I've scanned the early Labor Day sales — these are the 5 gaming laptops actually worth buying from Acer, Alienware, Gigabyte, and others

If you're currently on the hunt for your next gaming laptop, then you'll definitely want to check out this week's early Labor Day sales.

<![CDATA[ <article> <p>If you're currently on the hunt for your next gaming laptop, then you'll definitely want to check out this week's early Labor Day sales. Even though we're less than a week away from the big day, major retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, HP, and others have already started their annual events. </p><p>I've been scanning through all the big sales today, and I've found some excellent price cuts. While the Labor Day sales are traditionally known for grills or the sort, there are a couple of highlights today that really stand out as good value picks.</p><p>You can check out the full list below, but I'd particularly recommend these Gigabyte A16 laptops <a href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/gigabyte-gaming-a16-16-165hz-1920x1200-wuxga-intel-core-i7-13620h-1tb-ssd-32gb-ddr5-ram-geforce-rtx-5060-black-steel/J3GWPQC2TJ/sku/6632143">for $1,159 (was $1,299</a>) and <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/GIGABYTE-Gaming-A16-16-Laptop-Intel-Core-i7-13620H-32GB-RAM-1TB-SSD-GeForce-RTX-5070-165Hz-IPS-Black-Steel-CWHI3US864SH/19960921727?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1102&from=/search">$1,499 (was $1,849)</a> at Best Buy and Walmart, respectively. If you're looking for outright bang for the buck, these are both listings that really buck the trend we've been seeing recently of inflated prices. </p><p>Another great, albeit high-end option, is this Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S <a href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/acer-predator-helios-neo-16s-ai-gaming-laptop-16-oled-240hz-intel-core-ultra-9-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070ti-32gb-1tb-obsidian-black/JJ8V8H38XT/sku/6619312">for $1,899 (was $2,199)</a> at Best Buy. While a little pricey, this is one of the better sub-$2,000 listings I've seen recently with its RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, Intel Ultra 9 chipset, and 240Hz OLED display. If I were on the lookout for a machine that can play all the latest games smoothly, this is the one I'd go for this week at this budget. </p><h2 id="labor-day-gaming-laptops-quick-links">Labor Day gaming laptops - quick links</h2><ul><li><strong>Best Buy</strong>:<a href="https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?id=pcat17071&st=gaming%20laptops"> gaming laptops starting at $699</a></li><li><strong>B&H Photo</strong>: <a href="https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?q=gaming%20laptops&sts=ma">up to $1,000 off Lenovo, Acer, Asus</a></li><li><strong>Dell</strong>: <a href="https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/deals/pc-gaming-deals">up to $600 off premium Alienware laptops</a></li><li><strong>HP</strong>: <a href="https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/slp/labor-day-sale/gaming">34% off HP and HyperX Omen laptops</a></li><li><strong>Lenovo</strong>: <a href="https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/deals/gaming/">10% extra off with code GAMERDAYS10</a></li><li><strong>Walmart</strong>: <a href="https://www.walmart.com/search?q=gaming+laptops">up to $600 off MSI, Gigabyte, Acer</a></li></ul><h2 id="this-week-39-s-best-labor-day-gaming-laptop-deals">This week's best Labor Day gaming laptop deals</h2><div class="product"><a data-dimension112="dbb9a2b8-a602-11f1-b5e3-e7a0cd87d75e" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Cyborg 15.6" data-dimension48="Cyborg 15.6" data-dimension25="$899" href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/MSI-Cyborg-15-6-144Hz-Gaming-Laptop-Intel-Core-i5-13420H-NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-5050-16GB-RAM-512GB-SSD-2026/20071300256?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1600&from=/search" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><figure class="van-image-figure " ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:573px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:100.00%;"><img id="jdXZhAj9Ppwq89uFgCUXnL" name="image" caption="" alt="" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jdXZhAj9Ppwq89uFgCUXnL.png" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="573" height="573" attribution="" endorsement="" credit="" class=""></p></div></div></figure></a><p><strong><a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/MSI-Cyborg-15-6-144Hz-Gaming-Laptop-Intel-Core-i5-13420H-NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-5050-16GB-RAM-512GB-SSD-2026/20071300256?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1600&from=/search" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="dbb9a2b8-a602-11f1-b5e3-e7a0cd87d75e" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Cyborg 15.6" data-dimension48="Cyborg 15.6" data-dimension25="$899">Cyborg 15.6: was $1299 now $899</a></strong><br><strong>Graphics card</strong>: RTX 5050<br><strong>Processor</strong>:  Intel Core i5-13420H<br><strong>RAM</strong>: 16GB<br><strong>Storage</strong>: 512GB</p><p>It's tough to find a good cheap gaming laptop these days, <em>really tough</em>, in fact. This MSI Cyborg at Walmart is a rare example of a sub-$1,000 machine that doesn't suck, however. With a Core i5 and RTX 5050, it's good enough to tackle a wide range of games, granted you're modest with your expectations. The RTX 5050 is capable of playing the latest games, but you'll likely have to tweak your graphical settings down a little on the most intensive titles.