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All text and image links lead to Amazon unless stated otherwise. All product scores are based on ProRec’s in-house scoring model
| Thumbnail | Gaming Laptops for Music Production | ProRec Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 9.3 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 8.7 | Check Price on Amazon | |
 | 8.3 | Check Price on Amazon |
Introduction
Gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries out there. Laptop manufacturers cater to this large market by designing machines that run all sorts of games, some of which require a lot of processing and graphical power. While DAWs are not as demanding in terms of functionality, it is always a good thing to have a powerful computer, especially for when you’re rendering your projects.
The processor is one of the most important aspects of a laptop for both gaming and music production. Most music producers will recommend getting a 4-core CPU, which should be sufficient to run modern-day DAWs such as FL Studio, Logic, Abelton, and Pro Tools. However, for gamers, we recommend getting at least a 6-core CPU to run all the modern AAA games, such as Unchartered or God of War. You should also consider the clock speeds of your device if you want to run E-sports titles such as Valorant or Overwatch so you can achieve maximum FPS.
The GPU may not be unnecessary when it comes to music production; however, it’s arguably the most crucial aspect for gamers. Any modern RTX-series GPU will get the job done and also provide you raytracing abilities. You can also consider the last-gen GTX 1600 series cards if you are on a tight budget.
You should always aim to get as much RAM as possible. Modern games are very demanding, but so is music production, especially when you are running multiple plugins at the same time. You don’t want a system that is slow or unable to render files properly. The same thing goes for storage, especially if you store your RAW files locally. We recommend getting at least 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage to get started. Consider getting a lower capacity model if it fits your budget – as long as it’s user upgradeable.
Lastly, the port selection of your device is crucial. Most gaming laptops already have good connectivity, so this is an area that must not be compromised on. You should have both USB-A and USB-C (or Thunderbolt) ports to connect your audio interface, as well as any gaming accessory that you want, such as a mouse or a headset.
Best Gaming Laptop for Music Production Reviews
All text and image links lead to Amazon unless stated otherwise. All product scores are based on ProRec’s in-house scoring model
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 is Asus’s high-end gaming laptop series. It comes with the 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H, which is a 14-core (6 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores) and 20-thread processor with a maximum turbo clock speed of 5 GHz.
Compared to the Ryzen 9 5900HX on its predecessor, you get a 37 percent performance boost. This CPU is an overkill for music production on all DAWs such as FL Studio. The performance even rivals many full fledged desktops.
It also has the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU with a maximum TDP of 150W and a frequency of 1460 Hz. This is the same GPU as its predecessor but with a higher TDP resulting in about 5 percent better graphics performance. We tested the device with multiple high-end games, and it had no problem, handling even the most demanding titles with 60+ FPS.
The Strix comes with a pretty beefy cooling system that kept the laptop from thermal throttling during our testing. Asus placed all the ports on the left or backside of the device, which made even more space for an exhaust system.
The downside of this is that there is a lot of noise emission. This problem also existed with its predecessor. The fans spin very loud, even under silent mode. Luckily, the fans are a bit quieter during lighter workloads such as music production. We recommend closing any unnecessary background tasks when live recording; otherwise, the system noise will be too loud.
You also get 16GB of 4800 MHz DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD. With this new model, Asus switched to DDR5 compared to DDR4 on the Strix’s predecessor. The high RAM capacity and frequency means that the multitasking and performance of this laptop is excellent. It handles multiple tracks and plugins running simultaneously, without a problem.
Also, the 1 TB SSD will be enough to get you started with your DAW, a few RAW files, and a few low-storage video games. However, if you ever feel that you are running out of storage, you can always upgrade the internal storage or get an external storage device.
The main highlight of this device is the 15.6” FHD 1080p IPS display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It has vivid colors and outstanding sharpness, which makes it pleasing to look at. Not only that, you get a 300 Hz refresh rate and 3 ms response time which makes the device feel snappy, especially during Esports gaming. You also get fairly small bezels but with a sizable chin on the bottom.
