The laptop market has evolved so drastically throughout the years, it is hard to choose between all the options of laptops you get. But when you are on a budget, that choice gets a bit limited.
However, that does not mean you cannot get amazing quality laptops on a budget. Many manufacturers and brands produce professional grade laptops for a budget. While these are not on par with the high end laptops, they are not something to be neglected as well.
There are so many brands that produce high quality gaming laptops under $500. These laptops can be great for using by students of computer science as well. We understand how important it is for these laptops to be affordable, and so do these laptop brands.
In order to help you find the perfect gaming laptop under the budget of $500, we have compiled a list of 5 best gaming laptops that are high performance while being under your budget.
If you want to see for yourself whether these laptops would be ideal for you or not, read this article till the end. We will also show you the specifications you should look out for in these laptops and the criteria we have judged the laptops we have selected based on.
If that sounds interesting to you, let’s dive into it shall we?
Recommended Specifications
While you yourself can tell what specifications a gaming laptop should have, you cannot expect all that much due to the budget constraint you have. So the recommended specifications that you should expect in a $500 gaming laptop are explained below:
Processor:
The processors that you will get in this budget should be enough to run good quality games and programs. An AMD A9, AMD A10, Intel Core i3, or Intel Core i5 are what you can expect to be present on these laptops. If the laptop offers anything less than this, don’t go for it.
RAM:
You can expect to get a RAM of 4 to 16 GB. Anything less than that cannot run high graphics programs at all. And we don’t think you will get anything higher than this.
Storage:
For the storage of the laptops, and HDD of anything between 256 GB and 1 TB is good. And if the laptop supports SSD, that’s your good luck.
Battery:
The perfect laptop under $500 should have a battery life of at least 5 hours. You can expect to get battery life of 12 hours in some laptops as well.
Display:
Most budget laptops and high end laptops have similar display sizes. So this should be the standard display size which is either 14 inch or 15 inch.
Graphics:
The laptop should have a graphics card of at least 2 GB from either NVIDIA or AMD Radeon.
Best Budget Laptops for Gaming
Now that we have established the recommended specifications that should be present in the laptops, it is time to look at the best laptops that fit our criteria. These laptops have been chosen to fulfill every requirement (minimum) of a gaming computer while also being under five hundred dollars.
We made sure you don’t have to spend over 500 bucks to get a gaming laptop and still get the high quality performance from your purchase. Now without delaying any further, let’s check out this list amazing laptops from different brands that we have compiled for you.
5. HP 14 Inch Touchscreen Laptop
When we talk about laptops, HP must be included in that conversation as it has been the leading laptop brand for years! The HP 14 inch touch screen laptop is an amazing example of how a budget friendly laptop can be so high quality and deliver a premium feel to it. Let’s look at the high quality features this laptop by HP has to offer.
Features
Processor
The HP touch screen 14 inch laptop comes with a top of the line AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor. This processor was made for mid-range laptops that might be used for gaming or programming or high level editing and animating.
The processor ensures that there are minimum to zero lag in running high performance applications. This is one of the reasons this HP laptop made it to the list.
RAM
Having enough RAM is very important if you want to play games and do computer science practices (coding and stuff). This laptop by HP provides you with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. This should be enough to run high performance programs on your laptop.
Storage
SSDs are all the rage nowadays. Most computer enthusiasts are preferring SSDs over HDDs due to its performance speed. This laptop comes with a good quality SSD of 256 GBs. This is enough space to play a couple of high quality games on. However, too many games and applications might fill it up easily.
Battery
This laptop supports up to 12 hours of battery life which is a good battery life for a budget gaming laptop. It uses a Li-ion battery which is included with the laptop.
Display
As the name suggests, you get a 14 inch display on this laptop with full HD resolutions. This provides gamers a high quality gaming experience without having to spend over a thousand dollars for a gaming laptop.
The display on this laptop is satisfactory and provides an immersive experience for good quality gaming.
