You don't have to spend a huge amount of money on a PC that can play Fortnite or PUBG. In fact, you can even play new games on a budget. These are your options if you're looking for the best gaming PC under $500. Can you get a good gaming PC for $500? Yes, but it depends on your definition of a good gaming PC.
If you want to play the latest Call of Duty game at optimal graphics settings, then no, $500 probably isn't enough. But if you're okay with lowering your graphics settings, or optimizing Windows 10 for gaming, it's possible. For new games like Fortnite and PUBG, or older games, these $500 gaming PCs will get you gaming with ease.
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The HP Pavilion Gaming 690 should be the first choice for most people who need a gaming desktop at this price point. It comes with the popular AMD Ryzen 3 series processor and AMD's own Radeon RX550 graphics card.
This PC doesn't have a particularly impressive hardware list, but at this price, it's the best you'll find online. Surprisingly, HP's configuration is even better than some of the lesser known brands like CyberpowerPC, Skytech, or Panther.
What you can expect: Most of the older games (like GTA V, Battlefield 1) will run fine on medium graphics settings. Fortnite and PUBG will also work fine. However, this system will not run new games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed Odyssey smoothly.
Lenovo Ideacentre 720 18L Desktop (AMD Ryzen 5-1400, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Home), 90H10005US Lenovo Ideacentre 720 18L Desktop (AMD Ryzen 5-1400, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Home), 90H10005US Buy Now On Amazon $454.00
The Lenovo IdeaCentre 720 has a Ryzen 5 series processor that comes with threading technology for better gaming. Hyper-threading basically creates virtual cores, so the quad-core CPU can act like an octa-core CPU, increasing performance for things like playing games.
Overall, the performance of this Lenovo gaming drive will not be as good as the HP Pavilion 690. But it will be faster for other things like multitasking, web browsing, etc.
Note that the model listed here does not have the Radeon R560 graphics card that many think it comes with. It has the lower card Radeon R5 340..
What you can expect: Most customer feedback says that it can run PUBG, Fortnite, and Overwatch at 720p on Low or Medium graphics settings. However, this system will not run new games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed Odyssey smoothly.
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In recent years, Intel's integrated graphics have improved a lot and can handle some basic games without the need for a dedicated DPU. The Acer Aspire TC-780-ACKI5 has a nice combination of a processor and extra RAM to show what's possible with this.
It features a 7th generation Intel Core i5 processor, giving you hyperlinks for additional virtual cores. Acer has also included extra RAM, bumping it up to 12GB instead of the standard 8GB you normally get on this budget.
What you can expect: Acer Aspire can run Fortnite and PUBG at 720p on low graphics settings. However, this system will not run new games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed Odyssey smoothly.
2018 Newest Lenovo Ideacentre 610s Desktop Mini PC with Detachable Wireless Projector Intel Core i5-6400T Quad-Core 2.2GHz 8GB DDR4 1TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 750 WiFi HDMI Bluetooth Windows 10 2018 Newest Lenovo Ideacentre 610s Desktop Mini PC with Detachable Wireless Projector Intel Core i5-6400T Quad-Core 2.2GHz 8GB DDR4 1TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 750 WiFi HDMI Bluetooth, Windows 10 Buy Now On Amazon $499.00
Whenever we talk about a gaming desktop, we don't include the monitor or screen. That's because the best gaming monitors are a different matter altogether. But you really can't use your PC without a screen, can you? You can choose a cheap monitor within your budget, or try an option like the Lenovo IdeaCentre 610s, which comes with a free projector.
It's not a great projector and you should only think of it as a space fix until you buy a good monitor. It only projects HD resolution (1280 × 720 pixels) and has a maximum brightness of 220 lumens. But hey, until you buy a monitor, at least you'll have a screen.
Even with its older hardware, the IdeaCentre 610s packs a punch. The Core i5-6400 is still a good processor. The Nvidia GTX 750 is old, but you can't be too picky at this price.
Buy this model only if your $500 budget also includes a screen. It's not even among the best mini PCs, but it fills a specific need for light gaming with a screen at this budget.
What you can expect: This PC is just for playing old games. Fortnite and PUBG will run on low graphics settings. If you play for a long time, the IdeaCentre 610s gets hot and you will see the game stuttering and lagging, so you may have to stop playing for a while to let the computer cool down.
Assuming you already have a Windows 10 license, all you need now is to build a good gaming PC on your budget. So we put together a shopping list for you.
The two important components for a gaming build are the processor and the graphics card. We've gone with the Intel Core i3 8100 as we don't need integrated graphics here. Intel has gotten ahead of AMD here in the Coffee Lake vs. Ryzen.
For the GPU, there was only one option that made sense today:the GTX 1050 Ti, which will provide decent performance for most games.
We've put together a complete list of parts in the PC Parts Selector, so you can easily order components and build your own PC from scratch.
What you can expect: All games will run on this, but newer games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed Odyssey will need to be on the Medium setting. Older or less intensive games like Fortnite and Counter-Strike will be smooth.
Something to consider when building your own gaming PC is the cost of Windows 10. It's the operating system that supports the widest variety of games, but it will cost you.
No matter how you get a cheap legal Windows license, you will have to pay about $80 minimum.
This is why it can be cheaper to get a pre-built PC. Microsoft gives companies massive Windows licensing deals, which lowers their costs. The bottom line is that your self-build can actually cost more than a pre-built model from HP or Lenovo.
In other words, when it comes to budgets, it's not always cheaper to build your own PC. Is it still cheaper to build your own PC? Is it still cheaper to build your own PC? How much does it cost to build your own PC these days? Compared to pre-made models, is the savings worth the effort? We investigate Read More .
As you can see from the list above, if you're looking to play PC games on the cheap, you have a few options. But the gaming performance you'll get on a gaming PC that costs less than $500 doesn't compare to what current-gen consoles can deliver.
For $250, you can get a PlayStation 4 Slim or an Xbox One S PS4 Slim or an Xbox One S:The only question casual gamers need to ask The PS4 Slim or Xbox One S:The only question gamers need to ask casual The new generation of video game consoles is More affordable than ever. Both the Sony PlayStation 4 Slim and the Microsoft Xbox One S are around $250, both packaged with one game each. What... Read More And both consoles offer a better gaming experience than either of the computers in this guide. Unless you specifically want to play games with a keyboard and mouse, consider purchasing a dedicated game console.
