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This MSI ‘starter’ gaming laptop is discounted to $550 at Best Buy

By Albert Bassili May 29, 2024

MSI GF63 Thin 11SC-693 Gaming Laptop on a white background. — MSI

While some of the best gaming laptops can cost thousands of dollars, you don’t necessarily have to pay an arm and a leg to get yourself one. In fact, there are some solid options for entry-level gaming laptops that are very budget-friendly, like the MSI THIN GF63. While it’s not that powerful, it does have a great discount from Best Buy that brings it down to $550 from the usual $700, which saves you $150 in the process.

Why you should buy the MSI Thin GF63

One of the most important parts of any gaming laptop is the GPU, and in this case, the MSI Thin GF63 comes with a slightly older GPU, the RTX 2050, which is admittedly an older card, but if you’re not expected to play the latest AAA, that’s not an issue. As an older card, you can expect something along the lines of medium settings at 1080p for older titles and some free-to-play games, so it’s a good starter option to get you going. The screen is a solid 15.6 inches with an FHD resolution, and it even has a 144Hz refresh rate, although that’s going to be difficult to hit even with graphical compromises.

On the other hand, processing power is quite good, with a 12-gen Intel Core i5-12450H, which is a solid mid-range CPU that pairs very well with the RTX 2050 while also providing more than enough power for productivity tasks. Unfortunately, it only comes with 8GB of RAM, and it’s not even DDR5 memory, so it’s not going to provide a very smooth experience. Luckily, you can upgrade these laptops down the line, so at least the RAM can be brought up to a more reasonable 16GB later on if you feel like you want that. Luckily, the 1TB of storage is more than enough for most with this sort of laptop, although you can grab yourself one of these external hard drive deals for a bit more versatility.

While the MSI Thin GF63 is not going to win any awards, it is a good starter laptop for those who want to try out gaming without investing huge sums of money, especially with the discount from Best Buy that brings it down to $550. Of course, if you want something a bit more substantial, then you should check out these other great gaming laptop deals as well.

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Albert’s been a tech and gaming writer for almost a decade now, writing across websites such as GameGavel, How-To-Geek, and…

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