This lesser-known retailer just quietly dropped the best cheap gaming laptop deal of the year

We're starting our descent into the end-of-year deals season now, but there's one gaming laptop deal that I highly recommend picking up before it's too late. It's this Asus TUF A15 at Staples for just $649.99 (was $899), which is easily the best bang-for-the-buck laptop right now for those on a budget.

I've written about this particular deal before, and quite frankly, I'm surprised it's still on sale. It is an older machine with an RTX 4060 graphics card and AMD Ryzen 5-7535HS chipset, but I'd still recommend this machine above all others right now if your budget is in the $600 to $800 range.

With these specs (as well as 16GB of RAM), you'll have no issues playing most games smoothly on this machine's 144Hz, 1080p display. Yeah, some Ultra settings may be slightly out of reach, but I have zero issues recommending this one – particularly if you're more of a casual gamer, or play slightly less demanding or older titles.

The best cheap gaming laptop deal right now

Asus TUF A15 gaming laptop: was $899.99 now $649.99 at Staples

Graphics card: GeForce RTX 4060
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5-7535HS
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB

<p>Looking for a solid gaming laptop on a budget? You won't find a better option than this heavily discounted Asus TUF at Staples. With the combination of an RTX 4060 graphics card and Ryzen 5 chipset, this machine is more than capable of running most games smoothly at 1080p. Although not a high-end machine, this Asus is superb value for money.

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We haven't reviewed this particular model here at TechRadar, but you can check out our sister site GamesRadar's newest Asus TUF A15 review for a proper in-depth look. In short, the laptop was praised for its performance, design, and build quality for the price. The main criticism was its dated display - which, again, can be slightly forgiven considering it's a budget model (and today's deal makes it way, way cheaper).

Also available this week...

MSI Katana 15 gaming laptop: was $1,499 now $1,099 at Walmart

Graphics card: RTX 5070
Processor: Intel Core i7-14650HX
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 1TB

<p>Walmart has just listed a huge price cut on this MSI Katana 15 gaming laptop – just in time for Labor Day. At $1,099, this is one of the cheapest machines I've ever seen to carry a higher-end RTX 5070 graphics card, and you also get a superb 14th-gen Core i7 chipset for good measure. While you'll likely want to upgrade to 32GB of RAM to unleash this laptop's full potential, this is a fantastic bang-for-the-buck 1440p gaming machine.

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