Here are six of the best gaming laptops under $500. These laptops are not very strong, but they can run non-demanding games.
To find the best gaming laptop under $500, we suggest looking at our top three picks listed in the table below.
To Find The Best Gaming Laptop Under $500, We Suggest Looking at our Top Three Picks Listed in the Table Below:
At a Glance:
It is hard to find a laptop that is good at playing games for less than $500. You can get a gaming machine your budget for less than $500; go with a desktop computer. But if you need a gaming laptop, you’ll want to spend more money.
If you like to play lighter games or are only a casual gamer, it should be okay to get a laptop for about $500. You can find an affordable laptop and still plays games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Minecraft, Hearthstone.
- To Find The Best Gaming Laptop Under $500, We Suggest Looking at our Top Three Picks Listed in the Table Below:
- Our Recommendations for Best Gaming Laptops Under $500
- Lenovo IdeaPad 3
- Dell Inspiron 15
- Acer Aspire 3
- Dell Inspiron 3000
- HP 14-CF0014DX
- ASUS VivoBook
- Summary Best Gaming Laptops Under $500
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Our Recommendations for Best Gaming Laptops Under $500
| Award | Design | Laptops | Retailer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Performance Gaming Laptop Under $500 | Best Pick  | Check Price | |
| Best Our Runner-Up Pick Gaming Laptop Under $500 | Staff Pick  | Check Price | |
| Best Budget Gaming Laptop Under $500 |  | Check Price | |
| Best Excellent Gaming Laptop Under $500 |  | Check Price | |
| Best Ultra-Cheap Gaming Laptops Under $500 | Budget Pick  | Check Price | |
| Best Optimum Performance Gaming Laptops Under $500 |  | Check Price |
Lenovo IdeaPad 3
Best PickLenovo Ideapad 3 is the best gaming laptop under $500 on the market right now. Its features are an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, integrated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, 8 DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It has a 15.6-inch (1920 x 1080) display and is equipped with the Windows 10 Home operating system. The laptop weighs just under five pounds.
With this laptop, you get the same specs as this other laptop for the same price. However, compared to the other one, this one has a 1TB hard drive and 8GB of RAM, while the other one has a 226GB SSD and 8GB of RAM.
A Dell Inspiron under $500 is a better choice if you need more storage. Lenovo Ideapad 3 is a good choice for people who do not want to spend more than $500 on laptops. It has a faster SSD as well as more RAM.
It is possible to play non-demanding games such as Fortnite and League of Legends on this laptop. As an alternative, you could also play some of the more demanding games, but if you want to do that, be sure to set the setting to a lower level.
If you want to play your favorite games on your laptop and you don’t have much money to spend, the Lenovo Ideapad 3 is a great option. Then, when you buy a desk, you can build an affordable computer capable of handling games at higher settings.
Dell Inspiron 15
Staff PickThe runner-up pick is the best gaming laptop under $500. There are almost no differences between the Dell Inspiron and the Lenovo Ideapad 3 in terms of their features. Intel Ryzen 5 2500U processor with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU integrated graphics. Also included is a 15.6″ 1080P display.
A 1TB hard drive is installed in the Dell Inspiron 15 instead of a smaller SSD. Lenovo Ideapad 3 comes with a solid-state drive, which allows it to load and run faster than traditional hard drives. Despite this, it only has 256GB of storage space, which is not much these days. The Dell Inspiron may be the better option for you if you think you cannot manage with just 128GB of storage space.
The Lenovo Ideapad 3 comes with 8GB of RAM. It is more than the Dell Inspiron laptop, which only has 8GB of RAM. Even if you don’t need a lot of RAM at the moment, it is well worth it to have the extra 12 GB just in case you need it in the future.
This laptop is better than the other one. However, both of them will be able to play games well.
Acer Aspire 3
If you are looking for an affordable laptop, then the Acer Aspire 3 may be a good choice for you. The system features an AMD Ryzen 3 2200U processor and AMD Vega 3 graphics. In addition, it comes with a 1TB hard drive and 8GB of RAM, so you can store a lot of data.
The Acer Aspire 3 laptop has a screen size of 15.6 inches and a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The lower resolution is good for playing games because it makes it easier to play than if the screen resolution were 1080P, even though the image won’t be as clear as if it were 1080P.
To render images at higher resolutions, more GPU resources are required. Because of the lower resolution display of this laptop, it can run games more efficiently. I suppose you could get a 1080P laptop; however, you would have to lower the resolution via the settings on the screen. The 1080P screen would indeed cost more than the one that is not 1080P.
