10 Best Gaming Laptops Under $500 (November 2017)
Welcome to my another gaming laptop buying guide. This laptop buying guide is focused for the people who are looking for best gaming laptops under 500 dollars. You should know that at $500 you won’t be able to buy high end gaming laptop but there are few budget gaming laptops which could fulfill your gaming thirst, check them out!
I spend hours every week in research for new gaming laptops to update this budget gaming laptop buying guide. So you can conclude that laptops listed here will always be the best suggestions to buy a best cheap gaming laptop under $500 so don’t worry about anything just buy and enjoy gaming on these affordable gaming beasts. These laptops may not be able to run all newly released games because of their low hardware specifications but they could run few all time favorite games like Dota 2, Counter Strike, older Need For Speed games and many more. If this is not enough to you then you need to increase your budget up to at least $1000 to buy powerful gaming laptop so that you can enjoy every games of 2016-2017. For that you can check this monthly updated laptop buying guide to buy gaming laptop under $1000. Don’t want to increase budget? No worries. Below given laptops are also best for gaming have a look to it.
Tips to Buy Best Gaming Laptop Under $500
- Before we proceed I would like to discuss few things about gaming laptops. As we all know there are many operating systems available for computer devices like Windows, Linux and Mac OS. But when it comes to gaming on PC or laptop, Windows is the best OS because majority of games are made for Windows PC’s so it would be wiser choice to buy windows laptop over any other OS laptops. Even I have chosen only Windows laptops for this affordable gaming laptop buying guide so that you can enjoy all games on your new laptop. Also remember that laptop which comes with Windows 8.1 pre-installed they are eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade.
- Another major thing which you should take care of is, hardware upgradeability of the laptops. When it comes to buying a gaming laptop, it is very necessary to check whether you can upgrade the RAM of your laptop or will it allow you to upgrade to SSD from HDD in a coming future? If no, then your gaming laptop is soon gonna be outdated as its old hardware would not support new games. So to make sure this problem don’t come to you, I picked laptops which has extra RAM slots so that you can upgrade RAM of your laptop to get some extra punch of power from it and few laptop models also supports upgrading to faster Solid State Drive from Hard Drive so if you decide to make your laptop a pro gaming laptop in future then that would be possible too.
- If you don’t understand all this technical things about laptops then I would recommend you to read description of each gaming laptop in below given list which explains each and everything about each laptop models listed below. I think these tips will be helpful to you while picking best laptop from all affordable gaming laptops under $500 from my list…
Best Gaming Laptops Under 500 Dollars – Top Picks of November 2017
I keep on trying to find best deals on affordable gaming laptops and after hours of digging into Amazon, NewEgg, BestBuy and Walmart, here are this month’s best deals for you to buy gaming laptops in your 500 dollars budget…
1) Toshiba Satellite C55Dt-C5245 Touch Screen Laptop –
You might be thinking why I am selecting touch screen laptop for gaming purpose. Well the first reason for selecting this laptop is it has got great performing hardware and second is because it is touch screen you will be able to take benefit of few great touch screen games on windows store like every ones favorite candy crush. This laptop looks professional and it has got angular edges which gives it aggressive gaming feel at the same time. This laptop comes with HD touch screen display which is great while gaming. Keyboard of this laptop is also tough enough to resist your high endurance key presses while gaming. Now if we look at hardware of this laptop than it has got 2.2 GHz AMD A8 processor which is designed for performance seekers. It outputs enough power along with 6 GB RAM of this laptop to play some of the good games in high graphics settings. It has 1 TB of Hard drive so you can have your gaming collection wherever you go with this laptop. To fulfill graphics needs of your gaming this laptop comes with on board AMD Radeon R5 graphics which is one of the best graphics performer from AMD in lower budget laptops. Overall this laptop is beautifully packed with enough power for playing games which makes this laptop one of the best gaming laptop with in budget of 500 dollars and it is from Toshiba so no issues in quality and service with this laptop.
