Minecraft is one of the most popular games on the Internet right now thanks to Mr. PewDiePie who revived this game back to the Trending games list.
In this game, you can build almost anything thing using blocks(Creative Mode). People recreate famous buildings, build houses, stadiums and almost anything that you can think of. This doesn’t mean it is just about building things.
You can even kill Zombies and the dreaded Creeper (Survival Mode), go on an adventure with your friends (Adventure Mode) or you can just watch other people’s creations without actually participating (Spectator Mode).
This game uses Pixel Art graphics that don’t look impressive. This means it doesn’t require a very high-end gaming laptop to run the game. You can run this game on the highest settings with a mid-end gaming laptop.
Minecraft has a total of 17 editions but only three are the most popular. They are Bedrock edition, Java edition, and Windows 10 edition.
Page Contents
Difference Between Bedrock, Java and Windows 10 Editions Of Minecraft
The original Bedrock edition is quite old and doesn’t allow any mods or any new features like new maps, textures, etc. The servers are old and most people don’t play this version.
Java edition comes with all the mods and new features with the original download but in Windows 10 edition you have to download the mods and new textures separately for free. Therefore, the original file size of Java Edition is more than the Windows 10 edition.
The Image and Graphics quality of Java edition is best followed by Windows 10 edition. The Java Edition of Minecraft is more resource-intensive than the Bedrock edition and Windows 10 edition.
The Java and Bedrock edition doesn’t allow Crossplay meaning if you are playing these editions on a PC then you cannot play against a person using Android or iOS or a Console. The Windows 10 edition has Crossplay support.
The Windows 10 edition costs the highest followed by Java edition and the least pricey is the Bedrock edition.
The most important thing to note here is that all three editions use different Servers meaning you cannot play against a person with Windows 10 edition if you’re using the Java edition and vice-versa.
If you had to choose among the three then go for either Java edition or Windows 10 edition. Both of these have the most players and the graphics quality is the best among all editions.
If you care more about Crossplay then Windows 10 edition is great for you otherwise go for the Java edition.
Now that you know what this game is all about it’s time I share with you the list of 5 best and cheap laptops to run all three editions of Minecraft.
Quick Summary
The best laptop to play Minecraft Windows 10 Edition is HP Pavilion and a budget laptop to play the Windows 10 edition on the highest graphic settings is Asus VivoBook S15.
The best laptop to play Minecraft Java Edition is MSI GF63 and a budget laptop to play the Java Edition on the highest graphic settings is Acer Aspire 5.
The best laptop to play the Bedrock edition is Dell Inspiron 15 and a budget laptop to play the Bedrock edition on high graphics is Acer Aspire 5.
The best Laptop for Streaming all three editions of Minecraft in Full HD is HP Pavilion 15. MSI GF63 is also a great option for streaming Minecraft in HD quality.
Quick Comparison
Name | CPU, GPU & RAM | My Rating (Out of 10) | Price |
MSI GF63 | Intel Core i5-9300H, Nvidia GTX 1650 8GB | 8.4 | Check Price |
HP Pavilion 15 | Intel Core i7-8565U Nvidia MX 250 16GB | 8.1 | Check Price |
Asus VivoBook S15 | Intel Core i5-8265U Nvidia MX250 8GB | 7.8 | Check Price |
Dell Inspiron 15 | Intel Core i5-8250U Intel HD Graphics 16GB | 7.6 | Check Price |
Acer Aspire 5 | Intel Core i5-8265U Nvidia MX250 8GB | 7.5 | Check Price |
Minimum and Recommended System Requirements for Java and Windows 10 editions of Minecraft
Since Minecraft Bedrock edition has gotten really old and doesn’t have many players so I will only mention the requirements for Java and Windows 10 edition.
Minimum Requirements for Minecraft Java Edition
CPU – Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz or equivalent / AMD A8-7600 APU 3.1 GHz or equivalent.
RAM – 4 GB.
GPU (Integrated) – Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) or AMD Radeon R5 series (Kaveri line) with OpenGL 4.4.
GPU (Dedicated) – Nvidia GeForce 400 Series or AMD Radeon HD 7000 series with OpenGL 4.4.
Hard Disk Space – 1 GB and higher for core game and downloadable items like maps, textures.
Hard Drive – HDD.
OS (Windows) – Windows 7 and Up.
OS (Mac) – Any 64-bit OS X using 10.9 Maverick or newer.
Internet Connection – Broadband Connection with 256 Kbps or higher.
Recommended Requirements for Minecraft Java Edition
CPU – Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz / AMD A10-7800 APU 3.5 GHz or equivalent.
RAM – 8 GB.
GPU – Nvidia GeForce 700 Series or AMD Radeon Rx 200 Series with OpenGL 4.5.