As previously mentioned, Asus placed all the ports on the back to allow for more efficient cooling. This may be a less orthodox position, but it does for a better port selection. You get 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, a 3.5 mm audio jack, a Thunderbolt 4, a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, an HDMI 2.1-out, a 2.5G Ethernet, a ROG Keystone slot, and a charging port. Through these ports, you will be able to connect any audio interface you want as well as have ports left over for accessories such as a mouse or external storage device.
The Strix has many features that set it apart from its competition, including RGB lights around the base of the laptop, a pretty nice keyboard with per-key RGB, and Dolby Atmos speakers for surround sound. You will mostly use a proper headset in the studio when producing audio, but it’s good to know that you have the option to use great sets of speakers when you are in a pinch.
The dimensions of this device are 13.94 x 10.2 x 1.07 inches, and it weighs 5.07 pounds. This is fairly standard for a gaming laptop, but this still makes it a very heavy device that is difficult to carry around. The plus point of having a heavy machine like this is the excellent construction. The Strix can survive a great deal of abuse without breaking, not to mention it also feels premium.
The battery life of this device was decent during our testing coming in at 8.5 hours of screen on time. However, once the workload increases, the battery life of this laptop drops real quick, barely even lasting one full working session.
Looking at the average battery life and limited portability, we recommend primarily using this device as a desktop replacement that is constantly plugged in rather than a portable machine. This way, you also get great performance.
To summarize, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 is one of the best gaming laptops for music production available in the market. You also get excellent features and a high-capacity RAM and storage variant, making it a great device for music producers who also like to play video games.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 Benefits
The Strix provides one of the best performances in the market with the combination of the Intel Core i9-12900H and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti that shreds through even the most demanding music production workloads.
The 1080p 300 MHz 3ms IPS display on the Strix is really good as it feels smooth.
You get an excellent port selection with multiple type-C and type-A ports so that you can connect any audio interface you want and still have ports for connecting other accessories.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 Drawbacks
Despite keeping the laptop from thermal throttling, the fans get pretty loud, which disrupts our live recording sessions.
The battery life is mediocre as it provides 8.5 hours of screen time, which drops further when you have more demanding music production workloads.
All text and image links lead to Amazon unless stated otherwise. All product scores are based on ProRec’s in-house scoring model
The HP Victus 15 is equipped with the 12th Generation Intel Core i7-12700H, a 14-core (6 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores), and a 20-thread processor with a maximum clock speed of 4.7 GHz. It performs about 15 percent better than its predecessor with the i7 11800H and about 2 percent worse than the Asus ROG Strix. In our testing, both devices performed identically when working on Pro Tools.
It also has the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti with 4 GB of memory and 75W TDP, which performs about 125 percent worse than the RTX 3070 Ti on the Strix. This is a major difference since we noticed that the Strix had a much higher framerate than the Victus. However, the Victus can play all titles, albeit you might have to tweak the settings a bit to get better frames on more demanding titles.
The fans turn on as soon as you open the device. They do manage to keep the device fairly cool, as we barely noticed any major thermal throttling. They were also quiet when compared to fans on other similar devices.
You get 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and 512 GB of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. The memory is enough for music production, albeit you do notice a bit of lag when working with multiple timelines, but we still recommend upgrading the storage if you get the opportunity since it will not only improve performance, but also future proof your device.
As for storage, 512 GB should be enough to get you started with downloading your DAW and storing a few RAW files. However, if you have a lot of audio files, or ever find yourself running low on storage, then you might want to consider getting an external storage device. Luckily, both the RAM and storage are user upgradeable, which is something we highly recommend doing.
The FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, micro-edge 15.6-inch display on the Victus is pretty good for the price. It has a 144 Hz refresh rate which makes all content look a lot smoother. It has great colors and sharpness. The non-reflective coating helps the device be visible outdoors as well. The Victus also has very small bezels like the Strix, which gives the device a much more premium look.