OS | Windows 10 |
RAM | 6 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
CPU | AMD A8-7410 2.2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch HD Touch Screen Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | AMD Radeon R5 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 4.8 Pounds |
Price – $499.99
2) Asus X550ZA Gaming Laptop –
Earlier Asus was a computer motherboard manufacturing company and than they started manufacturing other various computing devices so of-course there is nothing to talk about quality of their products. Looking at Asus X550ZA I can say that it is one of the best gaming laptop under 500 dollars because of its impressive hardware specifications. It is powered by AMD A10 chip which is best among all ‘A’ series processors from AMD and its 8 GB RAM along with AMD Radeon R6 Graphics makes this laptop capable to run games at high graphics settings. Apart from that it has 1 TB of hard drive which will allow you to enjoy all your games wherever you go. Though this laptop comes with amazing hardware, it doesn’t even lag in design! This laptop has 15.6 Inch of LED screen which has best viewing angles in any lighting conditions. It has metal finished body and sturdy keyboard so it is premium affordable gaming laptop. If you are looking for something powerful and stylish than you will love this laptop from Asus.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Windows 10 Upgrade) |
RAM | 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
CPU | AMD A10-7400P 2.5 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch LED-lit Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | AMD Radeon R6 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 5.1 Pounds |
Price – $496.59
3) Dell Inspiron 5000 17.3 Inch Laptop –
We all love to play games on bigger screens and this laptop from Dell is one of the best affordable big screen laptop money can buy right now. It has long lasting battery, durable design and decent hardware which will allow you to play many good games on this laptop. If we talk about design of this laptop than this laptop is really well built and it has professional looking two tone exterior. Its huge and beautiful 17.3 Inch display shows every thing in extreme details even while you are in direct sunlight areas like may be public parks. Now if we talk about its hardware configuration than like all above laptops this one also has AMD chip inside which is great for gaming and other high power consuming works. It has 4 GB RAM which is enough if you want to play games like counter strike but if you want to play few more high graphic games than this laptop comes with extra RAM slot so you can expand RAM of this laptop up to 16 GB. Though this laptop has low RAM compared to other laptops but it does have powerful AMD R5 graphics processor so just consider increasing RAM by spending few more bucks to enjoy more good games on this gaming laptop. This laptop also offers 1 TB of hard drive so there is no low storage issue on this laptop. According to me this is the best cheap laptop below $500 for the people who are looking for laptop which they can use for office works and gaming at the same time.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Windows 10 Upgrade) |
RAM | 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
CPU | AMD A8-7410 2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 17.3 Inch HD+ LED-lit Display with 1600 x 900 Resolution |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | AMD Radeon R5 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5.5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 7.4 Pounds |
Price – $448.88
4) Acer Aspire E 15 Full HD Notebook –

Editor’s choice – Best Gaming Laptop under $500
Its really worth calling this laptop a beast. Acer Aspire E 15 is a laptop with normal looks but it is packing pro gaming level performing hardware inside. Before we proceed to talk about its hardware lets have a look at its design first. This laptop from Acer is finished in charcoal black color and overall design and build quality of laptop does look and feel tough. Talking about its hardware now, it is powered by Intel’s i5 processor pushing “NVIDIA graphics”. It has got 8 GB of RAM and extra RAM slot if you want some extra horsepower from this laptop. For storing all your games and other things this laptop has 1 TB of hard drive. Though this laptop possesses high performance hardware, it manages to give battery backup of 5 hours while normal usage and 3 hours of gaming which is impressive! This is sober looking laptop with high performance hardware and as this laptop offers extra RAM slots this laptop is one of the best gaming laptops under 500 dollars right now.
OS | Windows 10 – 64 bit |
RAM | 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
CPU | Intel i5 5th generation processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch Full HD Wide Screen LED-backlit Display |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | NVIDIA GeForce 940M 2 GB [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 5.3 Pounds |
Price – $518.00
5) Toshiba Satellite C55-C5241 Gaming Laptop –
Another laptop from Toshiba which is almost identical in design to the previous Toshiba laptop in this list and this laptop also falls in category of best affordable gaming laptops under $500 but wait, did you checked hardware of this laptop? This laptop has got Intel Core i5 5th generation processor which outperforms many AMD processors and it has on board Intel HD 5500 Graphics which is latest on board Broadwell graphics from Intel so there are no questions about its performance. Apart from that it is rocking inside 8 GB of RAM which is 2 GB more than previous Toshiba laptop in this list and 1 TB of hard drive to store essential files and of course your favorite games. Now if we talk about design than it is same as the previous one but this laptop has non touch 15.6 Inch display which is sharp and displays everything in good details. Same black color fiber like material outer body which also acts as a heat insulator and textures on whole body gives you good grip while holding it. This laptop has got some good specification bump over previous Toshiba laptop so if you would like to compromise touch screen display instead of some more high performing hardware than you can buy this Toshiba laptop or else if you are fan of playing touch screen games than previous Toshiba laptop would be better pick for you.
