This $686 Dell laptop makes for a great back-to-school gaming system

pcgamer.com:

Dell G15 | 15.6-inch | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti | Intel Core i5 11260H | 512GB SSD | 8GB DDR4 | 1080p | 120Hz | $1,168.99$685.99 at Dell (save $483)(opens in new tab)The RTX 3050 Ti isn't exactly a dream GPU, but for this sort of cash you're usually in integrated graphics territory, and this is significantly better than that. You should be able to get most games running smoothly at the native 1080p resolution. The Core i5 11260H is a decent enough CPU too, with six cores and 12 threads to call its own. 8GB of RAM is a bit lacking, and you'll want to upgrade later on, but for the money, you won't find much better.

We're in peak back-to-school sale season right now, so there are plenty of machines out there enjoying great savings. Problem is, plenty of these machines aren't really built with gaming in mind, which means if you're partial to a little gaming after the final bell rings that you end up needing two systems. Not exactly ideal, or a particularly good use of money for that matter. This budget Dell G15 could well be the answer you've been looking for.

Obviously most serious gaming laptops start at around $1,000 and go from there. That's not really the kind of machine you want to be lugging to and from college though. What you want is something cheaper, something that comes in at around $686 say. You know, like this Dell G15(opens in new tab).

It's fair to say that this laptop isn't going to challenge a serious gaming machine, but it definitely will allow you to enjoy a game or two without paying a small fortune for the privilege. At the heart of the system, you've got an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, which is capable of 1080p gaming, although you may find yourself playing with the settings with the latest games.