Sim racing enthusiasts take their gaming rigs very seriously, and the demands of such games keep getting more and more serious and it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff! Not to worry; the following are the best laptops available for simracing!
The Best Laptops for Sim Racing
| Editor's Pick | Laptop | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Top Pick | Acer Predator Triton 500 | 90% |
| Runner-Up | Dell Alienware M17 | 90% |
| Budget Pick | ASUS TUF FX505DT | 88% |
| Luxury Pick | ASUS ROG Zephyrus M | 93% |
| Best Sleeper | HP Omen 15 | 90% |
Top Pick: Acer Predator Triton 500
Ready for the road
The Acer Predator Triton 500 is a great laptop that’s ready to burn rubber! This beefy machine is powered by a 10th-gen Intel i7 and an overclockable NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER – more than enough to muscle through any racer on the market, and sure to stand the test of time as well!
Perhaps most importantly, the 300hz display does an amazing job of replicating the sense of speed whether you prefer an in-cockpit view or a 3rd-person camera. Speaking of cockpits, this laptop features Thunderbolt support – ensuring you can add a couple of extra monitors for ultimate immersion should you choose to do so!
All-in-all, this is a great laptop and it’s easy to recommend to anyone looking for a new rig to race on!
Runner-Up: Dell Alienware M17
Hit the track running
The Dell Alienware M17 is another purpose-built machine from the perennial powerhouse manufacturer that’s ready to burn through anything you can throw at it! All of the features gamers have come to expect in a laptop are present here, as well as bells and whistles that are unexpected-but-appreciated such as a 4K display, FHD webcam and a Thunderbolt port for easy docking and monitor additions.
If you want a no-nonsense, muscly laptop that’s ready to boot-up and shoot down the tracks, the Dell Alienware M17 is hard to pass up!
Budget Pick: ASUS TUF FX505DT
Rough rider
The ASUS TUF FX505DT comes through with all of the features you come to expect in a gaming laptop, plus it brings a few tricks of its own. Top gear components are here, such as a Ryzen 5 processor and GTX 1650. Perhaps the least expected feature is military-grade construction that’s designed to take a tumble!
Most subversive of all – the price! Coming in at over $300 less than the next-cheapest laptop on this list, the ASUS TUF FX505DT is almost hard to believe – much less pass-on!
Luxury Pick: ASUS ROG Zephyrus M
King of the track
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M is yet another awesome Republic of Gamers laptop that’s come to provide gaming bliss – and few will find more to love here than racing simmers!
The 10th-gen Intel i7 and RTX 2070 in this super-thin laptop power a 240hz screen with lightning-fast efficiency, and there are plenty of outputs should you choose to add more screens in the future.
Speaking of futures – it’s safe to assume that this machine will be capable of running any racer that comes out in the next few years on ultra settings. If you want a great racing rig that won’t need to be upgraded for a long time to come, save yourself some time and grab a ASUS ROG Zephyrus M today!
Best Sleeper: HP Omen 15
They don’t know what’s under the hood
If you like the idea of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you’re sure to appreciate the stylings of the HP Omen 15! Don’t get it twisted though – this thing can really fly off the line!
All of the high-end, frame-blazing features you need under the hood are absolutely present here, but the star of the show is the sleek, stealthy appearance that won’t lead anyone to suspect you’re ready to race for pinks!
If you want a classy, classic gaming rig that looks like it’s ready for a Sunday drive, you can’t go wrong with the HP OMEN 15!
What to Look for in a Laptops for Sim Racing
Generally speaking, great gaming rigs equal great sim racing rigs – but there are additional considerations as well:
Connectivity
This won’t apply to everyone, but if it does apply to you, it needs to be among your top considerations – if you intend to use a racing wheel or custom peripherals, you’re going to need a lot of USB ports. So make sure you get a rig with lots of them!
Versatility
Unless you plan on using your new expensive machine for nothing but sim racing, you might want to make sure you’re getting a laptop that can multitask! Consider the possibility of streaming or recording gameplay, listening to music in the background, etc. Not to mention web browsing or work.
Futureproofing
There are lots of racing sims on the market now that have high specs, but what about the future? Upcoming titles such as the new Forza Motorsport are expected to have GPU-busting features such as multiple forms of ray-tracing, so you may want to consider splurging for high-end components in order to make sure you’re ready for whatever is next!
Last Updated on July 11, 2021