If you're looking for the best laptop for Football Manager 2023, you don't necessarily need a top-of-the-line model. However, for an optimal experience, we suggest getting a powerful laptop that can run the game and multiple leagues without any issues. This way, you can simulate deep into the future and live out your managerial ambitions from home.
With this in mind, and because Sports Interactive aims to make Football Manager accessible to everyone, most modern laptops should be able to handle the game and its relatively low system requirements.
However, there are a few laptops that we think stand out for the ultimate managerial experience. For example, opting for something with a powerful processor and a considerable amount of RAM, ideally around 8GB or above, should allow you to load up tons of leagues for a more in-depth save.
Adding a good graphics card into the mix for 3D gameplay should then be the final piece of the puzzle to maximise your immersion into your virtual football management world.
So, whether you're looking for a powerful gaming laptop, like the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro, or something more suited for everyday use, like the Acer Aspire 5, our list has it all. Let's get started!
Best laptop for Football Manager 2023
- Acer Aspire 5 A515-56 - best everyday laptop for Football Manager
- ASUS TUF Gaming A15 - Football Manager to the max
- Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 16 - top gaming laptop for Football Manager
- ASUS VivoBook X712EA - a Football Manager laptop on a budget
- HUAWEI MateBook X Pro - keeping it lightweight and portable
- Dell Inspiron 17 3793 - big screen gaming at 17 inches
- Gigabyte G5 MD - a great Football Manager laptop under 1000
Acer Aspire 5 A515-56
Best everyday laptop for Football Manager 2023
CPU: Intel Core i5 - Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
Storage: 1TB M.2 SSD - Refresh Rate: 60Hz - Resolution: 1080p
We appreciate you're probably looking for a laptop that you can use for everyday life rather than exclusively playing FM.
Thankfully, we feel the Acer Aspire 5 A515-56 ticks this box as it is thin, portable, and comes with a huge 1TD SSD hard drive which should be suitable for working as well as gaming.
Moreover, Acer boasts its lithium battery has an average life of 8.5 hours, meaning you can play FM for hours on end on a single charge when you're on a mission to scout the next best wonderkid for your team.
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Its 12th Gen Intel Core processor is nothing to look past either, plus the NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics card should mean you can play FM in the highest graphics settings possible to completely immerse yourself in each game.
On the whole, if you're looking for what is, overall, one of the best everyday laptops to game with during your downtime, then this Acer device may be for you.
ASUS TUF Gaming A15
Best laptop for Football Manager 2023 at max settings
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS - Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
Storage: 512GB M.2 SSD - Refresh Rate: 144Hz - Resolution: 1080p
If you're really looking to maximise you're football management experience, then this ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2023) is definitely one we'd recommend considering.
It's almost overkill for a game like Football Manager, but if you want to play you're favourite AAA titles on it as well, then it should certainly have you covered on the specs side of things.
For instance, you get the latest Nvidia RTX 4060 complete with support for DLSS 3 Frame Generation, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and an impressive AMD Ryzen 7 processor, all of which go well above and beyond the requirements for the game.
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It also comes with an IPS display for wider viewing angles and more vibrant colours to showcase all the action in the best quality possible. With a 144hz refresh rate with QHD resolution as well, it's up there with some of the best 1440p monitors around.
All in all, the ASUS TUF Gaming A15 range looks to be worth considering if you're serious about getting the most out of your Football Manager experience.
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 16
Best gaming laptop for Football Manager 2023
CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H - Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
Storage: 512GB M.2 SSD - Refresh Rate: 144Hz - Resolution: 1080p
If you're looking for a high-performance gaming laptop to run Football Manager smoothly, then this Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 16 might be the device for you.
With its 11th Gen Intel Core processor, this laptop should be more than powerful enough to load up every game in the league if you so desired, especially with its 32GB of RAM and 512GB SSD.
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Moreover, with its NVIDIA GeForce graphics, you'll be able to max. out the graphics settings as well to watch your team win in glorious 3D.
Ultimately, we feel it's hard to look past this Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 16 if you're after a powerful gaming laptop for Football Manager.
ASUS VivoBook X712EA
Best budget laptop for Football Manager 2023
CPU: Intel Core i3 - Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 600
Storage: 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD - Refresh Rate: 60Hz - Resolution: 1080p
The ASUS VivoBook X712EA should be a great budget laptop option to consider thanks to its large 17.3" screen and its Intel UHD Graphics 600 card, ideal for showcasing your Football Manager games.
Moreover, it weighs just 2kg so should be easy for commuting or traveling with if, for example, you want to use this laptop for work as well.
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With a 128 SSD hard drive, there is more than enough space to house FM23 and a plethora of other gaming titles despite its lower price tag.
All in all, if you're looking for something relatively inexpensive, then this VivoBook, is one to keep in mind.
Huawei MateBook X Pro
Best lightweight laptop for Football Manager 2023
CPU: Intel Core i7 - Graphics: Intel Iris XeGraphics
Storage: 1TB SSD - Refresh Rate: 60Hz - Resolution: 3000 x 2000
The HUAWEI MateBook X Pro is designed to be a powerful bit of kit for business use, however, we think it could also make for a great laptop to play FM.
One of its most appealing elements is that it weighs just 1.33kg, making it extremely light and portable for when you want to take your Football Manager sessions elsewhere.
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It's also worth noting that it comes with a 3K display so you'll probably be able to view FM in more detail than you've ever viewed a Football Manager game before.
With 16GB of RAM, the MateBook X Pro should also be lightning-quick which can come in handy when you want to max out the number of players in your Football Manager world.
