Valheim was a gaming sensation of the year 2021 as it broke all records on Steam charts. It’s been developed by Iron Gate AB gaming studio and published by Coffee Stain Publishing on the 2nd of February 2021. I compiled a list of the best laptops for Valheim to enjoy playing the game smoothly without any stuttering and lagging.
First, of course, it depends on the budget you are willing to spend on a new gaming machine. Second, a good starting point would be meeting at least the recommended system requirements. Why recommended and not minimum? Because minimum requirements are based on what developers define that games are playable at the lowest graphic settings values. Whereas the recommended requirements are what is needed to run a game with decent or highest graphical settings with a high enough frame rate for the best gaming experience.
1. Acer Nitro 5
2. Asus TUF FX505
3. ASUS TUF Gaming A15
4. Acer Predator Helios 300
5. MSI GL65 Leopard
1. Acer Nitro 5
2. Asus TUF FX505
3. ASUS TUF Gaming A15
4. Acer Predator Helios 300
5. MSI GL65 Leopard
Last update on 2023-09-29.
Valheim System Requirements
Minimum
- OPERATING SYSTEM: 64 bit Windows 7 or later
- PROCESSOR: 2.6 GHz Dual Core or similar
- GRAPHICS: GeForce GTX 500 series or similar
- MEMORY: 4 GB RAM
- STORAGE: 1 GB available space
Recommended
- OPERATING SYSTEM: 64 bit Windows 7 or later
- PROCESSOR: i5 3GHz or better
- GRAPHICS: GeForce GTX 970 series or similar
- MEMORY: 8 GB RAM
- STORAGE: 1 GB available space
Source: https://store.steampowered.com/app/892970/Valheim/
What is the Best Laptop for Valheim?
There is no “the best one”. Each one of the machines listed here would run the game just fine, smoothly without any stuttering. But as mentioned previously, it also depends on how much you willing to go spend. You cannot expect the same performance from the lowest budget laptop to the highest one. Obviously. 🙂
Regarding performance, it’s mainly all about how many frames per second a gaming laptop can output to the display.
About FRAMES PER SECOND (FPS):
What is FPS? It is the number of consecutive images produced onto the monitor each second. (Note: In gaming FPS also stands for First Person Shooter but this is not the case here.)
How many FPS is needed? – It is not yet known for sure how many FPS the human eye and brain can process. But they predict it could be around 200. The number of frames per second that is acceptable for gaming though is far lower. From bare minimum 25 FPS up to the limit of your screen*. If the FPS drop below 25, you are likely to notice considerable stuttering.
*By screen limit I mean its refresh rate. Nowadays there are even 300Hz (frames per second) monitors in the gaming scene. That “high refresh” rate monitors give a feeling of a more responsive overall experience. The game type can also be a factor. If you play online competitive games you get an advantage over your opponents who have regular 60Hz displays. Basically, more frames, earlier and more you see than. 🙂
A great explanation here on this video from Nvidia:
Valheim isn’t the most demanding game going, and it looks quite decent even with the graphics set to the lower settings. However, it’s still a 3D game, and for the best gaming experience, the game must be rendered with high FPS in realtime smoothly. To achieve a decent framerate, at least a GTX 1650 GPU is required, preferably an Nvidia RTX 2060, for the best performance.
Regarding CPU, it’s nothing you should be worried about, as all the gaming laptops listed here have powerful processors to run Valheim with ease.
Acer Nitro 5
Key Components:
PROCESSOR: i5-10300H • GRAPHICS: GeForce GTX 1650 Ti • MEMORY: 8GB DDR4 • DISPLAY: 15.6”, 144Hz, Full HD, IPS • STORAGE: 256GB NVMe SSD
Acer Nitro 5 is a solid gaming laptop for casual gamers. Regarding performance, it sits in middle-tier at an entry-level price. Laptop’s plastic body is a bit chunky, but the 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti GPU rendering on a 144Hz display more than compensate for the chassis.If you’re a hardcore gamer, then look elsewhere. But if your budget is limited, the Nitro 5 is for sure an option worth considering.
PROS / CONS
✔ Price/Performance
✔ Stays cool even under high load
✖ Bulky size
Last update on 2023-09-29.
Asus TUF FX505
Key Components:
PROCESSOR: Ryzen 7 3750H • GRAPHICS: GeForce GTX 1650 • MEMORY: 8GB DDR4 • DISPLAY: 15.6”, 120Hz, Full HD, IPS-Type • STORAGE: 512GB NVMe SSD
Asus has created an inexpensive gaming laptop that prioritizes frame rates while sacrifices the right piece of hardware. As a “co-production” from AMD and Nvidia (Ryzen 7 and GTX 1650) with a 120Hz screen, excellent RGB keyboard, NVMe SSD, the Asus TUF Gaming FX705DT proves to be a well-rounded gaming laptop with no significant weak points.
PROS / CONS
✔ Good gaming performance for the price
✔ Runs cool
✖ Average battery life
Last update on 2023-09-29.
ASUS TUF Gaming A15
Key Components:
PROCESSOR: Ryzen 7 4800H • GRAPHICS: GeForce GTX 1660 Ti • MEMORY: 16GB DDR4 • DISPLAY: 15.6”, 144Hz, Full HD, IPS-Type • STORAGE: 512GB NVMe SSD
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 is one of the best value gaming laptops in the market because of its outstanding price/performance ratio. A newest Ryzen 7 4800H combined with the GTX 1660 Ti graphics is making this an excellent choice for those who are looking for a good gaming laptop without spending too much.PROS / CONS
✔ Powerful Ryzen CPU
✔
✔ Value for money
✖ Average quality display, a bit color inaccurate
Last update on 2023-09-29.
Acer Predator Helios 300
Key Components:
PROCESSOR: i7-10750H • GRAPHICS: GeForce RTX 2060 • MEMORY: 16GB DDR4 • DISPLAY: 15.6″, 144Hz, Full HD, IPS • STORAGE: 512GB NVMe SSD
Acer Predator Helios 300 - 2020 offers a lot for its price. You can play most of the latest games without a problem as it has a powerful RTX 2060 6GB GPU. With extra storage slots, you can easily upgrade for more disk space. It also has a screen refresh rate of 144Hz.PROS / CONS
✔ Price/performance
✔
✖ Battery life
Last update on 2023-09-29.
Valheim Gameplay on Acer Predator Helios 300 (i7-10750H, RTX 2060)
MSI GL65 Leopard
Key Components:
PROCESSOR: i7-10750H • GRAPHICS: GeForce RTX 2070 • MEMORY: 16GB DDR4 • DISPLAY: 15.6″, 144Hz, Full HD, IPS-Level • STORAGE: 512GB NVMe SSD
MSI GP65 Leopard is an excellent all-around “jack of all trades” gaming laptop. While the chassis looks and feels a bit cheaply made, the hardware inside is excellent for the money. Considering the price, the Full HD LG display is phenomenal. Response times are very quick, and the 144 Hz refresh rate makes the gameplay look beautifully smooth at higher framerates.PROS / CONS
✔
✔
✖ Weak speakers
Last update on 2023-09-29.
Conclusion
All these laptops would run Valheim just fine. Staying within the reasonable game settings for specific GPU you can enjoy playing the game smoothly. If you have a large budget to spend then go for some high-end laptop listed here and crank the graphics settings up to the roof. Otherwise, the RECOMMENDED machine is a great deal and compensation between price and performance.
Have fun playing the game!
Take care! 🙂