Cheap Laptops That Can Run Valorant In 2024

Want to play Valorant, but have a tight budget, check out our pick of cheap laptops that can run Valorant and get the best bang for your buck. 

The Valorant game doesn’t require beefy hardware components to run lag-free, but for the sake of smooth gameplay and better frame rates, it is always a smart choice to invest in a laptop that has great potential not just to run the game, but also playable at highest available settings. 

The first shooter game’s gameplay mostly depends on device performance and framerates. The higher the FPS the smoother the gameplay, and with lag-free performance, you have better advantages over your competitor. 

Processors such as i5 or Ryzen 5 have immense potential to run medium-demanding games like Valorant easily for hours and discrete graphic adds more power to enjoy the gameplay at the fullest. 

Even though we recommend getting a gaming laptop to play Valorant, if budget is an issue for you, then we have included some regular usages laptops that can flawlessly run Valorant as long as your demands are within limits. 

Cheap Laptops That Can Run Valorant 

1) Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3

2) HP Victus Gaming Laptop

3) MSI GV 15 

4) Gigabyte G5 KD

5) Acer Aspire 5 

6) Lenovo Ideapad 3i

7) HP 15

8) Acer Swift 3

9) Dell Inspiron 15 3000

1) Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3

Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 is our go-to pick for playing Valorant, and any kind of entry-level to AAA titles when a budget is an object for you. 

It comes with a 15.6-inch display that is not bright or not dim in medium-light environments. You can easily play games, consume content or do productive tasks, and most of the time display gives you a relatively brighter outcome. 

However main concern starts when you want to use the laptop outside. The 280 nits of brightness fall short behind and deliver a meager color combination. 

The keyboard on the other hand is a completely new experience. I have typed for hours with my average 50 WPM speed and I rarely came across where I have typed the wrong keys due to the short distance. The keys are actually well-spaced and give tactical feedback and also respond speedily. 

Further, the trackpad is admirable for the price, you’ll get enough space to move your finger around, and the left or right click easily catches your feedback. 

Sporting newly Ryzen 5 6600H CPU and pairing it with RTX 30 series GPU, Lenovo has nailed it as far as performance is concerned. Starting from multitasking to playing Valorant for 3+ hours, I haven’t found any major performance or frame drops issue. 

However, after 30 minutes of gameplay, the keyboard started to get warm up and the overall temperature was more than average. So I recommend purchasing a cooling pad if you plan to play for hours. 

Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 ticks all the marks when it comes to performance & power, although there are some compromises in the name of battery life and dim display. But, at $600 it is a great bargain. 

2) HP Victus Gaming Laptop

HP Victus Gaming is the latest interaction from HP’s cheap gaming laptop lineup with incredible performance and better design. Unlike HP’s Pavilion series, the Victus manages heavy tasks easily and features great heating technology and improved battery life. 

HP Victus has a simple and subtle design, which you may expect from a gaming laptop. It is designed to tackle gaming and other heavy tasks such as photo editing and video editing, and to my surprise, it does that job incredibly well. 

It comes integrated with two fans for nice and cool performance and better airflow. With this standard design, there is a drawback. The laptop is heavy and has a ’serious gaming aesthetic design’ making it strictly for gamers and university students. 

The display part is certainly a joy to watch. It has a long 15.6-inch display along with a 144hz refresh rate and 250 nits of brightness. 

With the high-refresh-rate display, the gameplay would be smooth and without lag. Apart from this, the colors seem vibrated and vivid. Above all. HP shipped it with the latest released 12th generation i5-12450H processor that’s improved in both power and performance areas from its predecessor. 

Starting from amazing gameplay to editing and mixing clips, all of your tasks will run easily without any lag. The inbuilt keyboard is quite good and gives a premium feel while typing. 

With HP Victus gaming, you’ll not get flashy RGB lighting or a high refresh rate display, but you’ll get the best bang for your buck, and its the best cheap laptops that can run Valorant.

3) MSI GV 15 

MSI GV 15  is a new mainstream laptop from MSI’s new gaming lineup. It is an entry-level gaming machine which is exactly why it’s a splendid choice for students who require a high-performing machine at any price.  

The GV 15 is a gaming machine and importantly it is designed to tackle demanding tasks and to meet the standard demands of heavy usage, for that its components need to be powerful enough so it won’t freeze. 

The GV 15 features gamer-oriented looks and come with all the regular ports and functionality an avid gamer or user expect from a laptop this powerful. With 2.8 kg of overall weight, the GV 15 does have some heft to it, but the overall design and build are quite admirable. 

Being a 15.6-inch display has an advantage of its own, not only do you get a 15-inch spacious display, but also well-spaced keys, a large trackpad, and plenty of room to put your palm effortlessly. 

