Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Laptops

5 Best Laptops For Minecraft in 2025

If you head over to reddit and ask what the best laptop for minecraft is:

You’ll get responses like:

” Minecraft can run on a microwave. Get optifine and you can run the game on a toaster”

“I’ve seen MC run on CPUs and integrated GPUs made 15 years ago”

“My 10 year old PC eats MineCraft for breakfast”

“I got a 10 year old lapto from walmart with the screen falling off and Minecraft still runs good”

They’re not lying…

If you want to play the ‘Vanilla’ version of Minecraft with no shaders, no mods, low settings, and a low number of chunks, you’ll be fine with minimal hardware.

However…

The fancier version of Minecraft—higher graphics, shaders, mods, and higher resolution—will demand significantly more powerful hardware.

What follows is a quick summary of laptops for minecraft:

A) Minecraft Laptop Under $200: you can ONLY play a downgraded version of MC: Minecraft For Windows (Bedrock Edition designed for Windows) NOT the full version of VANILLA minecraft java edition.

B) Minecraft laptop under $300: run the full version of Minecraft (Java Edition) with no lag but will only be limited to low or medium settings (8-10 chunks loaded max). You can run the lightest mods & shaders with framerates below 40.

C) Mineraft laptop under $500: play Minecraft Java Edition with heavy mods (including the FTB Revelations and FTB Interactions ). Fancy settings with low number of chunks. Also MEDIUM versions of shaders like Sildrus and Chocapic.

D) The Best Laptops for Minecraf have Dedicated GPUs! –  550 dollars and up

This is where the real fun part starts.

You’ll run MC on Turbo Mode with cool shaders like ChocaPic v13 High & Sildrus Extreme. All the graphical intensive mods with no lag.

If you get the 3050RTX, you can also activate RTX mode:

 

The above is the laptop I use to play Minecraft. Notice how framerates go as high as 1000fps .

Best Laptop Specs for MineCraft

What follows is a summary, the last section has more details.

1. If your budget is under 550 bucks: You cannot get a  dedicated GPU!  Focus on the CPU & RAM.

CPU(Processor)
You want a recent CPU be it from AMD or Intel. Why? They have decent integrated graphics. Ex:

Core i3 1115G4, Core i3 1215U Core i3 1315U   Core i5 1135G7. Core i5 1230U Core i5
1345U
Ryzen 3 4300U Ryzen 3 5300U  Ryzen 5 4500U Ryzen 5 5500U Ryzen 5 6600U Ryzen 5 7540U  
Note that some of these CPUs (especially recent Ryzen CPUs.
Ex: 7th gen Ryzen 5) have very low performance integrated graphics. If you want to run the game with some shaders/packs (Lit-med versions) with approx 50fps you want CPUs fastest integrated graphics (they come in pairs). For more info on this subject check my post Integrated GPU performance comparison on laptops.
RAM
8GB: This is the bare minimum for high performance. Most laptops have 8GB in 2025 but some laptops, especially under 300 dollars, may only have 4GB RAM. If that’s the case, either don’t buy it or  do the upgrade to 8GB.
16GB:  16GB will massively increase performance if you don’t have a dedicated GPU as explained and shown in my post: 8GB vs 16GB for iGPUs (integrated).
2. If your budget is above 550 dollars: You can afford at least a dedicated GPU like the 2050RTX which can run HEAVY SHADERS.

GPU(Graphics Card)
 
500-550 dollars: MX450, MX550,  1050GTX. They’ll run most “medium” shaders and some of the high ones w/ at least 50fps.
550-650 dollars:2050RTX & 1650GTX.  ~50fps & 16 chunks loaded. Ex:  Chocapic 13 v7(High), Sildrus (High), SEUS Renewed,Oceano,etc.
700-800 dollars: 3050Ti , 3050RTX, 4050RTX. Extreme versions of shaders with ~80fps. Both unlock RTX mode. 
850-1200 dollars: 3060RTX & 4060RTX. Useful for 1440p & RTX minecraft . The higher the wattage the higher the performance.  Read more about wattage here.
1300+ dollars: 3070RTX, 3080RTX, AMD Radeon RX 6700S, AMD Radeon RX 6800S 4070RTX 4080RTX…Overkill for MC unless playing at extreme graphical settings with 1440p or 4k resolution.

Top 5 Best Laptops for Minecraft

All of these laptops can run the Vanilla version of minecraft with shaders. The more expensive ones unlock more graphical demanding shaders & higher resolutions.

The following reviews will get somewhat technical. So if you’re not computer savy, here’s the summary of each laptop: 

#1: 3050Ti Laptop: $680. It will run most “HIGH” version of shaders & graphically demanding MODS with +100fps. 
#2: Under 500 Minecraft laptop: Portable, can run Lite & Medium shaders and vanilla MC with very high framerates. Perfect for school.
#3: 2050RTX Laptop: ~580. It will run most “HIGH” shaders & mods with 70fps.
#4: MX450 laptop: ~550. Medium & some high shaders with framerates above 50fps. Portable and best display for schoolwork too.
#5: 4060RTX laptop: 1300+ . Will run the most extreme shaders at 1440p and mor extreme graphics (RTX mode).


1. Acer Nitro 5

Best Laptop For Minecraft with Shaders

  Intel Core i5-13420H

  16GB DDR4

  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050

  512GB Gen 4 SSD

  15.6” 144Hz FHD IPS

  4.66 lbs

  2 hours

This year I decided to ditch the usual 3050RTX laptop I listed every year and replace it with a 4050RTX laptop. 

Note that you don’t need a 4050RTX GPU to play Minecraft with the latest and heaviest shaders, it’s overkill . However, since this laptop is currently selling for nearly the same price as laptops with “weaker” dedicated graphics. Why not go for it?

GPU: 4050RTX 6GB vRAM

The 4050RTX is MUCH faster than the 3050Ti RTX and will obviously UNLOCK ALL MODS + ALL heavy shaders like ‘high’ versions of Chocapic & Sildrus with high framerates. 

However, like I mentioned, to unlock shaders + modpacks at fancy settings with ~8-12 chunks, you ONLY need a 4GB vRAM dedicated GPU such as the 1650GTX, 3050RTX & 1050GTX & 2050RTX. The 4050RTX is overkill however these are the advantages (and extra features):

  • It will handle 1440p gaming (at least BETTER than all aforementioned GPUs)
  • It runs at lower wattages thus generates less heat (improves your laptop lifespan. Less heat = cool tempeartures = happy CPU/GPU)
  • Wattage is much less important since the Ada Lace Architecture is more efficient (this means good performance regardless of wattage).
  • It will handle RTX mode more efficiently (less heat, longer sessions since this is taxxing depending on the game). 

What’s RTX mode?

RTX mode:  It’s basically a graphics performance boost that makes any scene highly dependent on light sources look compeltely different basically a bit more realistic as shown below. This GPU has significantly more “CORES” (Tensor Cores) so it will handle RTX mode BETTER.  Note that this feature is onl available on RTX GPUs so it’s not available on the 1650GTX. It’s also available on the high-tier 3060RTX, 4050RTX and so on.

Wattage: 95W

Pretty much every 4050RTX laptop hovers around 85-100W, with 95W being the sweet spot for solid performance without nuking your battery or turning your laptop into a space heater. Super-thin laptops might go a bit lower, but honestly, it’s not a dealbreaker. What does matter is the cooling setup—throw shaders or mods at this thing, and if the cooling sucks, you’re gonna see temps hitting the high 80s, which is not great for the GPU or your frame rates. Keep an eye on that.

