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With the big event coming up fast, we’re spotting some early Black Friday deals already. There are some great discounts on gaming laptops in particular if you simply can’t wait any longer to make a purchase. Below we’ve picked out some awesome Black Friday gaming laptop deals with something for nearly every budget and including all the biggest names in the field. Let’s guide you through the deals now.

Today’s Best Black Friday Gaming Laptop Deals

HP Victus 15 (Intel) — $550, was $900

The HP Victus 15 is one of the cheapest gaming laptops in the market, but it still provides decent performance with the latest 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, and 8GB of RAM. With these specifications, you can play today’s most popular games, but you’ll have to go with low to medium graphic settings for the more demanding titles. The gaming laptop is also equipped with a 15.6-inch Full HD screen with a 144Hz refresh rate, and a 512GB SSD with Windows 11 Home pre-loaded.

HP Victus 15 (AMD) — $650, was $950

With the AMD versus Intel rivalry intensifying over the past few years, you may want to try the HP Victus 15 with the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor. It’s paired with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 graphics card and 8GB of RAM, while maintaining the 15.6-inch Full HD display. It’s also equipped with a 512GB SSD with Windows 11 Home out of the box.

Asus TUF Gaming A16 — $750, was $1,100

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 focuses on durability, so you won’t be worried that it will get damaged if you take it with you to different places. For a relatively affordable gaming laptop, it provides decent performance with its AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, AMD Radeon RX7600S V8G Graphics, and 16GB of RAM that’s the recommended starting point for gaming by our guide on how much RAM do you need. It also comes with Windows 11 Home in its 512GB SSD, and a 16-inch Full HD screen with a 165Hz refresh rate.

HP Omen 16t — $780, was $1,150

The HP Omen 16t is powered by the 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM, which are pretty decent specifications for a relatively cheap gaming laptop. It comes with Windows 11 Home in its 512GB SSD, and you’ll enjoy playing your favorite video games on its 16.1-inch Full HD screen with a 144Hz refresh rate.

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 — $800, was $1,200

The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 is a mid-range gaming laptop featuring a bright and colorful 16-inch display with WUXGA resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate. It’s equipped with the 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM, and you’ll have ample storage space for your games and save data on its 512GB SSD with Windows 11 Home out of the box.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 — $1,250, was $1,600

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a unique entry in our list of the best gaming laptops because it’s there for its portability. It’s small and light with its 14-inch screen featuring QHD resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate, which is different from most gaming laptops that are big and bulky. However, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 also provides powerful performance with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM, and it ships with Windows 11 Home in its 512GB SSD.

Razer Blade 15 — $2,000, was $3,000

The Razer Blade 15 is the best 15-inch gaming laptop in our list of the best 15-inch laptops because of its sleek design with its 15.6-inch QHD screen with a 240Hz refresh rate, and exceptional performance provided by its 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, and 16GB of RAM. You’ll be able to install several AAA titles on its 1TB SSD, which ships with Windows 11 Home out of the box.

Razer Blade 17 — $2,400, was $3,400

For a larger version of the Razer Blade 15, go for the Razer Blade 17 with its 17.3-inch QHD display offering a 240Hz refresh rate. The gaming laptop retains the 1TB SSD with Windows 11 Home, but elevates performance to further maximize the bigger screen with the 12th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, with the same Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card and 16GB of RAM.

Alienware m16 — $2,800, was $3,500

For a gaming laptop that’s prepared for the best upcoming PC games of the next few years, you can’t go wrong with the Alienware m16. Inside the device are the 13th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM. The gaming laptop’s 16-inch screen with QHD+ resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate will give justice to its powerful performance, and it will be a while before you run out of space on its 2TB SSD with Windows 11 Home.

Who Has the Best Black Friday Gaming Laptop Deals?

All the major retailers, such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, will be slashing prices for a wide range of gaming laptops. If you’re asking which one of them will have the biggest discounts, unfortunately, it’s too early to tell. We’re expecting minimal differences between the sellers though, so either you go on the online platform that you’ve been using the most for familiarity, or you decide on a specific gaming laptop that you’ll be searching for across all the websites.

One thing’s for sure though — if you’re willing to give up some performance by going for gaming laptops with older components, retailers will be selling these devices with bigger price cuts. You’ll have to figure out how far back you can go in terms of these specifications though, especially if there’s a game or two that you’re planning to play on the device. You’ll surely be able to find a nice laptop to fit your needs, especially if you’re using our list of the best Black Friday gaming laptop deals.

Should You Buy a Gaming Laptop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday will offer eye-catching bargain prices on different kinds of products, but retailers will be focusing on electronic devices for this shopping holiday. That includes gaming laptops, among all the things that gamers can buy. There’s a possibility that gaming laptops will be cheaper on Cyber Monday, so some believe that you should skip Black Friday entirely and just wait for Cyber Monday to pull the trigger on some purchases.

While there’s certainly a chance that the gaming laptop that you want to buy will get a bigger discount on Cyber Monday, it’s not advisable to eschew Black Friday deals altogether. There’s no certainty that the device will get cheaper, and even if it does, it may not be by much. You’re risking being able to purchase a gaming laptop at a price that you can afford in favor of savings of just a few more dollars. That trade-off isn’t worth it, so if you see an offer that you like from Black Friday gaming laptop deals, take advantage of it right away.

