Our best laptop for Dead by Daylight

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Looking to play DBD on the go? We have tested out and found our best laptop for Dead by Daylight. Even though it’s an older game it keeps on giving more DLC and events to enjoy. So if you’re starting off, looking for an upgrade, or looking to go on the go with it, we see what it takes to run the game and what might suit it best. The system requirements are nothing too powerful or strong so you can expect most systems with dedicated graphics cards to succeed but we still put that to the test below.

Why the Gigabyte Aorus 16X

GIGABYTE AORUS 16X (2024)

Specifications

CPU: Intel i9-14900HX
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
RAM: 32GB DDR5 RAM
Storage: 2TB SSD
Max Refresh Rate: 165Hz
Resolution: 2560×1600 WQXGA
Screen Size: 16″
Panel Type: IPS

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For the testing and recommendation, we have gone for the Gigabyte gaming laptop, in particular the Aorus 16X. The 2024 model brings with it plenty of the latest hardware that has a lot of performance and features on board. The model we tested features the Intel i9-14900HX and an RTX 4070 laptop GPU. Of course, there are some variant options and to be honest, Dead by Daylight is quite an old title now so there are also the lower RTX 4060 models and ones with an i7-14th Gen that will cost less and still likely provide the same performance and we’ll explain that later on.

Along with the core components being rather strong, it has great support from the rest of the specifications as well. It comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and two slots for NVMe SSDs and usually comes with a 2TB one at least. Plus the display is a strong choice as well, although it is a more basic IPS LED panel, it has a 1440p resolution at 16:10 and has a refresh rate of 165Hz. Measuring in at 16 inches as well, it provides some great immersion even if it’s a more basic option but its G-Sync addition does make it a smooth experience combined as well.

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Along with the hardware wins, the other additions are nothing to scoff at either. The WiFi 7 inclusion makes it a lot more future-proof and a good choice for long-term usage once you upgrade your network with something like the Netgear Nighthawk RS700S. It also comes with a 99Wh battery 240W AC adapter and 100W power delivery to keep things running overall. Along with a whole load of ports to utilize as many others might skimp out on them with a good range of options.

Then the build quality is rather good and holds up to being lugged around and used, without much bending in the keyboard. That itself has plenty of RGB as the AORUS brand comes through on the whole design including some fancy lighting on the back, it doesn’t shy away from its prime use. But it still comes at a fairly light ~2.3kg/~5.07lb weight that manages to offer a lot in the smaller size.

Performance

Now when it comes to performance, there’s not much difference across the board when testing the different presets. As the game has locked down the framerate to have a maximum of 120, or less if you wanted to cap it more. But even without V-Sync, the game won’t let you do so, although apparently, you can tweak it in the game files, but that’s a bit more advanced and not necessary. Although it doesn’t quite reach the refresh rate it still is a smooth experience.

Running the game at 1600p even the very high settings cause no issues. It would probably do fine at 4K as well if you wanted to run it above its rated display. But more importantly, the lows of the benchmark don’t fall horribly low and still sit above 100FPS so there’s no stuttering or hitches that can drag you out of the game experience.

Although the RTX 40 series has DLSS 3 capabilities the game does lack the Nvidia feature inside. Instead, it only incorporates AMD’s FSR as an upscaling technology if you need a boost in performance. But that is mostly for lower-tier hardware that might struggle whereas on this you can just run pure rasterization.

Final word

Overall, the Gigabyte Aorus 16X (2024) is a great laptop to go for. Making it a lightweight yet powerful option it does make it a great portable option. As a 16-inch laptop, it does come more compact than some of the beefier machines that try to pack a lot more inside of them and get a lot more power inside. But for DBD you don’t need much more thanks to its low requirements, you will be able to enjoy its full potential with this recommendation.

Other laptops

Of course, if this one doesn’t quite fit the bill, there are other laptops that might suit you better. Below you can find our other recommendations that are well suited to play the game varying between specs above and below the Aorus model. These feature the likes of the MSI Stealth 17 we reviewed and MSI Raider GE78 review we did.