Last update on 2024-04-26 / As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more about us.
Fortnite took the gamer world by storm a few years ago when it was first released. It exploded and now people of all ages love to play it, both competitively or casually.
It is widely accessible, but does it need good hardware? Is Alienware well-suited to play it? Let’s find out.
Can Alienware be used for Fortnite?
Absolutely. Fortnite doesn’t actually require you to have a high-end gaming laptop or desktop. However, having one can improve your experience playing the game, as you get more FPS and that can be a defining factor for winning or losing in a battle royale game.
Also read Chromebooks For Fortnite.
Alienware offers hardware that is maximized for gaming experiences. You can get desktops and laptops from the brand from $999 up to $3,000. It all depends on what you need and how much you can spend.
That way, Alienware fits Fortnite players very well, since everyone can choose their fitting rig from a whole variety of models and options.
Read Can an Alienware Laptop Run ARK?
What kind of laptop do you need for Fortnite?
Multiplayer games intended for huge audiences normally don’t require players to have very recent and pushed hardware.
To be honest, you could play Fortnite on almost any laptop you would pick for work (8GB of RAM, Intel Core i5, etc.). Check cheap Alienware alternatives for more options.
Still, let’s see which are the recommended configurations for the game, according to the Epic Games site:
- Video Card: Intel HD 4000 on PC or Intel Iris Pro 5200 or equivalent AMD GPU on Mac
- Processor: Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit or Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6
As you can see, Fortnite really doesn’t require much of your machine, similar to other popular games such as League of Legends.
An integrated graphics can do just fine to run the game properly. However, dedicated graphics take the weight off your CPU and help your machine last longer.
Minimum requirements also are only a starting point, a minimum threshold to know if your old laptop will run certain games.
You should not take it as a recommendation of what you should buy if you are looking to buy a new laptop.
Talking about recommendation, the Epic Games site also shows what the recommended hardware for playing Fortnite is:
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 or equivalent DX11 GPU
- Video Memory: 2 GB VRAM
- Processor: Core i5-7300U 3.5 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit or Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6
If you are really only thinking about playing Fortnite and other light games on your machine, then getting a laptop or desktop with the above configuration will do just fine.
If you pick up a desktop, you can change your GPU later for a better model when you decide that you want to play recent AAA titles.
For that, it would be recommended that you buy a GPU with 6GB of VRAM. Not all games need that, but with such a GPU you can remain safe that it will last for years before you need to upgrade it again.
Here goes a tip out of experience: if you live in a country where gaming hardware became incredibly expensive lately, a middle ground between minimum and recommended can be enough to play Fortnite.
For example, right now many good laptops have the following configurations (or very close):
- 1TB of hard drive/256-512GB of SSD
- Intel Core i5 (8th generation forward)
- 8GB of RAM (if you can get 16GB, that’s perfect)
- Intel HD 620 or some Iris series graphic card (these are pretty good cards considering they are integrated)
This won’t handle all recent AAA titles (Sekiro runs poorly, NFS Heat is a no-no, Biomutant is okay because of Unreal Engine, etc.), but handles perfectly any free-to-play game and even “freemium” games (you play for free but need to pay for better resources).
If you use your laptop in a stationary location, consider reading 3 Best Docking Stations for Alienware Laptop.
2 Best Alienware Laptops For Fortnite
The last section was an extended commentary to help people on a tight budget considering whether to pick a gamer laptop or a cheaper option.
Now, for the gamers truly looking for a powerful Alienware laptop to play Fortnite, many options can be considered. For this article, we picked two amazing machines.
Alienware m17 R3
Last update on 2024-04-26 / As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more about us.
Among Alienware laptop models currently under production, the m17 R3 is one of the cheapest, and that’s the whole reason why we are recommending it.
As already mentioned, you don’t need the ultimate hardware to play Fortnite. Still, any Alienware model is already very off the ground.
So, picking up the cheapest model with the cheapest configurations will still get you a laptop that is not only suited for Fortnite but any recent AAA game.
The m17 R3 price starts at $1,579.99 with its minimum specs and can go all the way up to $2,299.99.
