The 5 Best Laptops For Minecraft 2022 (Shaders Mods & RTX Mode)

Mods: 3050Ti+Core i5 10300H

You don’t need to spend 1500$ on the Acer Helios Triton with a 3060RTX or even the more expensive 3070RTX/3080RTX models UNLESS you want to game at 1400p/4k resolution. Otherwise, you’re just wasting cash if Minecraft is what you’re playing most of the time .

If you’re on a budget and happy to run Minecraft with no shaders , CPU is the only thing you need to take into the account.  A good CPU will also let you run the biggest modpacks. Jump to the CPU section 

On the other hand, if you have plenty of cash( ~600$) and want to run Minecraft with heavy shaders, your only focus should be the GPU. So just read the “GPU” section. If you want to extract every bit of framerates out of your budget, read the CPU section too

As you’ll see in this guide, even the more graphical demanding shaders like Sildurs(Extreme) or Chocapic (High) will run with +60fps on a 700$ laptop that has a 1650GTX.

Unfortunately, 700$ is quite a lot of money for most people.

So we’ll also discuss how to get a laptop or computer that can run MC decently on an extremely low budget. 

If there’s any computer jargon you don’t understand please take a quick look to our posts on the side bar, they will explain computer hardware (CPU, GPU, RAM) in layman’s terms so that you’re all prepared for what’s coming here. 

Official Requirements

Before we talk about each hardware component ( CPU, GPU, RAM, Storage) , let’s just go over the official hardware requirements.

Minimum

For  desktops that might be okay but for laptops 4GB is not even enough to run Windows properly and 3rd gen Core i3 CPUs will only let you run NotePad even if you upgrade RAM to 8GB. 

Recommended

The recommended hardware , translated to laptops, is basically:

• CPU: Core i3/Ryzen 3. Found on 350$+ laptops. 
• GPU: MX 150/250 . Found on 600$+ laptops. 

If you can get a desktop or a laptop with the recommended requirements, you’ll be fine and you might even be able to run some of “lite” shaders.

The more power you add to the “recommended requirements” the higher your framerates are going to be especially when using the medium and more hardware demanding shaders like Chocapic.  You’ll also unlock higher resolutions and a more realistic version of Minecrat (RTX mode on ).

So how much hardware you need will depend on how good you want the graphics to look. 

1. CPU (Processor)

The CPU dictates how fast a computer process images. Faster CPUs mean faster image processing and that means more details send over to the monitor.  

The game isn’t really a “GPU game” as much as it is a “CPU game”. The GPU (graphics cards) isn’t really a requirement to play the game (it’s just an addition for prettier graphics). That’s why the game can be played on almost every system because MOST of the graphics are processed by the CPU.

You can check this by using CTRL+ALT+DEL to access the task manager and s MC and notice that it’s consistently somewhat high on the CPU consumption scale.

Number of Cores vs Clock Frequency

CPUs have two specifications : # cores and clock speed.

Latest versions of MC are able to use extra cores. This started from 1.7.10 and more recent versions offload more workload to the extra cores – up to four. 

However….

Clock speed is still the biggest factor behind high graphics and high framerates. The performance incrase from multi-core CPUs is minuscule compared to the performance gains from a CPU with a higher clock speed.

In summary:

Do not worry too much about multi core CPUs. Always choose the CPU with the highest clock speeds or “clock speed performance”.

How to tell which has more “clock speed performance”?

It’s quite easy to tell if they’re from the same brand.Just pick whatever CPU has higher “turbo clock speed”.

These are the most common  CPUs you’ll find on laptops as of 2022. 

It isn’t easy to tell if you want to compare two CPUs from the same brand.

Say: AMD Ryzen 5 5600H vs Core i5 10300H. The latter has more clock speed yet the former performs better.

AMD vs Intel

Those with the same colors will have similar performance. These are my estimates based on notebookcheck’s CPU benchmarks.

