Gaming is an application that uses a significant share of the computer’s power for just rendering images and delivering speed during gameplay. The demand for Best Gaming Laptops are growing all over the world, as more and more users continue to seek entertainment from these portable technological wonders.
A gaming laptop is much more than a basic laptop, and is primarily used for playing different kinds of games. Gaming laptops come with high-end technical specifications that are necessary for delivering high-end graphics, which are common to all games, and processors that support excellent process-intensive games.
Gaming laptops are extremely popular because they come pre-bundled with various desirable features. The gamer essentially needs to buy one which suits his needs and preferences, and start playing. These laptops are electronic versions of instant gratification.
Currently, there are many kinds of gaming laptops available at various price points in the marketplace to cater to your individual requirements. So the challenge remains to find a budget gaming laptop that has the specs you need, and also guarantees performance.
However, if you are a moderate gamer looking for a mid-range machine for your gaming needs, here are the most cost-effective
Best Gaming Laptops under $500 dollars to satisfy your gaming needs.
Dell Inspirion 5559 gaming laptop, Cost - $412 to $528
This model of Dell is probably the best laptop out there for gaming in this budget. This extremely popular laptop is well known for its sleek and stylish looks, as well as solid performance during gaming.
Main Features
- 15.6 inches screen along with 4GB AMD Radeon r5 M335 graphics adapter
- Intel I5 processor at speed of 1600 Mhz along with 4GB Ram that can be extended to 16GB and comes with a 1TB hard drive
- Windows 10 preloaded
- Comes with an HD web cam
Advantages
- One of the most popular models in the category of under $500 laptops, and is a favorite of the gamer community.
- Powerful performance with solid battery life, along with quality assurance of Dell
Disadvantages
- Relatively dim display along with bad webcam
- Shallow key broad creates a lot of problems for the user
Acer Aspire E5-471-52TW Gaming Laptop , Cost - $499
As one of the best gaming laptops with a 14 inch screen and amazing specifications, this laptop perfectly upholds Acer’s well-known ‘Quality with affordability’ branding. Apart from that, this laptop is also a popular cost-effective choice for different kinds of gamers.
Main Features
- Intel i5 processor for top of line processing, 4 GM RAM and 500GB Hard drive for storage
- 14 inch screen display along with 1366x768 pixels display. Also comes with Intel HD graphics card 4400 GPU
- Preinstalled Windows OS10
Advantages
- One of the best laptops for gaming at a very reasonable price
- One of the best configurations for gaming in the market with great battery back-up, processing and display
- Perfect for casual gamers
Disadvantages
- Does not come with a very big screen for a great gaming experience. Additionally, has no touch screen
- No optical drive
Lenovo G70 Gaming Laptop, Cost – $450 to $499
This one is a very decent laptop with great specifications, introduced by Lenovo specifically for gaming and other entertainment needs. It is one of the sturdiest laptops and comes with Lenovo quality assurance.
Main Features
- Comes with a massive 17.3 inches laptop screen for a great gaming experience with 1600x900 pixels, and Intel HD (Haswell) Graphics adapter for great game play
- Intel i3 processor comes with 4GB RAM and 500 GB Hard Drive
- Windows 8.1 comes preloaded
Advantages
- Quality along with sturdy design, and has a very silent operation
- Full HD screen for fantastic visuals during gaming, and the processing power is great
- Overall quite lightweight as compared to others with same specs
- Very budget-friendly for the specifications it provides
- An excellent 4-hours battery life
Disadvantages
- The keyboard is uncomfortable to use, and track pad is slightly offset to the left instead of center
Asus K555LD-XX645D gaming laptop , Cost - $499
Another brand new entrant in the gaming laptop space, this Asus gaming laptop comes with excellent specifications and features. As one of the first high performance laptops introduced by Asus, this one is particularly ideal for high processor usage games and applications.
