Do you really need a $2000 graphics card?
The Nvidia RTX 5090 is the graphics card company’s big shiny new toy and, packed with 21,760 CUDA cores and taking up to 575 watts worth of power, it’s a bit of a beast.
However, it’s also an expensive beast at $1,999, and that’s if you can even get your hands on one when it hits retailer’s shelves at the end of this money. Chances are you will be paying a good cut above that if you want it soon.
Partly as a mental exercise, and partly to put that figure into context, I went looking through some of the best cheap gaming PC deals today and found some really enticing offers for just shy of $2000.
With the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 out next week, and the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti out next month, it’s worth considering what type of PC you want, the power needed for it, and how long you are willing to wait.
Given we’ll likely be waiting a bit longer for RTX 50 series laptops, it’s worth paying attention to the best 40 series laptop out there too, especially if you can get it for a good deal.
Best gaming PC under $2000
HP Omen 35L | Core i5 14400F | RTX 4070 Ti Super | 16 GB DDR5-6000 | 1 TB SSD | $2,129.99 $1,679.99 at HP (save $450)
Though this specific configuration, with the RTX 4070 Ti Super and Core i5 14400F, normally sells for north of $2,000, you can currently get it for just under $1,700, which is a solid saving. This is an excellent 1440p gaming choice but can even handle 4K if you want to throw that at it.
If you’re looking to make it a bit beefier, add an extra $60 in the configuration for 32 GB of RAM or a secondary 1 TB SSD for $129 more (and this is still under budget).View Deal
Best gaming laptop under $2000
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i | RTX 4080 | Core i9 14900HX | 16-inch | 1600p | 240 Hz | 32 GB DDR5 | 1 TB SSD | $2,799.99 $1,999.99 at B&H Photo (save $800)
Coming in a single cent below our budget (though technically $.99 above the RTX 5090) is this 16-inch Lenovo powerhouse. This has pretty much everything you could look for in a modern gaming laptop with a 1600p 240 Hz screen, RTX 4080, 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, and an Intel Core i9 14900HX processor.
With only 1 TB of storage, the SSD is perhaps the most lacking thing but it’s still more than enough to get a good gaming library going. View Deal
Of course, given the imminent launch of the 50 series cards, it’s only really worth considering the last generation if you can get them in a particularly good deal and can’t see yourself getting a 50 card in the first place. However, if you are one such person, there are some really solid choices for that opportunity cost.
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