<a class="view-deal button" href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/MSI-Cyborg-15-6-144Hz-Gaming-Laptop-Intel-Core-i5-13420H-NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-5050-16GB-RAM-512GB-SSD-2026/20071300256?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1600&from=/search" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="dbb9a2b8-a602-11f1-b5e3-e7a0cd87d75e" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Cyborg 15.6" data-dimension48="Cyborg 15.6" data-dimension25="$899">View Deal</a></p></div><div class="product"><a data-dimension112="56b404c6-a604-11f1-b251-c9db955040ee" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Gaming A16" data-dimension48="Gaming A16" data-dimension25="$1159.99" href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/gigabyte-gaming-a16-16-165hz-1920x1200-wuxga-intel-core-i7-13620h-1tb-ssd-32gb-ddr5-ram-geforce-rtx-5060-black-steel/J3GWPQC2TJ/sku/6632143" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><figure class="van-image-figure " ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1024px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:100.00%;"><img id="8cLUGK79hedXwVXvkqjfS" name="gigabyte-a16-gaming-laptop-white-bg" caption="" alt="" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8cLUGK79hedXwVXvkqjfS.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1024" height="1024" attribution="" endorsement="" credit="" class=""></p></div></div></figure></a><p><strong>Graphics card</strong>: RTX 5060<br><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel Core i7-13620H<br><strong>RAM</strong>: 32GB<br><strong>Storage</strong>: 1TB</p><p>This Gigabyte Gaming A16 is one of the cheapest machines I've seen in recent months to feature 32GB of RAM - something that used to be commonplace on most mid-range gaming laptops. That's a massive boon for smooth frame rates, and the RTX 5060 graphics card and Core i7 chipset should pair nicely, even if the processor is a little older now. <a class="view-deal button" href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/gigabyte-gaming-a16-16-165hz-1920x1200-wuxga-intel-core-i7-13620h-1tb-ssd-32gb-ddr5-ram-geforce-rtx-5060-black-steel/J3GWPQC2TJ/sku/6632143" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="56b404c6-a604-11f1-b251-c9db955040ee" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Gaming A16" data-dimension48="Gaming A16" data-dimension25="$1159.99">View Deal</a></p></div><div class="product"><a data-dimension112="33eff01c-a604-11f1-9ca0-4bfdf7aa8ce0" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Gaming A16" data-dimension48="Gaming A16" data-dimension25="$1499.98" href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/GIGABYTE-Gaming-A16-16-Laptop-Intel-Core-i7-13620H-32GB-RAM-1TB-SSD-GeForce-RTX-5070-165Hz-IPS-Black-Steel-CWHI3US864SH/19960921727?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1102&from=/search" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><figure class="van-image-figure " ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1024px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:100.00%;"><img id="8cLUGK79hedXwVXvkqjfS" name="gigabyte-a16-gaming-laptop-white-bg" caption="" alt="" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8cLUGK79hedXwVXvkqjfS.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1024" height="1024" attribution="" endorsement="" credit="" class=""></p></div></div></figure></a><p><strong><a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/GIGABYTE-Gaming-A16-16-Laptop-Intel-Core-i7-13620H-32GB-RAM-1TB-SSD-GeForce-RTX-5070-165Hz-IPS-Black-Steel-CWHI3US864SH/19960921727?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1102&from=/search" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="33eff01c-a604-11f1-9ca0-4bfdf7aa8ce0" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Gaming A16" data-dimension48="Gaming A16" data-dimension25="$1499.98">Gaming A16: was $1849.99 now $1499.98</a></strong><br><strong>Graphics card</strong>: RTX 5070<br><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel Core i7-13620H<br><strong>RAM</strong>: 32GB<br><strong>Storage</strong>: 1TB</p><p>Here's another great value listing on a Gigabyte A16, this time over at Walmart. This machine is essentially the same as the Best Buy deal above, but you swap out the RTX 5060 graphics card for the slightly higher-end RTX 5070. That should get you a nice little bump in performance, although this machine does still have an older chipset, so it's not as capable as the higher-end machines with RTX 5070 graphics cards. <a class="view-deal button" href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/GIGABYTE-Gaming-A16-16-Laptop-Intel-Core-i7-13620H-32GB-RAM-1TB-SSD-GeForce-RTX-5070-165Hz-IPS-Black-Steel-CWHI3US864SH/19960921727?