Is it possible to get a gaming laptop under $500 budget segment? So the answer is yes, but the thing is that finding a laptop for gaming in this price range is very tough, and for that need to do lots of research. But you don’t need to worry about that because I and my laptop expert team has done lots of research for you and found the best gaming laptops under $500.
Whether you are a college student, business person, or anyone else one thing comes to in many people’s minds when we are going to buy a laptop. Any guesses? So the answer is, this laptop can be able to handle some light gaming, am I right?
Actually, the laptops which are available in the market are all not gaming laptops and not we all can afford high-end gaming laptop. And this is the reason in this gaming laptop buying guide I have added the best budget laptops which are good for gaming and also for your day to day tasks.
Before we move towards the list of gaming laptops, here is something which you should to know…
Can we run latest games on these gaming laptops?
You can’t expect to run high-graphics games in this $500 budget segment laptop because this is an initial price range to buy a gaming laptop. I am not underestimating these gaming laptops under 500 dollars budget segment but the thing is that it can be able to handle older games like League of Legends, Minecraft, Counter-Strike, etc.
With these laptops, you can’t expect to run the latest gaming title like GTA5, Sims 4, Fortnite, PUBG, etc., because this machine is not powerful enough. If you like to play some latest gaming titles on a laptop then I suggest you to increase the budget to at least $800 because the laptops which are available in this budget are capable enough to handle these things with ease.
If any reason you can’t able to increase the budget and go with the gaming laptop in 500 dollars price range then choose a laptop as per your need and budget from this list. Below all the laptops are hand-picked by my laptop expert team which are the best gaming laptops which are available in $500.
Each and every laptop in this list value for the money which you are going spend on it, so choose any of the laptops without any worry.
Without further ado, let’s got with the below list…
Best Gaming Laptops Under 500 Dollars – Top 6 Picks
1) Dell Inspiron 15 5000 – Touchscreen Gaming Laptop
Let’s begin this list with Dell Inspiron 15 5000 laptops from Dell’s one of the most popular Inspiron series of Dell. In this budget, this Dell laptop has got all the latest set of hardware configurations.
If we talk about the design, it is finish in metallic which gives a premium look and feel, also this device is thin and light in weight.
Display:
It comes with a standard 15.6-inch of full HD display with a touch-enabled which works great with its Windows 10 operating system. And the display is Dell TrueLife displays which deliver darker blacks and colors, which is perfect for gaming, watching movies, and viewing photos, etc.
Specs:
Talking about the internals, it is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-8250U processor with Intel turbo boost technology up to 3.4 GHz. The processor is coupled with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and Intel UHD Graphics 620 to deliver better multitasking and gaming performance.
For storage, this Dell laptop has got 1TB of huge HDD drive, which is good enough space to store all your games and data.
Other Features:
Apart from this, the keyboard of this laptop is full-size with a dedicated numeric keypad but without a backlit. For connectivity, it has all the essential ports and slots.
All in all this Dell laptop is the best option for budget buyers who are looking for the best gaming laptops under 500 dollars, which you can buy right now.
Hardware Specifications Of Dell Inspiron 15 5000
| Processor | (8th Gen) Intel Core i5-8250U Processor |
| RAM | 8GB RAM |
| Hard Disk | 1TB HDD |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Display | 15.6 Inch Full HD Touchscreen Display |
| Weight | 4.8 Pounds |
| Battery Life | Upto 4 Hours |
2) Acer Aspire 5 Gaming Laptop
Acer is also one of the most popular laptop brands who build budget laptops with powerful configurations. And Acer has proved it again by building this Acer Aspire 5 laptop.
Talking about the outer body, it sports in silver with aluminum top cover, which stands out this notebook from other laptops which are available in this price range. If you are a traveler or looking for a portable laptop then this Acer laptop is just 0.7 thin which has only 3.97 pounds of weight.
Display:
It has 15.6 inches of full HD widescreen LED-backlit display with IPS panel, which gives sharp and crisp visuals from a wide-viewing angle.
Specs:
Let’s talk about the power of this laptop, it has 8th Generation 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8265U processor with turbo boost up to 3.9GHz. To taking care of multitasking, it is equipped with 8GB of DDR4 RAM, which is capable enough to handle casual gaming and other day to day tasks.
