With so many things to consider and a wide range of laptops available in the market, it’s hard to find a good laptop. To make things easier we’ve curated a list of cheap laptops that can run GTA 5, check it out.
GTA 5 is a new addition to the Rockstar game’s Grand Theft Auto series with improved graphics, better player controls, and new missions. It runs on pc, PlayStation, and Xbox.
GTA 5 is a graphic-intensive game that requires decent processor and graphic power. A regular office laptop or low-power CPU device won’t be able to run it. Even if you can install it on low-power devices it immediately starts to freeze and stuttering will continue throughout the game session.
To run GTA 5 lag-free, you need a gaming laptop that is designed to tackle heavy computing tasks with ease. But not any gaming laptop, you need to make sure it meets GTA 5 official system requirements. Further, a gaming laptop should have at least 4 GB of VRAM, 8 GB of memory, and an i5 processor.
These are the basic requirements to run not just GTA 5, but any modern duty game without experiencing any frame drops or occasional freezing.
Keeping these things in mind, we’ve picked some of the best cheap gaming laptops that can run GTA 5.
GTA 5 Minimum PC requirements:-
| OS | Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 64 Bit Service Pack 2* (*NVIDIA video card recommended if running Vista OS) |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz |
| Memory | 4 GB |
| Storage | 65 GB |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA 9800 GT 1 GB / AMD HD 4870 1 GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11) |
| Sound Card | 100% DirectX 10 compatible |
GTA 5 Recommend System requirements:-
| OS | Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1 |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs) |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Storage | 65 GB |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX 660 2 GB / AMD HD7870 2 GB |
| Sound Card | 100% DirectX 10 compatible |
Cheap Laptops That Can Run GTA 5
1) Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3
Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 is a budget gaming laptop with a bright display, powerful performance, and terrific cooling system. Like many gaming laptops, it has its flaws but for the price you pay and the performance you want, Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 is probably the best gaming machine.
Lenovo Ideapad Gaming comes with a simple yet bold design. With its angular shape and Shadow Black Color scheme, it gives a gamer aesthetic look. It is crafted entirely from plastic that feels solid and flexes nowhere to be found in the body or the keyboard. However, the plastic doesn’t feel as premium as metal body gaming laptops feel while handling.
Lenovo packs it with a 15.6-inch panel that looks fantastic, has decent pixel density, and produces text and images with sharp color. Further, it has a 16:9 aspect ratio and 120Hz refresh rate. The overall display is good for productivity, games, and media consumption.
GTA 5 Performance
This model features an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor that is more powerful and power-efficient than an Intel processor. Resulting in great battery life and excellent CPU performance for long hours. It also features a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050ti graphic to run games lag-free.
These are pretty powerful sets of hardware for daily tasks, gaming, and basic video editing. The processing power gives decent fuel to run heavy tasks, but entry-level graphic cards lag a little behind. While you can play most of the games without any major problem, for some modern titles you have to drop down settings to run the game lag-free.
We’ve played GTA 5 on this machine and its performance is admirable most of the time, except when on high graphic settings.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 120 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 100 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 76 |
The Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 cooling management is above average. While playing games, the keyboard deck gets a little warm and gets extremely hot during a long gaming session. The fans are typically silent and not audible. Unless you put your ear next to the laptop side, you probably won’t hear anything.
Lenovo provides a great keyboard for a gaming laptop. It feels spacious, has a good amount of key traveling, and comfortable key pressing. Though, they have average tactile feedback. It doesn’t take long to get used to the keyboard and doesn’t cause any fatigue over time.
Despite being plastic, the trackpad feels smooth, fairly large, and reliable. It tracks all the hands’ movements, supports Windows gestures precisely, and has no issue with palm rejection or dragging.
Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 is a classic gaming laptop equipped with modern hardware to run most titles with ease.
2) Acer Nitro 5
Acer Nitro 5 is equipped with powerful specs and designs that you will likely find on laptops sold at $1000 dollars. With its ridiculously cheap price, Nitro 5 set a high bar for all those who need a powerful gaming machine without burning a hole in their pocket.
Design-wise, there is not much to say, it got a classic subdued gamer look along with red trimming on the keyboard. The display is sturdy and does get dirty easily. For some gamers, it’s appealing, while others might find the design bulky and old school.
The entire machine is wrapped inside the plastic body and there is an inch of bezel around the display.
The display is regular and features Full HD resolution. However, the display brightness is quite mediocre and it seems it’s not suitable for outside usage.
GTA 5 Performance
In terms of performance, there is little to complain about. Fuelled by an i5-10300H processor & paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphic power, Nitro 5 delivers unmatched gaming and productivity performance.
