The best laptop for Starfield from 4K to budget

The best laptop for Starfield from 4K to budget
Romilly Cotta Updated on by

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With the best gaming laptop for Starfield, you will be able to go on your exploratory journey with high framerates and beautiful visuals.

After 25 years, Starfield brings the first new universe from Bethesda Game Studios. With over 1000 planets in 100 different star systems, you will have a great time exploring the different worlds of Starfield. Of course, all of that’s only possible if you have the best laptop to run the game.

We took guidance from Aaron Ritchie, our in-house laptops expert who loves to take the latest laptops for a spin. Aaron helped us list the best laptops for Starfield. The recommended system requirements for Starfield suggest that you need a laptop with at least 16GB of RAM and an RTX 2080 or equivalent paired with an i5-10600K (or Ryzen 5 3600). 

The best gaming laptops for Starfield at a glance

MSI Titan GT77 (RTX 4090)

msi laptop 4090

CPU

Intel Core i9-13980HX

GPU

NVIDIA RTX 4090

RAM

128GB DDR5

Resolution

3840 x 2160

Display Size

17.3in

Acer Nitro 5 RTX 3050 Ti

Acer Nitro 5 RTX 3050 Ti laptop.

GPU

GeForce RTX 3050 Ti

CPU

Intel Core i5-12500H

RAM

16GB

Storage

512GB SSD

ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition laptop is open on a white background.

GPU

AMD Radeon RX 6800M

CPU

AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX

Ram

32GB

Resolution

2560 x 1440 pixels

Display Size

15.6 inches

Acer Nitro 17 RTX 4050 Gaming Laptop

GPU

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050

CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS

RAM

16GB DDR5

Resolution

1920 x 1080

Display Size

17.3in

Refresh Rate

144Hz

Our recommendations include both budget and high-end options, and they pack enough performance to blow Starfield out of the water with an excellent gameplay experience. However, if you want something more pocket-friendly, then check out our guide on the best budget gaming laptops instead. For more mid-to-premiuim laptops, we’d also recommend looking at the best RTX 4060 laptops.

The best gaming laptop for Starfield

MSI Titan GT77 (RTX 4090)

msi laptop 4090

CPU

Intel Core i9-13980HX

GPU

NVIDIA RTX 4090

RAM

128GB DDR5

Resolution

3840 x 2160

Display Size

17.3in

Pros
  • Top-tier 4K performance
  • Excellent cooling system
  • Lots of DDR5 RAM
Cons
  • Pricey
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Let this laptop be your first non-budget buy – it’s an absolute unit

For the best overall laptop for playing Starfield, go for the MSI Titan GT77. With its massive 17.3” display and 4K resolution, it is truly one of the best 4K gaming laptops to ever exist. There is no better way to fully enjoy and experience the worlds of Starfield on the go than with the Titan GT77, and it does so without skipping a beat.

The laptop features the ultimate RTX 4090 paired with an i9-13980HX, both flagship components of their kind. The RTX 4090 brings 24GB of GDDR6X VRAM along with the latest DLSS 3 and Ray Tracing features. In the same way, the i9-13980HX does not leave much to ask for either. It is a 24-core CPU that can clock at up to 5.60GHz to provide exceptional performance. If you want to explore more RTX 4090 laptops, then our guide on the best RTX 4090 laptops is a good start. Coming back to the topic, the CPU and GPU is not the only impressive feature of the MSI Titan GT77. You also get 128GB of DDR5 RAM, 4TB NVMe SSD, a Cherry MX keyboard, Thunderbolt 4 ports, and much more. All things considered, if budget is not an issue, then the MSI Titan GT77 is the best way to play Starfield.

The best RTX 3050 Ti laptop for Starfield

Acer Nitro 5 RTX 3050 Ti

Acer Nitro 5 RTX 3050 Ti laptop.

GPU

GeForce RTX 3050 Ti

CPU

Intel Core i5-12500H

RAM

16GB

Storage

512GB SSD

Pros
  • Excellent battery life
  • Upgradable storage
  • Good contrast ratio
Cons
  • Lacks Wi-Fi 6E
  • No Thunderbolt 4 port
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For those that prioritise solid gaming performance above anything else…

Though you’re missing out on a super bright and crisp display, the Acer Nitro 5 delivers in the main area that matters: performance.

The best RTX 3050 Ti laptop for playing Starfield has to be the Acer Nitro 5. It offers everything you would ever need to have the best Starfield experience, and it does so at an impressively low price. First up, the laptop comes with an i5-12500H, which is a 12-core CPU that can clock at up to 4.50GHz, resulting in excellent single- and multi-core performance.

Paired with the i5-12500H is the RTX 3050 Ti, a value-oriented graphics card that nails 1080p gaming with its 2560 shading units and support for DLSS. Of course, you also get 16GB DDR4 RAM, which makes sure you never run into any memory-related issues.

