10+ Best Budget Gaming Laptops Under $500

If you want to play games, you need a laptop. But what if you don’t have a ton of money? You’ve got options! This features comparison guide will give you my top picks for the best budget gaming laptops under $500. They’re not the newest and greatest, but they’ll still give you an excellent gaming experience.

The market for laptops has become increasingly competitive in the past few years. While plenty of budget options are available for students and individuals, finding a laptop that will meet your needs is still hard. If you’re looking for the best budget gaming laptop under $500, you’ll find some great choices mentioned below.

Not all laptops on the market can be justified as slot machines, and not everyone can afford to pay for expensive laptops. We offer some of the cheapest laptops for gaming and other everyday activities. Before proceeding, you need to know the following:

Before buying a laptop under $500

Buying the best gaming laptop for under 500 dollars can be very subjective. Of course, with this budget, you can expect these laptops to run at mid-frame rates for most graphics-intensive games. Because $500 is still the starting point for buying a laptop.

I do not underestimate the gaming laptop under 500 dollars in any way. They are the cheapest laptops, but they can run the best games like League of Legends, Minecraft, and some new games with a little tweaking if they’re good at mid-resolutions. While there is nothing to worry about with your budget, you can expect the things mentioned below.

Whether you are a student, employee, or developer, these best budget gaming Laptops under $500 would be your smart choice in 2024.

List of 10+ Best Budget Gaming Laptops Under $500 2024

Below are some of the best laptops available for under $500. Every laptop on the list can pay for everything you spend. So, you can buy a laptop from the list below and enjoy your favorite games. Let’s start with the list.

1. Acer Aspire 5

Excellent performance and an attractive aesthetic are unique features of this laptop. Speaking of the laptop look, the Aspire 5 comes wrapped in a silver polycarbonate surface with a beautifully crafted case. The laptop fits comfortably in your hand and has a slim design that improves the ergonomics of your laptop.

It’s colorful and bright but has a 15.6-inch full HD display with a slightly lower viewing angle. It also comes with an impressive backlit keyboard for the price. Internally, the laptop is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 3 4000-series processor capable of turbo boost up to 3.7GHz.

It has 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid-state drive that supports multitasking and game control. Even if you think the Acer Aspire 5’s RAM and storage capacity is too small, don’t worry, it has two RAM slots that support up to 16GB of memory, and you can easily change the storage drive.

The Acer Aspire 5 is one of the best options for demanding games as the built-in Vega 8 graphics can run the most modern games at playable fps.

Additionally, the Acer Aspire 5 has features that are hard to find at this price point, such as a full HD display, a backlit keyboard, and simple hardware upgrades. The Acer Aspire 5 is the best low-budget gaming laptop you can buy now.

2. ASUS VivoBook 15 F512FA

The ASUS VivoBook 15 is a newly launched affordable, versatile laptop for those looking for the best combination of entertainment and gaming in the $500 range. Like all other VivoBook series laptops, it’s a well-built laptop with great ergonomics and ease of use.

It has a 15.6-inch full HD LED screen with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. The laptop under the case has an AMD Ryzen 3 processor that can do most of your games and other important tasks. The laptop has 8GB of RAM for multiple functions and a high-speed 128GB SSD for data storage. It also has an additional RAM card slot for adding RAM to an amazing 16GB in the future.

The laptop software comes with Windows 10 Home, which is compatible with all PC games. This laptop runs most of the new computer games smoothly with powerful built-in Radeon Vega 3 graphics. Plus, it hardly warms up even during heavy and uninterrupted gaming sessions. The laptop runs quietly at its lowest and is currently the best thin gaming laptop for under $500.

3. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15

If you don’t want to spend $500 and look for a reliable entry-level laptop that can handle gaming, then the newest Lenovo Ideapad 15 is for you. It’s a sleek design laptop with a brushed blue full plastic case. It looks great but leaves prints on the exterior.

The factor that makes the Lenovo Ideapad 3 15″ great is the thin screen bezel. The screen is a 15.6-inch TN display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. With only 200 nits of brightness, this screen is one of the darkest on the list. Another problem with the screen is the poor viewing angle.

Gaming on the Lenovo Ideapad 3 is great if you have reasonable expectations. You can run games without lag with a Radeon Vega 3 graphics card,  AMD Ryzen 3 3250U processor, and 8GB DDR4 RAM. The battery life is good for the price, and you can use about 6 hours of light, but much less when playing games.

4. HP 15.6 HD Touch-Screen Laptop

The HP 15 is among the best laptops in the $500 price range. It offers powerful gear in a sturdy, professional case that weighs just 3.9 pounds. Comes with a 15.6-inch HD Touch-Screen and has a 1TB HDD with more than enough capacity to store games and movies. This laptop will have a normal gaming Performance.

