Looking to make a $500 Gaming Laptop

[Questiam]

My friend needs a laptop with a budget of $500. I don't know which computers are actually good and actually can play some basic games. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Dreggle]

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvDbXsWmGw ive got this accept diff mobo and fx 6300

 

[WildCard999]

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvDbXsWmGw ive got this accept diff mobo and fx 6300

The OP is looking for a laptop, not desktop.

For $500 your probably looking at a laptop with integrated graphics so I wouldn't expect to play newer AAA games, probably some lower end games @720P/low to med settings.

https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0DF-006C-00012

https/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-620.172256.0.html

 

[Corwin65]

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvDbXsWmGw ive got this accept diff mobo and fx 6300

Laptop . . . .

 

[Dreggle]

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvDbXsWmGw ive got this accept diff mobo and fx 6300

The OP is looking for a laptop, not desktop.

For $500 your probably looking at a laptop with integrated graphics so I wouldn't expect to play newer AAA games, probably some lower end games @720P/low to med settings.

https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0DF-006C-00012

https/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-620.172256.0.html

oh sorry plz excuse me. there is one for $750 on best buy and $650 if youre a student. they have a gtx 1050 in em. anything cheaper than that is bad. theres acouplew tih 960m and 940m and you cant really play newer games at all on those.

 

[Dreggle]

there really arent any good $500 ones. heres the $750 sorry its so much. http/www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-1tb-8gb-hybrid-hard-drive-black/5709801.p?skuId=5709801

 

[starscream27]

dear if you can stretch your budget a lilttle you can get one with 940MX gpu, which should give you decent perf. for the price

https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834316125&cm
Intel Core i5 7th Gen 7200U (2.50 GHz)
8 GB DDR4 Memory 1 TB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
1920 x 1080
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
$539.99 (offer expires in 17hrs, after that it will be $600)

940mx performance benchmarks:
https/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-940MX.156033.0.html

cheers

 

[KirbysHammer]

My friend needs a laptop with a budget of $500. I don't know which computers are actually good and actually can play some basic games. Any ideas? Thanks!

There's no such thing as a gaming laptop for $500. At that price you're going to get a dual core i3 or i5 with integrated graphics that will struggle to get 30fps on low in newer games.

 

[KirbysHammer]

dear if you can stretch your budget a lilttle you can get one with 940MX gpu, which should give you decent perf. for the price

https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834316125&cm
Intel Core i5 7th Gen 7200U (2.50 GHz)
8 GB DDR4 Memory 1 TB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
1920 x 1080
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
$539.99 (offer expires in 17hrs, after that it will be $600)

940mx performance benchmarks:
https/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-940MX.156033.0.html

cheers

A 940mx is basically a 940m OCed by 5%.

http/gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-940M-vs-Intel-HD-620-Mobile-Kaby-Lake/m28796vsm153579
While it's faster than integrated graphics it still isn't going to run things very well.

 

[jaguarskx]

A 940mx is basically a 940m OCed by 5%.

http/gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-940M-vs-Intel-HD-620-Mobile-Kaby-Lake/m28796vsm153579
While it's faster than integrated graphics it still isn't going to run things very well.

Keep in mind that the poster is working with a limited budget. Otherwise, I am sure he would love the performance a laptop that a GTX 1080 SLI configuration would offer.

 

[KirbysHammer]

A 940mx is basically a 940m OCed by 5%.

http/gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-940M-vs-Intel-HD-620-Mobile-Kaby-Lake/m28796vsm153579
While it's faster than integrated graphics it still isn't going to run things very well.

Keep in mind that the poster is working with a limited budget. Otherwise, I am sure he would love the performance a laptop that a GTX 1080 SLI configuration would offer.

My point is that you're not going to get acceptable performance if you don't at least have decent hardware. An overclocked 940m isn't going to offer that in AAA games which I would assume OP's friend wants to play, because they asked for a gaming laptop.

 

[jaguarskx]

My point is that you're not going to get acceptable performance if you don't at least have decent hardware. An overclocked 940m isn't going to offer that in AAA games which I would assume OP's friend wants to play, because they asked for a gaming laptop.

So then, is your implied recommendation not to buy a laptop at all if the budget is limited to $500?

Additionally, the OP stated "basic games". That could interpreted differently by different people. Who knows? Maybe there are people who consider The Witcher 3 and the yet to be released Star Citizen to be "basic games".

A $500 laptop is going to have integrated graphics. The laptop starscream27, is 8% over the $500 budget, the performance difference between a 940mx and Intel HD 620 is probably something like an 80% - 100% increase depending on the game and the same graphic settings use for both the 940mx and Intel HD 620. That is not bad for going over budget by just 8%.

Is a laptop with a GTX 1050 going to perform better? Sure.

Is a laptop with a GTX 1050 going to be within a reasonable ballpark of a $500 budget? Unlikely.

 

[Questiam]

My point is that you're not going to get acceptable performance if you don't at least have decent hardware. An overclocked 940m isn't going to offer that in AAA games which I would assume OP's friend wants to play, because they asked for a gaming laptop.

So then, is your implied recommendation not to buy a laptop at all if the budget is limited to $500?

Additionally, the OP stated "basic games". That could interpreted differently by different people. Who knows? Maybe there are people who consider The Witcher 3 and the yet to be released Star Citizen to be "basic games".

A $500 laptop is going to have integrated graphics. The laptop starscream27, is 8% over the $500 budget, the performance difference between a 940mx and Intel HD 620 is probably something like an 80% - 100% increase depending on the game and the same graphic settings use for both the 940mx and Intel HD 620. That is not bad for going over budget by just 8%.

Is a laptop with a GTX 1050 going to perform better? Sure.

Is a laptop with a GTX 1050 going to be within a reasonable ballpark of a $500 budget? Unlikely.

My friend is not near planning to play Triple A titles at all. All he wants to do is play some basic, not CPU/GPU intensive games, like GMod, CS:GO, etc. He doesnt care too much on FPS either, 30-40 FPS i'm sure he's fine with.

 

[jaguarskx]

Well, now that the sale is over, the best bang for your buck is likely the Lenovo 320 with an AMD A12-9720p APU for $400. It has a Radeon R7 (Bristol Ridge) integrated GPU. A laptop with a Core i5-7200u generally starts at about $450.

https/www.amazon.com/Lenovo-320-15-A12-9720P-Memory-Drive/dp/B073WQLZ7M/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1502976020&sr=1-5&keywords=a12-9720p


The performance of the Radeon R7 is around the around that of the integrated Intel HD 620. See link below for game benchmarks of those two iGPUs from Notebookcheck.net.

http/tinyurl.com/y8n2mr3q