Hard Disk Space – 4 GB.
Hard Drive – SSD.
OS (Windows) – Windows 10 64 bit.
OS (Mac) – macOS 10.12 Sierra.
Internet Connection – Broadband with speed of 512 Kbps or higher.
Minimum Requirements for Minecraft Windows 10 Edition
CPU – Intel Celeron J4105 / AMD FX-4100.
RAM – 4 GB.
GPU – Intel HD Graphics 4000 / AMD Radeon R5.
Hard Disk Space – 1 GB.
Hard Drive – HDD.
OS – Windows 10 32-bit.
Internet Connection – Broadband with speed of 256 Kbps or higher.
Recommended Requirements for Minecraft Windows 10 Edition
CPU – Intel i7-6500U / AMD A8-6600K.
RAM – 8 GB.
GPU – Nvidia GeForce 940M / AMD Radeon HD 8570D.
Hard Disk Space – 4 GB.
Hard Drive – SSD.
OS – Windows 10 64-bit.
Internet Connection – Broadband with speed of 512 Kbps or higher.
Best Laptops for Minecraft Java, Windows 10 and Bedrock Edition – Detailed Review
Now that you know my recommended picks it’s time to get into detailed reviews of the laptops.
HP PAVILION 15 – Best Laptop for Minecraft Windows 10 Edition
CPU : Intel Core i7-8565U | GPU : Nvidia GeForce MX 250 with 4GB VRAM | RAM : 16 GB | STORAGE : 1 TB HDD | DISPLAY : 15.6″ Full HD(1920 x 1080) IPS | WEIGHT : 4.2 lbs (1.92 kg)
The HP Pavilion is a relatively lightweight laptop that is all about power at a reasonable price. Runs Minecraft without any lags and drops in FPS.
The build quality is not great because the entire body is made of cheap plastic. The laptop is not sturdy at all and is susceptible to damage if you apply heavy pressure or drop it.
The Design is very good and has a slim look to it. The backlights are white in color and the keyboard and touchpad are very responsive.
The HP Pavilion 15 has a great CPU, GPU and RAM combination which just screams Power. You can run games like Minecraft and Roblox on high settings without any lags or drops in FPS. It is not the best fit for playing AAA games like GTA V, Battlefield, etc.
The Display on the HP Pavilion 15 is IPS Full HD with excellent color contrast and very good color coverage. The viewing angles are very comfortable and wide enough. The screen is very bright and a treat to look at.
The Pavilion 15 packs a 1 TB HDD Storage which is a lot for a laptop. However, the HDD hard disk is slower than SSD which means you’ll get slower boot times and program loading times than SSD.
The HP Pavilion 15 uses a 3-cell 41 Wh battery that has a below average battery life of around 6 hours for normal use and less than 1 hour for gaming.
The HP Pavilion is a great choice for the Windows 10 Edition of Minecraft.
PROS
(A) Excellent Display with great color contrast and color accuracy.
(B) Great Performance.
(C) Very high Storage capacity.
(D) Great Keyboard and Touchpad.
(E) Lightweight.
CONS
(a) Battery Life is Poor.
(b) Build Quality is not great.
(c) SSD Storage is not available.
MSI GF63 – Best Laptop For Minecraft Java Edition
CPU : Intel Core i5-9300H | GPU : Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 with 4GB VRAM | RAM : 8 GB | STORAGE : 512 GB SSD | DISPLAY : 15.6″ Full HD(1920 x 1080) IPS | WEIGHT : 4.1 lbs (1.86 kg)
The MSI GF63 is one of the most lightweight gaming laptops with a power packed performance. It can run Minecraft and other games like Roblox on the highest graphic settings with ease.
The build quality is decent in which the lid is made of Aluminium but the rest of the body is made of plastic. It feels good on your hands and is sturdy.
MSI GF63 has a great design that looks very slim and sleek. The backlights are red in color which gives you a true feeling of a gaming laptop.
The combination of 9th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM and Nvidia GTX 1650 with 4GB VRAM makes it one of the best hardware for high gaming performance in Minecraft. You won’t get any lags or drops in FPS while playing this game. However, you can play AAA titles only in medium settings and may notice some lags when played in high graphic settings.
The Display is Full HD IPS which means you get good and wide viewing angles and the color contrast is very good. Color Coverage is not the best. Another problem with the screen is that it is not very bright and appears dim especially inside rooms with low light.
It has a very good storage of 512 GB which is more than enough and uses SSD Hard Drive. The SSD hard drive means you get fast boot times and very fast loading times for the different programs and games that you run.
The MSI GF63 uses a 3-cell 52Wh battery which has a life of around 5-6 hours for normal use and around 1 hour for gaming. As you can tell the battery life is poor.