You can buy this laptop on Amazon or Dell.
The less powerful version has:
- 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10750H
- Windows 10 Home English
- AMD Radeon™ RX 5500M 4GB GDDR6
- 16GB DDR4 2666MHz
- 256GB PCIe M.2 SSD
- 17.3-in. display
The best version you can get, though, has the following:
- 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10875H
- Windows 10 Home English
- NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 – Max Performance
- 32GB DDR4 2666MHz
- 1TB (2x 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 [Boot] + 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD [Storage]
- 17.3-in. display
Pros
- A good number of ports
- The software allows you to change the speed of fans
- The keyboard is mechanical, which is optimal for gaming
Cons
- Poor battery life (that has been a common complaint about Alienware’s laptops)
Alienware m15 R4
Last update on 2024-04-26 / As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more about us.
Some gamers might be more into smaller displays when they want to pick a laptop. One reason for that is that 15-inch screen laptops are easier to carry around, both because of weight and size.
If that is what you like, m15 R4 has a range of laptops that can be cheap (for an Alienware laptop, of course) or can go up to high standards to deliver the best gaming experience.
You can find the whole line of m15 R4 both on Amazon and Dell.
Minimum specifications for the laptop are:
- 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10870H
- Windows 10 Home English
- 32GB DDR4 2933MHz
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 6GB GDDR6
- 15.6-in. display
On the other hand, if you are willing to pay more and have the best possible hardware allowed by m15 R4 series, this is what you get:
- 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10870H
- Windows 10 Home English
- 32GB DDR4 2933MHz
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080 8GB GDDR6
- 15.6-in. display
Pros
- Excellent gaming performance
- Not too expensive
- Same pros as m17 R3
Cons
- Overheating is a possibility
- Middling audio
Is Alienware the best for Fortnite?
The best gaming rig for Fortnite is that which fits your pocket. Because, again, this game doesn’t require you to spend hundreds of dollars on a top-notch laptop or desktop.
That being said, your pick will be defined by how much you can spend and want to spend.
If you are going to play other heavy, hardware demanding titles beyond just Fortnite, then an Alienware machine is perfect because of its durability, Dell’s support accessibility, and simply because of hardware power.
Best alternative to Alienware for Fortnite
We already discussed that you can pick almost any laptop, download Fortnite, and start playing right away. So, what is the best alternative to Alienware? Below you will check a laptop that is not expensive but can take care of higher-end games if you choose to play them.
ASUS TUF
Last update on 2024-04-26 / As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more about us.
You don’t really need to spend more than $1,000 to play Fortnite on a good laptop and ASUS TUF is the living proof of that. Its starting price on the ASUS website is $799,99 but you can find it for varying prices.
On Amazon, you can find different versions of the ASUS TUF. Any version of the laptop comes with great specs and a price that should fit your pocket. The cheapest you can find is this one.
Specifications are as follows:
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB Graphics (Base: 1395MHz, Boost: 1560MHz, TDP: 50W)
- Quad-core AMD Ryzen 5 R5-3550H Processor (the link for Amazon features a laptop with Ryzen 7)
- 15.6” 120Hz Full HD (1920×1080) IPS-Type display
- 256GB NVMe SSD | 8GB DDR4 RAM | Windows 10 Home
It is powerful enough to play Fortnite and many other games. For its price, it is okay that it only comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD.
You won’t be able to store a lot of files, but you can solve that with an external hard drive. What matters is running games at maximum quality, and the SSD technology does that better than any HD.
Pros
- Affordable gaming laptop
- Backlit RGB keyboard
- Its processor has performance comparable to Core i5
Cons
- No G-Sync
- Single-channel RAM
- Low battery life (a common thing for gaming laptops)
Final Thoughts
Picking up Alienware to play Fortnite is a matter of truly needing such a powerful laptop. If you will play graphics-heavy AAA titles, then Alienware is an excellent choice to handle all the processing.
On the other hand, if you are interested only in Fortnite and other chill multiplayer games, picking up a more basic laptop can do the job just as well.