Main Features
- 15.5 inch display with LED backlight and a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Also comes with 2 GB Nvidia G-Force graphics 820 graphics, the best in line for gaming. Also comes with MATT finish for better gaming experience
- Intel i7 processor ensures fast processing, 8 GB RAM gives greater speed and 1 TB Hard drive offer ample amount of storage
- Comes with DOS
Advantages
- A bargain price laptop given the processing power it provides. Gives great speed through SSD drive
- It’s great for gaming – good processing power, great display and good memory make it adept for gaming
- Lightweight and portable design for regular use
Disadvantages
- Since it comes with DOS, a new operating system and drivers needs to be installed by the user manually, which maybe time consuming and undesirable
- Has some inherent heating problems
- The track pad quality can be improved
HP Pavilion 15 – ab220TX gaming notebook, Cost – $398 onwards
HP is one of the most trusted brands for computers and laptops around the world. HP released a whole range of gaming laptops to suit the needs of every gamer, and this HP model provides all the specifications for gaming along with price advantage for a moderate gamer and for every day casual use.
Main Features
- Intel i5 core processor for faster speeds, 4 GB RAM and 1 TB Hard drive
- 15.6 inches screen gives a great display with 1366x768 pixels and comes with Intel HD graphics adapter 5500
- Windows 10 OS comes preloaded
Advantages
- HP quality assurance provides a great budget laptop with the best specifications possible
- This extremely portable laptop is perfect for casual gamers who need good speed, display and power. Can also double up as a regular machine for other work
- Comes with a backlit keyboard
Disadvantages
- Has some performance problems with rendering graphics
- Low battery back-up and Heating problems during gaming
HP 15 newest model , Cost – $499
It is considered as one of the best gaming laptops under $500, has one of the best configurations and marks HP’s foray into the domain of gaming laptops. This laptop delivers solid power in terms of having an extremely powerful processor.
Main Features
- Comes with Intel i7 core processor 6 GB RAM and 500 GB Hard drive
- The 15.6 inches display screen comes with 1366x768 pixels and Intel HD 4400 graphic card
- Comes pre-loaded with Window 10
Advantages
- Excellent performance due to a very powerful processor
- A great budget buy with excellent specs for both work and gaming
- Quality assurance of HP.
Disadvantages
- Trackpad sensitivity is an issue, and the keyboard comes without a backlight hindering the gaming procedure
Dell Inspirion 3543 Gaming Laptop , Cost - $379 t0 $474
Dell is one of the most popular and trusted brands around the world as far as laptops are concerned. Dell has shown huge interest in creating a quality proposition with respect to gaming laptops, and this model is one of the 3 popular gaming laptop models of Dell that are quite loved by the public.
Main Features
- 15.6 inches screen comes with LED backlight and a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Also, a 2GB Nvidia GeForce 820 M graphics card provides gaming display. Comes with a touchscreen for more interaction during gaming
- Intel i7 processor for a really great operating speed, 8 GB RAM for a great gaming experience and 1TB hard drive give ample storage
- Windows 8.1 comes preloaded
Advantages
- One of the best budget buys out there in the market with sturdy built
- Very good battery life, display and speed. A dependable machine for gaming for casual gamers
- Dell quality assurance
Disadvantages
- There is a whole lot of competition from other brands with similar 15.6 inches specs
- Huge amount of price range competition from other brands in a very price sensitive market
- Only one expansion slot for RAM
- Webcam performance is not so great. Offers a very washed out picture quality
8. Acer Aspire E E5-574G Gaming Laptop, Cost - $499 onwards
Acer is one of the most popular brands for laptops with some of the best technical specifications offered at reasonable prices. Acer laptop configurations also offer high performance, which is at par with many of the expensive laptops, despite the reasonable price
Main Features
- 15.6 inches laptop , 1366x768 pixels resolution and 2GB Nvidia Ge Force 940 M Graphics adapter the best in line for gaming
- Window 10 comes preloaded
- An amazing 5 hours of battery life
- Intel core i5 processor , 4GB DDRL and 1TB SATA hard drive
Advantages
- Extremely fast processor along with best battery life in the market, in the range of similar laptops. So it is naturally considered as a decent laptop for gaming
- Very portable design and strong and durable finish at an affordable price
- The perfect mid-range laptop for gaming enthusiasts
Disadvantages
- Quite heavy, since it comes loaded with a whole lot of features
- The hard drive is slow in speed, and brings down the performance a bit
HP Pavilion 15 – ab522 TX gaming laptop, Cost - $470
As a gamer, you need portability with power and performance. All these needs are addressed by HP in this model, which a part of their new collection of budget laptops made specifically for gaming.
