming laptop that's dropped in price to $1,300
Latest in Gaming Laptops
The Lenovo Legion LOQ gaming laptop on a blue background
Okay, so it's not technically in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, but this is the cheapest RTX 4070 gaming laptop you'll find today
A promotional image for the Compal Adapt X modular laptop, as presented by the iF Design Foundation
If you've ever wanted to upgrade a laptop with 'modular AI units' then Compal might just have the very thing you're looking for
The Dell G16 7630 RTX 4070 gaming laptop on a teal deals background
It might be a bit of a chonk, but this 240 Hz RTX 4070 Dell gaming laptop is a seriously powerful machine for $1,300
The UHPILCL water cooled gaming laptop
This water-cooled gaming laptop packs a full-size desktop RTX 5090 and even fits in a backpack, but I sure wouldn't want it in mine
Lenovo Yoga Solar PC
Lenovo's clever solar-powered laptop can turn 20 minutes of sunlight into an hour of video playback but sun-powered mobile gaming still isn't a goer
The Razer Blade 16 (2025) on a glass table in a hotel suite at CES 2025.
Razer has seen sense and slightly lowered the Razer Tax with its latest Blade 16 gaming laptops
Latest in News
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node
Amazon box
Don't panic! The 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' option Amazon just removed was only used by 0.03% of customers and they can still have it
Digital generated image of people surrounded by interactive transparent and glowing panels with data. Visualising smart technology, blockchain and artificial intelligence
Now I shall demand the cookies! Proposed new browsing agreement turns the tables and lets users dictate terms to websites
Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, with a 18A SRAM test wafer
Former Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger becomes executive chairman of a 'Technology Platform Connecting the Faith Ecosystem' to work on Christian AI using DeepSeek