Best Budget Gaming PCs Under $500 in 2023

Getting the best gaming PC under $500 that can provide you with an enjoyable gaming experience is a challenging feat. No doubt, markets are flooded with millions of gaming PCs, but it proves to be one of the most difficult tasks when it comes to singling out the best one. But you do not need to worry anymore because we have got you covered. How? We have come up with a long list of cherry-picked systems so that you can choose the best gaming PC under $500.

Why You Should Trust Us

Before writing this review, we spent almost a decade of building, testing, playing games of all resolutions, and evaluating gaming PCs. As a result, we have become acquainted with gaming PC parts and their capabilities with respect to compatibility, performance, cost, reliability, and durability.

After extensive research, we have come up with this list of the best gaming PCs for under 500 dollars. So if you are a game lover, you can choose the best gaming PC under $500 for the best gaming experience ever.

Is $500 good for a Gaming PC?

Yes. Currently, PCs under $500 are showing the best performance. Having $500 in the pocket is enough for buying the perfect PC for gaming. However, geek gamers look for playing the latest and advanced games. The price under $500 one gets the best frame rates. At this price one has to compromise for the latest components because the manufacturing companies are unable to provide the advanced hardwares.

Many manufacturing companies are offering the best budget gaming PCs under $500 with some new features. The gaming PCs offer amazing displays that one can easily get under $500. So, one can also play online games for long hours.

Furthermore, many companies offer the amazing speed of their gaming PCs. So, one does not have to worry about lags while playing games. One can play for long hours without facing any kind of distractions at the time of playing games.

Which Games are Good to play on PCs Under $500?

Many like to play casual games on PCs under $500. One can easily play online games like Magic the gathering: Arena, Stardew Valley, Runescape and many more. However, one can also use these for playing the latest games. Moreover, it is about experiencing the best graphics. So, one can play the games at lower settings. Furthermore, it is not every time about the graphics. They provide the best sounds.

Does a Gaming PC Under $500 offer 16GB RAM?

Yes. There are numerous gaming PC manufacturing companies that specifically fulfil the demands of the users. Having 16GB RAM is one of the essential requirements for playing games. Therefore, many companies are considering fulfilling the needs of their customers. In addition, good components of a gaming PC maintain the standard of the company.

If we talk with an example then HP Pavilion 15, Ryzen 5 offers 16GB RAM capacity. However, there are many other numerous features that catch the attention of their users. Meanwhile, there are many other options. In this article we will discuss in detail the features of gaming PCs that one can get under $500. One can perform numerous functions with the following list of the PCs under $500.

How to Pick the Best Gaming PC Under $500?

After considering all the essential factors, the budgeted options benefit you when you purchase the gaming PC. Otherwise, you maybe come up with a wrong purchasing decision, and ultimately you will buy a low-quality gaming PC. Under 500, many options exist, including the poor quality and the best ones. The ultimate decision is yours, which one you want to choose. We highlighted all those gaming PCs that will provide you with better value for the money. But further, we will guide you on how to pick the best one from the top 5 list. Following are some factors that will help you to choose the best one:

Graphics Card: 

The graphics card is the first factor to consider when going for a gaming PC for $500. If your PC has a good-quality graphics card, you will get an immersive gaming experience. The gaming fun and excitement depend not only on the game’s taste and intensity but also on the PC’s graphical visual quality. If your gaming PC doesn’t have a quality level graphics card, you will not enjoy a better gaming experience. So, before purchasing, ensure you will go for the quality level graphics card with good graphics. 

CPU: 

The processor is the core component for stimulating the overall PC performance. CPU is responsible for providing extensive performance to the PC, but it is only possible if your PC has the latest processor with all the quality essentials. If you want to play games without disruption, your PC processor should be powerful enough to play gaming and perform other tasks efficiently. Before going for the PC, you must check the PC’s processor specifications earlier. 