Minecraft Laptop Benchmarks: 4050RTX

Settings Chunks Resolution Shader FPS
Fancy 8 1080p None 403
Fancy 16 1080p None 137
Fancy 32 1080p None 110
Fancy  16 1080p BSL v8 1.01 93

Shaders

The 4050RTX laptop (MSI) tested in the benchmark is thin and relatively lightweight, which significantly impacts how it handles heat. If you look at the temperatures during the benchmark, they climb pretty close to the high 80s when shaders are added. This is why I emphasize the importance of a good cooling system and suggest opting for heavier, thicker laptops if you plan to play with heavy shaders. The laptop I’m featuring here is thicker and more efficient at pushing out heat, keeping temperatures lower even under heavy loads.

CPU & Mods

Most mods, including the Patrix resource pack, will run on this laptop without issues. Framerates will drop significantly but will remain playable. If you want to improve performance on a 3050Ti while using mods + shaders, upgrading your CPU can help, but keep in mind the performance gains are minimal unless you’re specifically adding mods on top of shaders (check the benchmarks in the last section for details).

RAM & Upgrades

Upgrading to 16GB of RAM is crucial to achieve the performance levels shown in the benchmarks with shaders.

Fortunately, you won’t need to upgrade the RAM or storage on this laptop—it’s already maxed out and features the latest generation of RAM. However, cheaper laptops listed below will require RAM and storage upgrades, especially if you plan to install multiple large games (~80GB each), as most 3050RTX laptops only come with 512GB of storage by default.

Acer 5 AN515
PROS CONS
  • Supports RTX Mode
  • Runs shaders on high w/ 100fps
  • Supports heavy mods
  • DDR5 RAM
  • 16GB RAM out of the box
  • 144Hz display
  • Recent Core i5 CPU
  • Somewhat hot under high loads
  • Bulky and Heavy
  • Low battery
  • Cannot run RTX mode + Shaders on fancy settings

2. HP Pavilion

Best Laptop For Minecraft Under 500

  AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

  8GB RAM

  Radeon Vega RX 7

  256GB SSD NVMe PCIe

  14” FHD TN

  3.2 lbs

  8 hours

It can unlock SOME shaders and most mods but more importantly it can run the vanilla shader-free version of the game flawlessly at fancy settings with enough performance to join a server and play against others with no stuttering.

CPU: Ryzen 5 5500U

Let me clear this up for you, because I know it gets confusing: “Why talk about a 5th-gen Ryzen CPU when you can get a 7th-gen Ryzen at a decent price?” The reason is simple—the performance difference isn’t as big as you might think, and not all 7th-gen Ryzen CPUs are great for gaming. It really comes down to the architecture.

Here’s the deal: Among the 7th-gen Ryzen 5 CPUs, you’ve got the Ryzen 5 7520U (with Zen 2 architecture) and the Ryzen 5 7530U (with Zen 3 architecture). That small change in model number makes a HUGE difference. The Zen 2-based CPUs, like the Ryzen 5 7520U, are much slower for gaming because they’re paired with the Radeon 610M GPU, which isn’t built for gaming. Compare that to the Zen 3 CPUs, like the Ryzen 5 7530U, which come with the Radeon 660M GPU—a far better option for gaming.

To make it more confusing, the Ryzen 5 7520U even falls behind older CPUs like the Ryzen 5 5500U (with Vega 7 graphics). The 5500U is cheaper and almost matches the performance of the Ryzen 5 7530U. So, why spend extra for “7th-gen” when you’re not getting better gaming performance?

TL;DR:

The Ryzen 5 7520U with its Radeon 610M is okay for light gaming, but it’s no match for the Ryzen 5 5500U (with Vega 7) or the Ryzen 5 7530U (with 660M). If gaming is your priority, skip the 7520U entirely and go for a CPU/GPU combo that actually delivers.

Shaders: RX Vega 7 vs Radeon 610M vs Radeon 660M

If you don’t want to run shaders, then go ahead and grab a 7th-generation Ryzen 5 CPU. It’ll still deliver almost the same performance as older generations for gaming without shaders, as the extra CPU power of the latest architecture compensates somewhat for the weaker integrated GPU.

However…

If you want to run shaders, you should avoid the Ryzen 5 7520U entirely. It’s built on the Zen 2 architecture and comes with the Radeon 610M iGPU, which is much weaker than the Vega 7 from older Ryzen CPUs. The Ryzen 5 7530U, on the other hand, features a Radeon 660M iGPU, which is significantly more capable than the 610M and performs closer to Vega-based GPUs like the Vega 6 or Vega 7.

Here’s what that means for shaders:

  • Lite shaders: Both the 7520U and 7530U can run these, but the 7530U will handle them more smoothly.
  • Medium shaders: Possible on the 7530U, but you’ll see stuttering or reduced framerates. Forget about running them on the 7520U.
  • High-demand shaders (e.g., Chocapic High, Silrus Extreme): Neither is suitable for these. You’ll need a more powerful iGPU like the Vega 8 or Radeon 680M, or a dedicated GPU.

In short:

The Ryzen 5 7530U is far better for gaming and shaders than the 7520U, but it’s still not a powerhouse. If you care about shaders or gaming at higher settings, stick with Ryzen CPUs featuring Vega 7/8 or Radeon 680M, or go for Intel’s 11th/13th-gen iGPUs like the Iris Xe.

 

RAM: 16GB Dual-Channel

If you want the same performance you saw in the video, you’ll need to bump the RAM up to 16GB. This laptop only comes with 8GB out of the box, so you’ll have to throw in an extra stick. If you’re fine with lower framerates when using shaders, you can skip the upgrade, but seriously, it makes a noticeable difference.

Why do you need 16GB when the game itself barely uses a few gigs?

Here’s the deal: the iGPU shares system RAM to handle graphics. That extra RAM gives the iGPU more bandwidth to work with, so performance improves quite a bit. You could just go up to 12GB and still see some gains, but you’d miss out on dual-channel mode, which makes a huge difference in gaming performance. Trust me, just go for the full 16GB.

HP 14 Laptop
PROS CONS
  • Runs Medium Shaders
  • Easy to Upgrade
  • Superb Battery Life
  • Extremely Lightweight
  • Supports  modpacks
  • Kind of expensive
  • Does not have 16GB RAM out of the box
  • Must upgrade to run medium shaders with decent framerates

3. MSI Thin GF63

Best Gaming Laptop For Minecraft 

  Core i5 12450H

  8GB DDR4

   2050RTX 4GB vRAM

  512GB PCIe NVMe SSD

  15.6” 144Hz FHD IPS

  4.1 lbs

  4 hours

This is another somewhat expensive laptop. It’s designed more for gaming than schoolwork. It’s heavy and comes with a dedicated GPU: the 2050RTX, which can even handle heavy shaders.

GPU: 2050RTX 4GB vRAM

The latest budget gaming laptops now come with a 2050RTX. It’s basically an upgraded version of the 1650GTX with the added benefit of tensor cores, which means it can run DLSS and Ray Tracing. DLSS isn’t super useful for Minecraft, but Ray Tracing can give the graphics a nice visual upgrade, as we discussed in the 3050Ti review.

While the 2050RTX is slightly faster than the 1650GTX in most cases, that alone shouldn’t be the deciding factor. The main thing to consider is price—both GPUs deliver almost identical performance and can handle the same level of shaders.