OS | Windows 10 Home |
RAM | 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
CPU | Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch HD LED-lit Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | Mobile Intel HD 5500 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 6 Hours |
WEIGHT | 4.85 Pounds |
Price – $424.94
6) Asus F554LA Laptop –
Another laptop in the line up of Intel hardware but this one is from Asus. Asus F554LA is actually designed to perform any kind of works and it does have capable hardware to enjoy games on it. This laptop from Asus is finished in black color and has textured design on it. I am not really huge fan of that but it gives good grip while holding and same texture is also present at arm rest of this laptop which might feel convenient to you while playing games on this laptop. It has bright 15.6 inch LED display which is great for normal uses and when it comes to gaming it feels even more better. It has accu-type chiclet keyboard which is durable to resist your high pressured key presses and precision touch pad makes pointing any thing on screen more enjoyable. Beside its beautiful design there is 5th Generation Intel Core i5 Chip which outputs raw power without any lag. All that power is handled by its 8 GB of RAM along with Intel’s on board graphics memory which combiningly produces huge throttle of power which is enough for running some amazing high graphic games like Skyrim on medium graphic settings. So you can conclude how much power this laptop can produce and that’s what encouraged me to put this laptop in best gaming laptops under 500 dollars. According to me this is pretty impressive deal you are getting here on this laptop and Asus is also giving accidental warranty with this laptop so you can really go hard with this thing.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10) |
RAM | 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
CPU | Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch HD LED-lit Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 500 GB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | Mobile Intel HD 5500 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 7 Hours |
WEIGHT | 4.9 Pounds |
Price – $517.25
7) Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Series Laptop –
Dell laptops are always designed to perform best in all ways because they make laptops with hardware which can perform best in every work. Well if we talk about this laptop from Inspiron series of Dell than it is one of the best gaming laptop under $500. Looking at its design there is nothing surprising with it, it has nice durable keyboard with easy to use touch pad. It comes with 15.6 inch of display which has some coating on it to make it reflection free. Its outer body is made from durable material so it is tough enough to work in hazardous conditions where temperatures are extremely high or low. This is all purpose laptop which can also be utilized for gaming because of its high performance hardware. It has Intel’s 5th generation i5 Processor chip which has enough on board graphics memory, 8 GB of RAM to work smoothly with this laptop and 1 TB hard disk drive so it is perfect combination for affordable gaming laptop. This laptop is running Windows 8.1 64 bit and it is freely upgradable to latest windows 10 OS. According to me this laptop is best for the people who are looking for every day driver which also has gaming capabilities.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10) |
RAM | 8 GB DDR3 RAM |
CPU | Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch HD LED-backlit Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | Mobile Intel HD 5500 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 5.3 Pounds |
Price – $498.88
8) Lenovo G50 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop –
Lenovo – as we all know it is one of the best laptop manufacturing brand. All Lenovo laptops are built on tough chassis which is also light in weight so that they can be carried in extreme places and get the work done. Well if talk about this laptop, it is also tough as all Lenovo laptops and its hardware specifications are also quiet impressive which allowed me to join hunt of best cheap gaming laptops under 500 dollars. If we look at its design than it is made up from really hard material which ensures hardware sitting inside it is always safe. It has 15.6 inch of high definition display which is just right to enjoy games on it. Even its keyboard is tough and precision touch pad which supports multi-finger gestures too. Apart from that it also has normal ports like HDMI, USB 3.0, Ethernet etc. and it comes with Dolby Digital surround sound speakers which are loud, crispier and sounds really great while playing games on this laptop. This laptop is powered by Intel’s 4th generation i5 chip which is great battery saver and 6 GB of RAM which will let you enjoy many great games on this laptop. Like all other laptops, this laptop also has 1 TB of hard drive so overall I think this is great affordable gaming laptop and best buy at price of just $497.99.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10) |