CPU Minecraft BenchMarks

A much better way would be using benchmarks with the game itself. Unfortunately, there aren’t many Minecraft benchmarks at least on laptops, these are basically all the ones available online. There’s a link at the end of each row.

Intel CPU Performance

You can’t use these benchmarks to tell which CPU is better than the other though, there are several other factors to take into account. However, if they have the same settings, they do become useful.

Those benchmarks are more useful to get a rough idea of what performance you can expect out of a laptop with a given CPU . Notice how the Core i5 /Ryzen 5/Core i7/Ryzen 7 are able to handle light shaders with decent framerates.

What about the other “H” CPUs? Ryzen 5 4600H? Core i5 10300H?

I will post those benchmarks on the GPU section since they’re always paired with dedicated GPUs and dedicated GPU become more important. None of the CPUs above has a dedicated GPU, they all have integrated GPUs.

Modded MC CPUs

Using Mods doesn’t require you to have a dedicated GPU but it is a little more demanding on the CPU front.

This is why, I advice you to avoid any of the CPUs on green and instead of for at least a “Core i5/Ryzen 5” CPU from the 10th,11th or 4th,5th gen respectively such as those shown on the table.

Do that and you should be able to run even the big ftp modpacks or those modpacks with +200 mods like Interactions and Revelations.

Vanilla MC

If you just want to play Vanilla MC with no shaders and no mods,  as you’ve seen on the benchmarks, the weakest “modern” CPUs will get you 150fps. 

Buying Older CPUs on a Budget

So you can bet older CPUs will also get you decent framerates (30fps). This is a great option if you’ve got a budget below 350$. However, you ought be extremely careful here:

Not every CPU will run MC as smoothly as the above do:

For example, Celeron and Pentium CPUs found on 250$ laptops, must be avoided unless you don’t mind playing with the following framerates and graphics

So which CPUs are just as bad as this Celeron?

As a general rule, avoid any CPU released more than 6 years ago. Just type the CPU name on google and if you see the release year being longer than 6 years, discard it and look for another

Either do that or follow these guideline:

• • For AMD: Avoid anything that says E1, E2, etc.
  • For Intel: Avoid anything that says Celeron, Atom or has the letter M/Y somewhere in the label. Ex: m5-6Y54 , m5-6Y57.
  • Avoid 3rd,4th gen intel CPUs. (These are not that slow but integrated graphcsics on these are very outdated and incompatible with current version of Windows).
  • AMD CPUs with 7xxxP, 8xxxP or 9xxx will do okay.  
  • Intel processors with 5xxx, or 6xxx  part numbers will do okay as you’ve seen above.

OLD CPUs for Modded MC
Most will not tolerate mods. Only 7th gen Intel CPUs and AMD equivalents will barely do so. 

2. GPU

You should only pay attention to “graphics cards” if you want to run SHADERS OR if you want to add a lot of “rendering distance” +40 chunks or so which will make your world look bigger as you walk through it.  Otherwise ignore it

Before we discuss which graphics card will allow you to do this or that. You need to know the difference between integrated and dedicated GPUs.

Integrated GPUs

These are “integrated” into the CPU. They are not randomly paired with different CPUs. A specific integrated GPU will only be found on specific set of CPUs.

*This is a much weaker version of the Intel Xe.

Those in blue and their variants (Ex: Ryzen 7 4700U, Core i5 10XXX) will have integrated GPUs that are powerful enough to run some shaders like Sildrus Vibrant. 

Best bang for buck:RX Vega 7/Intel Xe on Core i5/Ryzen 5 CPUs can tolerate at least 20 chunks on fancy settings at 60fps.  They’re found on 450-600$ laptops. They will also let you run shaders as you’ve seen on the benchmarks though lite versions only.

Not recommended:RX Vega 8/Intel Xe found on Core i7/Ryzen 7 CPUs (these are different iGPUs) are the best integrated GPUs….