Below are the benchmarks for the 2050RTX and 1650GTX. I’ve included the 1650GTX benchmarks because 2050RTX benchmarks are still limited, and the 1650GTX gives you a pretty solid idea of what to expect. If you find a 1650GTX laptop for cheaper, it’s definitely worth considering.

Graphics R.Distance Shaders FPS(Building) FPS(Fighting)
Fancy 48 OFF 190~252 60
Fancy 16 OFF +290 165
Fast 4 OFF +290 258
Fast 4 Chocapic v13(High) +160 127
Fancy 16 Chocapic v13(High) +100 84

Here’s a benchmark of a 2050RTX using shaders with 8 chunks.

GPU CPU Settings Chunks Resolution Shaders FPS Source
2050RTX Core i5 11260H Fancy 8 4k 50 Gaming Test
2050RTX Core i5 11400H Fancy 16 1080p BSL Shader 75 Bongolok
2050RTX Core i5-1240P Fancy 32 1080p 103 LaptopMedia

The BSL shader is more hardware demanding than Chocapic so it makes sense you’d get somewhat less framerates at the same settings. Nonetheless, this laptop works almost like a 3050RTX, you can most shaders even the hardware demanding ones and as long as you reduce the number of chunks (for the most hardware demanding ones) you can get +60 framerates.

MUX Switch & GPU

You can get better performance out of a 2050RTX or 1650GTX laptop if you can find one with a MUX switch but it’s going to be pretty difficult to find one on the 2050RTX. It is much more likely you’ll find it on a 1650GTX, there’s a 1650GTX which outperforms the 2050RTX and most 1650GTX laptops with sort of “MUX Switch” the benchmarks are in my video below, you’ll be mindblown by the results…

 

But don’t obsess about it. At the end framerates are just numbers up to some point the game is equally playable and that’s at 60fps. You don’t need super high framerates for Minecraft.

RAM & Upgrades

Upgrading to 16GB of RAM isn’t mandatory, but it’s always a performance boost, no matter what hardware you’re running. Sure, the gains might diminish as the GPU gets more powerful, but if you’re dealing with heavy shaders and mods, the extra RAM can really come in clutch.

This laptop has a free slot for an additional RAM stick, so you can easily add an 8GB DDR4 3200MHz stick to bump it up to 16GB. Since the slots aren’t soldered and are right next to each other, upgrading will activate dual-channel mode, giving you an extra boost in performance.

For storage, there’s also an extra M.2 SSD slot ready for upgrades.

MSI Thin GF63
PROS CONS
  • Recent Core i5 CPU
  • Dual-channel mode (after upgrade)
  • Additional storage slot
  • Runs most shaders with +60fps
  • High storage SSD
  • 144Hz display
  • Not ideal for RTX mode
  • Can get really hot if overclocked
  • Low battery

4. Lenovo Ideapad 5i Pro

Cheap Laptop For Minecraft

  Intel Core i5-11300H

  8GB RAM

  MX450 2GB vRAM

  512GB SSD NVMe PCIe

  16” QHD IPS

  4.19 lbs

  5 hours

This is a solid option for anyone looking to buy a laptop for school while still being able to play Minecraft. Unlike the cheaper HP model we just talked about, this one handles shaders much better thanks to its dedicated GPU (MX450). The trade-off? It’s a bit pricier at around $550, but you’re getting more than just extra power — it’s lightweight and has a better display, making it great for both gaming and studying.

GPU: MX450 2GB vRAM

The MX450 is not an integrated GPU; it’s a dedicated GPU. While it’s one of the weakest dedicated GPUs in 2024, it’s still capable of running medium shaders and sometimes even high shaders in Minecraft. It will also provide a significant boost in framerates for vanilla Minecraft (no shaders, no mods).

Now…

You have to be cautious when shopping for laptops with the MX450 because they can be overpriced (sometimes as high as $900) despite having the same GPU. Additionally, there are models with older versions of this GPU, like the MX250 or MX150, which are far too weak to compete with modern integrated GPUs like the Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon 660M. If you’re considering those older models, you might as well stick with a budget laptop with a good integrated GPU.

There’s also the MX550, which is essentially an upgraded version of the MX450. It’s significantly faster and more suitable for shaders, but it’s also more expensive. If you can find a laptop with an MX550 for under $600, it’s worth grabbing. Otherwise, you’re better off with a 2050RTX, which is often available for the same price or less and offers much better performance for shaders and mods.

MUX Switch & Wattage: All MX450 and MX550 GPUs run at very low wattages (typically 25W) because they are designed for thin and lightweight laptops. These GPUs are not aimed at serious gaming workloads, so MUX switches are nonexistent on laptops with these GPUs. However, since Minecraft is relatively lightweight, this isn’t a huge deal.

MX450 2GB vRAM – Minecraft Laptop Benchmark

CPU Options with MX450 Laptops

MX450 laptops come with a variety of CPUs, and you’ll find some alternative options listed in the section below. Here’s the deal: if you want better battery life and a lighter laptop, go for one with a “U” series CPU (low-voltage). Yes, you’ll sacrifice a bit of performance (framerates may be slightly lower), but you’ll still be able to run shaders—even with the weakest setups.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for better framerates and don’t mind losing some battery life, pick a laptop with an “H” series CPU (high-performance). These are designed for raw power, and the performance difference can be noticeable, especially if you’re pushing shaders.

RAM & Upgrades

This laptop comes with 8GB of DDR4 RAM soldered to the motherboard, which means no RAM upgrades—you’re stuck with what you’ve got. And nope, there’s no additional RAM slot either. This is super common in thin and portable laptops with dedicated GPUs, as manufacturers prioritize compact designs over expandability.

There’s also no extra storage slot for upgrades. However, for most Minecraft players, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker, as the default storage is usually enough unless you plan to load the laptop with massive mods or other large games.

The lack of upgrade options isn’t a killer for performance, though. Even with 8GB RAM, you’ll be able to run shaders just fine as long as you manage settings properly.

Lenovo Ideapad 5i Pro
PROS CONS
  • Lightweight
  • QHD display
  • Great battery
  • Runs medium shaders + modpacks
  • outdated CPU
  • Cannot be RAM upgraded

5. Acer Nitro 17

The Best Gaming Laptop For Minecraft

  Ryzen 7 7840HS

  8GB DDR5 

  RTX 4060 8GB vRAM 140W

  1TB  PCIe NVMe SSD 

  15” 144Hz Full HD

 6.61lbs

  1 hours

This is easily the most powerful laptop here, but let’s be real—it’s overkill for Minecraft unless you’re trying to go all out with crazy shaders, high resolutions, and a ton of chunks loaded. Most people playing Minecraft don’t care about pushing graphics to their limits, so keep that in mind.

This is the most powerful laptop on the list, and it’s honestly way more than most people need for Minecraft. If you’re the kind of player who wants to max out shaders, crank up the resolution, and load a ton of chunks, this is the one to look at. But if you’re just here for basic gameplay, it’s probably overkill.

GPU: RTX 4060 8GB vRAM, 140W

The RTX 4060 is a big step up from the 3050Ti or even the 4050RTX. It has 8GB of vRAM, which is double what you’ll find on the 3050Ti, and way more CUDA cores (shaders) for heavy graphics processing. That means it’s great for handling things like:

  • RTX mode (full ray tracing)
  • Heavy shaders and mods
  • 1440p resolution
  • 16-32 chunks

For more extreme setups, like 4K or more than 32 chunks, you’d want a 4070 or 4080, but the 4060RTX can hold its own in most situations. It’s a lot more efficient than the previous generation too, so you’ll see better performance with less heat.

