My love for FL Studio goes way back to my teenage years. I’m not a musician, but I’ve always loved making my own EDM music with FL Studio. I find that a great computer setup can give you an edge in creativity and inspiration – so here are the best laptops for FL Studio in 2021!
In this post, I’ll try to walk you through what hardware specifications are important for a laptop if you’re trying to record audio with FL Studio. By following these guidelines, you should be able to find a proper laptop quickly. Let’s get started!
- FL Studio is an extremely powerful digital audio workstation developed by the Belgian company Image-Line
- FL Studio has been around for many years and is used by many successful artists and producers, such as Tiesto, Kaskade, and Avicii
- If you’re trying to record audio with FL Studio, then you should follow these guidelines to find a proper laptop quickly
Requirements for a FL Studio 20 laptop
Major The right processor
Requirements
The most important spec for FL Studio is the processor. Generally, an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 are the minimum specs for a good laptop for FL Studio. For more demanding projects, an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 is recommended. And if you want to take your laptop to its limits, get a high-end Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9.
Recommendations
Here are some good options for FL Studio laptops:
- Ryzen 5 5500U – minimum option
- i5-10500H – midrange option
- i9-11900H – top end option
- minimum processor is Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, and for more demanding projects – Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 is recommended
- high end processor is Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9, and you should look for laptops with those processors if you want to take your laptop to its limits
Major Picking a good memory
Minimum (8 GB)
8 GB used to be the standard for RAM capacity for the longest time. In 2021, 16 GB is becoming the new de facto choice for budget laptops, starting at around $650. If you can’t go above that, 8 GB is still alright. In fact, it might be a wise choice if you’re prioritizing the CPU, which is much more critical for FL Studio.
Recommended (16 GB)
If you aren’t limited by a very tight budget – you’ll most likely end up with a 16 GB laptop. It just seems to do the job for most laptops under $2k. That’s the sweet spot for work, gaming, and everything in-between. These days a fast SSD can soften the impact of running out of RAM. That might be one of the reasons why I’ve noticed a slowdown in the continuous climb of RAM capacities in laptops. Especially if you’re buying a bulkier laptop that can be easily upgraded, there’s no need to sweat about getting 16 GB.
8 GB RAM used to be the standard, but now it’s becoming more common to have 16 GB RAM on a laptop. That’s great for work, gaming, and everything in between. There’s no need to sweat about getting 16 GB. You can even get away with 8 GB if you’re prioritizing the CPU.
Major Graphics card for FL Studio 20
Integrated graphics
If you’re on a tight budget and don’t work with video or 3D – you can go with any integrated graphics for FL Studio.
Two monitors for FL Studio
Look for a video card with two DVI or some combination of DVI + HDMI + Display Port outputs (see also Quiet PC below). This will allow you to run two video monitors. Any modern Video card will perform similarly. FL Studio work-flow is significantly improved with two (or more) video monitor.
- if you don’t work with video or 3D, any integrated graphics will do for FL Studio
- get a video card with two DVI or some combination of DVI + HDMI + Display Port outputs to run two monitors for FL Studio
Optional requirements for a FL Studio 20 laptop
Optional How to choose the right storage for FL Studio?
Various types of storage devices
Storage devices are all about storage. The most common type of storage is the hard drive, which has been around for decades. Hard drives have seen a lot of competition in recent years from SSDs, which are now standard on many new laptops.
Storage space for FL Studio
The good news is that you can install FL Studio on any laptop with at least 2 GB of free disk space, so the space requirement is pretty low. That said, FL Studio can use up a lot of space pretty quickly depending on how much sample libraries and VST plugins you’re using, so you’ll want to make sure your laptop has plenty of storage space.
Recommendations for laptop storage size
If you’re on a budget, then I recommend getting at least 256 GB of free disk space on your laptop. That should be enough to get by for most people, but if you want to store more samples or VST plugins then I recommend upgrading to 512 GB or 1 TB of free disk space (with 1 TB being my preferred option). If you’re willing to spend more money then I recommend getting at least 1 TB of free disk space – 2 TB would be even better!
- there are many types of storage devices, but the most common one is the hard drive
- SSDs are now standard on many new laptops, but they’re much more expensive than hard drives
- you can install FL Studio on any laptop with at least 2 GB of free disk space, but if you want to store lots of samples or VST plugins then you’ll need more storage space (at least 256 GB)
5 Best Laptops for FL Studio 20
HP
Pros and cons
- Up to scratch processor (i5-1135G7)
- Superb display (15.6 IPS Touch)
- Mediocre graphics card (Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs)
- Run-of-the-mill memory amount (8GB)
Alternatives
HP
- Good processor (Ryzen 5 5500U)
- Terrific display (15.6 IPS)
- Mediocre graphics card (Radeon RX Vega 7)
- Weighty (3.7 lbs)
Dell Inspiron 15 3000
- First-class display (15.6 IPS)
- Numpad
- So-so processor (i5-1135G7)
- Underwhelming graphics card (Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs)
Acer Swift X SFX14-41G-R1S6
Pros and cons
- Terrific processor (Ryzen 7 5800U)
- Excellent graphics card (RTX 3050 Ti)
Alternatives
HP Envy x360
- Splendid display (13.3 OLED Touch)
- Lightweight (2.9 lbs)
- Garden-variety graphics card (Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs)
- Underwhelming memory amount (8GB)
HP Envy x360
- First-class display (13.3 OLED Touch)
- Light-weight (2.9 lbs)
- Not the best graphics card (Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs)
- Substandard memory amount (8GB)
MSI Alpha 17 AMD
Pros and cons
- Great processor (Ryzen 7 5800H)
- Great graphics card (Radeon RX 6600M)
- Bulky (5.1 lbs)
Alternatives
ASUS Powerful TUF Dash
- Enormous 5TB SSD
- High refresh rate display (144Hz)
- Unexceptional processor (i7-11370H)
- Mediocre memory amount (16GB)
ASUS TUF High-Performance
- Decent processor (i5-11260H)
- Adequate display (17.3 144Hz IPS G-Sync)
- Mediocre graphics card (RTX 3050)
Acer Predator Helios 300
Pros and cons
- Splendid processor (i7-11800H)
- Up to the mark display (15.6 144Hz IPS G-Sync)
Alternatives
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15
- Solid processor (Ryzen 9 5900HS)
- Solid graphics card (RTX 3080)
- Run-of-the-mill memory amount (16GB)
ASUS ROG Strix Scar
- Decent processor (Ryzen 7 5800H)
- Exceptional graphics card (RTX 3080)
Eluktronics MECH-15
Pros and cons
- Awesome graphics card (RTX 3080)
- Competent display (15.6 165Hz IPS)
- Run-of-the-mill processor (i7-11800H)
Alternatives
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen
- Awesome processor (i9-11950H)
- Terrific graphics card (RTX 3080)
Eluktronics Prometheus XVII
- Excellent processor (i7-11800H)
- First-class graphics card (RTX 3080)
Table of Best Laptops for FL Studio 20
Laptop | Price (approx) |
HP | $530 |
Acer Swift X SFX14-41G-R1S6 | $920 |
MSI Alpha 17 AMD | $1490 |
Acer Predator Helios 300 | $2070 |
Eluktronics MECH-15 | $3200 |