Editors’ Recommendations

BitLocker is a useful security feature for modern Windows installations that helps protect your files and data from prying eyes. But if you made major changes to your PC, or an administrator has triggered a security event, you may need to input your BitLocker recovery key to get into Windows. Don’t have it at hand? Don’t worry. Here’s how to find your recovery key so you can log in again.

Did you write it down?

If you never recorded your BitLocker recovery key information anywhere physical, then you can skip this step. However, it’s always worth checking if you wrote your recovery key down somewhere or, if you’re on a network, asking the administrator to see if they have a note of the key.

If you can find that piece of paper, on a pen-drive, digital note, or other written form of BitLocker recovery key, it can save you some hassle by just grabbing that note and inputting it from there.

Is it a school or work device?

If you are trying to recover the BItlocker key for a device provided to you by your work or school, there’s a chance that your BitLocker key is stored in the organizations Azure AD account. Try accessing the Azure AD recovery page yourself, and if possible, select Get BitLocker keys to find your keys.

If you can’t access it directly, try asking your network or organization administrator to do it for you.

Recover your key from your Microsoft Account

The most straightforward way to find your BitLocker recovery key is to get it from your Microsoft account. All BitLocker keys associated with your account are stored there, and you can access them by logging in to the recovery site.

Step 1: Navigate to the Microsoft Bitlocker recovery page.

Step 2: Log in and, if necessary, verify your account details.

Step 3: Once logged in, you should see any relevant BitLocker keys attached to your account, with the name of the relevant device next to them.

If you don’t have any relevant BitLocker keys related to that Microsoft account, you’ll instead be greeted with the message:

“You don’t have any BitLocker recovery keys uploaded to your Microsoft account.

Note: If someone else helped you set up your PC, the BitLocker keys you’re looking for might be on their account.”

You could try signing into another Microsoft account if you know the details.

Once you’ve recovered your PC, if you want to improve security further or supplant BitLocker with something else, here are some security tweaks you can do to make Windows more secure. Some Windows 11 security settings do reduce gaming performance, though. Check out our guide on how to boost gaming performance by changing Windows settings.

Editors’ Recommendations

Not everyone needs the fastest CPU and the highest-quality high-resolution display. Sometimes, a machine with a last-gen CPU and a decent Full HD display is plenty for the web browsing, email, and Office applications that make up many users’ workflows. This can be true for students, and sometimes buyers are looking for a secondary machine to augment one of the best laptops you can buy.

That’s where budget laptops come in. The definition is a loose one, with some machines costing a bit more but offering a lot more to go with it. But they’ll save you hundreds over midrange and premium laptops that are overkill for what you need. This list will provide several options, including for gamers and those with the lowest budgets. You can check out our best laptops under $500 and best laptops under $300 lists for even more affordable options.

Dell XPS 13 (9315)

A surprisingly affordable ‘premium’ Windows laptop

Why you should buy this: It’s an amazing laptop for under $1,000.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a premium laptop for much less money,

Why we picked the Dell XPS 13 9315:

Yes, the XPS 13 9315 costs $849 for its entry-level model, which is at the high end of the budget range. But it makes this list because you simply won’t find a Windows laptop for less than $1,000 that can match the XPS 13’s excellent build quality, attractive aesthetic, and outstanding battery life.

For that low price, you get a 9-watt Intel Core i5-1230U CPU with 10 cores and 12 threads that delivers competent productivity performance. It’s not the fastest laptop we’ve reviewed, but it’s sufficient to get your work done. As a lower-watt part, though, it affords outstanding battery life. You even get a 512GB SSD, which is a lot at this price, with a build quality and good looks that are unusual without spending a lot more.

Asus ZenBook 14 OLED

Best budget laptop

Why you should buy this: The features and battery life are game-changers at the price.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a beautiful display for less money,

Why we picked the Asus ZenBook 14 OLED:

Sometimes, companies have to cut corners to fit a laptop into a $700 price. The display is often one casualty, with a panel that might suffer in terms of color quality and contrast. The ZenBook 14 OLED is an exception, offering a spectacular OLED display that’s bright, colorful, and displays inky blacks. It’s equal to displays on laptops costing twice as much.

But that’s not all. The AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 CPUs on offer provide competent productivity performance to go with great battery life. And, the laptop’s build quality is excellent, with a great keyboard and touchpad with an LED numeric keyboard. It’s a tremendous value all-around, landing it on our list of best laptops.

Surface Laptop Go 2

An excellent budget laptop for students

Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget laptop for students.

Who it’s for: Students, buyers on a budget.

Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2: 

Students usually want a few things in a cheap laptop — something that’s easy to carry around, that provides good enough performance for getting their homework done, and something that’s not going to embarrass them when they pull it out to take notes. Oh, and it needs to be affordable. Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go 2 meets all those criteria — making it one of the best laptops for students in college.

We’ve linked to our Surface Go review above because the biggest change to the Surface Go 2 is the upgrade to 11th-gen Core CPUs. Graphics have been upgraded to Intel Iris Xe, the entry-level storage has been doubled to 128GB, there’s an improved webcam, and the laptop ships with Windows 11 Home instead of Windows 10 in S mode. The Surface Laptop Go 2 is also a highly mobile device with a 12.4-inch IPS touchscreen display that, although it’s not quite FHD resolution, is still of very high quality and a pleasure to use.

If you want a newer version, the Surface Laptop Go 3 is available, but we weren’t very impressed.

Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3

A Chromebook 2-in-1 that won’t break the bank

Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget Chromebook.

Who it’s for: Anyone on a budget who doesn’t mind sacrificing performance for extreme value.