If you take games seriously comes with an Intel Pentium N5000 Quad-Core Up to 2.7GHz processor with 8GB DDR4 RAM. Thanks to the integrated Intel UHD graphics, this laptop can run some modern games on low or medium-screen graphics settings. Also, this laptop’s sound is supported by B&O Sound, which makes watching movies and games more attractive on u_box title=” HP 15.6 HD Touch-Screen Laptop Specifications” box_color=”#3584e6″ title_color=”#ffffff” radius=”6″]

• Processor Intel Pentium N5000 Quad-Core Up to 2.7GHz
• RAM 8GB DDR4 RAM
• Storage 1TB HDD
• Graphics Intel UHD graphics
• Display 15.6-inch diagonal HD WLED backlit display with 1366 x 768 resolution.
• Operating system Windows 10 S
• Up to 7 hours of battery life
• Weight 3.8 lbs.

5. Lenovo Ideapad S340

This laptop is a complete and economical desktop replacement in terms of performance. The laptop includes the latest and greatest features, making it perfect for gamers who don’t want to spend a lot of money buying a laptop. In terms of laptop design, it’s a very slim laptop that weighs only 3.9 pounds.

The design isn’t mediocre, but it’s an attractive laptop that fits all environments. The laptop has a 15.6-inch full HD touchscreen with an anti-glare coating for long gaming sessions. The small bezel makes playing and watching movies great.

The laptop is powered by the latest quad-core Intel Core i3 processor with powerful integrated UHD graphics and 8GB of decent RAM. Also, this laptop has a high-speed 256GB SSD, giving it a small edge over other gaming laptops in this price range. Laptops also offer great battery life, so click on our list of the cheapest gaming laptops under 500 dollars.

6. Asus Vivobook F512DA

The Asus Vivobook F512DA has the specs you can find on the laptop at the top of the list. This Windows laptop instantly runs Windows 10, but you can easily change it to Windows 10 Pro with just one click. The exterior of this 15.6-inch laptop has a smooth matte texture made of plastic.

It has a compact, sturdy design and weighs 1.8 kg (3.86 lbs). Like other top-best budget gaming laptops for $500, the laptop has AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics. These graphics cards run demanding games smoothly and can even run more demanding games at lower settings.

The AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor is a stable AMD CPU suitable for playing games and running demanding applications like 3D editing software or Photoshop editor.

It has SSD8GB DDR4 Ram and 256GB SSD storage. Even if Asus claims to be an NVMe SSD, it’s an M.2 SATA SSD that offers 560MBps read and 480MBps write speeds. That is significantly slower than other gaming laptops with NVMe SSDs but still faster than standard HDDs.

7. Lenovo Flex 14

2-in-1 laptops are often really convenient and portable, but they also lack the specs to run games smoothly. The Lenovo Flex 14 is an excellent 2-in-1 laptop and a sub-$500 gaming laptop capable of running demanding games. This laptop weighs 3.5 pounds, so it’s quite light as a gaming laptop, but it’s quite heavy compared to other 2-in-1 laptops.

Inside the Lenovo Flex 5 is an Intel UHD 620 graphics card. If you look at the UHD 620 benchmark, you can see that it can run some tricky games above 30 fps at low settings. However, it is not suitable for demanding tasks.

The screen of Lenovo Flex is a Full HD IPS touchscreen display that responds well to gestures. With a brightness of about 220 nits, it is suitable for indoor use but slightly dark in sunlight.

Like most laptops on this list, they have an SSD for memory. Fast PCIe NVMe solid-state drive with 128 GB of storage. It also has a stable 8th-generation Intel Core i3-8145U processor and 4GB of RAM.

8. Asus Vivobook F510QA

The Asus Vivobook F512QA is an inexpensive laptop that is ideal for office use but can also play light games occasionally. With the AMD R7 integrated graphics card, you can handle lighter games. However, as you can see from these gaming benchmarks, you will struggle with modern games in medium to high graphics settings.

The AMD quad-core A12-9720P performs slightly less than the i3 processor. SSD and fast DDR4 RAM significantly reduce load times when opening programs. It has 8GB of RAM and a 256G SSD.

The screen is a full HD15.6-inch widescreen with an 80% screen-to-body ratio. The colors are also inaccurate, but it’s still a game-friendly screen. Even though the case is made of plastic, it’s surprisingly sturdy, weighing 3.7 pounds, and a reasonably light 15.6-inch laptop.

One thing that makes the Asus Vivobook F510QA stand out is its upgradeability. RAM is upgradable, and if you want to upgrade your storage, you can find empty SATA and M.2 slots. As with most gaming laptops, you can’t upgrade your processor or graphics card.

9. Dell Inspiron 5000 14 Laptop

Dell has brought the Dell Inspiron 14 5000’s newest affordable price laptop to the market. An exciting version of the Dell Inspiron notebook series, providing very good technical data on demand. It has a large 15.6-inch full HD screen. It’s also a fairly light machine, weighing just 3.9 pounds, which is great given the type of performance it offers.