However…they’re only slightly faster than what you get on Core i5/Ryzen 5 CPUs….the performance gains are not worth the price at least on laptops because these are found on 600-800$ dollars . They cost just as much as laptops with dedicated GPUs! So I don’t recommend those.

Dedicated GPU (dGPU)

Most of these (except for the MX150) will will unlock HEAVY shaders like Chocapic and Sildurs on High. Obviously, you can also run get +20 chunks. The latter is actually more hardware demanding than shaders so you’ll need a good dGPU (+40 chunks) as you will see soon.

Entry level GPUs: MX Series

MX150 & MX250:The first two GPU of the MX Series have the performance of integrated GPUs found on Core i5/Core i7 and Ryzen 5/Ryzen 7. So if you’re on a budget looking for refurbished older models it may not be so wise to buy these if they are more expensive.

MX3XX Series: The MX330 isn’t much faster than the MX 150250 however the the MX350 is significantly faster (about 2.5x). They add tons of framerates without shaders and can even handle some shaders on High.

Entry level GPUs: MX450 / 1050GTX

Unfortunately, there are no good benchmarks on the MX450 performance published on youtube. However, the MX450 actually shares the same design & architecture as the 1050GTX and its performance is more or less the same as the 1050GTX on every other game. 1050GTX laptops are expensive so if you have to choose between the two, choose the cheapest, this should be the MX450.

Mainstream GPUs

Both of these GPUs will perform more or less the same. Note that FPS may vary according to how much stuff there is to render if you’re on an open field you will have a lot of stuff to render so the load on the GPU is going to be higher.  Always make comparisons when the character is in the middle of an open field with the same number of chunks to render.

The 1650GTX will for the most part perform slightly better due to better CPUs being paired with it on laptops.

Notice how the Core i5 9300H outperforms the AMD Ryzen 5 4600H (which is supposedly faster), this is due to the iGPU being “switched off” on the Core i5 9300H.

*40 chunks on High w/ shaders still becomes unplayable here.

Mid-Range GPUs

Interestingly here the older 1060,1660Ti and 2060RTX will out perform the recent 3050Ti with shaders.

The reason? vRAM.These have 6GB vRAM and the “faster” 3050Ti with more “cores” only has 4GB vRAM.

Shaders+Chunks not only add higher quality images to the game but also “rendering distance” and this is exactly where vRAM becomes important. In other worlds, vRAM is especially important to expand the scenario and view distance in open worldgames.

This is why all GPUs with the same vRAM will perform more or less the same with shaders and when upping the rendering distance.

3050Ti or 1660Ti/2060RTX/1060GTX?

 If you can find the 1660Ti/2060RTX cheaper than the 3050Ti by all means you should go for it IF you want better performance with shaders and much higher rendering distances. Unless you want to use “RTX” mode, which only, the 2060RTX and 3050Ti can do.

3060RTX: Unnecessarily expensive?

The 3060RTX is the most powerful and modern “mid-range” GPU on laptops. However, it only has 6GB vRAM just like the “weaker” and CHEAPER mid-range GPUs.
For shaders and rendering distances, the extra “speeds” and other features of the 3060RTX do not make it a better choice.

It still has the same aount of vRAM so it will not get you a significant performance increase with shaders than the cheaper mid-range GPUs as you can see in the link above.

Yes, if you’re playing mostly MC, the 3060RTX might be unnecessary.

High-End GPUs

High end dGPUs are only useful if you want to smoothly navigate (~80fps+) through maps using a heavy shader like Sildurs w/ +32 chunks at HIGHER RESOLUTIONS (1440p,4k). The bigger the vRAM you get, the more resolution and chunks you’ll unlock.

They’re also become super useful to build large scale worlds or very complex settings. Possibilities are endless with this game. Some players have manage to create a:

So the more hardware you have the more complex the stuff you’ll be able to build with ease. 
RAM

RAM basically acts like vRAM, the more you have the more data you can hold onto. It isn’t as useful as vRAM is for images though.  It’s better at handling “software data” rather than “image data” so It’s sort of a requirement you must meet for the opearting system and the game to run properly.

