Is this HP Victus the cheapest gaming laptop that’s actually worth buying?

If you’re a gamer on a budget – and we mean really on a budget – then one of the cheapest gaming laptop deals we’ve ever seen is the HP Victus 15 on sale for just $479.99 (was $729) at Best Buy. 

For just under $500, this machine surprisingly manages to pack in a 7th gen Ryzen 5 chipset, a Radeon RX 6550M graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, which is pretty impressive. Aside from the relatively small helping of RAM (a relatively cheap upgrade), this machine is a damn cost-effective way to get gaming on a budget.

Best Buy has the RX 6550M listed as a ‘high-end’ graphics card on its product page but it’s important to set expectations here. The RX 6550M is roughly the equivalent of Nvidia’s RTX 3050 graphics card, which means it’s best suited for running games at a 1080p resolution with relatively modest settings. 

That’s not to say it can’t max out the settings on some games, but don’t expect it to run everything at a smooth 60 frames-per-second if you decide to crank up the options. Still, for $500? It’s hard to complain here.

Cheap gaming laptop deal at Best Buy

A good option for college?

Our HP Victus 15 review awarded this budget gaming laptop four stars out of five when we tested a previous iteration. For the price, it’s a great option with its sturdy build, excellent selection of ports, and decent display. We’re not a huge fan of the relatively plain design, but it’s a good option if you need something that will double up as a work laptop – for college, for example. 

At under $500, this could be a good all-rounder for students heading off to college later this year. Yes, it will struggle to max out all the latest games but it’s got plenty of power for all the basics and more than enough for casual gaming. If you’re just going to be set up in a dorm room, the relatively bulky design of the Victus 15 shouldn’t matter too much either.

Check out our back-to-school sales page for more excellent machines for students. Alternatively, head on over to our cheap gaming laptop deals page to see more premium options that will handle higher settings a little better.