Wattage: 140W

Here’s why this model is worth it: the RTX 4060 in this laptop runs at 140W with Dynamic Boost, which is the highest wattage available for this GPU. Wattage plays a huge role in performance, and anything under 100W will give you noticeably lower frame rates, especially in games with heavy graphics. If you’re considering a 4060RTX, make sure it’s running at at least 100W, or you’ll be better off saving your money and going for a 3050RTX.

Why It’s for Hardcore Minecraft Players

This laptop is built for players who want the best visuals and smooth gameplay, even with all the settings cranked up. It’s perfect for running Minecraft with RTX mode, shaders, and high resolutions without sacrificing performance. However, if you’re not aiming for extreme settings, a 3050Ti or 4050RTX will still give you solid performance at a lower price point.

4060RTX – Minecraft Benchmarks

GPU CPU Graphics R.Distance Resolution Shader FPS
4060RTX i7 13650HX Fancy 20 1440p RTX + BSL v8 77 

This may not be impressive framerates to some of you despite the GPU running at 140W but please keep in mind that this laptop is not only running with RTX mode on + a very graphical demanding shaders but ALSO adding 1440p resolution and more importantly 20 CHUNKS for rendering.

Each chunk after 12 requires (16,20 and so on) demands a large amount of additional GPU power.

RAM & Upgrades

This laptop supports up to 32GB RAM. Having 16GB out of box , however, means you don’t need to worry about additional RAM nor additional storage as it already comes with 1TB.

Display & Resolution

Please keep in mind that when you buy a 4050RTX or 4060RTX laptop for minecraft you have to watch out for the display. It needs to have 1440p (QHD) resolution for you to play the game at 1440p. Some models with either of these GPUs may only have FHD resolution which isn’t useful for Minecraft. There’s no reason to buy so much GPU power to play the game at 1080p ONLY when you have cheaper laptops with weaker GPUs that can do extremely well with all the settings described above and 1080p resolution.

Acer Nitro 17
PROS CONS
  • Superb Cooling System
  • Maximum TGP for 4060RTX
  • QHD display
  • Runs MC with most extreme graphics and shaders
  • Runs the game at 1440p
  • DDR5 RAM
  • Expensive
  • Very heavy
  • Too big to carry
  • Almost no battery

Buying The Best Laptop For Minecraft

This section will give you ALL the information you need out there so you can get the best laptop for minecraft.

I’m going to divide this section into three parts, you only need to read one of these accoding to your budget.

If you are new to computer jargon, please check my post on beginner’s guide to computer specifications
 

A) Minecraft Laptops 300-500 USD:  With this much budget, you cannot buy a dedicated GPU so your focus should be on the CPU. You’ll see benchmarks of minecraft under different CPUs. 
B) Minecraft Laptops over 600 USD: You can afford a dedicated GPU thus you will be able to unlock cool looking and heavy shaders plus the big FTP modpacks. 

C) Minecraft Laptop Under 300 USD: The options I will give you here are not limited to refurbished or used laptops. You can find NEW laptops that can run the game decently.


For the sake of completion before we talk about each of those three options, let’s talk about the “minimum” requirements as published by the official website.

Laptop Requirements For Minecraft

First, let us go through the official hardware requirements for those of you interested in breaking down what the “official source” has to say about this.

Minimum

The requirements listed above are for desktops and the hardware recommended is very old.

Because the hardware on desktops and MC doesnt have great graphics….it makes sense you can run the vanilla version with this much power. If we translate those requirements to laptops:


CPU: Core i3 5th gen  OR AMD A8-8600P and above. or anything more recent
GPU: Intel Iris Graphics 6100 or AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo)
RAM: Anything above 4GB

Recommended


CPU: Core i5 6th gen or A10-9600P
GPU: MX150 (2GB vRAM dedicated GPU)
RAM: 8GB (again Windows 10 or 11 take a lot)

The minimum recomendations will run MC without 30fps using optifine at low settings whereas the recommended settings will push framerates to 60fps and let you use light shaders. Of course, theres no reason to buy computers with the specifications shown above because you can find much much better hardware at a cheap price (200-300 dollars hardware today has x3 the power of the minimum).

A) Minecraft Laptops: Under 500 Dollars 

Although this much budget cannot get you a dedicated graphics (though sometimes it can get you dedicated graphics on refurbished laptops), you can still pretty good performance and if you know a thing or two about hardware under this budget , especially CPU performance, you can even run some shaders with decent framerates.

1. Recent CPU = Faster iGPUs

Minecraft is very CPU bound, it plays as much of a role as the graphics card. So obviously, the more recent the CPU the faster the game will run. Buying something more recent also has the advantage of getting you a “faster integrated GPU” which is the graphics cards “integrated” or “attached” to the CPU.

Below you can see some examples on how this works:

CPU iGPU
i3 1115G4 Intel UHD Xe G4 
i3 1215U Intel UHD 64EUs
i3 1305U Intel UHD 64EUs
i5 1135G7 Intel Iris Xe 80 (1600Mhz)
i5 1230U Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EU
i5 1345U  Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs

CPU iGPU
Ryzen 3 5300U RX Vega 3
Ryzen 3 7320U
Radeon 610M
Ryzen 5 5500U RX Vega 7
Ryzen 5 7520U Radeon 610M

Note that you cannot pick integrated GPUs, they’ll always be paired with the CPUs above.  

I have omitted Ryzen 7 & Core i7 CPUs in this table because they’re found on laptops that are as expensive as those laptops with dedicated GPUs which defeats the whole purpose (they’re over 500 dollars ~700+). However, the benchmarks are down below for you to check.

The rule of the more recent the better the integrated graphics is always true except for a few exceptions. For modern laptops, the exceptions are the 7th gen Ryzen 5 CPUs which have a WEAKER iGPU than previous generations (highlighted): RX Vega 7 > RX Vega 3 RX Vega 610M
 

Minecraft Laptop BenchMarks

The following benchmarks are taken from various youtube channels including mine, at the last column you can see the exact laptop model that was used. You are welcome to buy those laptops if you’re happy with the performance. All of these laptops can play MC with decent framerates as long as you adjust settings & install Optifine.

i) Core i3 & Ryzen 3 Benchmarks: $300-400 Laptops 

Processor FPS Chunks Resolution Settings Youtube Shaders FPS(Shader) Laptop
Ryzen 3 3200U 145 6 720p Fast Kostan Chocapic13 (Low) 43 HP DK0028WM
Ryzen 3 4300U 107 8 720p Fancy MineCastle Sildrus Vibrant(Lite) 30 Ideapad Slim 3
Ryzen 3 5300U 104 8 720p Fancy Kostan Sildrus Vibrant(High) 28 Ideapad Slim 3
Ryzen 3 7320U 225 6 720p Fast Noteb Lenovo Ideapad 1
Ryzen 3 7320U 225 16 1080p Fancy CRSTNBENCH Chocapic13(Low) 53 Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 3 27ALC6

Intel Core Laptops

CPU FPS Chunks Resolution Settings Shader FPS(shader) Youtube Laptop
Core i3 10100U 52 5 720p Fancy CRSTNBENCH HP 14-cf2636ng
Core i3 10100U 60 8 720p Fancy Alijin Manoq ?????
Core i3 1005G1 80 10 720p Fancy Nightfiber ????
Core i3 1125G4 212 8 720p Fast Chocapic v6 65 nhv411 Vivobook A415 EB1750W
Core i3-1115G4
163 6 1080p Fancy CRSTNBENCH  
Core i3 1215U 135 12 1080p Fancy CRSTNBENCH HP Laptop – 15s-fq5735ng
Core i3 1315U 62 30 1080p Fancy Hubwood  

Based on these benchmark we can say the following:

  • Both Ryzen 3 and Core i3 CPUs can run shaders. I wasn’t able to test every Single Core i3 or Ryzen 3 but one benchmark of a previous or more recent generation should be enough since both the CPU & iGPU are close in power.
  • Shaders can run with at least +30fps with either a Core i3 or Ryzen 3. The more recent generations go as high as 100.