The AMD Ryzen 5 processor has a clock speed of up to 3.7GHz and is paired with 8GB of RAM. The storage department is managed by a high-speed 256GB SSD that provides enough space to store games and other data.

The device’s graphics are managed by AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics so that this laptop can handle some of the most popular games. All in all, it’s one of the great options for low-budget gamers looking for the best budget gaming laptop on the market for less than $500 in 2024.

10. Dell Inspiron 14 3000 Series i3451-1001BLK

The Dell Inspiron i5576 is a great product that offers more powerful hardware than its average price. The display is a decent 1366×768 panel in vibrant colors. The 14-inch screen accounts for 81.4% of the sRGB color gamut, a huge percentage compared to cheap laptops; this gaming laptop is less than 500. It was just $400.

The Dell Inspiron 14 3000 has 2GB RAM, 128GB SSD, and Intel Celeron N2840 2.16 GHz Processor. That said, it’s enough to handle both work and light games. The graphics card is Intel HD 610. It has a longer battery life than competing products and can handle web surfing all day.

FAQ about Under $500 gaming Laptops

1. AMD Ryzen CPU

In the best gaming laptops under $500, the most common processor is the AMD Ryzen 3 CPU. Another common alternative to the AMD Ryzen 3 is the 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8145U. If you compare the two, you can see that Intel’s effective speed is about 27% faster.

2. Solid State Drives

These days, Solid State Drives (SSDs) are the standard storage option on top gaming laptops for under $500. Compared to standard hard drives (HDDs), SSDs offer much faster performance. Another advantage of using a solid-state drive instead of a regular hard drive is that it consumes less power, resulting in longer battery life.

3. Full HD display

You should expect a full HD display on a gaming laptop. Full HD or 1920 x 1080 resolution significantly difference gaming and productivity. In terms of size, the most common screen size is a 15.6-inch display. However, at your price range, you can often find laptops with smaller screen sizes.

4. Suitable GPU

You can do one thing to make or break your next gaming laptop. Graphics card. Graphics cards differentiate playing your favorite games without lag and a smooth gaming experience. Gaming laptops for less than $500 have an integrated GPU.

That means you can’t play the latest games at high frame rates. There’s a huge difference between a low-end integrated graphics card and a GPU you’ll find on laptops on this list. Specially selected laptops that can run games smoothly.

5. Battery life

Gaming laptops usually have better battery life than high-end gaming laptops because most focus on energy-efficient components like an integrated graphics card. More expensive gaming laptops only have about 2 hours of battery life at high loads. Gaming laptops under 500 usually handle more than 6 hours before plugging in.

Is the Best gaming laptop under 500 dollars worth it?

Yes! In 2024, a low-budget gaming laptop is well worth it. Now you have more laptops under $500 that can run the latest games than ever! Since AMD launched its Vega line of integrated GPUs, the price of inexpensive gaming laptops has fallen, and there are more options to choose from on the internet.

There are also many products with Intel UHD graphics that run most of the games in low to mid-range graphics settings.

Is a gaming laptop a good choice?

If you’re planning to buy a laptop and use it, for example, at work or school, a gaming laptop can do about anything imaginable. They also tend to have nice screens and keyboards. Laptops will be cheaper than gaming desktops and decent laptops.

Can a $500 laptop run Fortnite?

Despite the recommended specs, playing Fortnite at 60fps on Medium settings at 1080p requires an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 or higher with 2GB of VRAM, which is pricey.

However, with an increasing $29, you can enjoy playing Fortnite at $529 with Asus VivoBook F510UA.

Are Chromebooks Good for Gaming?

Of course, Chrome OS laptops support Android apps so that you can opt for mobile games. There are also browser games. But you’ll have to look elsewhere if you want to play high-profile PC games, and you can’t live with cloud games from services.

Do I need to remove the laptop battery while gaming?

It’s OK to leave the battery connected while gaming. No, you cannot overcharge the battery. Modern gaming laptops use Li-ion or Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries and have internal circuitry that stops further charging when the battery is fully charged to 100%.

Can I play while charging?

Playing while charging will not directly damage the battery. The only problem is that the battery gets warm when charging.

Do gaming laptops have a longer battery?

Gaming laptops don’t have the longest battery life. Gaming laptops require powerful and demanding components to run games to their full potential: CPU and GPU. However, the more powerful the components, the more energy they need, which means that the battery life of a gaming laptop will be shorter.

Are gaming laptops good for school?

Gaming laptops are lighter, more powerful, and more affordable than ever. It’s especially useful for students, as the sturdy hardware can help render videos and do other things that make the ultra-thin ultraportable sweat.

Do gaming laptops last?

The short answer is that a good mid-range gaming laptop has a 3-4 year lifespan. For high-end models, you can use it for 4-6 years. For physical components, you can expect up to 10 years of service. But until then, your gaming laptop will likely not keep up with all the software updates.

Conclusion

If you want to play less demanding games or are happy to play tricky games at a lower level, then one of the top 500 dollars gaming laptops is best for you.