The display is quite vivid and eye-catching, with visual performance being sharp and smooth, also color pop-up is a standout.

The brightness level is surprisingly good at 300 nits, and most of the time you’ll lower the brightness cause objects will appear too bright for the eyes. Though, while using it outside or in a heavy sunlight environment, sometimes you need to toggle the brightness to the fullest.

One-time MSI GV 15 disappoints with its battery life.  Labeling as a gaming laptop didn’t fully surprise me. Gaming laptops (with few exceptions) tend to deliver high performance at the cost of extra power consumption and the  GV 15  does the same with its poor 3 hours of battery life. 

If you want a laptop for studying and playing then  MSI GV 15 is hands down one of the best choices when it comes to cheap laptops that can run Valorant. 

4) Gigabyte G5 KD

Gigabyte G5 KD won’t give you the best FPS or run Valorant on the highest settings available, but it is one of the most affordable and powerful laptops around that offers more power and performance for the price you pay. The Gigabyte G5 KD is great option to consider while looking for the cheap laptops that can run Valorant.

Typically, gaming laptops at mid-range prices are expected to run games at 60 FPS and a resolution of FHD, along the process it is also important to manage heat so the laptop stays healthy for a long time. In this sense, Gigabyte laptops have done their job fine. You get playable frame rates, smooth gameplay, and decent heat management that ensures your laptop stays cool under pressure. 

Wearing a crown of a gaming laptop, Gigabyte G5 KD features a bulky and thick design that is strictly for gamers. The entire body is made of plastic that feels strong but also weighs way more than any portable notebook. The chassis is well-built and doesn’t wobble during fast typing. The bezels around the display are wide and give this laptop an old-school look. 

The 15.6-inch display comes with FHD resolution and offers a decent brightness level for indoor activities, however, it feels dim when you work directly under the sun. The picture and graphic performance are admirable and give a quite accurate color combination. 

Overall, Gigabyte G5 KD is a decent gaming laptop for users who want a machine that offers great performance at the minimum price tag. 

5) Acer Aspire 5

Having been around for years and is still favorable to budget conscience users, the Acer Aspire 5 is considered a powerful yet affordable notebook. Its tiny bezels, sleek design, and strong plastic build not only give a subtle look but also ensure its portability. 

The Acer Aspire 5 has a pretty basic and no-nonsense design, it comes in silver color, and the entire body is made of plastic. Though, it feels sturdy and has little flex on it. Most of the flex is in the middle, so be careful while putting something heavy on it. Carrying it to the campus would be convenient due to the 1.3 kg weight and it fits easily on a backpack of medium size along with notebooks. 

The Aspire 5 features a 15.6-inch LCD panel with decent sharpness and vividness. The LCD panel doesn’t offer wide horizontal viewing, but as long as your position is center, it won’t be a dealbreaker. 

The display is medium bright and usually works fine on an average day; however, setting brightness levels to the top would be a wise decision if your room has heavy lights. The display is attached strongly to the laptop’s lower part, but you’ll feel wobbling during aggressive typing. 

The Aspire 5 runs on 12th gen i5 CPU, offering sustainable performance on heavy usage. Most of the time, it performs above expectation, but while playing games, the performance is okay. Well, it isn’t designed for gaming, but we expect that it runs entry-level games at decent FPS. In reality, as soon as I started to play games, it immediately heated up, and my overall performance decreased drastically. 

Overall, the Acer Aspire 5 is a pretty good deal for students who look for cheap laptops that can run Valorant to play occasional gaming and use the notebook for other activities.

6) Lenovo Ideapad 3i

Lenovo Ideapad 3i is a stylish and portable ultrabook that has a lot to offer. From a design perspective, it’s almost identical to its cousin Ideapad 3, but it is powered by a different processor. The Ideapad 3 runs on AMD processors whereas the Ideapad 3i runs on Intel CPUs. 

Just by looking at it, you’ll probably find it eye-catching and premium with high-quality build, but when you touch it you’ll know that it is a plastic build notebook that just gives the illusion of a premium machine. 

At just 1.65kg weight, the Ideapad 3i feels light and certainly easy to carry around.  Though it’s not the smallest ultrabook, and there are better alternatives if portability matters for you, in my experience carrying it to commute or office, you won’t feel a thing. 

Usually, on a notebook with a budget, the keyboard and trackpad feel cramped. Yet, the chiclet keyboard of Ideapad 3i is solid with snappy keys and a good amount of traveling. The same goes for the trackpad as well, it is large and suitable for scrolling and moving around and does a decent job in palm rejection. 

