Bethesda’sStarfield: Shattered SpaceDLC is one of the year’s most anticipated releases. It stops short of becoming a full-blown title by requiring the base game to be purchased for it to be playable.
The DLC comes with a host of new content as it aims to center its story around house Va’ruun in particular and is built around the planet of Va’runn’kai as opposed to the more galaxy-centric approach that the main quest takes otherwise.
It builds on the title’s combat mechanics, adding new weapons, improved melee combat, and plenty of new enemies and environmental obstacles to deal with, all of which build into a more immersive Starfield experience even as users do not need to complete or even play through most of the main quest to get through the DLC to get the ball rolling.
Starfield: Shattered Space - What Gaming Laptop Should You Get To Play The Game?
System requirements for Starfield: Shattered Space as published on Steam
With relatively low hardware requirements for the title except for the SSD end of the spectrum, where Starfield already requires a mammoth amount of space, even as it essentially rules out a hard drive to avoid loading screen issues.
For users on gaming laptops, it does mean finding that delicate balance between price and performance even as they offer less power than their desktop equivalents.
This directly encourages users to go slightly overboard in terms of specs to account for thermal and power limitations that often restrict performance on laptops versus their less portable siblings.
The question that comes up time and again centers around which gaming laptop one should consider getting to be able to play Starfield and its DLC offering without any issues while focusing on performance and value for money alike.
The team at Game Rant has done the research in this department by creating a curated list of some of the best gaming laptops at different performance tiers with a focus in particular on how they meet or exceed the requirements set by Starfield at their respective target resolutions below.
GIGABYTE Aorus 16X (2024)
A Mid-Range Balancing Act
The GIGABYTE Aorus 16X (2024) is powered by the Intel Core i7-14650HX CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU which makes it a strong mid-range gaming laptop. It packs a 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) display that supports 165Hz refresh rate and comes with NVIDIA Advanced Optimus. It is equipped with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
The GIGABYTE Aorus 16X attracts renewed attention versus its peers as it benefits from a series of price cuts to sit at a more affordable asking price while throwing in an excellent design, an excellent color-accurate QHD display that offers a 165Hz refresh rate, and copious amounts of RAM along with an above-average SSD in play.
Gigabyte’s offering leverages a 16-core Intel Core i7 CPU and a high-clocked RTX 4060 mobile GPU with a TGP of up to 140W, which delivers stellar performance in addition to allowing for storage expansion and offering excellent networking under the hood.
It offers an above-average batter with a 99WHr rating, in addition to an aesthetic that rivals most of its gaming-centric rivals. While the Aorus 16X does tend to run hotter than some of its competition and can, as a result, mildly thermally throttle in demanding titles, it can run a game like Starfield at a high frame rate at its native resolution with most, if not all of its settings turned up with ease.
MSI Thin 15 15.6-inch 144Hz FHD Gaming Laptop
A budget-friendly pick
Looking for a gaming laptop that won’t break the bank but packs great power under the hood? From its Intel Core i7-12650H processor to the GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, prepared to run most games without any issues. The MSI Thin’s 15.6-inch 144Hz delivers immersive gameplay along with smooth visuals. You also get a plethora of connectivity options which comes in handy for peripherals and other devices.
For gamers on a much stricter budget, the MSI Thin 15 Gaming Laptop above is the balancing act that does it all without breaking the bank. It offers an octa-core Intel Core i5 CPU in tandem with a capable RTX 4050 GPU.
This clears it past the minimum requirements threshold for Starfield easily and while the CPU holds its own, the RTX 4050 GPU might not be able to compare to the desktop RTX 2080 that Bethesda recommends, which could mean some tweaking is to get a high frame rate.
For its part, the Thin 15 offers a capable 144Hz display that is more than capable of delivering a playable frame rate for Starfield even as it meets all the other requirements while costing less than $1000 and weighing well under 5 lbs, making it a great lightweight option that has a matching price tag.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 2024 (4070)
A Compact Powerhouse
The Zephyrus G14 from Asus is their ultra-premium compact laptop packed with the latest-gen specs. Powering this computer is an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, their high-efficiency mobile chip. An 8GB RTX 4070 running at a max 1655MHz with an MGP of 90W finds itself in a tight 14" laptop chassis, making it impressive for its size.
For those venturing into more premium territory while desiring a compact gaming option, the RTX 4070-based ASUS G14 laptop offers everything one could need in a form factor that was, until recently, not even in play for gaming laptops.
