PSA: A lot of retailers want to sell you gaming laptops that just won't work right now

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Amazon's just launched a week long gaming sale and Best Buy's coming in hot with its own savings, but there's one spec you need to check if you're browsing through particularly cheap gaming laptops right now. If you've been anywhere near a store this year so far, you'll know RAM shortages are pushing prices of pretty much everything, including the best gaming laptops, which is why many retailers are listing an unusually high number of 8GB options this week. Rather than posting gaming laptops at ludicrous prices nobody would pay, they're simply prioritizing the ones with less memory inside them.

Filter a retailer to gaming laptops under $1,000 and you'll spot a few almost immediately. Best Buy has HP Victus and MSI A15 configurations with just 8GB RAM on the shelves for between $700 and $900. Amazon's even worse, without any filters the first gaming laptop that appears on my search (underneath the sponsored options) only offers the same 8GB - and that's $799.

I'll say it plainly now, 8GB is not enough RAM to run a gaming laptop - and they're not even significantly cheaper than 16GB options.

Yes, you'll be able to swing a through lightweight indie or older games, but if you're spending hundreds on a new device (more than the newly inflated MSRP of the PS5) I'd strongly urge you to avoid these cheaper options. Most Windows 11 laptops will struggle on 8GB RAM in a business setting, let alone gameplay.

I've gone through my own Steam library for some reference, comparing these kinds of specs to some of the most popular games of the last five years.

CS2, Baldurs Gate 3, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 can just about skim by on 8GB RAM, but need more to run reliably without drops in stability. More demanding titles like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 need at least 12GB RAM to start up. By contrast, Palworld needs 16GB RAM just to get going, as does Black Myth: Wukong, Monster Hunter Wilds, Marvel Rivals, and Battlefield 6.

You technically can play light games on an 8GB machine - but considering there's not much in it from a price perspective, you won't want to.

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The best value gaming laptop I've tested so far

It's a little above that $1,000 budget, but the Lenovo Legion 5 punches well above its lower mid-range MSRP, with plenty of power and an OLED display up top.

$1399.99 at Best Buy (was $1,599.99)

There are still 16GB gaming laptops available for under $1,000. You'll need to drop back to Nvidia's RTX 40-Series to get there, but I'd much rather that than halving my RAM.

Best Buy has an RTX 4050 Ryzen 7 7445HS build of the HP Victus 15 for $887 right now, while you can pick up an open-box MSI Stealth 14 with an RTX 4060 GPU for $933.99. If you're really looking to push that three-figure budget, the RTX 5050 Lenovo LOQ can also make use of newer DLSS features for $929 as well.

You're spending about $100 - $200 more on these rigs, but picking up the memory you need to run the vast majority of today's biggest games. An 8GB RAM gaming laptop isn't exactly a paper weight, but it's still to be avoided in 2026.

I'm also rounding up all the best Asus gaming laptops as well as the best Razer laptops and best Alienware laptops on the market right now.

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Tabitha BakerManaging Editor - Hardware

Managing Editor of Hardware at GamesRadar+, I originally landed in hardware at our sister site TechRadar before moving over to GamesRadar. In between, I've written for Tom’s Guide, Wireframe, The Indie Game Website and That Video Game Blog, covering everything from the PS5 launch to the Apple Pencil. Now, i'm focused on Nintendo Switch, gaming laptops (and the keyboards, headsets and mice that come with them), PS5, and trying to find the perfect projector. 

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