 Ryzen 3 and Core i3 are only good enough for the Lite version of shaders
 .

  • The Core i3 & Ryzen 3s can run Minecraft with at least 60fps on Fancy settings. You just need to play with the #of chunks, older generations may handle less chunks than the more recent ones.

ii) Core i5 & Ryzen 5 Benchmarks: $400-500 Laptops 

Intel Core Laptops

CPU FPS Chunks Resolution Settings Youtube Laptop
Core i5-1035G4 43 12 1080p Fancy Technoriales  
Core i5 1035G4 86 10 2k Fast yeungbear Surface Pro 7
Core i5 1135G7 62 16 1080 Fancy Noteb  
Core i5 1135G7 62 12 1080p Fancy CRSTNNBENCH ZenBook 13  UX325EA

Ryzen 5 Laptops

Processor FPS Chunks Resolution Settings Youtube Shaders FPS(Shader) Laptop
Ryzen 5 3500U 42 12 FHD Fancy TheTechGamer Chocapic16 (High) 40 Lenovo Ideapad C340
Ryzen 5 4500U 94 12 FHD Fancy legos45 Sildrus Vibrant (Med) 44 Lenovo Ideapad 5
Ryzen 5 4500U 101 12 FHD Fancy CRSTNBENCH HP ProBook x360 435 G7
Ryzen 5 5500U 106 12 FHD Fancy CRSTNBENCH —- HP Envy x360 15-eu0055ng

  • Whereas generally Core i3 or Ryzen 3 limits chunks to below 10 (on average), Core i5 or Ryzen 5 gets you high framerates with Fancy settings and decent number of chunks at 1080p.
  • Core i5 or Ryzen 5 CPUs can run ‘medium’ or high versions of shaders with decent framerates.

There are currently no benchmarks with the recently released Core i5 or Ryzen 5 CPUs. The reason is simple, the game doesn’t really require that much hardware for most people to play so they rather get something cheaper which is usually a laptop with a slightly older CPU.

Core i5 or R5 CPUs on laptops can get you lagless gameplay with shaders and good # of chunks (+12)

iii) Core i7 & Ryzen 7 Benchmarks

Processor FPS # Chunks Resolution Settings Youtube Shaders FPS(Shader) Laptop
Ryzen 7 4700U 70 20 FHD Fancy Zucos Sildrus Vibrant (Lite) 30 Lenovo Ideapad 5
Ryzen 7 5700U ??? 8 FHD FANCY TSM channel —- Asus VivoBook 15 M513
Ryzen 7 7730U   12   Fancy Chocapic13 Low v9 56 CRSTNBENCH

CPU FPS Chunks Resolution Settings Youtube Laptop
Core i7-1165G7 135 12 1080p Fancy legos 45 MSI Summit B15

​      

  • You’ll get much higher framerates with higher # of chunks out of the core i7 and ryzen 7 CPUs.
  • I do not recommend you buy these laptops anyways UNLESS you want something portable. They are too expensive.

Note: Unlike the 7th gen Ryzen 5 CPU, the 7th Ryzen 7 CPU shows significant performance gains over the previous generations. This is because although the same integrated graphics are used, the CPU itself has way more clock speed and better ‘multi-core’ clock speeds too (in other words ALL cores hit HIGHER clocks speeds , not just one core).

BenchMarks Conclusions

  • These benchmarks results (framerates) only give you a general idea of how CPU might perform there are many other factors.
    • RAM: They use different RAMs. Most benchmarks used 16GB but some use 8GB. Also a lot of these use RAM in dual-channel mode which further incrases framerates. 
    • Settings may be slightly different and also the average may have been calculated in more hardware demanding parts of the map.
    • Most of these benchmarks use Optifine.

So Which CPUs give you the best bang for your buck?

  • As long as you grab the recent CPUs (5th+ for Ryzen and 10th+ for Intel), you can handle shaders though different versions.
  • There are huge performance gains with the more recent generations:
    • Core i5 and Ryzen 5 give you the best bang for your buck. They’re only on average 100 dollars more expensive yet the performance doubles or even triples.
    • 5th gen Ryzen 5 CPUs outperform 11th gen Core i5 CPUs due to better multi-core performance and MC is more multicore than the average game especially if you use Optifine.
    • Core i7 & Ryzen 7 handle graphically demanding shaders but they’re too expensive.

CPUs for Modded Minecraft

 –  Need at least a Core i5 or Ryzen 5 model

  • Need at least a Core i5 or Ryzen 5 model
  • Only the latest Core i5 or Ryzen 5 (+10th gen for Intel and +5th gen For Ryzen ) can run big modpacks like ftp modpacks and those with +200 mods like interactions and Revelations.

2. RAM & Storage:  12-16GB RAM & SSD

RAM is EXTREMELY important for this game. The more you optimize RAM the higher the performance gains.

4GB vs 8GB

Ideally, 8GB should be the minimum. It’s a no brainer since Windows 11 and even Windows 12 will take approximately 4GB leaving almost nothing for Minecraft if you get 4GB. You need 8GB and the higher the settings (in the absence of a dedicated GPU) the more useful 12 or 16GB RAM becomes.

12-16GB RAM: a MUST for Integrated GPUs

Why is it that most benchmarks used 12-16GB RAM, if 8GB is enough? Because extram beyond 8GB make a huge difference if you only have an integrated GPU.

How? Basically the extra RAM can be used by the iGPU with no constraints. In other words, it will be reserved to the iGPU without the CPU interefering.

In fact, some of the integrated GPUs, as long as you up the RAM to 12GB or 16GB RAM CAN outperform some slightly older entry level dedicated GPUs like the MX150 or MX250.

FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT RAM PLEASE REFER TO THE RAM SECTION DOWN BELOW [/TIP]

3. Storage 

This isn’t an issue if you’re buying a modern laptop. Because modern laptops (those with the CPUs I’ve outlined) come by default with the fastest storage devices which are SSDs. They’re all mostly PCIe NVMe SSDs , there may be a few models with slightly data transfer speeds because they have more lanes but for Minecraft this doesn’t make a difference performance wise.

Since most old laptops do not have any type of  SSD by default only an HDD which is painfully slow for loading up the game and modpacks… it’s a good idea to upgrade to boost performanec with minecraft and your computer overall.

B) Minecraft Laptops: $550 and Up

1. GPU

A budget over 500 , more specifically 530, can get you a dedicated GPU if you look long enough. 

