Top 5 Best Laptops For Streaming On Twitch – [Full Buyers Guide]

When it comes to Twitch streaming, you need a powerful computer to get things going. At least a quad-core CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a GPU from AMD or Nvidia. Most of the time, PCs are sufficient for this, but they’re not exactly portable. Even mATX and Mini-ITX form-factor PCs can be a chore to carry around at LAN parties, hackathons, and gaming tournaments.

If you have a powerful laptop, you can get desktop-level computing power on your couch, in the backyard, and on a plane. Not only can be used for Twitch streaming on the go but can also act as a capable backup system when your primary PC requires maintenance. So, let’s look at the best laptops for streaming on Twitch in 2022.

Before You Buy

As a streamer, you might already be familiar with the general buying tips when it comes to PCs, like CPU cores and RAM, but laptops are much different. So, with that being said, let’s look some at factors you need to keep in mind before making a buying decision:

Airflow Cutouts and Cooling Capacity

Laptops, because of their smaller form factor, tend to often get overheated because the components are installed in close proximity to each other. So, a solid cooling system is always important. By this, I not only mean powerful fans but also airflow cutouts for easy movement of air: cool air in, hot air out.

Battery Life

Battery life is pretty much a non-issue in PCs since they’re plugged into a wall socket all the time and have a UPS system in case of a power outage. However, if you want to use your laptop on the go, you need to keep in mind battery life to make a good buying decision.

Some laptops are designed to be automatically underpowered when not connected to a wall socket, which lowers their portability factor. However, if you get one with a 56 to 70 WHR battery, it should be enough to give you at least a few hours of solid gaming.

Display Refresh Rate

Since laptops come with in-built displays, you need to keep in mind some other metrics too. Besides resolution and brightness, the most important factor for gaming and live streaming is the refresh rate.

This is denoted in “Hz” and it’s how many times you display refreshes in a second. 60Hz is the industry standard, 144Hz is pretty good, and anything over that (like 240Hz or 300Hz) is fantastic.

Now, let’s look at the top five best laptops you can buy for Twitch streaming in 2022…

Top 5 Best Laptops for Streaming On Twitch 2022:

1. ASUS ROG Strix G15 – Best All Round

SPECS:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H (8C/16T)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
• Display: 15.6” Full-HD 300Hz IPS
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Battery: 90 WHR

If you hang out around gaming circles, you’ve probably heard about the Strix G15 before. It was one of the first beasts to come with the new 3000 series GPUs from Nvidia. There are many variants of the G15 available, but this one hits the perfect balance between price and performance.

It comes with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, an 8-core and 16-thread CPU with a boost clock of 4.4 GHz. Paired with the latest GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU and 16GB DDR4 RAM, it provides more than sufficient horsepower for gaming, live streaming, and other related tasks.

To make your gaming experience more fun, there’s also a 300Hz Full-HD IPS display along with plenty of RGB lighting. Of course, as a content creator, you’ll be needing a large SSD to store all your games, apps, and recordings, and the G15 comes with a whopping 1TB PCIe SSD for that purpose. Overall, this is an impressive laptop and is definitely worth it.

2. Acer Nitro 5 – Best on a Budget

SPECS:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-10300H (4C/8T)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
• Display: 15.6″ Full-HD 144Hz IPS 
• RAM: 8GB DDR4
• Battery: 57.5 WHR

It’s hard to find a budget-friendly laptop when your primary use-case is going to be Twitch streaming since it requires fairly good specs. However, the Acer Nitro 5 is a great option. While it doesn’t sport futuristic curves or crazy RGB lighting, it does provide the necessary computing power required for those workloads along with a few extra goodies.

First of all, let’s talk about what you get under the hood. Coming from Team Blue, it has an Intel Core i5-10300H processor along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. While that’s a good pair, the 8GB DDR4 RAM could be a limiting factor. However, you can also upgrade it and add more RAM sticks if you prefer using the easy-access panel at the bottom.

In addition to that, it also has all the necessary ports required for connecting extra peripherals and data transfer. The display, similar in size and resolution to the ASUS G15 but with a lower refresh rate of 144Hz, is sufficient for gaming. Put the Acer Nitro 5 on your buying list if you’re looking for a good mid-range laptop for Twitch streaming.