The G14 throws in an excellent 3K 120Hz OLED display to go with its powerful octa-core Ryzen 9 CPU and power-restricted RTX 4070 GPU even as it offers plenty of LPDDR5X RAM (32GB) and a large SSD (1TB) to gamers for their gaming and modding needs for Starfield.
It manages to do so while keeping its weight at a sub-1.5kg limit even as it does cut corners by limiting TGP on the GPU and not allowing for user-upgradeable memory, opting for a soldered solution instead makes it less repairable as a result.
All in all, the G14 does deliver value for money, performance and a compact design that is hard to match even as it currently happens to be on sale at Best Buy.
Lenovo Legion 5i
A Value-Centric Powerhouse
The Lenovo Legion 5i is powered by the Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU and 32GB of RAM, along with the RTX 4060 GPU. It comes with a 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) IPS display with 240Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB coverage, and 350 nits peak brightness. The laptop supports Super Rapid Charge technology, which can completely charge the device in 80 minutes.
The 16-inch LenovoLegion 5i gaming laptop with GeForce RTX 4070is now available at $1,399.99 on Amazon.
For gamers looking for at least an RTX 4070-class GPU and not having the same portability needs as those opting for the G14 above, the Lenovo Legion 5i Gaming Laptop gets the job done for a little less.
It throws in a much more powerful Intel Core i9 CPU that offers 24 cores and a 32-thread configuration in addition to its GPU. The laptop splurges on memory, offering 32GB of fast DDR5 RAM, but does cut its storage offering to a smaller 512GB SSD.
While this is, on its own, enough for Starfield, it will quickly evaporate when other games and software are factored in, which could mean that users are nearly always going to have to plan an SSD upgrade down the line for what is otherwise a very solid gaming laptop for its current price tag.
Alienware m18 R2
A Large, Well-Designed Contender
Alienware’s m18 R2 is an enthusiast-grade, high-end gaming laptop boasting the latest flagship Intel Core i9 processor from the 14th gen and one of the fastest laptop GPUs in existence.The laptop uses a premium QHD+ display running at 165Hz that is very responsive and delivers vibrant colors via a wide color gamut. It has a high ask but one it justifies thanks to its uncompromising take on hardware.
Gamers looking for more horsepower can opt for the Alienware M18, which offers a matching CPU to the Legion 5i above but offers a larger screen, better thermals, and a much beefier RTX 4080 GPU in the same package that distinguishes it considerably.
The M18 also offers a 165Hz refresh rate, a larger 1TB SSD, and 32GB of RAM into the mix, making it a better all-round product that should handle titles like Starfield and future expansions beyond Shattered Space with relative ease.
For its offerings, it does come with what many feel is the premium price that all Alienware laptops command, making it a relatively expensive choice for better build quality and reliability in the long run versus some of its cheaper competitors.
ASUS ROG Scar 17 X3D
Pulling Out All The Stops
The ROG Scar 17 X3D from Asus is a gaming and productivity laptop that features the first AMD mobile processor with 3D V-Cache, the Ryzen 9 7495HX3D. The laptop is also powered by an RTX 4090 mobile GPU that has a TGP of 175W. It comes with 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD. It packs a 17.3-inch WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS display with 240 Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. The ROG Scar 17 X3D sports a 90WHr battery, and it supports 100W charging via USB Type-C, along with charging through its massive 330W AC adapter.
While the laptops above are powerful in their own right and can handle a title like Starfield and its current expansion without having any issues, the ASUS ROG Scar 17 X3D is a perfect example of what happens when you venture into overkill territory.
It leverages a much more powerful AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D CPU, 32GB of fast DDR5 RAM, and a large amount of SSD storage (2TB) along with room for expansion built into the laptop.
The crown jewel of the Scar 17 X3D is its powerful RTX 4090 GPU that has up to 175W of TGP and powers its excellent 2K 240Hz display to make for what is an excellent laptop that offers peak performance, albeit at a premium versus other RTX 4090-based options that the team at Game Rant compares it against.
FAQ
Q: Is Starfield CPU or GPU Intensive?
Starfield uses Bethesda’s updated Creation Engine 2 which is also expected to power the next-generation Elder Scrolls title. It happens to be considerably more CPU-intensive as a result and having a weaker CPU can result in a significant bottleneck.
Q: Does Starfield require A Persistent Online Connection?
Starfield does not require a persistent online connection to be played and the game runs perfectly fine in offline mode. Users using the Xbox or PC Game Pass might need to be online to be able to play the game via the subscription, however.