Why we picked the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3:

Chromebooks have become popular budget choices over the last few years, and many have won us over as well. One style that hasn’t done as well as some others is the detachable Chrome OS tablet. That changed with the introduction of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, now in its third generation, which not only is a very usable tablet but one that represents tremendous value thanks to the included kickstand cover and detachable keyboard.

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3’s low price brings some limitations and basic specs. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage don’t deliver stellar performance, although it’s good enough for the kinds of tasks you’ll want to run on it. The display is very nice, with a 15:9 2K (2000 x 1200) resolution that’s not as pixel sharp as Apple’s baseline iPad that the Duet competes against. If you want a tablet for web browsing, light productivity work, and consuming media, then the Chromebook Duet 3 and Chrome OS have you covered.

HP Victus 15

Solid gaming for less than $1,000

Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget gaming laptop.

Who it’s for: Gamers and only gamers.

Why we picked the HP Victus 15:

Although the best gaming laptops are typically expensive, the HP Victus 15 is a great example of why they don’t need to be. Often priced at less than $900, you get some impressive specs. That includes a 13th-gen Intel Core i5-13500H, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB solid-state drive (SSD), with options for faster CPUs, more powerful graphics, extra and faster storage, and memory if you don’t mind spending a little more. Every model comes with a 15.6-inch, 1080p IPS display, and for just a little more, that display can run at a refresh rate of 144Hz.

With a decent build quality and surprisingly good gaming performance, the Victus 15 offers an all-around solid gaming package at an impressively competitive price. It does have its weak points, most notably that the starting graphics card isn’t as powerful as what you’ll see in more expensive laptops, but it’s still enough for entry-level gaming.

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Laptop

A business laptop for less

Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget business laptop.

Who it’s for: Office workers who want to save the cash for other investments.

Why we picked the Dell Inspiron 15 3000:

Whether you’re typing up another spreadsheet or winding down with a game at the end of a long workday, the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 strikes a great balance as a business laptop. It features powerful and efficient general computing power, like a 12th-generation Intel Core i7-1255U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. That’s a lot of computer for just $700, even if Intel did just announce their 13th-gen Core processors.

With the typical Inspiron build quality, we’d expect this system to borrow several great design features from the more premium XPS range but make them available in a more affordable form. It’s not the lightest laptop at just under 4 pounds, but it has a great, spill-resistant keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth connectivity, and a top-mounted 720p webcam for conferencing.

The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 also comes in an attractive business black paint job, which helps it fit in with any setup.

Microsoft Surface Go 3

The all-around best 2-in-1 for less

Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget 2-in-1.

Who it’s for: Anyone who needs the on-the-go mobility of a small, 2-in-1.

Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Go 3:

The Surface Go 3 may be limited by its small size and, at the entry level, by a low-powered Intel Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage — the processor can be upgraded to an Intel Core i3 and twice the RAM and storage for $230 more — but it offers something never before seen in the Windows world: A truly budget-minded 2-in-1 laptop. Its build is every bit as solid as its bigger sibling, the Surface Pro 8, and it boasts a beautiful, bright display to boot. The best part? It’s actually thin and light enough to be held in one hand like a proper tablet, which is a key reason why we see this as the best budget 2-in-1 laptop.

While performance doesn’t feel as smooth as on something like an iPad or even a Chromebook, those devices can’t do quite as many things as the Surface Go 3, which runs a full version of Windows 10. On the battery front, however, it’s a bit lacking. That’s its most unfortunate compromise since this is a device made for portability. Also, we still wish the excellent Type Cover keyboard and Surface Pen came bundled in.

Apple MacBook Air M1

The only MacBook that could be considered ‘cheap’

Why you should buy this: It’s the only modern MacBook you’ll find for well under $1,000.

Who it’s for: MacBook fans who don’t want to pay thousands for a newer model.

Why we picked the Apple MacBook Air M1:

The MacBook Air M1 isn’t the latest and greatest MacBook, but it still holds it own in a number of ways. Its performance is still excellent, competing easily with recent generation Windows laptops. It also sports impressive battery life, with close to 20-hours between charges. In typical MacBook fashion, too, the build quality is excellent, and the display is Apple’s usual Retina-grade with a high resolution and crisp, bright picture.

The design is lightweight and portable, making it good for use in transit or when commuting, and it supports the fastest possible Thunderbolt 3 connections (up to 40 Gbps) so will work well with any external display or accessory. There’s not a lot of storage space in this base model, but there’s enough there to get you started and external or cloud storage can make up the short fall.

This model is a few years old, but still holds its own well. Grab one while you still can.

Acer Aspire 3

Best cheap Windows laptop

Why you should buy this: It’s performance is impressive for the price.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a capable laptop for a fair price.

Why we picked the Acer Aspire 3:

For basic business and entertainment use, you’ll find little better than the Acer Aspire 3. It’s a very affordable laptop using a new CPU design – although based on an older Zen 2 architecture – with four cores and support for eight simultaneous threads. It has some fast DDR5 memory and a full half terabyte of SSD space, which gives you plenty of room for documents, films, and and for backing up your important data.

The onboard Radeon GPU is fine for the most casual of gaming, but it won’t be powerful enough for anything taxing. With Thunderbolt 3 you could attach an external GPU if you wanted, although that’s a very expensive add-on for this affordable machine. The Thunderbolt 3 ports are super handy, though. With support for up to 40 Gbps data transfer speeds, you can attach anything from an external monitor to a high-speed external storage drive.