Dell Inspiron 17 3793
Best 17" laptop for Football Manager 2023
CPU: Intel Core i5 - Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics
Storage: 512GB SSD - Refresh Rate: 60Hz - Resolution: 1080p
To view as much data as possible on your screen at once to help you make tactical decisions, you'll need a laptop with a big display.
The Dell Inspiron 17 3793 comes with a large 17.3" screen and also features Intel's UHD Graphics which should be suitable for watching your Football Manager games in 3D.
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Additionally, if you want to use this laptop for work or have more games than just Football Manager you want to download, then its 512GB SSD will likely be suitable for all your storage needs.
Ultimately, if it's a big screen you're after, then this Dell device might be the laptop for you.
Gigabyte G5 MD
Best gaming laptop under 1000 for Football Manager 2023
CPU: Intel Core i5-11400H - Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
Storage: 512GB SSD - Refresh Rate: 60Hz - Resolution: 1080p
This high-end gaming laptop appears to be an excellent choice that shouldn't break the bank with its price tag too much.
The Gigabyte G5 MD comes with a 512GB SSD and 16GB of RAM which should allow you to load up multiple leagues and run them all quickly and effectively.
Moreover, it features an impressive 11th Gen i5 processor, plus a top-of-the-range NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card that should be more than capable of showcasing FM's graphics in the highest possible settings.
On the whole, this Gigabyte laptop appears to be an excellent choice for gaming, thus making it well worth considering for Football Manager.
Frequently asked questions about laptops for Football Manager 2023
Laptops can sometimes be quite difficult to get your head around, especially for gaming, but don't worry because we've answered some of the most commonly asked questions.
What are the minimum system requirements for Football Manager 2023?
According to Steam, the minimum requirements are:
- Requires: a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7
- Processor: Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 X2
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel GMA X4500, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, AMD/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 7GB available space
However, we'd suggest going for a slightly more powerful laptop to run the game quicker and to showcase the 3D graphics at their max capacity. This is especially important if you're looking to run a save for multiple years, as they'll be a ton of data to process each day you want to progress further in your get.
How do you configure your settings for Football Manager?
When running Football Manager, we'd recommend going into your control panel and selecting the 'Maximum Performance' or 'High Performance' power setting to get the best performance possible from your device.
For your display, it's worth checking you have the right graphics card selected upon start-up.
For NVIDIA cards, go into the NVIDIA control panel and, under ‘3D settings’ and ‘program settings’, add ‘fm.exe’. We suggest running with the more powerful NVIDIA card over the integrated graphics.
AMD/ATI cards are a little harder to get your head around due to the large variation in versions; however, the following process should be roughly the same for each one.
For AMD/ATI Radeon cards, go to Graphics > PowerPlay. Set this to 'Plugged In' and the battery to 'Maximum Performance'. Then, if the option is available, go to Graphics > 3D and move the slider across to Optimal Performance.
Finally, set your switchable graphics tab in your catalyst control centre to 'Optimal Performance', then do the same for Steam.
How much storage do you need for Football Manager?
As mentioned in the minimum system requirements, Football Manager requires at least 7GB of space; however, we'd recommend opting for a laptop with slightly more than that to run the game smoothly and not at peak capacity.
Buying a laptop with enough storage for your personal files is also important if you intend to use the device for more than just gaming, as well as for general laptop storage such as Windows updates.
On top of that, if you intend to download various graphics packs, then you'll need to take them into consideration when factoring in storage.
Generally speaking, a laptop with between 500GB and 1TB worth of storage should be more than enough for both your personal and gaming needs.
However, you can also purchase larger hard drives to upgrade your available space if needed in the future.
How much should you spend on a laptop for Football Manager?
This will ultimately depend on your budget and what you're looking to get out of the laptop.
As previously mentioned, Football Manager has always been built to be accessible for everyone with a laptop, which is one of the reasons why the graphics are not as detailed as the likes of FIFA.
With that being said, you shouldn't need to spend loads to get a decent laptop to run FM smoothly.
However, if you're someone who enjoys loading up the biggest database possible, it may be worth spending a bit extra to get a laptop with more memory and RAM to be able to handle the immense amount of processing.
Some of the best budget gaming laptops should suffice here though with it being not a particularly graphics-heavy title, as you should find they have the processing power to keep up.
Ultimately though, you should only purchase a laptop that you can afford based on your budget. Our one piece of advice is that you can always upgrade your setup later down the line.
Can you play Football Manager on a MacBook?
Yes, Football Manager is available on Mac OS X.
The minimum system requirements are similar to Windows, with the main difference being with the operating system.
You'll require a 10.13.6, 10.14.6, 10.15.5, 11 – 64-bit operating system if you plan on playing FM on a MacBook.
What size laptop should you get for Football Manager?
The size of laptops can vary quite significantly, with the smallest on offer usually being around 11" whilst the biggest upwards of 17". That being said, deciding on which size to get for Football Manager can be a little tricky.
If you're solely choosing a laptop to play the game, then selecting one with a larger screen can be more beneficial as it allows you to see more information, like player attributes and performance, at the same time.
You could even take this a step further by hooking up a much larger monitor with your laptop.
However, if you also plan to use this laptop for work, for example, then selecting something around the 15" mark may be a little easier to transport, whilst still being big enough view multiple fields of data before your next fixture.
Does Football Manager drain battery life?
When used, a laptop's battery degrades regardless of whether you're using it for gaming.
Having said that, gaming uses more power from your PC, so it will likely drain the battery faster, thus requiring you to recharge it more frequently.
Generally speaking though, this shouldn't drain your laptop's battery life any faster than it would normally, particularly as Football Manager isn't the most demanding PC game.
If the battery of your laptop does become particularly worn though, you can often buy replacements from selected retailers.