You get a pretty good port selection with a Superspeed USB-C port, 2 Superspeed USB-A ports, an Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1, a headphone jack, a microSD card reader, and a charging port. With the inclusion of both the USB Type-A and Type-C ports, you can connect almost any kind of audio interface you want and still have ports leftover for connecting other accessories as well, such as an external SSD.
The Victus has many features that help it be a much better package, such as the inclusion of a webcam and a pretty decent backlit keyboard. It also comes with Omen gaming Hub, which is HP’s own application for customizing and enhancing power. It is included in HP’s much more premium gaming laptop series, so it’s a great deal that the Victus series also supports this software.
The Victus has pretty similar dimensions when compared to the Strix, coming in at 14.09 x 10.04 x 0.93 inches and weighing 5.06 pounds. It is not very portable. You get a durable build quality similar to the Strix, so this device will survive a lot of wear and tear. It also has a great design, especially considering the price point.
When we got the device, the battery used to last 2.5 hours, no matter how we tweaked the brightness or settings. Luckily, since then, there has been a software update that improved the battery life to close to 6 hours on a single charge. You also get an included fast charger that tops up the device in 1.5 hours. Considering the average battery life, we would still recommend that you only use this device as a desktop replacement that is plugged in all the time in order to get better endurance and performance.
Overall, the Victus is a great gaming laptop for audio production. It has CPU performance that rivals the much more expensive Strix. Not to mention, it has an attractive yet durable design, a great port selection, and an amazing display.
HP Victus 15 Benefits
The i7-12700H provides excellent performance, especially when considering the price range.
The port selection on this device is pretty good, with access to both USB-A and USB-C ports to connect all kinds of audio interfaces.
The design of the Victus is really good and durable, especially considering the price range.
HP Victus 15 Drawbacks
The fans are turned on almost all the time, which makes the device very loud.
The battery life is average, coming in at only 6 hours of screentime.
All text and image links lead to Amazon unless stated otherwise. All product scores are based on ProRec’s in-house scoring model
The Acer Nitro 5 is one of the most popular budget gaming options out there. It comes with the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H, a 4 core and 8 thread processor. Compared to the i5-9300H on its predecessor, you get an 11 percent performance boost. It is about 70 percent slower than the i7-12700H on the Vicuts. This might sound like a lot, but this laptop still manages to perform perfectly during audio production. We encountered virtually no stutters or crashes when testing the device with FL Studio. Even the gaming performance of this CPU was good, especially on lighter titles.
The main highlight of this laptop is the RTX 3050 GPU, which is a steal at this price point. It performs only 10 percent slower than the RTX 3050 Ti on the Victus, therefore both had similar gaming performance, and about 36 percent better than the GTX 1650 on its predecessor.
The temperatures of the Nitro did get a bit warm but were still under control as there was little to no thermal throttling. Since there are exhaust fans at the top side of the keyboard, that region is more susceptible to heating, while the lower part of the deck remains fairly cool. The downside of this is that the fans run really loud. Luckily, you can use the NitroSense software to turn down the fan speed, which made live recording a lot easier.
You get 8GB of DDR4 2933MHz RAM and a 256GB NVMe SSD. Just like the Victus, the RAM is a bit on the lower side for gaming, but it handles music production fairly well. Luckily, the internal memory is upgradeable to a maximum of 32 GB, which we highly recommend for a better user experience.
The storage will barely be enough to get you started with your DAW and a few plugins but nothing more. That’s why we recommend getting an external storage device or upgrading the internal storage. The unique thing about the Nitro is that you don’t need to install an SSD – instead, there is a slot given for a mechanical hard drive. This is a cheaper than an SSD, making the upgrade a bit more affordable.
The 15.6″ IPS 16:9 1080p display is surprisingly good for a budget device. It has good colors and sharpness and even has decent brightness. The display was visible in a well-lit environment but not under direct sunlight. The best part was the 144 Hz refresh rate, which made the device a lot snappier, especially during gaming.