There’s fast networking on this laptop too, thanks to its Wi-Fi 6, though you’ll need to use an adapter if you want Ethernet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Editors’ Recommendations

The new iMac has arrived, complete with the updated M3 chip on board. Considering Apple now has just a single size of iMac, that should make buying one straightforward.

But as with all tech purchases, the devil’s in the details. So, after having tested the latest iMacs, we’re here to recommend how to determine which to buy and how to configure it.

Two primary options

When you look at Apple’s website, it shows three different iMacs to choose from, but really, there’s only two. There’s the base configuration and the more advanced one. Both come with the M3 chip, importantly, which has the eight-core CPU and 8-core GPU. They use the same screen as well. But from there, some subtle differences separate these models, which means you’ll want to choose carefully.

The biggest limitation of the M3 base model is ports. It comes with two less USB-C ports than the $1,599 model. Being restricted to just two Thunderbolt ports could be a nuisance, requiring the use of a dock. Both configurations can only connect to a single external display, though. You’ll have to pay an extra $30 for the gigabit Ethernet jack, which is built into the power brick. This comes standard in the $1,599 model, but unless you plan to use a hardwired connection, it’s probably not needed.

There’s a difference in bundled accessories too. While both configurations come with the unfortunate Magic Mouse, the cheaper configuration doesn’t come with the Touch ID keyboard. You have to pay an extra $50 to get some biometric security, which is really lame. The Touch ID keyboard is definitely worth getting, as is the Magic Trackpad. Those two accessories will cost you an extra $100, but unless you already have preferred third-party accessories, they’re absolutely worth it.

The other big difference between the two is in the GPU. The cheaper configuration doesn’t allow you to add the two extra GPU cores — so you’re stuck at just eight. Two extra GPU cores will give you a decent boost in graphics and make up the bulk of the $200 price difference between the two configurations. I haven’t tested the eight-core model myself yet, but Apple’s GPU cores tend to scale down fairly evenly. It might not be quite a 20% difference in actual performance, but it’ll be fairly noticeable. Ultimately, this decision is fairly simple: if you don’t intend to ever play games, edit video, or do 3D modeling, you may not see much in terms of gains.

Lastly, if you opt for the base configuration, you’ll have fewer color options to choose from. Blue, Green, Pink, and Silver are the main options, while the $1,599 model lets you choose from Yellow, Orange, and Purple. Before you choose a color, remember that the colors are two-tone. The front is a more saturated pastel color, while the aluminum base and back are a bolder, more vibrant color. So, make sure you like both shades of the color before you buy. The Silver color is certainly the most professional option, which is the safest best.

Storage and memory

The base configuration also limits you in terms of storage. You also can’t upgrade to 2TB of SSD storage, and are instead restricted to 1TB as the max. And remember — none of these specs can be upgraded after the fact, except by using external storage. Since Apple’s prices on extra storage are outrageous ($400 for a terabyte!), make sure to get what you need since there’s no way to upgrade in the future.

Memory is similar. Options for RAM in the iMac only include 8GB, 16GB, and 24GB — and 8GB should really only be reserved for people with the most basic computing needs. If you hope to use the iMac for anything more extensive, I’d recommend at least 16GB of RAM. If you’re choosing between the $200 RAM upgrade or the $200 storage upgrade, remember that storage can be expanded externally, while memory can’t.

What about the M1 iMac?

Apple doesn’t want you to think about the M1 iMac anymore. It isn’t sold, and the M3 is obviously the cream of the crop. But for a lot of people, the M1 iMac is still going to be a worthwhile purchase if you can find it for the right price. The key, though, is the price. Doing a quick look around, I didn’t see the M1 iMac being sold for more than $150 off the original price, which just happens to be the same price as the M3 iMac. Some other retailers are even still selling the M1 model for the full retail price.

Unless you have a super-tight budget, I think most people should just splurge on the M3 iMac at that point. But if we start to see a refurbished M1 iMac drop down below $1,000, for example, that’s where I perk up.

Because if performance isn’t a huge deal for you — if you just want a basic Mac and love the form factor of the all-in-one — the upgrade to the M3 won’t mean much to your day-to-day usage. But remember one thing: While comparing prices, make sure you’re comparing configurations on an apples-to-apples basis. A lot of times, older models are sold with higher-end specs, such as additional memory or storage.

Editors’ Recommendations

One of the most interesting features of Intel’s recent Core i9-14900K is its AI-assisted overclocking. Available through the Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU), AI Assist is billed as the natural next step of automatic overclocking. It uses AI to push chips further rather than relying on a predetermined list of checks that Intel already offers through XTU.

That’s the pitch, at least. But according to my own testing, AI Assist doesn’t do much of anything.

Not only does it provide minimal benefit by being restricted to the Core i9-14900K, it also shows the dangers of haphazardly adding AI in places where it doesn’t belong. That’s a shame, too, because we’ve seen some clear examples of how AI can enhance performance on PCs. AI Assist doesn’t fit in that mold.

Too little to matter

Don’t get your hopes up for a big performance boost out of AI Assist. It takes about 45 seconds to run the feature on your PC, and Intel says XTU tests applications during that window to determine the optimal overclocking settings. AI Assist is supposed to go beyond what the automatic overclocking in XTU offers, but it actually produced identical results.

