You no longer have to spend a fortune to buy a gaming laptop, there are currently multiple options with dedicated graphics card and quad-core processor for less than 600 dollars. Even though most laptops in this roundup aren’t advertised as gaming laptops, better ones can still play modern games. However a $599 gaming laptop with GeForce MX150 graphics card is significantly weaker than a $699 gaming laptop that has a GeForce GTX 1050. Besides that, $500-$600 laptops look much simpler than $650-$800 gaming laptops, that have more aggressive styling and colorful backlit keyboards. While the sub-$600 laptops are not the best value for money, some models are still very popular among budget gamers.
We hope this comparison chart of best gaming laptops under $600 makes choosing easier for you. There are many parameters you can sort by, but there are things that cannot be put in a comparison chart. Things like rigidness and feel of the chassis, usability and comfort of the keyboard and touchpad, video quality of the webcam or sound quality of the speakers. Cooling capability and fan noise are also important aspects.
Best gaming laptops under $600, TOP 5
Here are the five most notable gaming laptops of the roundup.
Best gaming performance
ASUS VivoBook R510IK-LHFX should have the best gaming performance for a gaming laptop under $600, at least in games that are not too CPU intensive. It has by far the best graphics card (AMD Radeon RX 560), but other specs are unfortunately lacking. For example, this ASUS uses a TN panel display, it has the worst CPU (AMD FX-9830P), also it’s the thickest and heaviest 15.6 inch laptop.
HP Onyx Blizzard Ci5 15-cb035wm is an alternative for people who don’t want an outdated AMD processor, like in the ASUS VivoBook. HP 15-cb035wm equipped with an Intel Core i5-7300HQ processor and Radeon RX 550 video card. It’s thinner and lighter than ASUS, it has more RAM and a better IPS screen.
Acer Aspire E 15 E5-576G-5762 is a popular gaming laptop that should have similar performance to HP Onyx. Its Core i5-8250U CPU has 4 more threads, but it runs at much lower base clock speed. The NVIDIA GeForce MX150 is also slightly weaker than Radeon RX 550. In contrast to the first 2 laptops, this Acer is configured with an 256GB SSD instead of a mechanical 1TB hard drive. It is one of the heaviest, but at least it has an IPS display.
Most portable laptop
HP Pavilion 15-cw0075nr is the lightest and thinnest laptop of the roundup. It is powered by AMD Ryzen 5 2500U APU with integrated Radeon Vega 8 graphics, so it’s not the fastest gaming laptop under $600. This HP Pavilion is one of the few notebooks with a glossy screen. Most others have an anti-glare display.
Largest screen
Acer Aspire 5 A517-51G-54GK is the only laptop 17.3 inch screen, it is suitable as a desktop replacement for playing lighter games. It has a Intel i5 processor and NVIDIA dedicated graphics, but these are from previous generation. Therefore you have to settle with weaker performance than better 15.6 inch gaming laptops.
Best gaming laptops under $600, comparison chart
| Approximate price | Laptop model | Processor | Graphics card | RAM | Hard drive | SSD | Screen | Resolution | Weight | Thickness | Battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 $549.99 | Acer Aspire 3 A315-41-R001 | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB DDR4 | none | 256GB SSD | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 5.07 lbs | 0.98 inches | 2-cell 4810 mAh Li-ion |
 $548.50 | Acer Aspire 3 A315-41-R8UU | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB DDR4 | 1TB | none | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 5.07 lbs | 0.98 inches | 2-cell 4810 mAh Li-ion |
 $569.99 | Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-5504 | Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6-3.4GHz (4c/8t) | NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5 | 8GB DDR4 | none | 256GB SSD | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 4.90 lbs | 0.82 inches | 4-cell Li-Ion (3220 mAh) |
 $549.00 | Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 | Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6-3.4GHz (4c/8t) | NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5 | 8GB DDR4 | none | 256GB SSD | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 4.90 lbs | 0.82 inches | 4-cell Li-Ion (3220 mAh) |
 $559.99 | Acer Aspire 5 A517-51G-54GK | Intel Core i5-7200U 2.5-3.1GHz (2c/4t) | NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 2GB GDDR5 | 8GB DDR4 | none | 256GB SSD | 17.3" IPS matte | 1920 x 1080 | 6.61 lbs | 1.11 inches | 4-cell 3320 mAh Li-ion |