256GB of SSD drive is available in this device which is enough space to store all your games and it is faster than the HDD drive. To handle some graphics-related tasks on this laptop, it has Intel UHD Graphics 620.
Other Features:
Besides this, it has a few interesting features like Backlit Keyboard and Fingerprint Reader, which makes it an ideal in this price range. As far as battery life is concerned, this device provides up to 9.5 hours of impressive battery life.
Overall, in $500 budget segment this Acer Aspire 5 is the best budget gaming laptop, which is available in the market right now. And also this laptop is perfect for those who have a limited budget and it is value for your money.
Hardware Specifications Of Acer Aspire 5
| Processor | (8th Gen) Intel Core i5-8265U Processor |
| RAM | 8GB RAM |
| Hard Disk | 256GB SSD |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Display | 15.6 Inch Full HD Widescreen LED-backlit IPS Display |
| Weight | 3.97 Pounds |
| Battery Life | Upto 9.5 Hours |
3) ASUS VivoBook F510QA – Thin & Light Gaming Laptop
If you are a traveler then this ASUS VivoBook F510QA is one of the best gaming laptop for you in $500 price range because it is thin and light in weight which you can easy to carry.
Speaking about the design, the chassis of this laptop is in metal finish, which looks like a MacBook and it gives rich look and feel.
Display:
It sports 15.6-inch of full HD Wide-view display with an anti-glare panel, which will never distract you from glare during a gaming session. And also the display of this laptop has ASUS Tru2Life Video technology, which optimizes the sharpness and contrast of every pixel in every frame to deliver incredibly vivid and realistic visuals.
Specs:
Let’s move towards the specs, it is powered by the powerful AMD Quad Core A12-9720P processor with 2.7GHz of base frequency and turbo boost up to 3.6GHz. To handle gaming on this device it is equipped with AMD Radeon R7 graphics. For smooth multitasking, it comes with 8GB of RAM and for storage, it has got fast 256GB of SSD.
So all these powerful specs wrapped in 0.8 thin profile which has 3.7 pounds of weight, which makes it the perfect ultrabook.
Other Features:
Apart from this, it has a fingerprint sensor which allows you to log in into the system securely with just a single touch. The keyboard of this laptop is a chiclet keyboard and comes with all the required ports and slots for connectivity.
Hardware Specifications Of ASUS VivoBook F510QA
| Processor | AMD Quad Core A12-9720P Processor |
| RAM | 8GB RAM |
| Hard Disk | 256GB SSD |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon R7 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Display | 15.6 Inch Full HD Wideview Anti-glare Display |
| Weight | 3.7 Pounds |
| Battery Life | Upto 4 Hours |
4) HP Pavilion 15T Gaming Laptop
This HP Pavilion 15T is featuring as an Amazon’s Choice Laptop over on Amazon. Actually, this HP laptop is a business laptop but as it has got a powerful config which can handle some light gaming and this is the reason it is listed here.
Display:
It comes with a 15.6-inch of FHD IPS touchscreen display with 1920 x 1080 pixels of resolution.
Specs:
It has 8th Generation Intel Quad-Core i5-8250U processor which is coupled with 8GB of RAM. This device runs on the Windows 10 operating system and it works out of the box with its touch display. Thanks for providing a huge 1TB of HDD drive, which is good enough space to store all your games, movies, songs, photos, etc.
It comes with Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620, which can handle low graphics games and other graphics-related tasks.
Other Features:
The keyboard of this laptop is full-size with a dedicated numeric keypad, which gives comfortable gaming and working experience. As far as connectivity is concerned, it has got all the essential ports and slots.
Hardware Specifications Of HP Pavilion 15T
| Processor | (8th Gen) Intel Core i5-8250U Processor |
| RAM | 8GB RAM |
| Hard Disk | 1TB HDD |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Display | 15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Touchscreen Display |
| Weight | 4.21 Pounds |
| Battery Life | Upto 5 Hours |
5) Lenovo ideapad 330s
Lenovo has recently launched Lenovo Ideapad 330s, which is the best budget all-purpose laptop for those who are looking for a combination of gaming and entertainment in a budget of 500 dollars.