The result: a whopping 100MHz boost across all cores. I ran the overclock through Cinebench R23, which produced a 1.5% improvement in multi-core performance and a 1.6% improvement in single-core performance. When testing a real application, there’s no difference at all. In our Handbrake transcoding benchmark, the AI Assist overclock produced an identical result to a stock Core i9-14900K.

I’ve never expected huge performance gains out of an automatic overclocking feature, but what’s frustrating is that the automatic overclocking in XTU produced the exact same overclock settings, along with identical performance. It’s not clear what AI is doing here, but from my testing at least, it’s no better than the otherwise limited automatic overclocking already present in XTU.

The application is the problem here, and that’s true on two fronts. First is the Core i9-14900K. This is already a chip pushed to its absolute limits, as it’s essentially a juiced-up version of last-gen’s Core i9-13900K. It doesn’t provide a huge performance lift, as you can read in our Core i9-14900K and Core i9-13900K comparison, so expecting overclocking to do much — AI or otherwise — isn’t a good idea.

It’s also the application of AI to overclocking. You could imagine how AI could be useful for automatic overclocking — train a model on thousands of different PC configurations and their components and use those patterns to figure out optimal settings — but it doesn’t look like Intel is doing much with AI Assist. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but whatever it is, it doesn’t appear too sophisticated. And based on the final result, that still holds true.

Wrong application

We’ve seen plenty of examples of AI being applied where it shouldn’t be this year, but the disappointing thing about AI Assist is that it could work. It just doesn’t do much right now with the Core i9-14900K and Intel’s seemingly basic AI implementation.

AI can dramatically improve the power of a PC, and we have a great example of AI doing just that: Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). It started off as just an AI-assisted upscaling tool, but it has grown to apply AI to frame generation and ray tracing denoisers, with all three working to improve performance and the gaming experience on PC.

DLSS and AI Assist aren’t the same thing, but DLSS is a prime example of applying AI to a problem and seeing tangible benefits from it. AI Assist is not. It’s applying AI in a situation where the performance gains are already limited, and doing so in a way that doesn’t do anything to improve the performance or user experience.

Intel has been pushing AI hard, as has the rest of the computing world. Its next-gen Meteor Lake chips come with a dedicated AI processor, despite the fact that the only clear application for one is Windows Studio Effects. We now have AI-assisted overclocking, despite the fact that the days of minor overclocks producing big performance jumps are far behind us. And next month, Intel is launching its next-gen CPUs for laptops with an event titled “AI Everywhere.” I’m not against AI being everywhere, but it needs to make sense.

AI Assist in XTU unfortunately doesn’t. It could be a great feature, particularly for lower-end chips that have some headroom to spare. And it could bring AI into the fold in a place where it matters, given that the model behind the scenes is truly delivering something you can’t get with a one-click overclocking tool. It’s possible we could see that in the future from AI Assist, but it’s not here now.

Editors’ Recommendations

With Black Friday often come some of the best laptop deals of the year, and that’s certainly the case at Lenovo right now. The workstation-class ThinkPad P16 laptop is marked down a massive $5,470 today, bringing its price down from nearly $10,000 to a much more reasonable Black Friday price of $4,469. This laptop is absolutely loaded with specs, surpassing most of the best laptops and even many of the best desktop computers. Free shipping is included with this deal, which isn’t likely to last long, so click over to Lenovo now to save while you can.

Why you should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 mobile workstation

Lenovo has been making quality computers for decades and currently finds itself considered among the best laptop brands. Its ThinkPad lineup is one of its most versatile, offering laptops at a range of price points for different needs. The ThinkPad P16 mobile workstation is going to sit on the upper end of those needs, as it’s packed with specs. It has an Intel i9 processor and a whopping 128GB of RAM, as well as 4TB of internal solid state storage capacity. These are the kind of specs you should be looking for if you’re trying to fit into the workflows of architectures, visual effects, and other professional-level environments that aim to push everyday laptops beyond their limits.

And while the ThinkPad P16 may seem like more than most people need, it’s something you should consider if you’re looking to go long stretches between laptop purchases. Its high-end specs make it much more future-proof, and keep it relevant with lower level computing tasks for a much longer period of time. It’s entirely capable as a super powerful everyday laptop, as it gets great battery life relative to its specs, and it has a 16-inch 4K display. It isn’t overly-sized for all of the power it has to accommodate, allowing it to travel well to both the coffee shop and by airplane. You’ll find plenty daily necessities with this workstation, as including Windows 11 Pro 64 pre-installed.

While the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 mobile workstation would regularly cost almost $10,000, you can take it home with this Black Friday deal for $4,469. Total savings come to $5,470, and free shipping is included.

Editors’ Recommendations

This is it. One of the first great Walmart “early access” Black Friday deals has landed and we’re here to witness it in real time. It’s the Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U, a curved monitor for gaming, and it went on sale at noon Eastern Time on November 8th as part of an official Walmart Black Friday deal. That means that this is the good price and you can buy now. The Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U is usually $259, but with this deal it is just $145, saving you $114. So, tap the button below to grab yours now, while supplies last, or keep reading to see our take.

Why you should buy the Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U

It is easy enough to call this the first of the great gaming monitor deals of the holiday season and call it a day, but why is that so? Stats first, this is a premium monitor in that it has a fantastic WQHD (2560 x 1440p) resolution and quick 170Hz refresh rate. These factors, along with the 1ms response time of the monitor’s pixels, contribute highly to what we look for in a gaming monitor. They mean that you will be able to scrutinize tiny details in the game world as well as perceive that same game world’s reactions to your movements in incredibly fast order.