Storage Capacity: 

Like other features, storage capacity, and RAM also matter a lot. If your PC RAM and storage capacity is sufficient, your PC speed becomes faster, and you will end up with storage management issues. For streamlining the overall performance and better storage capacity, you need to go for the RAM with 16 GB and SSD with 1TB. You can easily store different games and apps simultaneously in this storage capacity. In this price range, such storage capacity is sufficient enough to deal with storage management capacity. 

Connectivity Support: 

Gamers want to use such PCs with good connectivity support to connect various peripherals for a better gaming experience. If your chosen PC doesn’t have enough connectivity support, you cannot enjoy playing games because you want better connectivity options. Within $500, you can only get a few connectivity options, but we tried our best to add picks with better connectivity options. So, you must choose the one from our list with better connectivity support. 

Build Quality & Aesthetics: 

If your gaming PC build quality is not good, then better storage options are not beneficial. You try to go for such a gaming PC prone to wear and tear with time. Moreover, if you want customization and attraction, you must choose a better aesthetic quality PC. If your PC aesthetic look is good and the build quality is strong, it benefits you in the long run; you can suggest it to your friends and colleagues. 

Best Gaming PCs Under $500:

In this article, we have enlisted a range of cost-effective gaming PCs so that you can get the best gaming PC under $500. Here we go;

  • Best Gaming PC Under $500: Dell Gaming PC 7020 SFF
  • Another Choice: Alarco Gaming PC
  • Dell OptiPlex PC 3020 TW
  • iBUYPOWER Gaming PC Mini 167A
  • HP M01-f0033W Ryzen
  • Allied RGB Home Office Desktop PC

1. Dell Gaming PC 7020 SFF

Dell Gaming PC 7020 SFF

If you want to buy a quality gaming PC at a fairly affordable price, you can go for Dell gaming PC 7020 SFF as it is equipped with all the must-have features. The 7020 SFF PreBuilt system is armed with an Nvidia Geforce GT 730 graphics card, which is essential if you want to go for 720p gaming. It also provides you with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, making it the best gaming PC under $500. Along with the 4th gen Intel Core i7 processor and 4 cores/8 threads, it proves to be a powerful system to carry out every application.

In addition to the above intriguing features, you will get;

  • Keyboard/mouse combo
  • Pre-installed wifi
  • Windows 10 Pro

If you want to speed up your gaming experience, you can have 16GB RAM instead of 4 or 8 GB RAM. One can say that the RAM type is quite old now, which is DDR3, but when it comes to the price, you can make a compromise. But in this range, it is the best PC under $500.

The only drawback of this PreBuilt PC is its shape, as it consists of a custom case, a power supply, and a motherboard. Most of the time, these are inferior to most PreBuilt gaming PCs designed for gaming. But it does not matter a lot because the shape, design, and formation are not going to impact your gaming experience. Regarding price and reliability, it is the best pc for gaming.

Specifications:

Pros

Cons

2. Alarco Gaming PC

Alarco Gaming PC

It is not easy to get a PC under $500 for gaming with a premium-quality PC case. But if you get this one, you get a Mid-tower case with an exquisite quality hardened glass side panel with 4x 120mm RGB fans. This Mid-tower case is sufficient if you want to upgrade your PC in the future. It also supports ATX motherboards.

This exquisite gaming PC has a Core i5 2400 processor along with the GPU, which is Nvidia GTX 650. The processor and GPU are, no doubt, older, but you can play games at comparatively high resolutions, i.e., 720p and 900p.

Alarco gaming PC is the best gaming PC under $500 as it is fine for most games and can deliver a superb gaming experience, but on one condition, you have to play with low to medium settings. It will come with a pre-installed wifi adapter and Windows 10 Pro. But remember, it does not come with an SSD and keyboard/mouse combo.

Specifications:

Pros

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3. Dell OptiPlex PC 3020 TW

Dell OptiPlex PC 3020 TW

OptiPlex 3020 proves to be the gaming PC under 500 dollars when it comes to its case. It provides you with a better case in which you can install more and more components in the future in order to upgrade your system. You are not only going to get a faster processor, i7 4770 but also better graphics that you will love whenever you play games. Although the Geforce GTX 750 Ti used here is quite older, it was one of the most popular GPUs. It can play most games at 1080p resolution when setting the system at maximum.

