Home > Best Gaming Laptops > Best Gaming Laptops under $500
Let me start by an understatement: finding the best gaming laptops under 500 dollars is tough!
These budget laptops are usually not made for gaming. Web surfing and movie watching are usually what they’re for.
Nonetheless, we did our job seriously and found the best gaming laptops under $500!
Our Top 3 Picks
| #1 – Acer Aspire F5-573-58VX | #2 – Lenovo Z50 | #3 – Dell Inspiron 3000 3543 |
 |  |  |
Powerful & great value $500 gaming laptop q | Powerful $500 Gaming Laptop | Good graphics & CPU |
| 15.6″ HD | 15.6″ | 15.6″ |
| Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM | AMD FX-7500 with 16 GB of RAM | Intel i5 with 4 GB of RAM |
| 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) | 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) | 500 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Up to 12 hours | Up to 5 hours | Expect 7 to 8 hours |
| Jump to our Review | Jump to our Review | Jump to our Review |
What you need to know on Gaming Laptops under 500 dollars
The truth with a gaming laptop under $500 is that it won’t be able to play the latest games. If that what you’re looking for, you should increase your budget a little and go for gaming laptops between $600 and $800.
That doesn’t mean that you cannot find a good gaming laptop under $500!
But you have to know that they will instead run games from a few years ago, at medium settings. Luckily for us, manufacturers have put on the market entry-level chipset that allows for some decent gaming at a low price. So it doesn’t mean you have to settle for 1991 Civilization 1! 😉
So as long as you understand that, you’ll have to play older games or less intensive games, let’s continue with the best $500 gaming laptops!
What do you need in a good gaming laptop under $500?
Graphic Card
There is one thing that is far more important than anything else in a good gaming laptop under $500 (or any gaming laptop): you need a good graphic card. This is the first thing you should look at. You see, most of the time laptops come with a graphic card that doesn’t perform well with 3D.
Performance
The memory (RAM) you have is also a big factor. Less than 4 GB is not enough to load & play a game. You need at least 4 GB and you should go for 6 GB or more.
The processor is also a factor. Low-end processor won’t be powerful enough to render games, but nowadays it’s not as big as a factor as graphic card and the memory you have. Laptops on this list won’t have the fastest processor on the market, but the top ones are still equipped with decent CPU that’ll allow you to play games.
Screen – HD or non-HD?
Some of the laptops in this list are equipped with an HD screen, some not. Everything being equal, usually if the manufacturer puts an HD screen, he’ll have to sacrifice somewhere else. In this case, gaming power.
Since you’re looking for the best gaming laptops under 500 dollars, an HD screen should not be your priority here. Get more RAM or a better graphic card. You’ll have more gaming for your money. Anyway, chances are slim that you’ll be able to run games at high-resolution.
Battery life
Don’t expect to be impressed by the battery life. This is an area where all laptop manufacturers made a compromise. And I agree with their choice! Having more power is far more important! While the laptops with the best battery life will easily last 10h, here we’re talking more about 3 to 5 hours. And if you’re playing a game, keep it plugged!
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Specs for the Top 7 Best Gaming Laptops under $500 – Top 8 good low-cost laptops
Graphics 14, 15-inch Processor AMD A9, AMD A10, Intel i3, Intel i5 RAM 4 to 16 GB Storage 256 to 1000 GB Battery life 3 to 12 hours OS Windows 10 Thickness / Weight 0.8 to 5.29 lbs Price Range $$, $$$
Top 7 Best Gaming Laptops under $500 – Top 8 good low-cost laptops
1 – Acer Aspire F5-573-58VX – 15″ HD
“Powerful & great value $500 gaming laptop q”
This colorful Acer is a no brainer as one of the best gaming laptops under $500. With enough processing & RAM to compete with more expensive laptops, it’s also equipped with a graphic card that’ll recent games quite decently. It’s also equipped with as an HD screen so you can watch HD movies flawlessly. And with a big hard drive, you can store all those games you’ll install!
Check current price on Amazon.com
| Graphics | 15.6″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Up to 12 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 1″ / 5.29 lbs |
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2 – Lenovo Z50 – 15″
“Powerful $500 Gaming Laptop”
This Lenovo was built as a gaming laptop and it shows! They’ve put a good Radeon R7 graphic card in it, so you can power games others on this list won’t. They’ve also equipped the Z50 with a powerful AMD processor and a whooping 16 GB of RAM. You won’t need more! All this makes it one of the best gaming laptops under $500 you can purchase!
| Graphics | 15.6″ screen (1366 x 768) with Radeon R7 |
| Performance | AMD FX-7500 with 16 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Up to 5 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.98″ / 5.2 lbs |
3 – Dell Inspiron 3000 3543 – 15″
“Good graphics & CPU”
Dell definitely managed to build one of the best gaming laptops under $500. It lacks a bit of RAM and an HD screen, but otherwise it’s a powerful gaming laptop. They’ve equipped it with the most powerful processor and graphic card you can find on this list. That means good gaming power!
| Graphics | 15.6″ screen (1366 x 768) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 500 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Expect 7 to 8 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 1″ / 4.8 lbs |
4 – Lenovo Ideapad 500 – 15″ HD
““Good quality & value”
The Lenovo IdeaPad 500 also delivers a lot of value for a $500 gaming laptop. It’s very similar to the Asus X555: same processor / graphic card, 8 GB of RAM and also equipped with a 15-inch HD screen. A great choice for casual gamers and movie lovers!
| Graphics | 15.6″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) with Radeon R6 |
| Performance | AMD A10 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Expect 3 to 4 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 5.1 lbs |
# 5 to 7 Best Gaming Laptops under $500 – Top 8 good low-cost laptops
5 – Lenovo Edge 15 – 15″ HD Convertible
“Best 2-in-1 gaming laptop under $500”
Nice looking, the Lenovo Edge 15 is the best choice for someone looking for a 2-in-1 gaming laptop under $500. Equipped with a satisfying Intel i3 processor and 6 GB of RAM, it’s powerful enough for all the multi-tabbing you need. Its HD touchscreen is nice and the 2-in-1 format will allow you to watch HD movies comfortably. And they’ve put an Intel HD 5500 graphic so you can play the occasional game!
| Graphics | 15.6″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i3 with 6 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 500 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Expect 5 to 6 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.8″ / 5.07 lbs |
6 – Lenovo Ideapad 100 – 15″
For someone who’s looking for a budget laptop to work, surf the web and play an occasional game, this Lenovo Ideapad 100 is a pretty good choice. As the entry-level laptop in their Ideapad series, this one has a decent built quality and gives you enough power with its i3 processor.
| Graphics | 15.6″ screen (1366 x 768) |
| Performance | Intel i3 with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 500 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Up to 3 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.89″ / 5.07 lbs |
7 – Asus VivoBook F402BA – 14″ HD
“Ultra-light $500 Gaming Laptop”
The Asus Vivobook F402BA is a good, fast and stylish laptop. It’s going to boot in seconds thanks to its SSD drive and is powerful enough with an A9 processor and 8 GB of RAM. Its Radeon graphic card is not the best, but it’s sufficient for the occasional gamer. And if you like to carry your laptop around, know that this one of the lightest laptop on this list of best gaming laptops under 500 dollars.
Check current price on Amazon.com
| Graphics | 14″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) with Radeon R5 |
| Performance | AMD A9 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Expect 4 to 5 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.9″ / 3.6 lbs |
Erik is the owner and main editor of lptps.com. He has been working in computers and information technology for more than 20 years. He’s a business analyst, developer and avid traveler.