RAM | 6 GB DDR3 RAM |
CPU | Intel Core i5-4210U 1.7 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch HD Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 1 TB Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | Intel HD 4400 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 4.63 Pounds |
Price – $499.00
9) HP 350 G2 Laptop –
HP 350 is recently launched laptop with new two color combination design which both are actually different materials when you see them closer. The silver one is aluminium and black is fiber kind of material which is also thermally efficient. It has 15.6 inches of HD LED display and I think it is great, not best display but not even bad! It is bright enough to see everything on sunny day and even it does not harm your eyes while playing games in normal lighting. This might encourage you to buy this laptop. It also has finger print scanner so your laptop will be safe and un-accessible from unauthorized peoples. Keyboard is also tough enough and touch pad is also convenient to use. Well it is obvious thing that you won’t use touch pad for gaming but to perform other works it works fine. Now if we talk about hardware specifications than this laptop is also powered by Intel Core 5th Generation i5 processor and it has 4 GB of RAM which is little bit low but you can expand it up to 16 GB because it has comes with two RAM slots. Though you are getting low RAM this laptop has more powerful 500 GB hard drive with 7200 RPM which is powerful than any other laptop present in this list. Well still if you want more speed than with this laptop you can even replace hard disk with lightning fast solid state drive. This laptop from HP is highly modifiable and that makes this laptop stand here at best gaming laptops under $500. So if you are running tight on your budget right now that’s fine, you can invest your money in this affordable gaming laptop and later on you can upgrade its RAM and HDD with SSD to make it a pro gaming laptop.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10) |
RAM | 4 GB RAM |
CPU | Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 15.6 Inch HD LED Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
STORAGE | 500 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | Intel HD 5500 Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 5.5 Hours |
WEIGHT | 5.2 Pounds |
Price – $429.75
10) HP Pavilion 17-f223cl Touch Screen Laptop (Refurbished) –
Last laptop in this list of affordable gaming laptop which is also from HP but this one is refurbished laptop. This laptop is well designed and I think it is perfect gaming laptop. Its huge 17.3 inch touch screen Full HD display is best display to enjoy desktop like gaming on the go and as it is touch screen display so you can also play touch screen games by downloading it from Windows Store. Apart from that it has full keyboard which looks and feels sturdy. Even its touch pad is great for working on the go. Now comes the main part its hardware. It has 12 GB of RAM, 5th generation i5 processor and 1 TB of hard drive which makes this laptop highly powered cheap gaming laptop under 500 dollars among all laptops present in this list. It also has extra RAM slot and supports SSD too, so this is an idol gaming laptop to buy. Some people might not like buying this laptop because it is refurbished but buying refurbished laptop will give you more features and powerful hardware than new fresh laptops. If you look forward to buy refurbished gaming laptops under $500 than you can check few of the great deals on Amazon.
OS | Windows 8.1 (Free Upgrade to Windows 10) |
RAM | 12 GB DDRL3 SDRAM |
CPU | Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz Processor |
DISPLAY | 17.3 Inch diagonal Full HD WLED-backlit Touch Screen Display with 1920 x 1080 Resolution |
STORAGE | 500 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive |
GRAPHICS | Intel HD 5500 4 GB Graphics [Check Frame rates] |
BATTERY BACKUP | Up to 6 Hours |
WEIGHT | 6.91 Pounds |
Price – $499.99
These were some of the best gaming laptops under 500 dollars, I hope this affordable gaming laptop buying guide will help you to buy best laptop for yourself. If you found this laptop buying guide useful than do me a favor by sharing it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Hey brij. Really like your site
I’m looking to get an affordable $500 2 in 1. Would you do a 2 in 1 review? Are there any you recommend
Thanks much
Thank you so much Cris, I would try to post separate affordable 2 in 1 laptop buying guide. Meanwhile you can checkout Dell Inspiron i7347 Convertible Laptop (9th in list) from this guide Best laptops under 500 dollars.
Thanks so much for your response. I’m just looking for the basics surfing, videos,pics, music and documents. Personal and business. Nothing too fancy. lightweight portability. A good brand that will go a while. Under 500 is good too. Thanks best site!