How much RAM Do I need?

4GB

This used to be the bare bone minimum for Minecraft a few years ago. Unfortunately, ever recent Windows 10 updates and Windows 11, take a huge part of it leaving almost nothing for Minecraft or any other game to run properly. It only works for refurbished old computers that has a weaker version of Windows 10.

8GB

This is now the bare minimum for Minecraft.  Nearly every modern laptop above 400$ will come equipped with at least this much. Most laptops below 400$ will only have 4GB as they only need that much to run Windows 10 “S mode” or Windows 11 “S Mode” a lighter version of Windows that can only run Minecraft: Bedrock edition and the education edition of Minecraft.

For the full version of Minecraft we all now of, you will need to upgrade yours to 8GB.

Dual-Channel

Once you do the upgrade, make sure you don’t replace the 4GB stick with an entirely new 8GB RAM stick. Instead make it “dual channeled”, basically use two RAM sticks of the same size and the same type “DDR4” or “DDR5” are the latest. Without getting into details, it basically makes your CPU work more efficiently and hence you’ll squeeze a few more framerates (10-15fps on average it also depends on settings too).

+8GB RAM: 12GB, 16GB, etc.

Unlike most games, having +8GB of RAM isn’t useless but it depends on the situation.

RAM for Maximizing Performance

Vanilla MC will use just as much Java seems to use for any application: 12GB. You will not notice a difference beyond 12GB. Obviously if you make it dual-channel, you’ll squeeze a bit more framerates.

RAM for Mods

Vanilla MC will usually take ~0.5GB, if you add Windows 11 or Windows 10 (at least 3.5GB), you’ll quickly run out of RAM if you have 4GB just like we talked about.

Mods ad an extra 1GB RAM (~80 mods) and more if you use one of the big ftp modpacks(~200mods). This means you need at least 8GB here. Some mods will easily take up 8GB so if you run anything in the background w/ Minecraft, you may need a bit more than 8GB.

RAM for Shaders

Doesn’t seem useful with Shaders since Shaders only ask for “vRAM”. However, if you want to squeeze more framerates, make that 8GB dual channel or make it 12GB to squeeze a few more fps.

RAM for Integrated GPUs

If you’re not using a dedicated GPU to run shaders or if you want to maximize graphics performance, you need to add extra RAM so that your integrated GPU can use as “vRAM”.
Long story short, add at least +2GB RAM for the integrated GPU to work better.

I port 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.4. You will get your 120FPS on your monitor only if you use the Display Port.  If you use the HDMI port, you may be stuck at 60Hz again depending on the GPU .

Budget Options 

This section is meant for people under a 350$ budget.

1. Ultra Cheap Desktops 

Those cheap PCs you see at your local computer store(even with outdated hardware) are actually ALL viable for minecraft. And will possibly give you better performance than 2022 budget laptops. 

That’s because  the hardware on desktops have plenty of space to acomodate bigger CPUs and better cooling systems so that the processor can reach much higher speeds than CPUs found on laptops.

Dedicated GPUs on Desktops

The cooling thing about desktops is that dedicated GPUs are much easier to find and way more affordable. So if you want to run those cool shaders you don’t have to spend nearly as much as you would on laptops.

If you can’t find or you can’t afford a dGPU right now on a desktop, unlike laptops, you can add one later and try it out without one in the mean time. 

2. Intel Pentium/Celeron Laptops

These are the ones you’ll find under 350$ (if we exclude refurbished or second hand laptops).

They’re usually 200-300$.   Some types can even get some for 150$ (usually a Chromebook).

However, it is very unlike the full version of MC will be playable with any of these unless you use the Bedrock edition of MC.

RAM is not the issue

Most of these laptops ahve 4GB and that’s not the only issue with these. It’s actually the CPU. Some of these though may run the game at 20-30fps and sort of become playable but it’s hard to know which ones will make it playable. Why? Probably the ones that are capable of “barely” running the game will have a slightly older version of Windows 10 which would be slightly less hardware demanding which in turn will have enough hardware resources left for Minecraft.