Main Features
- 15.6 inches screen with a resolution of 1366x768 along with HD display
- Intel i5 core processor along with Intel graphics adapter for a combined power of CPU and GPU for gaming. Additional memory requirements are met with 6GB RAM, and a lot of available storage with 1 TB Hard drive
- Windows 10 comes preloaded
- Comes with a backlit keyboard
Advantages
- A very good gaming laptop for this price. Best GPU (Graphic Processor Unit) for gaming at this price, and along with the powerful CPU, gives a decent gaming experience
- Does not heat up even when you are playing for long hours
- Comes with a great image pad
Disadvantages
- Screen resolution is an issue – it’s just HD and not Full HD
- Viewing angles during gaming are not very good.
- The webcam quality is not very good
- Outer body is made of plastic and is not very durable
Acer Aspire E15 517 gaming laptop , Cost – $339.99
Here is another one from the house of Acer that offers faster speed at a budget price. This laptop too is well known for its quality and performance. Acer’s range of gaming laptops comes with various specifications to fulfill various multimedia requirements of the user.
Main Features
- Intel Core i5-5200U processor with 4 GB RAM and 1TB Hard drive for all storage requirements
- 15.6 inches display with 1366x768 pixels resolution and Intel HD 4400 graphics card gives great graphics
- HD Backlit display to full HD experience in gaming
- Windows 8 comes preloaded
Advantages
- Great performance given the moderate price of the laptop
- Great battery life and iGPU performance is excellent for gaming. It is also a great looking laptop as far as aesthetics are concerned.
- Perfect for mid-range , medium setting gaming
Disadvantages
- Too much competition in the market, since there are many other models available with similar specs and at a similar price point
- The key-board design is not very attractive
Lenovo Flex 2 14 , Cost - $340 to $500
Lenovo Flex is one of the most well-known models of Lenovo, a brand that is extremely popular and well-loved due its ability of introducing laptops that come with a turn-around screen and other interesting features.
Main Features
- Comes with a touch screen of 1366x768 resolution and 15.6 inches of adequate display for gaming experience
- Additionally, AMD Radeon HD 8400 graphics adapter is included for a great display, to keep up with gaming requirements
- AMD A6-5200 core processor with 8 GB RAM and 1TB hard drive provides a lot of storage for all needs and uses
Advantages
- Comes with a phenomenal display than can rotate a full 360 degrees for an excellent gaming experience. A good CPU and GPU also play starring roles
- Comes in eye catching color combinations for aesthetic appeal
- Very quiet operations and almost no heating problems which are usually associated with budget PCs
- Comes with a touchscreen for added interaction during gaming
- Great speakers for excellent music quality
- Is very popular and has a very good brand recall
Disadvantages
- Suitable for playing generic games. May not be suitable for heavy gaming
- The display gets distorted occasionally
- Battery life is not that great
- Comes without an optical drive
- The webcam quality is subpar
Lenovo Thinkpad E555 , Cost – $380 onwards
Another Lenovo offering, this laptop is a multi-purpose genius that can be used for work as well as play, and can easily double up as office PC plus home gaming PC.