On our gaming test, most games run fine on medium to high settings with playable frame rates. However, when switching to ultra settings games started to stutter and the temperature was very high.
GTA 5 performance was excellent. I have played many missions, chased by police for hours, throughout my gameplay, I rarely find any major issues.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 150 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 135 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 120 |
Acer Stuffs a large keyboard with the laptop that has plenty of space, fast traveling keys, and some highlighted keys for a better gaming experience. The keyboard has per-zone RGB backlighting. Whether it’s working or gaming, the keyboard will give you excellent feedback.
The trackpad is just okay. It is small and less responsive, plus it feels really cheap. It is strictly not designed for gaming or productive tasks where continuous clicking is important.
If you need a gaming laptop primarily for performance and can compromise on some features to save extra bucks then Acer Nitro 5 is one of the best cheap laptops that can run GTA 5.
3) HP Pavilion Gaming
HP Pavilion Gaming is a great entry-level gaming laptop that doesn’t run all the games, but at its price point, you can play most of the titles without losing too much or experiencing lagging.
The Pavilion is constructed entirely out of plastic (strong plastic) and features an angular design. It feels solid and relatively scratch resistant. I have found some flex on both the keyboard deck and back shell. It is a portable machine despite having a gaming design. You can easily carry it around without any major issues.
The display features a 15.6 Inch panel with 144hz of refresh rate and 141 PPI. The brightness level is average with 220 nits. In a bright room, you will find some glare.
GTA 5 Performance
The Pavilion comes with AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor that can handle regular browsing, video editing, and gaming. Most of the time with Ryzen 5 you won’t find any performance or lagging, however, when you play games for long hours or edit 4K files it immediately comes under load and you will find a performance drop.
The GTA 5 performance was smoother with Ryzen 5 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphic card. I found some occasional frame drops and lag during high graphic settings.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 120 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 96 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 80 |
For normal use and gaming, the keyboard is fantastic. It’s got luxurious key traveling, White backlighting, and adequate feedback. The keys don’t give any fatigue when you use them for long. Most of the keys are well-spaced, however, you need to get used to the unusual layout of the arrow keys and some special functions keys.
The HP Pavilion trackpad is small but accurate. It tracks all the movements precisely, has good palm rejection, and supports all the multi-gesture without issue.
Overall, HP Pavilion 15 is designed for both creative professional, and casual games that need the best of both worlds’ performance in their machine.
4) Asus TUF Gaming F17
With a long 17.3-inch display and 144hz refresh rate, the F17 is an appealing pick for casual gamers who want to play games with lighter demands.
The F17 is an attractive gaming machine with a sleek and gamer-focused design. Asus provides plastic design to match the price point for better performance. Despite having a 17-inch screen, it’s still one of the portable gaming machines and is easy to carry around when necessary. The large 17-inch screen is excellent for productivity & gaming. The lid cannot be opened with a single hand, however, the bezels are minimum.
GTA 5 Performance
The F17 provides decent performance for both gaming and creative work. It comes with the i5-11260H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050ti graphic card. While playing casual games and some AAA titles, it performs effectively, but it’s not the most lethal beast in the kingdom. To our disappointment, we have found some noticeable lag and frame drops during gameplay.
Though, the F17 performed decently in the GTA 5 Gaming session. During our gameplay, GTA 5 averaged 55 fps on ULTRA settings and almost 100 fps on medium settings. If you want more performance then you have to mitigate some graphic settings to get a smoother experience.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 120 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 98 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 55 |
Speaking about the keyboard, the F17 packs a full-sized keyboard with included Numpad. The keys are responsive, travel fast, and feature low profile design. All the keys can be illuminated with RGB LEDs and there are highlighted WASD keys for clear keycaps.
The touchpad is good for two-finger scrolling, zooming out, and supports gestures. We just wish it gets bigger.
The Asus TUF Gaming F17 is a big-screen machine designed for gamers and creative professionals, but if you want to play GTA 5 then this might be one of the top-notch choices when it comes to cheap laptops that can run GTA 5.
5) Lenovo Legion 5
The Lenovo Legion 5 is a superb mid-price gaming laptop that represents excellent value for money and hands down one of the best cheap laptops that can run GTA 5. The deadly combination of Ryzen 5 processor and NVIDIA 30-series graphic card makes it one of the prominent choices for gamers who don’t have much to spend but still want a gaming-centric machine.