You’ll also want to consider the Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U’s form factor. When we talked about choosing a monitor, we mentioned how curved monitors (like the Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U) are becoming increasingly common, but were previously on the “fancy” side. If you aren’t super familiar with them yet, a curved monitor can help immerse you in your game (we recommend single player games at first to get used to it) and reduce issues like glare. That’s not to mention getting more screen on less desk space.

To try out the curved Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U at its early Black Friday price, just tap the button below. You’ll find the Acer Nitro 27-inch ED270U for just $145, which is $114 down from the usual $259. If that’s not good enough, or you just want more options, check out these other early Black Friday monitor deals and see if you find something you like more.

Editors’ Recommendations

In a market that’s centered around all of the best graphics cards, it can be deceptively hard to buy a GPU. For those of us who don’t need “the best” and just want “good enough,” it’s a tricky process. Sometimes spending a few more dollars gets you something that’s considerably better, and other times, spending $100 less means a GPU with significantly better value.

Fortunately, there are a few GPUs that are just all-around good picks right now. If you want to get the most GPU power for the least possible money, check out the AMD Radeon RX 6600.

AMD Radeon RX 6600

On the whole, AMD is often cheaper than Nvidia, and that applies both to last-gen and current-gen cards. It has a few noteworthy cards in the $180 to $320 range, not to mention the $500 RX 7800 XT, which is one of the best-value graphics cards in this generation. However, if you want to get the cheapest GPU possible while still retaining decent performance, I recommend the RX 6600.

The RX 6600 belongs to AMD’s RDNA 2 lineup, and it has two slightly more powerful siblings — the RX 6600 XT and the RX 6650 XT. However, due to their similar performance, you might as well go for the cheapest one when you’re on a tighter budget. The RX 6600 can be found for as little as

, and at that price, it’s a good deal.

What kind of performance can you expect from this card? You should be able to play most titles at 1080p without needing to compromise on the settings too much. In our own testing, the RX 6600 was able to tackle Red Dead Redemption 2 and maintain 59 frames per second (fps) on average — and that’s at ultra settings. We’ve also tried it in Fortnite, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Battlefield V, and Civilization VI, and it averaged between 71 fps and 138 fps. Read AMD Radeon RX 6600 review to learn more.

While I recommend this GPU, it’s not a straightforward choice, because AMD has a slew of RX 6000 cards that are in a similar price range and offer slightly better performance. There’s the RX 6600 XT, RX 6650 XT, and the current-gen RX 7600. The latter can be found for around

, and if your budget can stretch that far, it’s money well spent.

When we benchmarked the RX 7600, we found that it averaged 66.3 fps across our 1080p test suite, while the RX 6600 scored 50.9 fps. If you want a steady 60 fps in modern games at 1080p, the RX 7600 is a more straightforward pick; if you don’t mind dropping down to medium settings, go for the RX 6600.

What about Nvidia and Intel?

If you’re not that into AMD, but still want a cheap GPU, there are a couple of options from Intel and Nvidia that are worth considering: the Intel Arc A750 and the Nvidia RTX 4060.

One thing to be mindful of when buying Intel Arc cards is compatibility. As you can read in our in-depth review of the Arc A750 and the Arc A770, while these GPUs are compatible with older processors, they benefit from the ability to enable Resizable BAR. That means you’ll need a 10th-gen Intel processor or an AMD Ryzen 3000 or newer. Without Resizable BAR, the performance of Arc A750 drops by a large margin.

With that disclaimer out of the way, the Arc A750 is a surprisingly solid GPU for 1080p gameplay, averaging 80 fps at 1080p ultra across our entire test suite. It’s also viable for 1440p, hitting 62 fps on average, while the Arc A770 scored 68 fps.

If you want to try out Intel in your next PC build, the cheapest version of the Arc A750 costs

and comes from Sparkle. Intel’s own version is slightly pricier at $230.

Moving on to Nvidia, as you can read in our review of the RTX 4060, this card comes with a few caveats, but it still has an edge over the competition in that it has access to Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS 3) frame generation. While not supported in all too many games, DLSS 3 can help an RTX 4070 outperform an RTX 4090, and it has a similar effect on the RTX 4060. It’s an artificial boost that opens the door to high-end gaming on a tight budget, which is why the RTX 4060 makes sense despite the price tag.

Without the DLSS 3 crutch, the RTX 4060 still performs well enough to handle 1080p gaming with ease. It averaged 78.2 fps in our 1080p test suite at ultra settings. As for DLSS 3, it really does make a difference on a GPU of this caliber — while the 4060 hits 82 fps on average without DLSS 3 in Cyberpunk 2077, it managed a whopping 136 fps with frame generation enabled.

The RTX 4060 starts at around

.

Do you really need a GPU?

If you’re trying to build a PC while spending as little as possible, and you’re not a hardcore gamer, one way to save a couple hundred dollars is to not get a graphics card at all.

Integrated graphics often get a bad rep, and rightfully so, but we’ve come a long way in the past few years. In particular, one option that’s viable for daily use (including some gaming) is AMD’s Ryzen 5600G processor, or rather, accelerated processing unit (APU). This is a separate category of processors that combine the CPU and the GPU within a single chip. This integration gives the 5600G more GPU power than most iGPUs.