 $599.99 | Acer Aspire E 15 E5-576G-5762 | Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6-3.4GHz (4c/8t) | NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5 | 8GB DDR3L | none | 256GB SSD | 15.6" IPS matte? | 1920 x 1080 | 5.27 lbs | 1.19 inches | 6-cell 2800 mAh Li-ion |
 $579.99 | ASUS VivoBook R510IK-LHFX 15.6" | AMD FX-9830P 3.0-3.7GHz (4c/4t) | AMD Radeon RX 560 4GB GDDR5 | 8GB DDR4 | 1 TB | none | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 5.40 lbs | 1.20 inches | 44 WHrs, 4S1P, 4 cell Li-ion |
 $550.00 | Dell Inspiron 15 5575 i5575-A217SLV-PUS | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 4.89 lbs* | 0.78 inches* | 42WHr Battery, 3-Cell? |
 $529.99 | Dell Inspiron 15 5575 I5575-A214SLV-PUS | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" Touch-screen | 1920 x 1080 | 4.48 lbs* | 0.80 inches* | 42WHr Battery, 3-Cell? |
 $579.00 | Dell Inspiron 15 5000 i5575-A347SLV | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" Touch-screen | 1920 x 1080 | 4.80 lbs* | 0.89 inches* | 42WHr Battery, 3-Cell |
 $527.30 | HP Laptop 15-db0040nr | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" Touch-screen | 1366 x 768 | 4.60 lbs | 0.89 inches | 3-cell, 41 Wh Li-ion |
 $529.47 | HP Onyx Blizzard Ci5 15-cb035wm | Intel Core i5-7300HQ 2.5-3.5GHz (4c/4t) | AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB GDDR5 | 12GB 2133MHz DDR4 | 1TB 7200 RPM | none | 15.6" IPS matte | 1920 x 1080 | 4.87 lbs | 0.95 inches | 4-cell, 70 Wh Li-ion |
 $569.99 | HP Pavilion 15-cw0075nr 3ZW67UA#ABA | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" IPS glossy | 1920 x 1080 | 4.18 lbs | 0.70 inches | 3-cell / 41Wh |
 $529.99 | Lenovo IdeaPad 330 81D2005CUS | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB DDR4 | none | 256GB SSD | 15.6" TN matte | 1920 x 1080 | 4.84 lbs | 0.90 inches | 2-cell 35 Wh |
 $579.99 | Lenovo IdeaPad 330 81D20001US | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" TN matte | 1366 x 768 | 4.84 lbs | 0.90 inches | 2-cell (35 Wh) Lithium Polymer |
 $599.99 | Samsung Notebook 5 NP550XTA-K01US | AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2.0-3.6GHz (4c/8t) | AMD Radeon Vega 8 | 8GB DDR4 | 1TB 5400 RPM | none | 15.6" | 1920 x 1080 | 4.30 lbs | 0.80 inches | 3-cell |
Best under $600 laptops by individual specs
Laptop with best graphics card
ASUS VivoBook R510IK-LHFX is the laptop that has the most powerful video card in this roundup. The AMD Radeon RX 560 with 4GB of GDDR5 video memory is much faster than other graphics cards. Although you have to settle with weaker Bristol Ridge based AMD APU. Second fastest GPU is the AMD Radeon RX 550, which is found in a HP laptop that has better overall specs. GeForce MX150 comes third, not far from RX 550.
Laptop with best processor
HP Onyx Blizzard Ci5 15-cb035wm has the best processor of the roundup, although it doesn’t have the most threads. Its Intel Core i5-7300HQ has 4 cores/4 threads, but it runs at higher base clock speed than newer 4core/8 thread Intel Core i5-8250U. The i5-8250U can win in some situations. It is a big improvement over the 7th generation Ultra-Low Voltage Intel i5 processors, because the i5-8250U has double the cores and threads of a Core i5 7200U. AMD Ryzen 5 2500U also has 4 cores/8 threads, but it is slightly weaker than Intel i5-8250U.
Laptop with best screen
Most laptops in this chart have a 15.6 inch display, there are no cheap and compact 13 or 14 inch laptops that have decent video cards. There are four laptops with IPS panel displays. One has a larger 17.3 inch screen but not as good specs for gaming. If you want a touchscreen, then there are 3 options with AMD Ryzen 5 2500U.
Slimmest laptop
TOP 4 slimmest laptops have Ryzen 5 2500U APUs with no discreet graphics. But for some strange reason, all use slow 5400 RPM hard drives. Thinnest one of them by far with just 0.7 inches is HP Pavilion 15-cw0075nr. Slimmest sub-$600 gaming laptops with dedicated graphics card are the two Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G notebooks with NVIDIA GeForce MX150 video card. These are also the thinnest laptops that come with an SSD.
Lightest laptop
HP Pavilion 15-cw0075nr is also the lightest laptop, it weighs only 4.18 lbs, much less than most under $600 gaming laptops. Laptops with dedicated GeForce MX150 and Radeon RX 550 graphics card are not so light, they start from around 4.9 pounds. Heaviest is obviously the only one with a larger 17.3 inch display.