If you have seen or followed Lenovo Legion series laptops for a while, the Legion 5 doesn’t differ from the rest of the laptops. Over the years, Lenovo hasn’t made any major changes in its overall design. It still has a recycled design with a chubby deck. It got fairly thin bezels with a solid grip. You will find some flex on the display, but none on the keyboard.
GTA 5 Performance
The Legion 5 performs well on almost any AAA title as long as you set the settings to medium. I expected nothing less than this from a machine with a Ryzen 5 processor, RTX 3050ti GPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of SSD.
The legion 5 comes with an AI engine that dynamically shifts power between the CPU and GPU to give high FPS. And Surprisingly, it seems to make a difference. We have played games with high FPS and there are no occasional frame drops or lag whatsoever.
We played GTA V for a very long time and its performance was as expected. With high fps and terrific graphic performance.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 140 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 120 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 90 |
The Lenovo Legion 5 comes with a great keyboard. It has high-quality keys with sufficient space between them and the layout is fairly standard to use for long hours. The keys have decent traveling keys with instant feedback. Throughout our typing test, keys don’t make any noise or unnecessary clicks.
Coming to the trackpad, it is smaller, but feels smooth and reliable. It surprisingly tracks all the movements accurately and there is no issue with palm rejection either.
Leaving a few drawbacks behind, Lenovo Legion 5 is almost a performance gaming machine for not just casual but hardcore gamers as well.
6) MSI GF63
If you are after a budget-friendly laptop with a gamer-centric design then MSI GF63 is probably the best choice.
The MSI GF63 comes with brushed aluminum finishing and looks like a brilliant piece of design. It has a plastic build, but it feels sturdy and stays for long. The MSI has a thin and lightweight design which usually means smaller battery life. In our battery test, it gives only 2.5 hours of gaming.
The display comes with a 15.6-inch panel and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It has a 60hz refresh rate. The display brightness is average and we measured 259 nits. It is suitable for medium-light rooms but not for brighter surroundings.
GTA 5 Performance
MSI equipped it with an i5-10300H processor which is currently one of the fastest processors, particularly for casual gaming and multimedia. It also has the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q GPU that runs on lower clock rates.
The GTX 1650 GPU is fast enough to play games at Full-HD resolutions, however, some modern titles find it difficult to give decent frame rates such as Red Dead Redemption 2 or Borderlands 3.
When it comes to GTA 5, we rarely find any difficulty to play the game smoothly. We have played GTA 5 on a 4k monitor and it does start to lag after some time. It is due to a low-power CPU. But at Full-HD resolution, it runs smoothly as butter.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 127 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 107 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 70 |
The MSI GF63 also provides a good keyboard and trackpad for typing and a seamless gaming experience.
Overall, MSI GF63 is a great deal for gamers with a low budget and who need a powerful gaming machine.
7) HP Victus 16
The HP Victus 16 is a budget gaming laptop that balances affordability and solid gaming power with a few shortcomings you might expect.
The HP Victus 16 is a robust and powerful gaming machine that delivers reliable performance to stack up against modern games. The Victus series laptops have slightly less power than HP’s Omen series but at an affordable price.
It comes with a 16-inch display that stays between a 15 and 17-inch machine – neither too small nor too bulky for both gamers and professional users. It has 2.48 kg of weight and an all-plastic build that feels sturdy. The design looks solid, but it isn’t. I have found some flex on both the keyboard and display.
GTA 5 Performance
Our review unit came with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor and RTX 3050 graphic card. Both GPU and CPU are mid-level components for gaming and they deliver just that. Not above or below.
We have tested many games on the machine, some run smoothly while others run with some hitches. But, during our testing, we haven’t found any major performance issues that we won’t expect in a laptop at this price point. The Victus has run all the titles smoothly on medium to high settings.
If your entire focus is on GTA 5 performance then this might be the best mid-range laptop for GTA 5. We had a pretty good GTA 5 experience with this machine. It performs admirably on all the graphic settings despite low-end CPU power.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 160 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 150 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 134 |
The HP Victus 16 features a good and truly reliable keyboard not just for gaming but for professional work as well. It has well-spaced keys with a good amount of traveling and also layout is easy to get used to.
With its subtle design and remarkable performance, HP Victus 16 is hands down one of the cheap laptops that can run GTA 5.
8) Asus TUF Dash 15
The Asus TUF Dash 15 is a deadly combination of attainable price and strong performance that won’t let you down and it has some of the longest battery life which we rarely see in a gaming laptop. With tremendous power and amazing portability, this one is a great cheap laptops that can run GTA 5.
The Dash 15 got a thin and light design with two color options; black and white. The lid is made from aluminum while the interior is smooth plastic. It has a good surface but easily messes up by touching a finger. The design is aimed at budget gamers who want the best value for money product for the price they pay.