A dedicated GPU will:

  • Increase framerates
  • Unlock more chunks with fancy settings
  • Unlock high versions of shaders
  • Handle mods with more fancy graphical textures
  • Increase rendering distance
  • Increase resolution
[caption id="attachment_12381" align="alignnone" width="960"] This is minecraft running with an 8GB vRAM dedicated GPU. Notice how high the resolution is and how much you can see thus render at once.[/caption]

[tip] Benchmarks are measured when the character is in the middle of the map and there’s a lot of stuff to render  (because you’re in an open field) , this forces the GPU & CPU to use most of their power and it’s a good point for comparison purposes

 

 Few points we get to the benchmarks:

  • All   dedicated GPUs in this list can handle Sildrus or Chocapic High with ~16 chunks.
  • Some of the GPUs are USELESS because they only match the performance of “integrated GPUs” (laptops with no dedicated GPUs).
  • Some of the GPUs are OVERKILL for minecraft even with all the shaders and mods and chunks you want to load. 

i) MX 350 MX 450 1050GTX Benchmarks ($500-600)

We’ll start with the weakest GPUs, this is where you have to be careful!

NVIDIA Cores vRAM Speed
MX250 384 2GB-4GB 1582
MX350 640 2-4GB 1354
MX450 896 2-4GB 1580
1050 640 2GB-4GB 1493
MX550 1024 2GB 1320

AMD Radeon Shaders vRAM Speed Equivalent
Pro RX 555X 768 2GB 855  MX150/MX250
RadeonRX 540 512 4GB 1219 ~950M
Radeon RX 550 640 4GB 1287 – 1476 +950M
Radeon RX 560X 1024 4GB 1172 – 1275 1050GTX

Note those with the same color are equivalent in power and performance (RX 550 ~ MX250). It’s very rare to find AMD Radeon RX GPUs on laptops though so most of the benchmarks seen next will be restricted to NVIDIA GPUs.

GPU CPU Graphics Chunks Resolution Shader FPS
MX150 Core i5 8250U Fancy 10 1080p Sildurs(Lite) 38 KangVladi
MX250 Core i5 10210U Fancy 10 1080p BLS 33 Splitsecond
—- 1080p Sildurs(Lite) 42
MX330 Core  i5-1035G1 Fancy 16 1080p Sildurs(High) 45 SpecKenTang
MX350 Ryzen 5 4500U Fancy 12 1080p None 115 legos45

GPU CPU Graphics Chunks Resolution Shader FPS
MX450 i7-1165G7 Fancy 15 1080p NO SHADER 150 CRSTNBENCH
MX450 Fancy 1080p Sildrus 1.5 Med 55 ExteriorMV
1050 8300h Fancy 8 1080p BLS 7.2 50 iNordap
1050 8300h Fancy 8 8300h Chocapic13 v9 Beta 43 iNordap
1050 8300h Fancy 8 8300h Sildurs (Med) 62 iNordap
1050 8300h Fancy 8 8300h Seus Renewed 1.01 40 iNordap

MX150 & MX250: Avoid these because their performance is similar to Integrated GPUs (intel xe and Vega 7 or 8) which are found on much cheaper laptops.

MX3XX Series: The MX350 is  2.5 faster than the MX150 & MX250. It can handle heavy and High versions of shaders.  However, this isn’t the case for the MX330 is much slower.Also prices of the laptop are nearly about the same as MX450 so both must be avoided.

MX450 & MX 550:  These two are the most common under 600 and the only ones you should consider because the performance different between these and integrated GPUs is very significant as shown in the benchmarks. You probably won’t find the MX550 under 600 dollars that easily, don’t obsess about it the MX450 is plenty fast.

1050GTX: This one performs just as fast as the MX450. The MX550 is faster than this one though (slightly). The problem is you cannot find it under 600.


ii) 1050Ti 1650GTX Benchmarks: $600 to 750 

NVIDIA Cores vRAM Speed
1050Ti 768 4GB 1620
1650 1024 4GB 1560
2050 2048 4GB 1477

GPU CPU Graphics R.Distance Resolution Shader FPS
1050Ti Core i5 8300H Fancy 16 1080p Sildurs(high) 1.27 48 xFlame
1650GTX AMD Ryzen 5 4600H Fancy 16 1080p Chocapic13 v6(High) 60 Laptopstudy
1650GTX Core i5 9300H Fancy 16 1080p Chocapic13 v6(High) 70 Laptopstudy
2050RTX Core i5 11260H Fancy 8 4k 50 Gaming Test
2050RTX Core i5 11400H Fancy ??? 1080p BSL Shader 75 Bongolok
2050RTX Core i5-1240P Fancy 32 1080p 103 LaptopMedia

1050Ti: This is kind of obsolete. There’s really no reason to buy it unless its much cheaper than 2050RTX or 1650GTX laptops.

1650GTX: There are TWO versions of the 1650GTX. The Max-Q version and the normal version, the former is somewhat slower because it runs at a lower power.

2050RTX vs 1650GTX: These two can be found around the same price with the 2050RTX being SLIGHTLY faster on paper however on benchmarks it seems to have about the same performance as the ‘full power’ 1650GTX.

Optimus & MUX Switch:

THis is somewhat of a complicated topic you can read about it here : MUX Switch. But basically those GPUs with a MUX Switch or those GPUs with “Optimus disabled” will have their performance increased by 15-20%. This is why the highlighted laptop( Core i5 9300H + 1650GTX ) outperforms all other laptops with a 1650GTX. The GPU is running at full power + using a MUX Switch.

iii) 3050Ti 1660Ti 2060RTX Benchmarks: $750 to 900

NVIDIA Cores vRAM Speed
1660 Ti 1536 6GB 1590
3050RTX 2048 4-6GB 1500
3050Ti 2560 4GB 1485
2060 RTX 1920 6GB 1680

All these GPUs give you approximately the same performance with MC.

However, the 2060RTX is obsolete and when found on older laptops, it’s usually way more expensive than  the 1660Ti & 3050Ti.

The 1660Ti is old too but faster than all three.

The 3050Ti & 3050RTX are the most common so we’ll be focusing on those TWO. 

AMD Radeon Shaders vRAM Speed Equivalent
RX 580 1536 6GB 1077 ~1060GTX
RX5500M 1408 8GB 1327 – 1645 ~1660Ti

These  AMD GPUs can be found on Pre-2020 MacBook Pros . Since Minecraft is no longer supported on Mac OSX we’ll ignore these GPUs.

GPU CPU Graphics Rend. Distance Resolution Shader FPS
1060GTX  6th Core i7 Fancy 16 1080p Sildurs (High) 1.53 80 GGPC
1660Ti Ryzen 7 4800H Fancy 12 1080p Sildurs (High) 1.53 93 GGPC
2060RTX Core i5 10300H Fancy 16 1080p SEUS renewed 70 Omen
3050  Core i5 10300H Fancy 8 1080p BSL v8 1.01 90 Kaeza
3050 Core i5 10300H Fancy 8 1080p Chopic 13 v7(Lite) 105
3050 Core i5 10300H Fancy 8 1080p Sildurs(Extreme) 85
3050 Core i5 10300H Fancy 8 1080p Sildurs(Lite) 101
3050 Core i5 11400H Fancy 8 1080p BSL v8 1.01 85 SHIVI ART
3050 —- Fancy 8 1080p Chocapic 13 v7Lite 123 no
3050 Ryzen 5 5600H
Fancy 8 1080p Sildurs  Extreme 115 BLBG
3050Ti Core i5 10300h Fancy 12 1080p BSL v8 1.01 110 Hypixel
3050Ti Core i5 10300H Fancy 12 1080p Sildurs  Extreme 110 Hypixel
3050Ti Ryzen 7 5800H Fancy 8 1080p BSL v8 1.01 105 Xabrex
3050Ti Ryzen 7 5800H Fancy  16 1080p BSL v8 1.01 55 Xabrex

These GPUs are ideal for shaders and can handle even the most extreme versions with decent framerates. A few things to keep in mind:

  • When using shaders, the faster GPU will always win. Even small changes make a big difference. Notice the performance difference between the 3050Ti & 3050RTX (highlighter in yellow).
  • Also notice how little difference the CPU makes even when the more powerful CPU runs at lower # of chunks! (highlighted in green).
  • The more chunks you add on top of shaders the more taxing the game becomes (last row).
  • Notice how little difference the CPU makes all things being equal and what a great difference the GPU makes when it comes to shaders.

