Welcome to our weekly updated pro guide to the best cheap gaming laptops available for under $600 based on retail sales, hardware power, price to performance, professional reviews, and benchmarks.
The gaming laptops under $600 market segment offers some solid details and is the lowest price range you’ll usually be able to find a dedicated graphics card at. Most gaming laptops under $500 or lower rely exclusively on integrated graphics which offer extremely limited gaming performance.
Top Picks >> Runners Up >>Under $500 >>Under $1000 >>
Best Gaming Laptop Under $600 – Top Pick
1. Acer Aspire 5 A515-44G-R83X 15.6-inch
With the limited options available in the gaming market today for gaming laptops under $600 with dedicated graphics cards (let alone gaming laptops for under $500), the A515-44G-R83X provides a very rare offering with its dedicated AMD Radeon RX 640 graphics card combined with a hex-core AMD Ryzen 5 4500U CPU.
The result is a cheap gaming laptop for under $600 that’s capable of running modern games comfortably on low settings and will rip through most older crowd favorites with ease. Not all of us can afford the luxury of forking out for a next level dedicated graphics card with our laptop.
Luckily, Acer have clearly spotted a sweet spot in the market for those budget gamers who want something a little more than integrated graphics, but don’t have the extra cash to fork out for the latest and greated NVIDIA graphics.
Other benefits include a high quality IPS display and extremely snappy day to day performance thanks to its fast hex-core CPU. Upgrading RAM is highly recommended as the Ryzen 5 4500U is one hell of a CPU and will be able to multitask like a dream with some extra RAM installed. As per usual, AMD hardware clearly undercuts Intel when it comes to raw bang for your buck compared to competing Intel CPU’s at its price.
Some minor drawbacks include a flimsy touchpad and slightly less than advertised battery life, with some users reporting an average battery life of around 5 hours with battery saving mode in use. Expect this to be a lot less while gaming.
Overall the A515-44G-R83X provides a much needed piece of the puzzle in Acers popular Aspire 5 lineup thanks to its extremely affordable dedicated Radeon graphics card. It has one of the best price to performance ratios available in the budget gaming laptop space and is a clear winner in the sub-$600 gaming laptop range if you can find it at the right price.
Pros
- Affordable dedicated graphics card
- Fast hex core processor
- High quality IPS display
- Lightweight build
Cons
- Flimsy touchpad
- Battery life less than advertised
Specs
- AMD Ryzen 5 4500U 2.3Ghz [View Benchmarks]
- AMD Radeon RX 640 4GB GDDR5 [View Framerates]
- 8GB DDR4 RAM
- 256GB SSD
- 15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels (IPS)
- Windows 10 Home
- 7.5 hours battery life
- 4.2 lbs
Summary & Score
If you are looking for the most bang for your buck when it comes to gaming, the A515-44G-R83X provides a very affordable Radeon graphics card with some excellent other perks to boot, including a high quality IPS display and blazing fast hex core CPU.
on Amazon.com
(as of 27-09-2023 19:18 UTC) Details
Top Gaming Laptops Under $600 – Runner-Ups
2. Lenovo Flex 5 81X20005US 14-Inch
Though perhaps not the traditional style for a gaming laptop, the Lenovo Flex 5 81X20005US is a bestselling 2-in-1 convertible laptop that offers a great convertible experience and some surprisingly powerful hardware at an attractive price.
The laptop is powered by a 4th generation AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, a powerful CPU even by desktop standards. This comes bundled with integrated AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 graphics, which offers up to three times better performance than the Radeon RX Vega 3 graphics found on many competitors at its price.
Considering its price is not too much higher, if you are interested in playing some more recent games from 2018 / 2019 on playable settings, the RX Vega 6 is one of the fastest integrated graphics on the market., Other benefits of the Lenovo Flex 5 include its 2-in-1 tablet functionality, lengthy battery life, satisfying build quality, and stylish design.
If you plan on moving around a lot, the Flex 5 will provide a highly mobile and flexible gaming and work station on the go that also doubles up as a high performance gaming tablet.
Pros
- Powerful hardware at a good price
- Radeon Vega RX 6 graphics
- Attractive 2-in-1 design
- Solid build quality
- Lenovo Stylus included
Cons
- Display may be too dim for outdoor use
Specs
- AMD Ryzen 5 4500U 2.3Ghz [View Benchmarks]
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 [View Framerates]
- 8GB DDR4 RAM
- 256GB SSD
- 14 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels (IPS)
- Windows 10 Home
- 10 hours battery life
- 3.63 lbs
Summary & Score
The Lenovo Flex 5 combines an attractive and versatile 2-in-1 design with extremely powerful hardware power at a bargain price making it hands down one of the top laptops of 2020 to beat.
on Amazon.com
(as of 27-09-2023 19:14 UTC) Details
3. HP Notebook 15-bs091ms 15.6 Inch
The HP Notebook 15-bs091ms budget laptop is a good choice for those looking for a multimedia laptop that is suitable for both work and play. Its large 15.6-inch display may have a resolution of only 1366 x 768, but it still delivers a decently sharp picture quality.
The viewing angles do suffer somewhat due to it being a lower quality TN panel, however, but it does come with touch screen functionality at least. The case is made of all plastic and feels somewhat cheap, and its look isn’t much to write home about according to some users, but these aesthetics are generally affiliated with budget laptops. Fortunately it is reasonably lightweight, so you can take it along with you without much of hassle.
HP chose to fit a respectable 7th Gen Intel Core i3-7100U 2.4GHz Processor under the hood. Coupled with the 8GB of RAM, basic task handling will be breeze, and even some more demanding applications such as Premiere Pro or Photoshop will run, but Intel’s i5 or i7 is generally much better at this. The Intel HD 620 graphics chip will allow for light gaming, with games such as CS:GO, DOTA 2 and LOL running comfortably.
The large 5400 RPM mechanical hard drive is slow, but with 1TB of storage space you will be able to save tons of movies, music and files. It comes with two USB 3.1 ports and one USB 2.0 port, and it has a moderate battery life of around 6 hours. The keyboard is not backlit, but most have noted that it is comfortable to use at least. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the touchpad, with many stating a mouse is a must.
Pros
- Value for the money
- Decent Processor
- Good overall system performance
- Large HDD
Cons
- Seemingly poor quality control
- Middling display
- Low resolution
- Feels slightly cheap
Specs
- Intel Core i3-7100U 2.4GHz [View Benchmarks]
- Intel HD Graphics 620 shared [View Framerates]
- 8GB DDR4 RAM
- 1000GB 5400 RPM HDD
- 15.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixels
- Windows 10 Home
- 6 hours battery life
- 4.85 lbs
Summary & Score
The HP Notebook 15-bs091ms budget laptop is a solid multimedia laptop with a huge hard drive and a solid CPU and RAM combo, but the low resolution display and poor quality control are notable drawbacks.
on Amazon.com
(as of 27-09-2023 19:12 UTC) Details
Additional Resources
We offer a number of other gaming laptop guides including our guide to gaming laptops under $500 (only recommended if you plan on playing much older games), our gaming laptops under $1000 guide and a number of other high-end gaming laptop guides if you can afford it as well as our best gaming laptops overall guide which covers all budgets.
Conclusion
The gaming laptops under $600 segment offers substantial gains in performance thanks to the inclusion of entry-level dedicated graphics. Although you may not be able to play the latest games on high settings, most of the dedicated graphics chips reviewed will allow for playable framerates on a host of modern games. That said, it may not hurt to save up for a slightly more expensive machine if you have the option as the price to performance ratio may be slightly better on some more expensive laptops/