No doubt the laptop has great numbers, which give it a performance advantage, but it also features a 144Hz IPS display. As a result, you get both beautiful colours and a smooth gaming experience. All things considered, if you’re searching for a pocket-friendly option to play Starfield, then the Acer Nitro 5 is a great option. You even get a backlit keyboard, a rare sight in budget options. Adjust your expectations though, you’ll probably want to consider investing in a decent gaming mouse or else have a look at the best controllers for Starfield to improve your gameplay experience.

The best all AMD laptop for Starfield

ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition

The ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition laptop is open on a white background.

GPU

AMD Radeon RX 6800M

CPU

AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX

Ram

32GB

Resolution

2560 x 1440 pixels

Display Size

15.6 inches

Pros
  • RGB lighting
  • 1440p gaming experience
  • Good value
Cons
  • No webcam
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Double check whether you’ll miss having a webcam ahead of buying this laptop

Of course people who are serious about gaming will buy their own webcams, but still, it seems a bit mad not to have a webcam on a laptop in 2023.

The best mid-range laptop for Starfield is the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition. With its impressive AMD combo of a Ryzen 9 5980HX paired with a Radeon RX 6800M, the laptop packs a powerful punch that can handle all the latest and greatest games at 1440p resolution, including Starfield.

This CPU + GPU duo is not a joke. The Ryzen 9 5980HX features 8 cores and 16 threads and can boost at up to 4.8GHz. Similarly, the RX 6800M offers 12GB GDDR6 VRAM with 2560 stream processors. All in all, you can expect some pretty sweet performance from this laptop. Plus, the display can also refresh at up to 165Hz which will deliver buttery-smooth visuals.

To top things off for snappy performance, you also get 16GB DDR4 RAM with 512GB PCIe SSD. The 512GB capacity is more than enough to store Starfield, along with a few other games. Overall, if you want the best all-rounder laptop to play Starfield, then the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is perfect for the job. It even comes with an RGB keyboard for the true gaming experience.

Best 17 inch laptop for Starfield

Acer Nitro 17 RTX 4050 Gaming Laptop

GPU

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050

CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS

RAM

16GB DDR5

Resolution

1920 x 1080

Display Size

17.3in

Refresh Rate

144Hz

Pros
  • Great price to performance ratio
  • Backlit keyboard looks great
  • Robust build quality
  • Has a micro SD slot
Cons
  • Battery life is disappointing
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Go for the Acer Nitro 17 if you want an absolute steal

With 16GB of DDR5, this laptop is a powerhouse for the popular AAA titles.

The Acer Nitro 17 is a hugely popular laptop for good reason. With a generous screen display of 17.3 inches and a 16:9 screen ratio, expect the Acer Nitro 17 to deliver a good all-round performance for an affordable price. Not everyone will be a fan of its bulky design – we’re not that fond of its thick bezel screen and chunky keyboard case. Still though, Acer does a good job of keeping its weight down to around 6 and a half pounds. We also think its blue and pink lines on the lid are both elegant and subtle, not necessarily screaming gaming laptop.

The 144Hz refresh rate means you can expect a decent FPS while playing Starfield, though we think this laptop will be best suited to playing Starfield at 1080p. It’s easily one of the best RTX 4060 gaming laptops out there, serving up the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and speedy 16GB DDR5 memory.

There’s also the option to customize the RGB lighting on the keyboard that offers decent resistance too. The main drawback to be aware of is the loud fan that works to keep this laptop cool, but for a laptop that can run Baldur’s Gate, Starfield and others, it’s definitely worth it.

Playing Starfield on a gaming laptop – things to consider

One of the most important things to remember when buying a laptop for Starfield is that the system requirements for the game are for PC components, which are more powerful than their laptop counterparts. In the absence of laptop system requirements, we recommend going one level up to cover your bases. That’s at least what we’ve done in our selection here.

Remember that your choice of GPU and CPU in a laptop are the most important considerations when choosing a gaming laptop. They’re responsible for delivering those silky smooth frame rates that everyone wants. For Starfield in particular, it’s also worth considering a display’s brightness levels. After all, many people choose laptops over gaming PCs because they want portability. You never know where you’ll be playing Starfield, and it’ll be a damn shame to lose out on the graphics because your sunny surroundings are ruining everything!

Most modern laptops have adequate storage for a game like Starfield too, though it’s always worth considering the best SSD for Starfield given that most games are only going to get bigger with time with expansions.

Starfield laptop requirements – what gaming laptops run Starfield?

If you’re playing Starfield on a laptop, you’ll need slightly more powerful components for the smoothest experience. The 16GB of RAM and decent SSD storage remain the same. However, we recommend a laptop with at least the Nvidia RTX 3050 or AMD RX 6900 XT GPU. CPU wise, you want to go a few notches up the PC recommended requirement of AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K. Based on this, you’ll want a laptop with a Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 processor to play Starfield. Anything lower might compromise your framerates.