Pocket or BedRock Minecraft 

All of these will run this version of MC though. The bedrock edition can run on consoles and even smartphones. The main difference between the full version is that you won’t be able to share the world you build or back it up so you won’t be able to switch between devices. 

3. Rerfurbished Laptops

A solution to this problem is to buy a refurbished laptop.

Very few people realize that refurbished laptops are actually deal-breakers IF you get them from respectable companies like Amazon. Most of the time, they will feel like new (especially if you get a refurbished MacBook).

There’s warranty…

Of course , there’s the chance your laptop may be defective. The good news is that you have a 90-day warranty in which you can return it if you don’t like it or if you find something wrong with it. I’d say 90-days is a pretty good timeframe to find out if there’s anything wrong. 

Opt for good brands…

You can minimize your chances of getting a defective machine if you get a laptop from less-problematic brands. I would consider:  Lenovos, ASUS, MSI, Acer and Dell in that order. 

You can upgrade them later too…

What’s cool about refurbished laptops is that you can get them for 250$ (equipped w/ Intel Core or AMD CPU) that can run the game at least at medium settings AND you can upgrade both RAM and SSD later (~100$ for both) to make it soar. 

Again just make sure you don’t buy refurbished laptops w/ Celeron/Pentium CPUs but rather Intel Core or AMD CPUs.

If you’re patient you can find a good deal…

If  sniffing around daily for at least a month on Amazon/Ebay, you’ll definitely come across an excelent deal. You can even find a laptop w/ an entry dedicated GPU and an SSD for about 400$.

Q: What is a good fps for Minecraft?

50-60fps will make the game look super smooth.  More framerates are useful to avoid lag spikes but it won’t necessarily make the game look prettier.

If you want more framerates to make sure it doesn’t have any lag spikes,   200 fps would be the limit. Anything more is nice but not very useful in a game where you’re just building stuff, walking around,etc.

Q: Shouldn’t I just get the cheapest laptop I can afford since Minecraft isn’t really hardware demanding? 

Even if you want to run the bare bones Vanilla version of MC, there’s a high chance (if you don’t have more than 350$) that your laptop won’t let you play the game properly even with 4 chunks loaded at 720p resolution. Mainly because laptops below that price range can’t even Handle Windows 10 or Windows 11 properly so most of their computer power and resources will go to cope with the operating system rather than MC.

Proper research is not just going to ensure you run vanilla MC properly but will also let you get the best bang for your buck so you might even be able to run some shaders even without a dedicated GPU.

Q: Can you play minecraft on integrated graphics

Yes, most will let you play at decent settings (check the CPU section of this post) but if you go back too far in time, it’s not going to be pretty and much less playable. Otherwise, any integrated GPU released within the past 5 years will handle the game just fine as long as it’s not paired with one of those “celeron” “pentium” and similar CPUs (check the CPU section). 

The latest integrated graphics found on Ryzen 5/Core i5 modern laptops (4th,5th gen for AMD & 11th,10th for Intel) will even let you run shaders.

Q: Does allocating more RAM to Minecraft increase performance?

There’s a difference between getting more RAM for your laptop and allocating more RAM to Minecraft.

If you allocate more RAM to minecraft, it is very likely you’ll have some lag because JAVA uses a “memory clean up garbage collection” which means RAM will have to be clean after certain tasks on the game, so the more RAM it has to clean, the more time it’s going to take. 

Q: What’s the maximum ram for minecraft will use?

Minecraft use a software paging system that’s ‘horizontally scaleable’. What this mean is that the more MEMORY you have the better the PAGING. In other words, the more chunks loaded in the game.

Most of the time, lag in minecraft is caused by having to page chunks as they come into view. Having a lot of RAM means having more chunks pre-loaded even when you’re far far away.

