If your gaming laptop is starting to spark (hopefully not literally), then a new one is on your hands. Fortunately, you don't have to spend a fortune on a high-performance machine. Right now, one inexpensive option is MSI's GF65 Thin, which Newegg has on sale today for $899.

You might not expect much for under $1,000, but while there are certainly corners to be cut, this is a good overall value. It has an Intel Core i5 9300H CPU (4C/8T, 2.4GHz-4.1GHz, 8MB L3 cache) and a GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.

It also has 8GB of DDR4 memory and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. I am not stoked about this amount of RAM, nor was Jacob who reviewed a similar configuration. However, according to Newegg's user reviews, it's fairly easy to open it up and upgrade the RAM and storage (you can get a 16GB kit for just over $50 these days).

The bigger decision is the GPU and whether it makes sense to buy a laptop now or wait for the RTX 30 series to come to the mobile space. It really depends on your needs and budget. The best guess (and it's just a guess) is that laptops with mobile RTX 30 series GPUs won't appear until 2021 or later, and who knows where pricing will initially settle.

If you can wait, by all means do so (especially with the Black Friday sales season fast approaching). But if not, this is a good price for a relatively fast gaming laptop and a potential upgrade.

Also see our summary of the best gaming laptops and cheap gaming laptop deals for other options.