You can buy a lower resolution screen that will help your gaming performance even if you have a strict budget. Although this might not be as good as the other options, it is better than nothing. If you want to get the most out of your budget, you need to find something that can offer you as many frames per second as possible. Getting a screen that has a lower resolution would help you achieve this goal.
You might find the HP laptop below to be an excellent alternative to the one you are looking at. The laptop comes with an SSD and Intel graphics. So even though the screen is smaller, it has a similar performance in games, as long as you do not require a bigger screen size.
It is possible to build a $400 PC that is capable of handling most games. The PC would work on a 1080p monitor with medium settings.
Dell Inspiron 3000
Dell’s Inspiron 3000 is a good choice if you need a lot of storage space for your laptop. It comes with 8GB of DDR4 memory and a Windows 10 Home operating system.
With Intel’s Core i5-7200U processor and Intel HD 620 graphics integrated, this processor can run the vast majority of games. In addition, with a screen size of 1366*768, you can play various games.
It is worth noting that the Vega 8 integrated graphics on the Ryzen 5 2500U that we recommend in our top two picks will offer similar-or-better performance on a 1080P monitor. Inspiron 3000 can run a limited number of games, but they aren’t as many as you would expect them to be. Although the Lenovo Ideapad 3 will be able to play all games, the Dell Inspiron 15 will play more games.
In the end, a $500 laptop is not good for playing games. However, if you intend to play some non-demanding games, a Dell Inspiron 3000 could be a great choice due to its large 2TB hard drive.
HP 14-CF0014DX
Budget PickThe HP 14-CF0014DX is another sub-$400 laptop that could work for light gaming. It costs *$460 like the Acer Aspire 3. Unlike the Acer Aspire 3, this HP laptop uses an Intel Core processor (an i3-7100U).
In the Acer Aspire 3, the i3-7100U comes with Intel HD 620 integrated graphics, which is on par with the Vega 3 on the Ryzen 3 2200U processor.
Since this HP laptop also comes with a 1366 x 768 display, it should perform similarly to the Acer Aspire 3. Aspire 3 comes with a 1TB hard drive as well as a 128GB SSD. If you need more storage, this HP laptop might be a better choice.
Although, if the screen size is important to you, you should note that the HP laptop only comes with a 14-inch display, whereas all of the other laptops on this list come with a 15.6-inch display.
ASUS VivoBook
ASUS VivoBook is our final Honorable Mention pick. The VivoBook has the best processor out of all the laptops on this list. However, it relies on Intel HD 620 integrated graphics to run games on a 1080P display.
Intel HD 620 graphics cannot compete with the Vega 8 graphics found in the top two laptops on this list, so ASUS laptops will struggle to run games in 1080P if you want better performance while gaming, you could always just lower the resolution.
Still, this laptop comes in at just a bit over $500, making it the second most expensive option on this list. You could also get any of the top two laptop options for *$40 less. Therefore, if I looked for the best gaming laptop under $500, I’d go for the less expensive Lenovo Ideapad 3 or Dell Inspiron 15.
Summary Best Gaming Laptops Under $500
| Award | Design | Laptops | Retailer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Performance Gaming Laptop Under $500 | Best Pick | Check Price | |
| Best Our Runner-Up Pick Gaming Laptop Under $500 | Staff Pick | Check Price | |
| Best Budget Gaming Laptop Under $500 | | Check Price | |
| Best Excellent Gaming Laptop Under $500 | | Check Price | |
| Best Ultra-Cheap Gaming Laptops Under $500 | Budget Pick | Check Price | |
| Best Optimum Performance Gaming Laptops Under $500 | | Check Price |
Conclusion
There are a lot of laptops available on the market these days. Before you decide on the best gaming laptops under $500 in 2021, you need to know what kind of laptop you need. Some buyers do not take the time to check out other products on the market. When they do, they decide right away.
Make sure you don’t make any rash decisions. When buying a product, make sure you check its specs carefully before you make the purchase. You can compare different products by looking at their technical specifications before making the purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Core-i5 processors good for gaming?
The majority of games will be required to run on a Core-i5 processor by 2022. For most games, this level of performance is sufficient.
RAM requirements for gaming?
There is no restriction on how much RAM you can have when playing games. To run the game smoothly, you should have a minimum of 8 GB of RAM.
Which company makes the best-dedicated graphics cards?
In the world of gaming, Nvidia and AMD provide the best graphics cards. These two companies are a long way from being equal.
Can you play games without a graphics card?
Having a graphics card doesn’t always help. Games can be played at low frame rates even without graphics cards.
What’s the best way to upgrade RAM and storage on a laptop?
The procedure may vary depending on the type of laptop you are using. Generally, if you are going to repair it, you will need to open the compartment under it and replace or add parts if necessary. Just make sure you do not damage your laptop when you open it up.