MSI GF63 is a great option for the Java Edition of Minecraft if you can ignore the battery life and screen brightness.
PROS
(A) Beautiful Design which looks very slim and sleek.
(B) Great Performance. Runs Minecraft very smoothly.
(C) Color Contrast Ratio is excellent.
(D) Very Lightweight for a Gaming Laptop.
(E) Fast SSD Storage.
(F) Sturdy Build Quality.
CONS
(a) The Screen appears Dim under low light conditions.
(b) Battery life is below par.
ASUS VIVOBOOK S15 – Best Budget Laptop for Minecraft Windows 10 Edition
CPU : Intel Core i5-8265U | GPU : Nvidia GeForce MX250 with 2GB VRAM | RAM : 8 GB | STORAGE : 256 GB SSD | DISPLAY : 15.6″ Full HD(1920 x 1080) IPS | WEIGHT : 4 lbs (1.8 kg)
The Asus VivoBook is one of the lightest budget laptops that runs Minecraft Windows 10 edition with zero lag and constant FPS.
The build quality is decent for the price and uses plastic with an Aluminium finish that looks premium. It is not that sturdy but not susceptible to damage under low pressure.
The VivoBook has thin bezels and the lid is easy to open and close. The thickness is around 0.71 inches which is quite slim and sleek for a budget laptop.
The overall hardware is very good with a combination of i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and Nvidia MX250 graphics card. It runs Minecraft and Roblox easily without lags. However, this is not a great option for AAA titles on medium or high graphics.
The Display is FULL HD IPS but the color contrast is poor. The thin bezels give you good viewing angles but the color accuracy and saturation are not great. For the price, I would say the display is okay.
The storage capacity is low with around 256GB space. However, the good thing is that it has an SSD hard drive which gives you faster load times and boot times.
Asus VivoBook S15 has a 3-cell 42Wh battery which has a battery life of around 5.5 hours for normal use and less than 1 hour for gaming. The overall battery life is poor.
PROS
(A) Great Performance for the Price.
(B) Good Build Quality.
(C) SSD Storage available.
(D) Very Lightweight.
CONS
(a) Display is not great with poor color contrast.
(b) Poor Battery Life.
(c) Low Storage Capacity.
DELL INSPIRON 15 – Best Laptop for Minecraft Bedrock Edition
CPU : Intel Core i5-8250U | GPU : Intel UHD 630 Graphics | RAM : 16 GB | STORAGE : 1 TB HDD | DISPLAY : 15.6″ Full HD(1920 x 1080) IPS | WEIGHT : 4.9 lbs (2.23 kg)
The Dell Inspiron 15 has very high RAM which makes it a great option for streaming Minecraft in HD quality without any drop in FPS or stream quality.
The Build quality is semi-decent. The body is made of plastic and the looks are not something to die for. It is not very sturdy.
The Inspiron 15 is thicker and bulkier than MSI GF63 and HP Pavilion 15. The sides don’t look sleek but you get a fingerprint reader with this one.
The processor and RAM on this laptop make an excellent combination. Getting 16GB RAM for the price is definitely a steal. Although it uses Intel HD Graphics you can increase the VRAM and it has no problems with running Minecraft and games like Roblox. The overall performance of the laptop is excellent.
The Display on the Dell Inspiron 15 is not the best. Even though it has an IPS Full HD display the screen appears dim and the color contrast, as well as the color accuracy, is not great. The screen has thick bezels but the viewing angles are comfortable.
The storage capacity is very high(1 TB) which is more than enough for storing games, movies, and other big files. The hard disk is HDD which means you’ll get slower loading and boot times than laptops with SSD storage.
The Dell Inspiron 15 has a 41 Wh 3-cell battery with a very poor battery life of around 5 hours for normal use and about 45 – 50 minutes for gaming. It is highly advisable that you play Minecraft while it is plugged in to charge.
The speakers on the laptop are exceptional and very loud. It also has surround sound.
PROS
(A) Excellent Performance for the price.
(B) Very high Storage Capacity.
(C) Excellent Speakers with Surround Sound.
(D) Affordable.
CONS
(a) The Screen appears Dim.
(b) Very Poor Battery Life.
(c) Semi-decent Design and Build Quality.
ACER ASPIRE 5 – Best Budget Laptop for Minecraft Java Edition
CPU : Intel Core i5-8265U | GPU : Nvidia MX250 with 2GB VRAM | RAM : 8 GB | STORAGE : 512 GB SSD | DISPLAY : 15.6″ Full HD(1920 x 1080) IPS | WEIGHT : 4.2 lbs (1.90 kg)
Acer Aspire 5 is a budget laptop that runs Minecraft Windows 10 edition on high settings very easily.