Sporting the latest 12th generation i5 processor and 8 gigs of memory, the Ideapad 3 brings cutting-edge performance to your desk. It can handle multitasking, dozens of Chrome tabs, and chiefly entry-level gaming effortlessly. There is no dedicated GPU unit, and all games will be run by an integrated Intel graphics card. 

The biggest bump is its 60hz panel that limits your FPS while playing any battle royale games. You can solve this by connecting the notebook to an external monitor and enjoying smooth gameplay.  

Overall, The Lenovo Ideapad 3i is a pretty good deal when you have a limited budget and want to play games that won’t require a heavy graphics card. 

7) HP 15

HP 15 is strongly recommendable for price-conscious users who need powerful notebooks that withstand a couple of spreadsheets editing and multitasking. 

The 15-inch display features 1080p resolution with a clear bright and accurate panel. By all means, the panel is not colorful or vivid, when you watch videos or content you’ll notice dim colors with inadequate brightness. 

For most people, it’s not a dealbreaker, but if you want a better display quality then there is a model with a brighter panel that costs much but comes with a much better, colorful, and bright display. 

It has a pretty basic design and there is nothing unique you’ll find in a notebook in this segment. The Chassis is entirely made of plastic and looks thick. I have found minor flex in both the keyboard and display. The bezels around the display are thin, but the bottom chin is a bit thicker. The display lifts up by two degrees and offers a better ergonomic position and enhances overall typing feels. 

The keyboard, on the other hand, is well-designed and offers a snappy typing experience whether you just search for the data, edit documents or type aggressively. The layout is quite favorable and you can easily adapt it without losing your normal typing speed. The trackpad is average. Though, it supports all the window’s gestures and movements. 

HP 15 features an 11th-generation i5 processor which is enough for getting stuff done. Starting from multitasking to switching between multiple Chrome tabs, it won’t sneeze. 

HP 15 isn’t the most powerful or landmark laptop, but it’s a capable machine and first-class value looking at its price making it a worthy pick while looking for the cheap laptops that can run Valorant.

8) Acer Swift 3

Acer Swift 3 is a perfect match for your gaming and working needs, the sleek and sturdy design makes it a prominent choice for the office and the inclusion of an i7 processor serves enough power to run your Valorant gameplay hassle-free. 

Similar to any portable notebook, the Swift 3 features a strong and rigid Aluminum chassis with a strong base. The chassis feels incredibly strong and offers great protection to the panel. There aren’t any major flex on it and most of the time the display was free from any wobbling. However, you cannot open the lid with one hand. 

Last year, the Swift 3 was a 13-inch notebook with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a somewhat square design. But, the upgraded version features a slightly long 14-inch display and a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. 

Just below the display, you’ll get a comfortable and quick keyboard that feels great to type and play. Though it is not great as a premium notebook keyboard by any means, the kind of response and feedback it gives during fast typing is not going without notice. 

One thing you should know is that it is an ultraportable device and as much as it looks premium and cool, there is some downside as well. With processors like i7 and FHD display, it will drain the power drastically and you merely get around 4 hours of battery during normal office browsing and multitasking. 

Acer Swift 3 is a well-equipped and powerful machine that offers plenty of features at low price. 

9) Dell Inspiron 15 3000

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 is a thin and light notebook that is mainly designed for business purposes, but its specification makes it a great bargain for anyone who needs an agile machine that won’t cost too much and can run games easily. 

The Inspiron features a straightforward design that is ideally suitable for a professional environment. The borders are thick, and the entire notebook is built from a plastic body, and by all means, it looks cheap. The build is quite strong, but it doesn’t save it from having an average-looking design. 

You’ll definitely find some flex on the display as well as on the keyboard and during aggressive typing, it starts wobbling. The hinge is justified for the price and easily stabilizes the machine on your desk. However, you cannot open the lid with one hand, and also it doesn’t feel smooth while opening or closing the lid. 

The Inspiron comes with a 15.6-inch display that is decent for normal gaming, multitasking, and streaming. The pixel density is superb and sharp so the text and pictures look vivid and crisp. While the display is good for movies watching inside, the brightness falls short when you use it in an outside environment. You have to set the brightness at maximum levels to do tasks and it will reduce your battery life drastically.

The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 excels in power and performance but comes with some compromises which you have to make. 

FAQS

1) Does cheap laptops can run Valorant?

Yes, a cheap laptop with good components like an i5 or Ryzen 5 processor can run Valorant smoothly. 

2) Do you need a good laptop to run Valorant?

Yes, you need a good laptop but not an expensive laptop to run Valorant. 

3) Is Valorant a heavy game?

No, Valorant is not a heavy game and you can run it on almost any laptop.