Graphics is highly important to run big games. This HP touch screen laptop comes with an AMD Radeon Vega 3 Graphics card. This is a great mid-range graphics card that ensures a good gaming experience if you play non-demanding games such as Dota 2, FIFA, Sims 4 etc.
4. Acer Aspire 5
Acer produces few of the top quality laptops in the world and has a reputation for offering gaming laptops in a mid-budget. The Acer Aspire 5 is an example of such a laptop and meets all the requirements to be on this list.
It technically isn’t however, under five hundred dollars. The price of this laptop goes slightly over our budget limit here. But trust us, an extra hundred dollars wouldn’t be too much and would definitely be worth it. Let’s look at the features this amazing laptop has to offer!
Features
Processor
This laptop by Acer sports the latest AMD Ryzen 5 hexa-core processor. This is an amazing processor for a mid-range gaming laptop and lets you run high graphics games on your laptop with ease.
RAM
For the RAM on this incredible device you typically get an 8 GB DDR4 RAM. This is enough to run powerful software such as Adobe Premier, After Effects, Solid Works and play games such as GTA 5, Dota 2, Call of Duty, etc.
Storage
As mentioned above, having an SSD in a laptop can make it much faster and more efficient than having an HDD. This laptop by Acer comes with a 256 GB NVMe SSD. Although it is not much space, it is fast enough and can store your favorite photos, videos, games and other stuff.
Battery
Not having a powerful enough battery is a complaint of a lot of gamers. This laptop solves that issue to some extent. The Acer Aspire 5 comes with a battery life of up to 10 hours. This is a moderate amount of battery life for a mid-range laptop to have and we think it should serve its purpose just fine.
Display
For the display on this laptop you get a 15.6 inch Full HD LED backlit IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The larger screen along with full HD display offers an immersive experience for gamers while staying on a budget.
Graphics
A good quality graphics card is crucial for playing games without lag. Notice how the laptops without a graphics card will lag almost every 5 seconds when you run even a simple game like GTA 4 for instance.
The Acer Aspire 5 comes with an AMD Radeon Graphics card which is definitelybetter than Intel’s integrated graphics chipset. This graphics card allows you to play most games with almost no lag. This is what makes this laptop better than most laptops in this budget.
3. Lenovo IdeaPad 330
Offering top of the line computers and laptops, Lenovo has been the largest PC Company since 2013 after surpassing HP. Lenovo has been producing high quality laptops and has various laptop series in their inventory.
One of these laptop series is the IdeaPad line of laptops. The Lenovo IdeaPad 330 is one of the best mid-range laptops that offer great quality gaming experience. Let’s look at all the features that this laptop has to offer within its budget.
Features
Processor
The Lenovo IdeaPad 330 comes with a 7th generation AMD A9-9425 3.1 GHz dual core processor. This is a good quality processor for a mid-range gaming laptop and provides enough speed and performance.
RAM
RAM capacity is very important in a good laptop. The Lenovo IdeaPad offers an 8 GB DDR4 RAM which as you can see is offered by the above two laptops as well. It is a good amount of RAM and can support medium resolution gaming and run various big applications.
Storage
For the storage on this laptop we get a 256 GB SSD. This is enough space to house a lot of your photos, movies, music, games, documents and many more. An SSD allows your laptop to remain fast even after you fill it up to its capacity. Unlike HDDs, SSDs do not lag your computer even while being completely full.
Battery
The IdeaPad 330 offers good battery life. Though not on par with most of the laptops on this list, this laptop offers up to 5 hours of battery life which, in our opinion, is not too low. Lenovo promises up to 5 hours of battery life on this laptop but it may vary with settings, usage and other factors.
Display
The IdeaPad laptop by Lenovo comes with a 15.6 inch non-touch HD display that has LED backlight and an aspect ratio of 16:9. This might seem low compared to most laptops on this list, but it still gets the job done. It’s not anything too impressive, but it isn’t bad either.