Lastly, notice how the old 2060RTX runs more chunks at higher framerates than the most recent 3050Ti with the same shaders.

  • The reason is simple: the 2060RTX has more vRAM.

vRAM vs Minecraft Rendering:

The more ‘graphics’ you need to render, the higher the need for vRAM.

Minecraft isn’t that graphically demanding even with shaders. However, when you up the number of chunks on top of shaders, you add a HUGE amount of graphical data to render AT ALL TIMES and your need for vRAM becomes even more important (if you want high framerates).

The 3050Ti only has 4GB vRAM so it makes sense it’s outperformed by the 2060RTX (6GB vRAM).

Thus…

If you want to run large number of chunks + shaders, ideally you want a 6GB vRAM GPU. There’s a version of the 3050RTX with 6GB vRAM so you want to look specifically for those models. If you fail to get that 6GB vRAM 3050RTX , then you’ll have no choice but to pay for the more rexpensive 3060RTX or the old 2060RTX.

iv) 3060RTX 2070RTX Benchmarks: 900-1400 dollars

NVIDIA Cores vRAM Speed
3060 RTX 3584 6GB 1780
4050 RTX 2560 6GB 237

AMD Radeon Shaders vRAM Speed Equivalent
AMD Radeon RX 6700S 1975 10GB 1890 ~3060

GPU TGP CPU Graphics Chunks Resolution Shader FPS Youtube
3060RTX 85W Ryzen 7 5800H Fancy 16 1080p Sildurs (High) 1.53 70 Engineering Zone
4050RTX 45W i7-12650h Fancy 8 1080p None ~500 GPU Pulse
4050RTX 45W i7-12650h Fancy 16 1080p None ~148 GPU Pulse
4050RTX 45W i7-12650h Fancy 32 1080p None ~122 GPU Pulse
4050RTX 45W i7-12650h Fancy 8 1080p Complementary ~100 GPU Pulse

The second column stands for TGP also called wattage, it basically means how much power the GPU uses. Although the GPUs may have the same name, they run at different wattages or TGPs, the higher the wattage the higher the performance. We have ignored this in previous GPUs because it isn’t so important until you get to this bracket.

Here’s my article on GPU Wattage. A must read if you’re spending that much money on a high-tier GPU

Wattage does not make a huge difference on Minecraft as much as vRAM does in most cases.

For example, let’s say you have two 4050RTX GPUs to choose from the 140W version and the 45W. While the former is going to give you more framerates than the latter, the difference isn’t really that much important because the 4050RTX even with shaders will get you very high framerates too.

Now…

If you add more chunks + shaders, then it can make a huge DIFFERENCE, then it may be smart to pick the high wattage 4050RTX. This also applies for resolution: 1440p and 4k Minecraft will require not only lots of vRAM but lots of “power” too.

v) 3070RTX 3080RTX Benchmarks: 1400$ and up 

AMD Radeon Shaders vRAM Speed Equivalent
AMD Radeon RX 6800S 2048 12GB 1975 +3070

NVIDIA Cores vRAM Speed
3070 RTX 5120 8GB 1620
4060RTX 3072 8GB 2370
3070Ti RTX 5888 8GB 1485
3080Ti RTX 7424 8GB 1590
4070 RTX 4608 8GB 2175
4080 RTX 7424  12GB 2280 

GPU CPU Graphics Rend. Distance Resolution Shader FPS
3070RTX Ryzen 7 5800H Fancy 16 1080p Seus 80 Gillis
4060RTX i7 13650HX Fancy 20 1440p RTX + BSL v8 77  Ahmed Jey
4070RTX i9 13900H Fancy 16 1440p RTX Mode 81 Benchmark Lab
4080RTX i9 13980HX Fancy 48 1440p Complementary 120 TickeHD

These are WAY too powerful for just Minecraft + shaders. These should only be used for the most extreme graphical settings. Basically a combination of some , if not all, the following.

  • RTX Mode 
  • 1440p or 4k resolution
  • 48 chunks
  • Shaders

Which more or less will make the game look like this:

Only in that scenario do they become useful. Note that only the 4070RTX & 4080RTX can handle all four settings maxed out with high framerates. Whereas the first, 3070RTX & 4060RTX, can handle all except 1440p or 4k resolution…without having framerates dip into the 50s.

Also…

If you’re building anything that involves EXTREME graphics + High resolution large scale worlds such as the examples below:

They’re really your only option if you want to do things fast…a better option would of course be the desktop versions of these GPUs on a desktop computer.

2. CPU (Processor)

Minecraft is HIGHLY CPU dependent.  Of course,a higher CPU will not unlock shaders and highly detailed mods but it will help the GPU tremendously in doing so AND play a big role in increasing framerates.

So…

Assuming you have two laptops with the same GPU, being picky about the CPU pays off.

Now…

How do you know which CPU will give you more performance?

# of Cores vs Clock Speed

Read my post beginner’s guide to computer specs if you don’t know the basics
 

For gaming purposes, these are the only two specs to be concerned.

Of course both of these specs are important but…

The clock speed of one core wins

That’s because…

Although Minecraft beginning with patch 1.17.10 and subsequent versions have  been loading more and more functions to the remaining cores, most of the workload is still offloaded to the first core 

Intel CPUs – Clock speed # Cores

This means you have to pick the CPU with the highest clock speed….because the advertised clock speed always tells you the maximum ‘speed’ of the first core.

CPU Base Turbo Cores
i5 1235U 3.3 4.4 10
i5 1240P 3.3 4.4 12
i5-11300H 2.6 4.4 4
i5 11260H 2.6 4.4 6
i5 12540H 2.6 4.4 8
i5 12450H
3.3 4.4 8
i5 12500H 3.3 4.5  
i5 13420H 1.5 4.6 8
i5 13500H 1.5 4.7  8
i7-11375H 3.3 5 4
i7 1260P 3.4 4.7 12
i7-11370H 3.3 4.8 4
i7-11800H 3.3 5.0 6
i7-12800H
3.7
4.8
6/8
i7-12700H
3.5
4.7
6/8
i7 13620H 1.8 4.9 10/16
i7 13650HX 3.6 4.9 10/1
i9-11900H 2.5 4.9 8
i9-11980HK 3.3 5 8
i9 12900H
1.8
5
6/8
i9 13900H
2.6
5.4
6/8

CPU Max Speed Cores(Threads)
Ryzen 9 7940HS 5.2 8 – 16
Ryzen 9 6980HX  5 8 – 16
Ryzen 9 6900HS
4.9
8 – 16
Ryzen 9 5900HX 4.6 8 – 16
Ryzen 7 7745HX 5.1 8 – 16
Ryzen 7 7840HS 5.1 8 – 16
Ryzen 7 6800HS 4.7 8 – 16 
Ryzen 7 6800H 4.7 8 – 16
Ryzen 7 5800H 4.4 8 – 16
Ryzen 5 7535HS 3.3 6 – 12
Ryzen 5 6600H 3.3 6 – 12
Ryzen 5 5600H 4.2 6 – 12

As you can see Intel for the most part will have higher clock speeds though not always. At the highest clock speeds (Ryzen 9 & Core i9) they’re pretty much the same and they’re pretty close in clock speeds at the Core i5 and Ryzen 5 sections of the most recent generations (7th for Ryzen and 13th for Intel).

