[Hardware] Here's a budget gaming laptop with an Intel Core i5 CPU and GTX 1650 for $549

[EVIL BABY.]

If you're looking to spend as little as possible on a gaming laptop with a discrete GPU, it does not get much cheaper than this Evoo configuration that's on clearance at Walmart. It sports an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 and is on sale for $549, which is a $250 discount over its regular $799 price.

How does that compare to other laptops with similar specs? To find out, I sorted Best Buy's laptop section by models that have the same GPU, and the cheapest one that is stock is a Lenovo IdeaPad for $779.99. Even the out-of-stock models go for more, the cheapest being an Acer Nitro with the same specs that was recently on clearance for $611.99 (down from $719.99).The GTX 1650 is based on Nvidia's previous generation Turing GPU architecture. It lacks RTX amenities (dedicated RT cores for real-time ray tracing and Tensor cores for DLSS), so obviously the experience is not going to be the same compared to an RTX 3000 series mobile GPU. But in this case, it's also only $549.

As to how it performs, I'll point you to Notebookcheck's vast assortment of benchmarks to get an idea. There are actually instances where a GTX 1650 can crack triple-digit framerates at 1080p (this laptop's native resolution), such as F1 2021, Monster Hunter 2, and some others. In a game like Deathloop, you're generally looking at under 60 fps, though it's still playable.

Evoo pairs the GTX 1650 with an Intel Core i5 10300H Comet Lake CPU (4C/8T, 2.5GHz to 4.5GHz, 8MB of L3 cache), 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.  None of the specs are anything to salivate over, but they're definitely serviceable for a cheap gaming laptop. And they're upgradeable (it's not too difficult to add more RAM and/or storage).

Other specs include an HD webcam, RGB backlit keyboard, THX audio, and a decent assortment of ports (2x USB 3.1, 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB Type-C, 1x Kensington Lock, 1x microSD, 1x LAN, 1x HDMI, 2x mini DisplayPort).