Can My Laptop Run Permafrost?

The official requirements

The Steam store page lists the same requirements for every PC, laptops included. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5 and needs a 64-bit processor and operating system. It needs 30 GB of free space.

When a requirement lists two parts, such as a GTX 1060 or an RX 590, either one meets that line. Laptop chips usually run slower than desktop parts with the same name, so aim a little higher than the minimum. Windows is the only supported operating system for now.

Quick laptop check by GPU

The graphics chip is the part that decides most laptop results. The list below sorts common laptop GPUs against the official specs and the reports players posted during the preview. Where no player report exists, the estimate is based only on the official minimum.

Memory matters too, because 16 GB of RAM is the minimum. One of the smoothest laptop reports came from a machine with 32 GB. If your laptop has 8 GB, it falls short of the official line.

What laptop players reported

One player on an RTX 4060 laptop with a Ryzen 7 7735HS and 32 GB of RAM said the game ran surprisingly fine without lag for two hours. Their session ended only when the engine crashed. An official community manager thanked them and passed the feedback to the team.

Another player with an RTX 4070 laptop and a Core i7-14700HX had repeated crashes at first. After switching the game to DirectX 11, as others suggested, it ran normally. The frame rate stayed fairly low, and they only reached around 60 FPS with frame generation on.

At the low end, a player with a GTX 1650 and a Ryzen 5 3400 reported a maximum of about 12 FPS with everything on low. The reply in the thread was simple: that system is below the minimum requirements. If your laptop is in that range, Permafrost is not a good fit yet.

Tips to get more FPS on a laptop

Laptops lose a lot of performance when power is limited. A hardware guide on requirements warns that you can lose about half your FPS on battery. These steps help most.

• Plug in the charger and switch Windows to a performance power mode.
• Make sure the game runs on the dedicated GPU, not the integrated one.
• Update your graphics driver before the first launch.
• Turn on DLSS or FSR in Quality mode, plus frame generation if your GPU supports it.
• Start from Medium or Low and lower the screen percentage if needed.
• Turn off motion blur and close overlays such as Discord or the NVIDIA app.

The best settings guide explains each option in more detail. Upscaling is the single biggest gain, because it renders at a lower resolution and rebuilds the image. On a laptop screen, the drop in sharpness is often hard to notice.

If the game crashes on your laptop

The most common fix players shared was launching in DirectX 11 mode. Crashes on DirectX 12 often happened at character creation or while loading. The RTX 4070 laptop player above fixed their crashes this way.

Other advice from the forum includes reinstalling the graphics driver and disabling overlays. If you have overclocked or undervolted your laptop, return it to stock settings while testing. Install the game on an SSD if you can, since slow drives can add stutter while new areas load.

What to expect from performance

Even strong PCs saw stutter during the preview. A creator reported dropping below 50 to 60 FPS without frame generation, with hitching when loading into new zones. A reviewer of the full build saw lag entering Cold Zones and after fast travel.

That reviewer also found little difference between High and Medium settings, so lowering the preset may not fix everything. These problems come from early optimisation rather than your laptop alone. The developers have said optimisation, including for lower-end hardware, remains a priority.

The team already made progress during the demo, cutting video memory use from about 6 GB to 4.3 GB in tests. A later development update promised quicker loading and steadier frame rates. Expect performance to keep improving through Early Access.

MacBooks, Linux and Steam Deck

Permafrost is Windows only, and the Steam page lists no macOS or Linux build. A MacBook cannot run it natively. There is also no console version during Early Access.

The Steam page shows no Steam Deck compatibility rating, and no Deck performance reports were found during research. Since the Deck sits well below the official minimum GPU, expect it to struggle. Wait for an official rating before buying for handheld play, or test it within Steam's refund window first.

Test it before you commit

All of these FPS reports come from the pre-launch preview, so results on the October 9 build may differ. Steam's refund rules give you a short window to try the game on your own laptop. Use it to check performance in a busy area, not just the opening cave.

For pricing and store details, see the price page and Permafrost on Steam. If your laptop is close to the minimum, start on Low and work upward. Small changes to upscaling usually make the biggest difference on laptop hardware.