However, there’s a still a few variables like power supplied and cooling systems that will determine whether or not said CPU will outperform the other (when they’re pretty close in clock speeds. Ex: Core i5 13500H vs Ryzen 5 7535HS).

3. RAM

8GB vs 16GB: bare minimum vs ideal

Regardless of the kind of hardware you have and the settings you’re playing with, having 16GB RAM is always always a good thing. Although you could do well with 8GB RAM, 16GB RAM gives the CPU lots of headroom especially when you add mods and shaders or more chunks.

RAM for Mods

Let’s run some calculations to see what the minimum RAM for mods.

Vanilla MC takes approx. ~0.5GB.

Windows 11 (~3.5GB)

80 Mods ~ 1GB.

The Big FTP modpacks (200 mods) ~ 2.5GB.

This is a total of 8GB. This is minimum!!!

Thus you want more, 12GB-16GB. This will provide headroom for the game to have 8GB RAM allocated to it and use more if needed. 

RAM for Shaders

Assuming you have a dedicated GPU, when running shaders RAM doesn’t help as much. Why? Because dGPUs have their own “RAM” allocated to it which is called “vRAM”, it will use that FIRST to run shaders and use the normal RAM if it runs out of ‘vRAM’.

If you have an integrated GPU, in other words: no dedicated GPU. It will help A LOT. 

That’s because integrated GPUs do not have “VRAM”  so they’ll need to use RAM and if you only have 8GB and the system (windows) is taking most of it, then it has little to work with.

Dual-Channel RAM – extra FPS boost

Regardless of hardware, don’t forget Dual-Channel RAM will give you a boost in framerates. If you use two RAM sticks with the same specs  to make it a total of 16GB (Ex: x2 8GB DDR4 3200Mhz), you’ll have an extra 5-15 fps depending on the settings you use. 

C) Minecraft Laptops: 300 dollars and below

In 2024, there is no longer need to buy refurbished or used laptops if you want to play Minecraft. There’s plenty plenty of good decent NEW laptops that can run the FULL WINDOWS version of Minecraft. A short list is provided in this link.

All of those laptops can run the vanilla version of Minecraft with some mods and that’s because they either have a Core i3 or a Ryzen 3 CPU which by default comes with a decent GPU as shown in the tables below:

CPU iGPU
i3 1115G4 Intel UHD Xe G4 
i3 1215U Intel UHD 64EUs
i5 1135G7 Intel Iris Xe 80 (1600Mhz)
i5 1345U  Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs

CPU iGPU
Ryzen 3 3250U RX Vega 3

The problem with the laptops shown in that small list is that most of them have 4GB so you have to do the upgrade on your own to 8GB. Once you do, the vanilla version of MC will run with at least 60fps on Fast settings.

1. Below 250 dollars: Intel Pentium/Celeron Laptops For Minecraft

On the other hand, if your budget falls quiet below 250 dollars then you will be limited to Intel Pentium or Intel Celeron CPUs. Basically, you’ll have to settle with a non-Core i3 or non-Ryzen 3. 

Why are they no good for MC Java Edition?

RAM isnt’ the issue, nor is the integrated GPU because most of these laptops have decent iGPUs.

The issue is the CPU. It’s too slow for a full blown operating system like Windows.

If you can’t run Windows without stuttering then Minecraft performance will be very very slow.

So why even mention these CPUs?

They are still useful for the Pocket or BedRock Edition of Minecraft.

These run on Windows in “S mode” which is nerfed version of the Windows OS you know.

Intel or Pentium CPU can handle ” Windows in S mode” because it is much less hardware demanding. 

2. Other CPUs Below 250 dollars

CPUs outside the Pentium and Celeron can run the full version of Minecraft. For example but you have to avoid the following (on top of Intel Pentium & Celeron):

    • 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 gen intel CPUs and older generations. (These are not that slow but integrated graphics here not only outdated but also incompatible with the  current version of Windows).
    • For AMD: Avoid anything that says E1, E2, etc.

And opt for the following:

  • AMD CPUs with 7xxxP, 8xxxP or 9xxx will WORK!
  • Intel processors with 5xxx, or 6xxx  part numbers will WORK TOO!

Some benchmarks of the older &  recommended CPUs:

CPU FPS Graphics Resolution Render. Dist Link
Core i3 4550U* 45 Fancy 720 8 Manu
Core i3 6100U +30 FAST 720p 16 SparkyWizard
Core i3 7100U 60 FANCY 720p 8 TheRyzLe
AMD A9-9425 45 FAST 720p 4 Noteb


*LAPTOP has 12 GB RAM

Note: it’s very hard to predict how an old CPU will perform if it’s got an older operating system. However, if you can upgrade said laptop with 16GB RAM & and SSD, it will make that laptop literally FLY and get you DECENT playable framerates with the CURRENT java version of Minecraft.

Thus it is CRUCIAL to also check whether the laptop you buy is upgradeable (RAM & Storage). Usually, storage will be upgradeable, but RAM may not be upgradeable as some of these have soldered RAM into the motherboard. If RAM is not upgradeable and you only 4GB, forget it.

3. Rerfurbished Laptops For Minecraft

Of course you don’t have to buy old laptops with old CPUs and have to all the painstaking task of doing the RAM upgrade and so on. If your budget is below 250 and you still want Core i3 or Ryzen 3 CPUs. Just buy refurbished laptops from Amazon , eBay or any store of your looking.

Refurbished laptops usually come with a 90 day warranty (Amazon)  that means if you don’t like it or if it stops working you can return it and get all your money back.

You can minimize the chances of getting a bad apple by choosing good brands. From my experience:

Here’s the hierarchy:  Lenovo > ASUS > MSI > Acer > HP = Dell .

Upgrading:

MOST modern laptops are upgradeable so if you only find one with 4GB RAM , you can always replace the 4GB RAM stick with an 8GB RAM stick or add another 4GB RAM or even replace both to have 16GB RAM.  That along with the SSD (which most modern laptops have) will surely make minecraft java edition run with at least 60 fps with fast settings or even higher as shown in the benchmarks above.

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.

Author Profile

Miguel Salas
Miguel Salas
I am physicist and electrical engineer. My knowledge in computer software and hardware stems for my years spent doing research in optics and photonics devices and running simulations through various programming languages. My goal was to work for the quantum computing research team at IBM but Im now working with Astrophysical Simulations through Python. Most of the science related posts are written by me, the rest have different authors but I edited the final versions to fit the site's format.

Miguel Salas

I am physicist and electrical engineer. My knowledge in computer software and hardware stems for my years spent doing research in optics and photonics devices and running simulations through various programming languages. My goal was to work for the quantum computing research team at IBM but Im now working with Astrophysical Simulations through Python. Most of the science related posts are written by me, the rest have different authors but I edited the final versions to fit the site's format.

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