3. HP Victus 16 – Best Value for Money

SPECS:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (6C/12T)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
• Display: 16.1” Full HD 60Hz IPS
• RAM: 8GB DDR4
• Battery: 70 WHR

Victus is a new line-up of gaming laptops from HP, and the 16 doesn’t disappoint. Coming in at just around $1K, it packs some serious power. One thing to note about this laptop is the lack of RGB lighting. Although this would generally be a downer for gamers, if you’re into more stealth and professional designs, it could be right up your alley.

The Ryzen 5 5600H is a good processor. It has a 6-core and 12-thread configuration with a boost clock of 4.2 GHz — great for multitasking workloads like live streaming and video rendering. The GeForce RTX 3050 is great for gaming too. Unfortunately, there’s only 8GB of RAM, which can be a bit lacking in some instances.

Considering all of this, the HP Victus is a decent laptop and provides a great bang for your buck. Letting go of fancy over-the-top RGB lighting and other extra features, it focuses on performance the most. If you’re willing to spend around $1K and want the best value for your money, go for this one.

4. ASUS ZenBook UX581 – Best for Video Editing and Multitasking

SPECS:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H (6C/12T)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060
• Display: 15.6” 4K OLED 60Hz and 14” UHD Touch
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Battery: 71 WHR

Although it carries a hefty price tag, I think you’d agree that the ASUS ZenBook UX581 looks like something straight out of a science fiction film. With an Intel Core i7-10750H, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM, it also has the horsepower to back up its next-gen aesthetics.

Now, onto the primary selling factor of this laptop: the ScreenPad Plus. A 14” UHD stylus-ready touch display, it can enable you to extend the screen, split windows, switch between apps, and much more. Of course, since this is not a native feature supported by Windows, there are a few bugs here and there, but it’s still a cool and unique feature nonetheless.

All in all, the ASUS ZenBook UX581 is both a formidable streaming laptop as well as suitable for video editing and other professional workloads. It not only offers sufficient processing power for those tasks but also plenty of screen real estate.

5. Alienware m15 R4 – Best All-White

SPECS:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H (8C/16T)
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
• Display: 15.6″ 144Hz Full-HD
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Battery: 87 WHR

All of the laptops we discussed so far are suitable for streaming, but what about those who have an all-white setup and want a laptop that matches it? For them, the Alienware m15 R4 might be the right pick. The primary color, called Lunar Light by Alienware, looks unique and will fit in well with any white or light-toned setup. In addition to that, the four-zone backlit keyboard along with the RGB logo and bar also gives it a gamer-friendly look without being loud and gaudy.

Let’s talk about how powerful this laptop is under the hood. You get an Intel Core i7-10870H, which is an 8 core and 16 thread CPU with a max turbo frequency of 5.00 GHz. Such a beast of a CPU paired with a GeForce RTX 3060 GPU will not only give you great FPS in modern titles but also help with professional workloads like video editing and animation.

The laptop comes with a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD for blazing-fast bootup and data transfer speeds. However, if that’s not enough for holding all your games and apps, it’s also capable of supporting over three M.2 NVMe SSDs too. Overall, the Alienware m15 R4 is a great option to look into if you’re willing to spend a premium to get a good-looking laptop with cutting-edge specs.

Pros

• Perfect addition to an all-white setup
• 144Hz display suitable for gaming
• Cool RGB lighting

Cons

• Expensive

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Ports are Required to Connect a Secondary Display?

Although all the laptops we discussed in this article have fairly large screens, mainly around 15.6” to 16”, as a streamer you’d probably need a secondary display too. It could be for monitoring chat, browsing your playlist, or switching between apps.

So, which port does a laptop need to have to be able to connect to a secondary display? An HDMI port will do just fine, but it’ll usually be limited to around 60Hz or 120Hz, so it’s suitable for only regular tasks. If you want to access over 144Hz, you’ll need a Display Port.

There are some laptops on this list that don’t have a Display Port, like the Acer Nitro 5, the HP Victus 16, and the ASUS ZenBook UX581; but all have at least one HDMI port. As long as you buy from this list, you can’t go wrong in this regard.

Wrap Up

As you probably already know, with advancements in technology computers are getting more powerful in smaller packages. This means there are some great laptops out there to choose from.

Unfortunately, because of the overwhelming number of options, it can be easy to develop analysis paralysis. Hopefully, this list helped you narrow down your search! Here’s a quick rundown of all the gaming laptops I featured in this article:

• ASUS ROG Strix G15 is Best All Round
• Acer Nitro 5 is Best on a Budget
• HP Vitus 16 is Best Value for Money
• ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is Best for Video Editing and Multitasking
• Alienware m15 R4 is Best All-White