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1102&from=/search" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="33eff01c-a604-11f1-9ca0-4bfdf7aa8ce0" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Gaming A16" data-dimension48="Gaming A16" data-dimension25="$1499.98">View Deal</a></p></div><div class="product"><a data-dimension112="33eff0b2-a604-11f1-bc9e-e7748d585901" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Predator Helios Neo 16S" data-dimension48="Predator Helios Neo 16S" data-dimension25="$1899.99" href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/acer-predator-helios-neo-16s-ai-gaming-laptop-16-oled-240hz-intel-core-ultra-9-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070ti-32gb-1tb-obsidian-black/JJ8V8H38XT/sku/6619312" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><figure class="van-image-figure " ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:708px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:100.00%;"><img id="g3HdfcLZuYcjFfZmgJrnZL" name="Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI" caption="" alt="" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/g3HdfcLZuYcjFfZmgJrnZL.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="708" height="708" attribution="" endorsement="" credit="" class=""></p></div></div></figure></a><p><strong><a href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/acer-predator-helios-neo-16s-ai-gaming-laptop-16-oled-240hz-intel-core-ultra-9-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070ti-32gb-1tb-obsidian-black/JJ8V8H38XT/sku/6619312" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="33eff0b2-a604-11f1-bc9e-e7748d585901" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Predator Helios Neo 16S" data-dimension48="Predator Helios Neo 16S" data-dimension25="$1899.99">Predator Helios Neo 16S: was $2199.99 now $1899.99</a></strong><br><strong>Graphics card</strong>: RTX 5070 Ti<br><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel Core Ultra 9-275HX<br><strong>RAM</strong>: 32GB<br><strong>Storage</strong>: 1TB</p><p>For a no-compromise option, I'd recommend this Acer Predator Helios, which is currently on sale at Best Buy. The savings aren't huge, but I think the price is right here considering you get an RTX 5070 Ti, Ultra 9, 32GB of RAM, <em>and</em> a high-end OLED display. You'll have no issues with all the latest titles with this machine - and everything will look fantastic thanks to the OLED display.<a class="view-deal button" href="https://www.bestbuy.com/product/acer-predator-helios-neo-16s-ai-gaming-laptop-16-oled-240hz-intel-core-ultra-9-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5070ti-32gb-1tb-obsidian-black/JJ8V8H38XT/sku/6619312" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="33eff0b2-a604-11f1-bc9e-e7748d585901" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="Predator Helios Neo 16S" data-dimension48="Predator Helios Neo 16S" data-dimension25="$1899.99">View Deal</a></p></div><div class="product"><a data-dimension112="af72259c-a605-11f1-be17-31372716e7a9" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="16 Area-51" data-dimension48="16 Area-51" data-dimension25="$4349.99" href="https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-16-area-51-gaming-laptop/spd/alienware-area-51-aa16250-gaming-laptop/useaa16250hbtsjdmq" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><figure class="van-image-figure " ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:3388px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:82.05%;"><img id="kPypSRcH7SSeKnDAT3AGhS" name="image" caption="" alt="" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kPypSRcH7SSeKnDAT3AGhS.png" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="3388" height="2780" attribution="" endorsement="" credit="" class=""></p></div></div></figure></a><p><strong>Graphics card</strong>: RTX 5080<br><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel Core Ultra 9-290HX<br><strong>RAM</strong>: 32GB<br><strong>Storage</strong>: 1TB</p><p>Looking for the ultimate gaming laptop? Dell's currently got a price cut on its high-end Alienware 16 Area-51 model, a machine that we claimed as 'one of the best gaming laptops ever made' <a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/gaming-laptops/ive-tested-laptops-for-years-and-the-alienware-16-area-51-is-easily-one-of-the-best-gaming-laptops-ever-made" data-dimension112="af72259c-a605-11f1-be17-31372716e7a9" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="16 Area-51" data-dimension48="16 Area-51" data-dimension25="$4349.99">in our review</a>. As you can see, this is a very, very pricey laptop, but you do get excellent performance courtesy of an RTX 5080 and Intel Core Ultra 9 chipset, as well as an OLED display <em>and</em> mechanical keyboard.<a class="view-deal button" href="https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-16-area-51-gaming-laptop/spd/alienware-area-51-aa16250-gaming-laptop/useaa16250hbtsjdmq" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" data-dimension112="af72259c-a605-11f1-be17-31372716e7a9" data-action="Deal Block" data-label="16 Area-51" data-dimension48="16 Area-51" data-dimension25="$4349.99">View Deal</a></p></div> </article> ]]>