Gaming PCs aren’t cheap, and gaming laptops are even, um, not-cheaper. But if you’re patient and willing to cut a few corners, you can occasionally find a great deal.

For example, this Lenovo LOQ gaming laptop delivers a one-two punch with an AMD Ryzen processor and Nvidia RTX graphics card, and it’s only $550 at Best Buy. That’s a whopping $250 off its original price.

While $550 is an amazing price for a gaming laptop, you have to set your expectations accordingly. The Ryzen 5 7235HS processor is a bit long in the tooth, and ditto for the RTX 3050 graphics card with 6GB of video memory. It’ll run most new games, but you may have to settle for medium settings to hit 60 FPS.

And while 12GB of system memory is also a little pokey these days, you can upgrade it to 32GB yourself based on some quick research. Might as well boost that SSD from 512GB to 1.5TB while you’re at it, thanks to its second M.2 slot. With those upgrades and a little elbow grease, you can get a laptop with solid performance and still come under $700.

Otherwise, this laptop features a 15.6-inch 1080p screen, 144Hz of refresh to keep you moving fast, a backlit keyboard, and plenty of ports (HDMI, USB-C, triple USB-A, full-sized Ethernet) so you don’t need a dock or a hub. The 60 watt-hours of battery won’t last too long if you’re playing Fortnite, but it should get you through a long plane ride if you’re only watching video. Plus, a 170-watt charger will get it back up fast.

Best Buy is showing this as a limited sale so grab this Lenovo LOQ for just $550 while you can!

Get an RTX-powered Lenovo gaming laptop for 31% offBuy now at Best Buy

Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld

Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he’s the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop “battlestation” in his off hours. Michael’s previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he’s covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he’s always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.

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