This Lenovo laptop is packed with all the latest set of hardware configurations, which makes it the best choice for the people who don’t want to spend a fortune for a gaming laptop. If we talk about the design, this Lenovo laptop finishes in Platinum Grey, which gives it to a decent professional look and feels.
Display:
It has 15.6 inches of LED backlight display with 1366 x 768 pixels of HD resolution. It will not deliver proper sharpness and color accuracy as compared to a full HD display.
Specs:
It has 8th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-8250U processor with 6MB Smart Cache and up to 3.40GHz of turbo boost technology. This Lenovo laptop will give you an advanced multitasking experience as it has got 8GB of RAM + 16GB Intel Optane Memory, which makes it an ideal in this list.
As far as storage is concerned, 1TB of HDD drive provides plenty of storage to store all your personal and professional data. Thanks for providing Intel UHD Graphics 620 to handle some light gaming on this machine.
Other Features:
It has included 2-cell lithium polymer battery, which provides up to 7 hours of battery life on a full charge. Overall, if HD display is ok for you then this Lenovo Ideapad 330s is one of the best budget gaming laptop under $500 in the market right now.
Hardware Specifications Of Lenovo Ideapad 330s
| Processor | (8th Gen) Intel Core i5-8250U Processor |
| RAM | 8GB RAM + 16GB Intel Optane Memory |
| Hard Disk | 1TB HDD |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Display | 15.6 Inch HD LED backlight Display |
| Weight | 4.8 Pounds |
| Battery Life | Upto 7 Hours |
6) Acer Aspire E 15 – Best Budget Gaming Laptop
This Acer Aspire E 15 is the best laptop for day to day computing and it comes with many appealing features and an attractive designs also in a budget. If we talk about the outer body of this laptop then it is finish in Obsidian Black which looks decent.
Display:
This Acer laptop has a 15.6-inch of full HD widescreen LED-lit display with having a resolution of 1920 x 1080.
Specs:
Speaking about the internals, it has got 8th Generation Intel Core i3-8130U processor with up to 3.4GHz of max frequency. In this list, this is the only device which comes with i3 processor but as per its price, this is the best laptop.
To handling multitasking and gaming on this laptop it comes with 6GB of RAM. It is equipped with Intel UHD Graphics 620 which is good to get at this price range. Besides this, in case if you want to upgrade its storage and RAM then you can easily do that through its convenient compartment door.
Other Features:
As far as battery life is concerned, Acer boasts this laptop can provide up to 13.5-hours of battery backup on a one-time charge. It provides all the required ports and slots along with an optical drive.
All in all, as per its price range this is the best laptop which you can buy right now because in this budget it provides all the powerful specs along with all-day battery backup.
Hardware Specifications Of Acer Aspire E 15
| Processor | (8th Gen) Intel Core i3-8130U Processor |
| RAM | 6GB RAM |
| Hard Disk | 1TB HDD |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Display | 15.6 Inch Full HD Widescreen LED-lit Display |
| Weight | 5.27 Pounds |
| Battery Life | Upto 13.5 Hours |
I have already said that these laptops are not able to run graphics-intensive games. But if you are able to increase your budget little-bit then this Acer Aspire E 15 laptop’s another variant is available with powerful configuration. And it can able to handle some graphics-intensive games.
Hardware Specifications
- 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB SSD
- 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150
- 15.6 Inch Full HD Widescreen LED-lit IPS Display
- Up to 15 hours of battery life
Final Verdict
Finally, we have done all the hard work for you and found some of the best gaming laptops under $500, so now it’s your turn to choose the one which suitable for you. Before you choose any of the laptops for yourself, here I suggest you go through the entire list of these gaming laptops.
I hope that this 500 dollars gaming laptop buying guide help you in finding the best laptop for yourself. But still, you need help regarding these gaming laptops then feel free to ask me by commenting below.
Hello! I am Robbin Simmond a senior editor & writer of this blog. By profession, I am a computer hardware engineer with a passion for gaming and technology. With a deep understanding of the intricate workings of computers, I have spent years researching and testing the latest advancements in gaming laptops.