The build quality is not the best. The lid has an aluminium matte finish but the rest of the body is made from cheap plastic.
The Aspire 5 is lighter than Inspiron 15 but is thicker than MSI GF63, HP Pavilion 15 and the Dell Inspiron 15. The sides don’t look sleek and the lid requires some force to open.
The performance of Aspire 5 is surprisingly good for a budget laptop. The i5 processor along with Nvidia MX250 and 8 GB RAM makes a great combination that runs games like Minecraft and Roblox with relative ease. You can also play AAA games on low to medium settings.
The Aspire 5 has an IPS Full HD Display but the color contrast is poor. The bezels are thick and the viewing angles are not great but decent. The color accuracy is good enough. Overall, the display is not good but for the price it’s okay.
The Acer Aspire 5 has a 4-cell 48Wh battery which gives you a battery life of around 9 hours for normal use and 1.5-2 hours for gaming. The battery life is excellent for a budget laptop.
The Aspire 5 from Acer is an excellent budget option for those who want to play Minecraft Windows 10 edition without any lags or drops in FPS.
PROS
(A) Great Performance for a Budget Laptop.
(B) Excellent Battery Life.
(C) Lightweight.
(D) Decent Design for the price.
(E) Very Affordable.
CONS
(a) Display is not great.
(b) Keyboard is soft and the keys require a lot of force.
(c) Build Quality is not good because of the Cheap Plastic used.
What To Look For When Buying A Laptop For Minecraft – Buyer’s Guide
The most important factors for running Minecraft Java, Windows 10 and Bedrock edition are the CPU, RAM, and the GPU. Other factors that also decide your purchase are the Display Quality and the Keyboard if you don’t use an external one.
CPU
The Java edition of Minecraft recommends a processor like Intel Core i5-4690 or above to run the game smoothly. My best-recommended laptop for the Java Edition MSI GF63 has a newer version of the i5 processor. It uses 8th generation Core i5-9300H which is more than enough to run the game.
The Windows 10 edition of Minecraft recommends an Intel Core i7-6500U processor for the best gameplay.
Although it is a little exaggerated because I have played Windows 10 edition on a Core i5 processor without any lags or drops in FPS. But, just to be safe, I have recommended a laptop with an i7 processor which is the HP Pavilion 15.
An i5 processor is more than enough for running the Bedrock edition.
RAM
Both versions of the game recommend 8GB RAM for the best performance. All of my recommended laptops have 8GB DDR4 RAM which is more than enough for playing the game smoothly.
However, if you want to stream Minecraft on Twitch or YouTube Live then you will need around 16 GB RAM for uninterrupted performance and an excellent Full HD 1080p stream quality.
You can also stream in HD 720p quality with 8GB RAM without any quality issues but you might face some stream quality issues when streaming at Full HD 1080p quality with 8GB RAM.
GPU
The Java edition of Minecraft recommends Nvidia GeForce 700 series or above and my recommended laptops for the Java edition MSI GF63 and Acer Aspire 5 both have better Graphics Cards than what is being recommended.
MSI GF63 has Nvidia GTX 1650 which blows away GeForce 700 series and the Acer Aspire has Nvidia MX250 which also outperforms the 700M Series.
The Windows 10 Edition recommends Nvidia GeForce 900M series and my recommended laptops for the Windows 10 edition HP Pavilion 15 and Asus VivoBook S15 have Nvidia GeForce MX250 graphic cards. GeForce MX250 has better performance and consumes less power than the GeForce 900M series.
You can run Bedrock edition with Intel HD Graphics that is why I recommended the Dell Inspiron 15.
DISPLAY
If you consider the Display then HP Pavilion 15 has the best Display among all. MSI GF63 has the next best display followed by Asus VivoBook S15.
All of these recommendations have decent Full HD IPS displays which is good enough to enjoy the graphics and image quality of what the three editions of Minecraft have to offer.
KEYBOARD
Minecraft requires a Keyboard and a Mouse to play the game and I recommend getting an external Keyboard and mouse to play the game. If you want to use the Keyboard of the laptop then the best keyboard among my recommendations is MSI GF63. The keyboard of MSI GF63 has great key travel and excellent tactile feedback so you will enjoy using the keyboard.
The Keyboards of HP Pavilion 15 and Asus VivoBook S15 are also good for typing and gaming. The keys have decent travel and tactile feedback.
However, the keyboards of Acer Aspire 5 and Dell Inspiron 15 are not that great. If you buy any one of them for gaming then you should buy an external keyboard.
Conclusion
Minecraft is one of the most played Online games on the Internet. The Java Edition is the most popular but the Windows 10 version is also catching up fast.
All of my recommended laptops are good enough to run the the appropriate versions.