GTA 5 Performance
The Dash 15 is run by heavy hardware. You’ll get an 11th generation i7-11370H processor along with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 ti graphic card. You can throw any AAA titles at it, it pulls an acceptable frame rate without any lagging.
Performance-wise, the dash 15 outperformed most of the budget devices with the same hardware and at the same time, it kept the temperature down.
Most of the games run smoothly except Cyberpunk 2077 which starts to drop frames after some time. The GTA V benchmark was way better than we expected. Probably due to the high-power i7 processor and RTX 30 series GPU.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 164 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 153 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 120 |
Just like the Asus TUF series, the dash 1 has an identical keyboard, but a major change in backlighting. Asus offers backlighting rather than RGB. Some hardcore gamers find it difficult to play games with White backlights. Though, the key itself feels nice to type on and give tactical feedback for a long time.
Asus TUF Dash 15 comes with all the important boxes you would expect in a budget gaming laptop; good performance, great battery life, and a nice display. With everything that Asus offers there is nothing major to complain about.
9) MSI Katana GF66
The MSI Katana GF66 is undoubtedly one of the best laptops offered by MSI that has everything from a good display to unmatched gaming performance and all of the above doesn’t cost much.
The Katana features a sharp and bright 15.6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and a 144hz refresh rate. The display is pretty decent for gaming, streaming, browsing, and anything else.
Lookwise, The Katana GF66 is not a good option, it has a boring black exterior and chunky design that feels old school and seems like it hasn’t been updated in ages. That’s the problem with most of the budget MSI products, they come with modern components but the looks and design still feel bulky and old school.
GTA 5 Performance
The performance of the Katana GF66 is outstanding for the price you’re paying. Starting from the latest games to running dozens of Chrome tabs, it won’t freeze or give hiccups. The hardware units run by Intel core i5 processor and coupled with RTX 3050 graphic card to bring techie heaven for users.
We played Shadow of the Tomb Raider, GTA V, New World and Call of Duty to run the benchmark. To our surprise, it gave constant 60+ FPS on high graphic settings and didn’t burn as much as other budget gaming laptops.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 150 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 115 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 80 |
Besides this, The Katana is suitable for tackling regular tasks along with 5 hours long battery life. However, while playing games the battery gets relatively slow and lasts about 2 hours.
The MSI Katana GF66 is a decent gaming laptop with acceptable battery life and terrific performance. If you can compromise on laptop design to get great performance then this is one of the best cheap laptops that can run GTA 5 smoothly.
10) Dell G3 15
The Dell G3 15 is an entry-level gaming laptop from Dell with a subtle design, modest performance, and low budget price.
Just like any other budget gaming laptop, it comes with a compact design, plastic finishing, and sturdy plastic inside. Overall, it has average looks and construction. It still has a portable design and fits easily on your college backpack.
As far as display is concerned, it has a 15.6-inch panel with a 60hz of refresh rate. The display is bright, though you still find glare on the display in a bright room. The 60hz refresh rate limited your gaming performance and so if you love big FPS numbers then you need to find a separate monitor with a high refresh rate to play games smoothly.
GTA 5 Performance
The Dell G3 15 performed average on our regular gaming tests. It is good for regular browsing tasks, binge-watching Netflix, and playing games with medium settings. But if you run more than that it starts to lag and the temperature goes immediately up.
It runs on an i5-10300H processor and also features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphic card. With these components, you can play games with medium graphic settings. But, don’t expect more than that.
The GTA 5 performance was somewhat above average. If you are a hardcore player and stream games on Twitch or other platforms then this is not a good choice. For casual gamers who just want to play games without worrying about top-notch performance then Dell G3 15 is a good pick.
| GTA V Graphic Settings | Resolution | FPS |
| Low | 1024 X 768 | 100 |
| Medium | 1366 X 768 | 90 |
| High | 1920 X 1080 | 55 |
The best part about the Dell G3 15 is its battery life which gives an average of 6 hours of juice on normal usage and up to 4 hours of gaming.
Overall, the Dell G3 15 is a good choice for casual gamers who need a laptop for office work and gaming. While it comes with a few flaws, it is still a good deal for cheap laptops that can run GTA 5.
Wrapping Up
GTA 5 is a graphic-intensive game that requires dedicated graphic memory to run the game without compromising on resolution or graphic settings. We highly recommend that you purchase a gaming laptop to get an immersive GTA 5 experience.
Finally, it’s a wrap for our list of cheap laptops that can run GTA 5 lag-free.