I’m not going to lie to you — the Ryzen 5600G is no gaming beast. However, as long as you’re content with medium settings and you’re mostly playing older games and indies, it’ll do. It’s also a solid option for day-to-day tasks, be it work or casual browsing. Most of all, it’s highly affordable — it’s priced at around

right now. There’s also the Ryzen 7 5700G, with more cores and slightly better performance. It’s priced at

.

One good way to make the most of this APU is to ensure that you’re using some of the best RAM available in your price range. This is because the Ryzen 5600G doesn’t have its own dedicated video memory (VRAM), which a discrete GPU would normally have. To make up for that, it uses a portion of your system’s RAM to store textures and other graphics-related data. The faster your RAM, the better the performance.

No matter the GPU or APU you pick, don’t be afraid to dip into the previous generation when assembling a budget PC. Some of those options are still pretty excellent and, following several discounts, now offer far more agreeable prices than some of their current-gen counterparts.

Editors’ Recommendations

There isn’t just one way to turn on your keyboard lights. It can vary wildly among laptop and peripheral manufacturers and even among different laptop lines from the same brand.

To bring a bit of clarity to the situation, we’ve gathered together seven possible ways to turn your keyboard backlighting on or off. Read on to find the best method for your laptop or desktop keyboard.

Press the dedicated button for keyboard backlighting

Some keyboards, like the Logitech G Pro desktop keyboard, will actually have a dedicated button that you can press to toggle the keyboard light on or off. In the case of the Logitech G Pro, you’ll want to look for a button stamped with a sun icon with rays in the upper-right corner of the keyboard.

Press the Increase Brightness button

If you have a MacBook, certain models allow you to turn on the backlighting by pressing the Increase brightness key, which looks like half of the sun with three rays. Press it until you get the desired level of keyboard light brightness. To turn it off, press the Decrease brightness key, which looks like a half-circle outlined in dots (instead of the rays) until the light turns off.

Using the Increase/decrease brightness buttons should work for certain models of Macs that run macOS Sonoma, Ventura, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, or Monterey.

Press the assigned Function key

For many Windows laptops, you might need to press a Function key (F1 to F12) to turn on your keyboard’s backlighting. If this is the case, which Function key it is will likely depend on the brand and model of your laptop.

For example, Dell notebook PCs have at least three possible key options: F6, F10, or the right-arrow key. In some cases, F5 is also possible. From these options, you should be able to tell which one controls the backlighting by seeing which one has the Illumination icon (which looks like a half-sun with rays) stamped on it. If you don’t see this icon at all, your Dell PC doesn’t have keyboard backlighting. But if you do see the icon, press the Function key that has it. (You may need to press it in conjunction with the Fn key.) Pressing that key combination – Fn + the function key – should allow you to cycle through various brightness level options for your Dell PC’s keyboard, so keep pressing it until you reach your desired brightness level or until you turn it off.

HP notebook computers work similarly to Dell laptops: You’ll need to press an assigned Function key (which could be F5, F4, or F11) with or without pressing the Fn key as well. You may need to press it multiple times to adjust the brightness or turn it off. There should also be a backlight icon stamped on the assigned Function key for your HP notebook that looks like a row of three dots with rays coming out of the first dot.

The main thing, though, is that if you don’t know the keyboard shortcut or Function key assigned to your keyboard’s backlighting feature, you should look it up in your PC’s manufacturer’s support site or manual to find out.

Use the Touch Bar

Certain MacBook models may have you adjust your keyboard lighting via the Touch Bar instead. To do so, tap the Arrow icon on the Touch Bar to expand its Control Strip. To turn on backlighting, tap the Increase brightness button. To turn it off, tap and hold the Decrease brightness button, which looks like a half-circle outlined in dots, not rays.

These instructions should work for MacBooks with Touch Bars that run MacOS Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, and Big Sur.

Adjust it in Control Center or Windows Mobility Center

Depending on the manufacturer and model of your device, you might be able to turn on and adjust the keyboard light via your PC’s control panel menu.

For certain MacBooks, that means opening Control Center, selecting Keyboard brightness, and then dragging its corresponding slider. This should work for some MacBook models that also run MacOS Monterey or Big Sur.

For some Windows 10 PCs, this means you’ll need to access the Windows Mobility Center, which resides in the Control Panel. To access it, select Control Panel > Hardware and sound > Windows Mobility Center. In the Windows Mobility Center, look for the Keyboard brightness (or Keyboard backlighting) setting, select its corresponding slider, and pull that slider over to the right.

Use the keyboard’s recommended software, if available

Some keyboards have their own specific software or app that can be used to control and customize the settings of your laptop or desktop keyboard. A great example of this is the app used for Razer’s laptops and peripherals: Synapse. The Synapse app can be used to customize the lighting effects of your Razer gaming laptop’s keyboard or your Razer desktop gaming keyboard. And this can include increasing or decreasing the brightness of your keyboard light or adjusting the settings so that the light stays on or off in sleep mode.

Most of the best gaming keyboards have some kind of back-end software that can let you adjust the RGB lighting of individual keys or turn any or all of them on or off at will.

Enable keyboard backlighting in the BIOS

In some cases, if your laptop has the right keyboard light buttons and they still don’t work the way they’re supposed to, it’s possible that you may need to check your device’s BIOS settings and make sure that they’re configured correctly, or your BIOS may need to be updated to the latest version. When doing either of these things, be sure to follow your device manufacturer’s instructions on how to do it carefully. Look up those specific instructions first. Some manufacturers like HP or Dell have posted detailed instructions online on how to check for these issues and/or correct them.

Frequently asked questions

Why won’t my keyboard backlighting turn on?