The port selection is also pretty good, as expected from a gaming laptop. You get USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Power-off Charging), HDMI 2.0, a headphone jack, Speaker, an Ethernet RJ-45, and a charging port. You get both USB-A and USB-C ports to connect all kinds of audio interfaces and accessories.
Despite being a budget device, the Acer Nitro has many features that make it a better device for both gaming and music production. Some of these included a pretty decent-quality backlit keyboard and a webcam.
Just like the other devices on this list, the Nitro is also pretty heft. Its dimensions are 10.04 x 14.31 x 0.94 inches, and weighs 5.07 pounds. Its the heaviest of the bunch, and we definitely found it difficult to carry around.
The battery life was a bit disappointing, coming in at 4.5 hours of screen time. This is not terrible for a gaming laptop, but it certainly is very limiting. We recommend using this as a desktop replacement rather than a portable device, especially because of the weight.
Overall, the Acer Nitro is a very good device that provides excellent performance for the price. It doesn’t have any major drawbacks either, which makes it a very good option for those on a budget.
Acer Nitro 5 Benefits
The 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H provides great performance for the price which handles audio production without any major stutters or lags.
The 1080p display is surprisingly good for a budget gaming laptop, as it even has high refresh rate.
You get excellent port selection as you can connect almost any kind of audio interface with the included USB-A and USB-C ports.
Acer Nitro 5 Drawbacks
You get low RAM and storage, although both of these are upgradeable, which is highly recommended.
The 4.5 hours of screen time isn’t that great, even for a gaming laptop.
Verdict
Based on our scoring model, you can see the highest variance in the Price to Performance, Processor, Storage, and Additional Features categories. Acer, despite being the cheapest option, provides solid performance which helps it get a 10, compared to an 8 of the Asus (the most expensive device on the list). As far as storage, the Asus has a much larger SSD compared to the rest. The device also has impressive features compared to the Acer which is more performance focused.
The Asus ROG Strix remains stable in all categories. The lowest it scores is an 8. It also has a perfect score of 10 in Processor, Connectivity, and Additional Feature categories. You get one of the best performances seen on any laptop with the i9-12900H and RTX 3070 ti config. The machine also features multiple Thunderbolt and USB-A ports which makes it great for connecting audio interfaces and different gaming accessories.
That being said, the HP Victus is no slacker either! It only has a variance of 0.6 points compared to the top contender despite being much cheaper. The HP fairs well, scoring 9.5 and 9 in Processor and Price to Performance categories respectively. However, It does have a low score of 7.5 in the RAM category due to only having 8 GB of RAM. Despite that, it remains a viable budget friendly option that will get the job done!
After a careful analysis, the Asus ROG Strix Scar lands the number one position as the best gaming laptop for music production with a final total score of 9.3. The machine is ideal in terms of performance, has plenty of storage as well as other amazing features such as the RGB lighting and an amazing display. You get an excellent port selection for connecting all kinds of audio interfaces and accessories. Highly recommended!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any limitations for Producing Music on a Gaming Laptop?
A gaming laptop does not have any performance limitations for music producers. In fact, it might provide better performance than regular laptops. However, it does have some limitations, such as the fact that gaming laptops are traditionally heavier and have worse battery life than regular laptops. They are also louder, so if you have a small studio then you will have issues with noise sneaking into your recordings.
What is the most important feature when choosing a Gaming Laptop for Music Production?
The most important feature of a gaming laptop for music production is its performance. An ideal device should have a 6-core CPU with 16 GB of RAM or better.
How much should I spend on a Gaming Laptop for Music Production?
This will depend a lot on what kinds of games you play and what level of performance you want. We think that 1200 dollars is the sweet spot, although by sacrificing a bit of performance, you can go for a much more affordable device. Conversely, by spending some more, you can get better performance as well as some niche features such as RGB lighting.
Will my Laptop come with a DAW already installed?
A DAW is a third-party software that needs to be downloaded from the company’s website or installed using a CD or Flash drive.
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