If you’re a gamer on a budget and looking to kick off the new year with a fresh setup, you’ve landed on the right page. It’s January 2025, and despite rising hardware costs, there are still several laptops out there that won’t empty your wallet.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is a mainstay among our recommendations for best gaming laptop, and after last year’s significant redesign, I wasn’t expecting any serious changes this year. And there weren’t. And yet, the small tweaks make this already spectacular laptop that much better.

Consumer Electronics Show is always a massive event that sees dozens of laptops announced, but CES 2025 was especially notable. Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm all made significant hardware announcements,