There are a number of reasons why your keyboard backlighting won’t turn on. Here are a few you may want to consider:

• Your device may not actually offer a backlit keyboard. Not all laptops or desktop keyboards have keyboard lights. Check with your device’s manufacturer to confirm that the model of your device is supposed to have backlighting. If it is, confirm that you’re using the right keyboard shortcuts, buttons, or settings to turn it on.
• Some laptops like MacBooks use light sensors for backlighting in low-light situations. It’s important to know where they are on your device and to make sure you’re not blocking them.
• Is the backlight not working or is the brightness level set too low? If the brightness level of the backlight is set too low, then the light is probably working but you’re just having trouble seeing it. See if you can increase the brightness level using our suggestions above so you can see the light better.
• You may need to update the BIOS to the latest version, or its settings aren’t configured correctly. If you decide to update the BIOS to the latest version or reconfigure its settings, be sure to follow your device manufacturer’s specific instructions for doing so.

Does keyboard backlighting drain the battery?

Yes, keyboard backlighting can contribute to the drain, as it does need power to function. If you’re concerned about conserving battery power, you can turn off the backlighting or adjust your keyboard lighting settings so that the light automatically turns off when the computer goes to sleep or the display is off.

How do I change the keyboard backlighting color?

First, make sure that your keyboard has the ability to change backlighting colors. If so, you’ll need to consult your device manufacturer’s specific instructions on how to change the backlighting color. Usually, these instructions will involve you opening a manufacturer-recommended desktop app like the HP OMEN Command Center or Razer’s Synapse app and then customizing your lighting settings within that app to add colors to your backlight.

Editors’ Recommendations

Apple just upset everyone, claiming that the 8GB of Unified Memory available in the base MacBook Pro M3 is “probably analogous to 16GB on other systems.”

The MacBook Pro M3 has already come under fire for only including 8GB of Unified Memory in its base configuration, which runs $1,600. MacWorld recently ran a story criticizing the 8GB of memory in the MacBook Pro M3, saying, “If 8GB will be a bottleneck for many today, imagine the performance of that non-upgradeable laptop in a few years’ time.”

Apple’s response is that 8GB on a MacBook Pro M3 is probably closer to 16GB on a Windows laptop. In an interview with Lin YilYi, Apple’s Bob Borchers addressed the 8GB of memory in the MacBook Pro M3:

“Comparing our memory to other systems’ memory actually isn’t equivalent, because of the fact that we have such an efficient use of memory, and we use memory compression, and we have a unified memory architecture. Actually, 8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably analogous to 16GB on other systems. We just happen to be able to use it much more efficiently … I think this is a place where people need to see beyond the specs and actually look at the capabilities.”

Borchers has a point. Due to the fact that the MacBook Pro M3 uses a system-on-a-chip (SoC), it’s able to access memory much more efficiently than a standard Windows laptop. Capacity and speed are two sides of the same coin; if you have faster speeds, you don’t need as much capacity, and vice versa.

In addition, Apple includes a 512GB SSD with the base MacBook Pro M3, which uses two NAND chips. The previous version showed much slower SSD speeds with only a single NAND chip, and due to swap memory being critical in memory-limited situations, the 256GB SSD combined with the 8GB of memory vastly reduced performance. MaxTech’s early testing on the MacBook Pro M2 showed how big of a problem the 8GB of memory combined with the 256GB, single NAND SSD really was.

In real use, that shouldn’t be as big of a problem on the MacBook Pro M3. Unified Memory allows Apple to get away with lower capacity compared to Windows laptops, and the dual-NAND configuration of the SSD keeps things from being too slow when swap memory comes into play. The problem isn’t 8GB of memory, or even that it comes on a $1,600 laptop in 2023. It’s that adding more memory costs so damn much.

You’ll spend an extra $200 for 16GB of memory and an extra $400 for 24GB. Even ignoring the cost of those memory modules — I’ll let you know it’s far less than what Apple’s charging — you can see how big the upcharge really is just from configuration options. In Apple’s mind, each 8GB module of Unified Memory is worth $200. That’s insane.

If you look at a laptop like the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which comes with 16GB of memory for $1,500, you can upgrade it to 32GB for an extra $150. There’s no issue with Apple selling the MacBook Pro M3 with 8GB of memory, even for $1,600. But it shouldn’t cost an extra $200 just to get to 16GB for users who truly do need that extra capacity.

This really isn’t anything new for MacBooks, though, and it doesn’t just apply to memory. If you look at storage options, you’ll need to spend an extra $200 to upgrade the 512GB SSD to a 1TB SSD, and an extra $600 to upgrade the 512GB SSD to a 2TB SSD. Once again, each 512GB chunk of storage is worth $200 in Apple’s mind, despite the fact that the cost for these components isn’t anywhere remotely near that price.

It could go either way — Apple should have the base MacBook Pro M3 with 8GB of Unified Memory sell for a lower price, or it should make the cost of upgrading to 16GB of RAM much cheaper. It doesn’t really matter if you need that memory or not, either. The upgraded model is the one most people should buy, even if they only occasionally go over capacity.

At the very least, that pricing scenario would be a minor annoyance, with Apple nickel and diming people to get the RAM they need (definitely not uncharacteristic of Apple). As it stands now, with the high base price and huge cost of upgrades, it is hard to say the MacBook Pro M3 truly starts at $1,600 when a critical upgrade is locked behind a $200 paywall.

Editors’ Recommendations