Main Features
- 15.6 inch screen comes with a resolution of 1366x768 and an anti-glare matte screen for uninterrupted gaming. Also AMD Radeon R7 M260DX, 2GB Memory GPU for gaming
- AMD A10- 7300 core processor for running mid-range games, 4 GB RAM than can be expanded to 8 GB and 500 GB Hard drive for storage
- Windows 7 comes preloaded
Advantages
- Gives a good gaming performance owing to its specifications, and assures a very quiet and efficient performance. Perfect for casual gamers with GPU and CPU power
- Quite an all-purpose laptop given the price and the specifications
- No heating problems and good quality design
Disadvantages
- The design seems dated for such a good laptop
- The core processor is not up to par with Intel specifications processors commonly found in other brands in the market. Some speed lags can occasionally be noticed
- The battery life leaves a lot to be desired
ASUS Flip 2 in 1 convertible, Cost – $490
As one of the bestselling models of ASUS, this laptop comes with a fabulous touchscreen than can also be detached from the main laptop body and can work as a tablet PC.
Main Features
- Intel i3 core processor for a great processing, 6 GB RAM for faster operations on the whole and 500 Hard drive
- 15.6 inches screen settings with 1366x768 pixel resolution along with Intel HD 4400 graphic adapter
- Touch screen with detachable mode so that you can use it as a tablet too
- Windows 10 with touchscreen for additional function
Advantages
- Sufficient portability is offered by the tablet mode of the laptop. And you can play on both laptop and tablet modes.
- Touchscreen is great as an additional user interface during gaming in tablet mode
- Great battery life for a wonderful continued performance
- Very affordable price for the enviable range of features provided. Makes for a fantastic all purpose laptop
- Aesthetically pleasing design and extremely popular with a significant brand recall
Disadvantages
- Very shallow keyboard that is uncomfortable to use
- Overall performance is average
- There are some issues with the audio
Toshiba Satellite C55 , Cost – $350 onwards depending on the windows
Hands down one of the most popular laptops preferred by users around the world, it is considered to be the perfect laptop for students and youngsters who require a lot of memory along with great processing power.
Main Features
- 15.6 inches display for interactive gaming comes with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels, Mobile Intel HD graphics for great graphics rendering
- Intel i5 core processor, 8 GB RAM and 1 TB SATA Hard drive
- Windows 8 is preloaded
Advantages
- It is one of the most popular laptops for gamers and regular users alike, and has an amazing brand recall
- Gives absolutely the best performance in terms of gaming and other multimedia use, due to very fast speed of the GPU and CPU combo along with decent graphics
- Efficient lightweight laptop with excellent processing and battery power. Its performance is value for money
- Its durability is very well-known and well documented
Disadvantages
- Not a very glamorous or aesthetic looking laptop
- Graphics quality is slightly below par
- The keyboard usage can be problematic for some
HP 15 – d0200nr gaming laptop, Cost – $420
This model by HP comes with touchscreen that provides good gaming specs at a bargain price. It is great for people looking for a budget laptop with features. The AMD processor in the laptop makes it easy to play games that would have been problematic otherwise.
Main Features
- AMD a4 processor for gaming , 4 GB DDRL SD RAM and 500 GB hard drive
- 15.6 inches display with a resolution of 1366x768 and comes with a touchscreen function. Also comes with AMD Radeon HD 8330 graphic adapter
- Windows 8.1 comes preloaded
Advantages
- Great bargain laptop that comes with good processing and gamine requirements. It is a good basic multimedia laptop that doubles up as a gaming PC
- Additional touchscreen function provides for a better gaming experience
- Is extremely thin (1 inch), durable, aesthetically pleasing and a very portable machine
- All functions of keyboard, sound and connectivity are great
Disadvantages
- Entry level processor does not give optimum speed
- A basic function like Bluetooth is not supported
- All said and done, it is still not a very high-end laptop
Higher Budget?14 Best Gaming Laptops under 700 dollars for Avid Gamers
Conclusion
There are a whole lot of gaming laptops in the market today, armed with various configurations.
As opposed to the popular notion of gaming laptops being very costly, the laptops mentioned above are very budget friendly and enthrall with a wholesome gaming experience.
So tell us which model caught your attention the most.
And also let us know if we have missed out on a laptop that you feel should have been mentioned.