Graphics
This laptop by Lenovo comes with an AMD Radeon R5 graphics card which is great for playing medium graphics games.
2. Dell Inspiron 15.6
Dell Inspiron laptops are known to last longer than most laptops. While Dell does produce high end laptops, the Inspiron series of laptops are known to have the best affordable laptops in the market. This Dell Inspiron 15.6 inch laptop is one of the best gaming laptops you will get under $500. Let’s look at its features.
Features
Processor
The Dell Inspiron 15.6 comes with a 7th generation Intel Core i5-7200U processor. This is an okay-ish processor for gaming and can run various medium graphics games at a satisfactory quality.
RAM
This laptop by Dell sports an 8 GB DDR4 RAM (also similar to all the other laptops on this list). This is a good enough RAM capacity to have in a mid-range gaming laptop. The RAM is enough to prevent lags from playing games and lets you install lots of games and applications.
Storage
For storage space you get 256 GB of SSD. The SSD allows you to store enough files while keeping your laptop fast and lag free. This is why we love SSDs so much, and the fact that this laptop by Dell comes with one, makes it a very good quality laptop.
Battery
This laptop is powered using a 4-cell Li-ion battery that provides a well enough battery life to the user.
Display
This Dell Inspiron laptop comes with a 15.6 inch display with HD resolution. Again, it is nothing too impressive, but it delivers a good gaming and viewing experience to the user.
Graphics
The Dell Inspiron 15.6 inch laptop comes with an Intel HD Graphics integrated graphics. This is the only downside to this laptop that it does not come with an external graphics card. The integrated graphics, however, is good enough for running games such as Fortnite or Apex Legends.
1. Asus Vivobook F510UA
Asus makes few of the best Gaming laptops. Especially with the Asus Rog laptops, gaming laptops have come a long way. The Vivobook line of laptops by Asus are pretty good too, in terms of providing high quality gaming experience. The Asus Vivobook F510UA is a great example of such a laptop that provides a good quality gaming experience while being budget friendly. Let’s look at its features.
Features
Processor
The Asus Vivobook F510UA comes with an Intel Core i5 processor. This is a moderate quality processor to have in a gaming laptop and isn’t unimpressive.
RAM
The RAM on this laptop is similar to the rest of the laptops on this list. You get an 8 GB DDR4 RAM with this amazing laptop. The RAM is good quality as we have mentioned, and provides enough speed with less lags.
Storage
For storage space the Asus Vivobook offers a 1 TB of HDD. This is more than enough space for keeping your files in and for installing loads of games. However, unlike SSD, a full capacity HDD can make your laptop run pretty slow, so make sure to not let it get filled up completely.
Battery
The battery life isn’t anything too impressive either, but is moderate. The Vivobook provides up to 5 hours of battery life. This is a minimum requirement for a good laptop, and it fulfills it. This is why it made it to this list.
Display
The Asus Vivobook F510UA comes with a 15.6 inch display with FHD resolutions. The display is good quality and lets you enjoy games in an immersive way. The experience isn’t disappointing.
Graphics
Similar to the Dell Inspiron 15.6, the Asus Vivobook does not come with any external graphics card, but has an integrated Intel Graphics 620 chipset which is good enough for mild gaming.
How We Choose the Best Ones
When choosing the best laptops for this list, we took into consideration all the specifications that we mentioned above (see recommended specifications section).
Any laptop that fits the criteria and exceeds it, can be deemed worthy of making it to this list. However you may think there are hundreds of laptops that fit that criteria; why select these particular laptops?
Well, we chose one laptop from 5 different brands that offer similar features within the budget. Those brands might offer other models with similar features. But to us, these 5 laptops stood out, as they are the latest models of those brands.
Conclusion
There you have it. You now have yourself a list of top 5 laptops for gaming that are under $500 to choose from. Was this article helpful? We hope we were able to help you choose the right laptop for your purpose.