1d ago

What is the cheapest laptop with a dedicated gpu i should save up for?

I already have a semi-gaming desktop but i need something more portable to go with on the go. Im wondering what the cheapest laptop for games and general use is, and where to find it at? I like amd because its usually cheaper or better than NVIDIA in some cases.

please also include the price. I would prefer to buy 2nd hand or refurbished to save on costs if i even do get the money for a better laptop.

18 comments

I'm gonna be the problemXY guy and suggest you get a normal laptop, like a thinkpad T14 and friends, without a discrete GPU and get an EGPU setup; you can get a DIY rig in the $50-100 region, dependent on the interface, and you get a ton of benefits:
you're not limited to gaming laptops. you can get a laptop that's portable, has a long battery life, and widely available on the 2nd hand market, is easy and cheap to upgrade, fix, repair, etc. everything gaming laptops fucking aren't
your options for GPUs rise dramatically, including reusing shit you already got laying around
way, way more powerful than laptop discrete graphics with practically unlimited vertical upgrade options
Not a recommendation, but you should consider a handheld and a non-gaming laptop as an option. Beating the Steam Deck in terms of value is a real challenge, and a dedicated GPU + a decent CPU + 32GB RAM will drive the price of any laptop like crazy. A laptop with a mid SoC, 16GB RAM and 500GB storage is more than enough for everyday stuff and will cost you like half of that, while a handheld might be a better experience for non-keyboard gaming.
- Agreed. I’m really happy with my combo of a used LCD Steam Deck and a Surface Go with Fedora hooked to a screen.
  Although I still need my Playstation 5 for demanding games.
you may not need a dedicated GPU, the iGPUs on AMD CPUs have gotten really good lately, like better than a mid ranged dedicated GPU from even 4 years ago.
My laptop has a 780m integrated GPU on its 7840HS cpu, and I’ve been blown away at its ability to run modern games. Like, sure, not running cyberpunk 2077 at max settings at 120 FPS in 4k, but running it at medium settings at 60 FPS in 1080? It’ll do it just fine.
My laptop was a bit pricy, but I did a little searching and saw that there’s something called the GPD WIN Mini, the 2023 model was listed as having the same CPU/iGPU as my laptop and it was listed at 700$. It’s an odd form factor, and I couldn’t see it in stock anywhere.
You might be able to get the kind of performance you’re looking form the iGPU on an AMD ryzen 7 or later CPU, and something without a dedicated GPU will probably be a lot cheaper.
If you don’t mind a non-traditional form factor, as other’s have mentioned, definitely check out the steam deck. It’s very affordable and very capable, and other than the form factor, it is just a computer running Linux. You could even boot other distros on to it if you don’t want to run SteamOS (Valve’s arch derived distro).
- If you’re going the iGPU route, you may want to look into out-of-date (from a year or two ago) enterprise/corporate fleet laptops. There are always a ton on the market because the C-level execs always demand the newest and best laptops, even if they’re just going to use them for emails; the CEO would be embarrassed if they found out they had a worse laptop than the programmers or 3D modelers, after all. So the company IT is always milling through enterprise laptops.
  And when they go to list 20 identical laptops on eBay at the same time, (because they just upgraded an entire department,) they’re not concerned with how much money they’re actually getting for each resale. The person making the listing is just some lowly IT schmuck who will never see a dime from the sale, but is forced to list them because the bean counters in accounting want to recoup expenditures. If you try to buy used from a personal sale, that person is going to be focused on getting the most money possible; No gamer is selling their year-old GPU unless they really need the money. By sticking to laptops that are popular in corporate settings, you’re able to ensure that:
  There are a lot of identical models on the market, driving prices for each one into the ground.
  The seller doesn’t actually care about things like minimum sale amounts, because they’re just trying to get this stack of old laptops off of their desk.
  It has probably only ever been used for email and PowerPoint.
  You can often find two year old like-new $2000 laptops for like $250. Hell, just a quick google search of “Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2024 i7 1TB used” turned up multiple eBay listings for like $200. The Thinkpad X1 Carbon (current model is Gen 13) is a $2600 laptop, but the Gen 12 is only going for a few hundred.
- Agreed. I got a framework 13 with the new AMD Hx370 and it has replaced my Steam deck completely.
Not a laptop, but I found a steam deck with a bluetooth keyboard works well for me. It ranges from $400 to $650 new depending on the model, not including accessories. Though a stand and a bluetooth keyboard shouldn't be too expensive. That said you do have to put up with a smaller screen size and keep track of the keyboard, stand, and possibly a mouse on top of the steam deck itself.
EDIT: forgot to add, depending on your needs you may be able to skip the keyboard. If all you're doing is web browsing and posting on social media you could get by with either the on screen keyboard or the kde connect app.
- thats. actually quite smart. whats the limitation about screensize?
  
  It's a handheld limited to 1280x800, but I haven't found it particularly hard to adjust.
  
  You can also connecta portable screen for 100-200 bucks and have effectively 2 monitors. This starts breaking weight and size of "normal" laptop (only one screen but higher resolution and size than just the deck), but still costs significantly less for quite the bang-for-buck ratio.
  I did use mine for a trip like a laptop for a full trip once. My conclusion is that for me personally a laptop (also with additional screen) is better, but I also happen to have one. I'm not sure I'd buy one already having the deck+monitor+keyboard+mouse.
I would prefer to buy 2nd hand or refurbished
Then the answer is pretty much gonna be "whatever you find a good deal on". I sat on CL for several months before finding a Lenovo Yoga Pro w/8845HS + 3050S 6GB for $275. Dude had no idea what he had.
Secondhand macbook pro with the M2 chip and as much memory / hdd available ; it is said to avoid 8g of ram, I went with 16.
Slap Asahi on it, the latest version plays games quite nicely - and since Asahi is dual-boot anyway, you can try the macos side if something fails.
(Currently Asahi doesn't support m3 or m4 chips. M2 machines should be available at bargain prices, mine new was €1500)
I would prefer to buy 2nd hand
It's going to be hard to give a solid recommendation for a specific used computer. What I would say, however, is check out Swappa and Ebay. Those are my go-to places for used hardware.
What games/graphics settings are you targeting?
- I mostly play single player but it would help if i could play like runescape or fortnight on it. I also like messing with ai a little so ollama is a optional bonus. I play a mix of games but most of what i got is rogue likes but im looking to try more games. I want the laptop to be 64 bit and portable, my main focus is performance and battery life. I may be asking too much? I got 600 dollars but most of it has to go towards parents bills and such, i get paid by the government for being autistic. Im not sure how to make my own money but i hope to slowly save up.
  
  Just wanted to mention that fortnite does not work on Linux due to anticheat. Reports for game compatibility can be found at protondb
  
  I would plan on the 800 or so price range.
  (Also unrelated, but since this is in the Linux gaming community I wanted to let you know the fortnite does not work on Linux due to the anti cheat.)
  Best buy open box is probably the best place to look.

18 comments