Of course there’s a limit to it.

I found that RAM super useful up to 12GB (assigned to JVM – the MC launcher). After that I didn’t notice any difference in the paging system. 

Q: How much space do you need for minecraft java?

You don’t need that much space to play Vanilla MC. In fact, any laptop will have more than enough space for the game and all mods and shaders you want.

Q: How much Capacity do I need to BUILD a server in Minecraft?

If you’re building a server for players to join. You will need to reserve 35 GB  for Minecraft (for 12-15 players to join). This is still not an issue for virtually every laptop on the market however if you’re going to install other games in it keep that in mind (other AAA games will take ~50GB on average).

What’s more important here is that if you’re building a desktop, you get a Solid State Drive for storage. If you’re buying a refurbished laptop, you have to make sure it has an SSD.

Older laptops (pre-2017) aren’t likely to have one so you will need to install an SSD IF you want the game to launch super fast and the system to boot within seconds. Otherwise, MC will do fine with the old fashioned Hard Disk Drive

Q: I don’t get why MC can’t run on any CPU or laptop when my phone can run games with better graphics.

That’s actually quite true. Phones can run games with more francy graphics and even Pentium/Celeron laptops can run games with better graphics through Chrome OS (ChromeBooks).  

However, Minecraft has been developed with a much different engine than most games.

Minecraft uses JAVA and JAVA is actually not a very popular programming language for game development and large applications because it is slow (due to garbage collection).

Well…that’s the first thing that comes to mind. It’s probably NOT the only reason as I’m sure you’ve come across all kinds of apps and games using Java without demanding good hardware. 

Rendering & MC History

Once you play the game you’ll notice the game has to render chunks back and forth ALL THE TIME, this MIGHT make it more hardare demanding but again it can’t be the main cause.  

Now after doing some research through wikipedia, minecraft history says that the developer, Markus Alexej Persson , wrote the game mostly for fun.  Then those close to him commended on how cool the game was and he decided to make it big.              

Originally he chose Java to write it  because  it was meant to be sort of an experiment, he did not mean it to be as popular as it is today.  

This is likely to have caused sloppy code especially in places where if not well optimized would make the game hardware’s usage inefficient. 

He did hire a development team right after he realized this will make it big. Despite that though it seems that they’ve all decided to leave some of the original code for unknown reasons and this is most likely the reason of its slow performance with computers.

This is just guessing though, they’re the ones that have the answer to this question. 

Q:How to get better fps in minecraft on a laptop

There are hundreds of videos on how to optimize the game so I will only go through the essentials and basics. 

Optifine

This is the most popular software to optimize Minecraft. It will basically offset the issue we discussed in the section above of possibly having outdated code. In some cases, it might even make it playable on very weak, low-end laptops. Plus, although the game itself is mostly single threaded (does not utilize multiple cores so much), optifine will slightly expand its multi-core usage. 

Java
It’s interesting how people run Crysis at super high settings and yet they experience lag with Minecraft. The issue? Probably the Java version they have. So updating Java or getting the right Java version for the version of Minecraft you have will fix the issue.

Antivirus

If you’re using tons of mods, chances are you got them through some random sites that are not 100%  secure so you probably downloded a few viruses too.  So grab an antivirus and do a full scan, you might be surprised.

BackGround Apps

This a basic tip but most people forget about it: avoid running anything else in the background if that doesn’t work then take it to the extreme and use a software like Razer Cortex Game Booster . The software will shut down any unnecessary background process and application when you’re gaming and it will run them again when you stop gaming. This is much much safer than using  pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL and putting an end to any crucial task you may not recognize and then having your computer shut down all the sudden.

Hardware Optimization

Magic Launcher for Minecraft   . If you’re a big mods user, this software is super handy. It will let you allocate RAM to java which will make mods run more efficiently. It can also reduce the window’s size of the game which should increase your framerates. 

Comments?

If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or recommendations on finding the best laptop for minecraft. Please let us know in the comments below.