It comes with 30-40 fps, but there is an option to boost it up to 40 fps. You can only do this by lowering some other settings in your system so that it can work faster, making it the best gaming PC under $500. Its 16GB memory is one of the best features you will enjoy about this system. This memory allows you to play any game and multitask without confronting any kind of dizziness or slow speed.

Moreover, you can have storage up to 128GB+2TB with SSD as well as a Hard drive. With this huge storage, you can install bigger-sized games without any issue of shortage of storage. You will also get a pre-installed wifi adapter along with Windows 10 Pro which makes your system start working when you take it out of the box. Hence, the Dell OptiPlex is the best gaming PC under 500 $.

Specifications:

Pros

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4. iBUYPOWER Gaming PC Mini 167A

iBUYPOWER Gaming PC Mini 167A

The iBUYPOWER 167A is a compact form computer that provides you with the gaming experience you deserve. That is why it is the best gaming PC under $500, making it cost-effective and a better option to choose. Although it is compact, it owns a lot more power whenever we talk about its size. It comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6GHz processor along with NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB graphics card for a fairly reasonable price. That is the reason many people rate it as the best gaming PC.

If you want to buy a gaming PC that can play high-sized games without confronting any kind of hanging problems, you have come to the right place. This PC is an answer to all of your gaming questions. Although the iBUYPOWER Starter PC is designed for simple gaming, you can also bring it into play when you have to do some other tasks, such as scientific research and content creation.

Video editing and gaming are a walk in the park for this best gaming PC under 500 dollars due to its high performance. It is possible because it is perfect for dealing with system-intensive programs. Moreover, the tempered glass side panel provides you with a transparent view that allows you to look inside the PC. It also has 16-colour RGB lighting that you can remote control. The keyboard and mouse combo is a plus when you purchase this PC.

Specifications:

Pros

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5. HP M01-f0033W Ryzen

HP M01-f0033W Ryzen best gaming pc

The one looking for a new system for handling the latest projects. HP M01-f0033W Ryzen is one of the best choices. It is one of the best budget gaming PCs under $500 because of its different style. The gaming PC uses the processor of AMD Ryzen 3 3200G Quad core. Making it perfect for handling numerous functions at a time. Meanwhile the system will show any kind of disturbance in the speed if one puts on the load. The budget gaming PC works with the speed of 3.6GHz.

Furthermore, 8GB DDR4 enables it to be perfect for multitasking. That means one can play games in one tab and work on class assignments at the same time. Getting 1TB storage capacity is amazing. The gaming PC provides 1TB HDD storage capacity. Making it perfect for storing multiple games. In addition to this, the gaming PC has AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics that portrays the clean and clear display. The system also comes along with a DVDRW drive. So that users can save numerous kinds of CDs/DVDs.

Specifications:

Pros

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6. Allied RGB Home Office Desktop PC

Allied RGB Home Office Desktop PC

The best budget gaming PCs under $500 uses the processor of mini-ITX/M-ATX. However, it possesses all those qualities that a geek gamer finds in the gaming PC. They have fantastic speed. However users do not face any kind of disturbance because of the heat. The gaming PC has 240 GB HDD. However, it is not enough for storing heavy games. But one can enjoy online gaming without facing any kind of disturbance. In addition, the system has RAM of 8 GB. Making it perfect for the gamers. The system uses Windows 10 as an operating system. Furthermore, the PC under $500 also uses integrated graphics.

Specifications:

Pros

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Final Words

If you are looking for the best gaming PC under $500, you must consider its processor, RAM, ROM, Hard disc, Ports, and graphics. It might prove challenging, but it does not mean you can not have one. We have made your work easier by conducting rigorous research and coming up with top picks for you. You can select the best gaming PC under $500 for yourself to have an exquisite gaming experience.

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