Ranked: 10 Best laptops for Escape From Tarkov in 2021 October

Updated: October 15, 2021. Escape from Tarkov is one of the most demanding games to run at maximum settings. So much so that it will struggle to run even on some of the best gaming laptops on the market. You should expect to experience serious performance issues if you’re planning to use an old notebook. A budget gaming laptop will get you halfway there. However, I’d recommend using this time to upgrade your rig or possibly your graphics card.

We’ll take a look at what components you should expect to see at every price point and give you a rundown of what’s available on the market right now. By the end of this article, you should have all the information you need to make an informed decision about which laptop to buy. Let’s start with laptop requirements for Escape from Tarkov.

Requirements for a Escape From Tarkov laptop

Major Graphics card for playing Tarkov

Graphics card is by far the most important piece of the puzzle for getting the best laptop for Tarkov. The catch is that this game is pretty much unplayable on integrated graphics and even dedicated entry-level and some mid-range cards. Only upper-tier graphics cards can come close to achieving a stable 60 FPS on anything above lowest settings. I have outlined my video card recommendations for Escape From Tarkov in 3 sections – bare minimum, recommend, and the best video cards for playing Tarkov.

Minimum graphics (under $1400)

The bare minimum in terms of GPU for playing Escape From Tarkov are previous-gen mid-range AMD and Nvidia dedicated graphics. While these cards are not great for highly competitive folks, they can hold their own. For example, my minimum recommended card – GTX 1650, can achieve an average of 60 FPS with low settings. That’s nothing to write home about, but at least we can finally start playing Tarkov without pulling our hair out. GTX 1650 Ti and RX 5600M are a step above that with a 10-15 FPS edge over GTX 1650.

Recommended graphics ($1,400 – $1,900)

The sweet spot for video cards are mid-range options like RTX 3050 and RTX 3060. These hover around 60 FPS on medium settings on Full HD. If you want to play on higher settings, or with highest graphics settings, then even these cards will not be enough.

Best graphics ($1,900 and up)

Finally, if you’re here for the top laptop for playing EFT, then I recommend RTX 3070 and RTX 3080.

These beasts can reach up to 70 FPS on ultra settings and ~100 FPS on lowest settings.

Nvidia card variants

To keep matters simple, I’ve kept some Nvidia card variants out of the picture. These series stay in-line with their original models with a few minor expected differences:

• Max-Q cards are ~15% slower (except RTX 30s)
• Ti and Super models are ~15% faster than base models

Optional What’s the right amount of RAM for EFT?

If you’re playing Escape From Tarkov, you need to make sure that your laptop has enough RAM. The game’s RAM requirements are fairly high, and if you don’t have enough RAM, the game will take a hit.

Minimum & Recommended (16 GB)

8 GB of RAM is enough for playing most games but Escape From Tarkov is an exception. I’m not saying that 8 GB will straight up brick your PC – but it will severely downgrade general experience. You might be fine as long as you don’t plan on running any other programs in the background.

The good news (or bad news, if you’re glass half-empty type of guy) is that [any decent laptop that could run Tarkov will without a doubt have 16 GB RAM](steam hardware survey (8 gb ram)). If it doesn’t – it’s not worth anyone’s attention, at least for ETF. That’s why I recommend 16 GB as a starting point.

Best (32 GB)

32 GB is the best option for those who want to have a seamless experience with Escape From Tarkov and also want to use their laptop for general productivity. That’s especially relevant for developers, engineers and scientists that have to crunch a lot of data. If you’re thinking about buying a new laptop, get one with 32 GB of RAM.

Major How to choose the right processor for playing Escape From Tarkov?

It’s safe to say that your graphics card is the most important component in gaming. In second place, we have the processor. In Tarkov’s case, this hierarchy is very clear-cut – GPU is much more important than the CPU. This is especially true if you’re not using a high refresh rate monitor.

Requirements

As long as you have a laptop with at least an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor, you’re good to go.

A Core i7 or Ryzen 7 is only needed if you’re using a laptop with a 144Hz display (or better).

Recommendations

To put it bluntly, I don’t think there’s any reason to spend money on a high-end CPU for playing Escape From Tarkov. Sure, there are laptops with high-end processors out there, but they’re pricey and, more importantly, unnecessary. There are games that can put CPU to its use, but EFT isn’t one of them. So, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly laptop that won’t break the bank, then you should opt for one of the following processors:

• i5-1135G7 – minimum recommended processor
• 15-10300H – the perfect match for a mid-range gaming rig
• i7-10750H and Ryzen 7 4800H – best for 4K and high refresh rate displays

Optional requirements for a Escape From Tarkov laptop

Optional Storage for Escape From Tarkov

It’s not all that easy to figure out how much storage space you need for your gaming laptop. You could go to the store and just pick the one with the biggest capacity, but you might be too cramped in a few months.

What’s the best size?

• 256 GB SSD is the bare minimum for any laptop that has gaming in its mission statement. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’ll fill up quick and then you’ll be in a predicament of deciding what to delete and what to keep. So, let’s start from there and go up.
• 512 GB SSD isthe sweet spot for most people. It’s plenty of space to store games, demos, DLCs, mods, and other gaming paraphernalia.
• 1 TB SSD is what you need if you’re an avid gamer with a big Steam library. It’s pricey, but it’s worth it if you want your gaming experience to be lag-free and uninterrupted.
• 2 TB SSD is perfect for those who are absolutely certain they need all the space they can get – for games, demos, DLCs, mods, and other gaming paraphernalia.

A word on HDDs

HDDs are cheaper than SSDs, but they have relinquished their primary storage role even in budget laptops and now they’re only found as a secondary (backup) storage. So if you’re looking for a budget gaming laptop – getting one with a smaller SSD and a larger HDD as a crutch is a viable option.

Optional What is the best display for playing Escape From Tarkov?

Resolution

Escape From Tarkov is a competitive shooter, so you’d think FHD is plenty. And I tend to agree, but there’s an interesting exception for Tarkov – you can maintain a very similar framerate playing on QHD. I’ve seen some benchmarks that, on paper, make no sense – nearly identical FPS when playing QHD compared to FHD. Yes, I know, that sounds like we broke some sort of law of physics. Given this, I’d be OK with recommending 4K and QHD panels for Tarkov, especially if you appreciate the higher pixel density that 1440p and 4K provide. This is a rare recommendation for a first-person shooter.

Refresh rate

This is a tricky one. You might think that if you want to play Escape From Tarkov on a laptop – you’ll need a high refresh rate display. And if you’re playing competitively – that’s a sound conclusion. But Escape From Tarkov has a relatively low framerate, so 60Hz isn’t that disadvantageous as it would be in most other shooters. Ideally, 120Hz-144hz would be the perfect match.

Is there a reason to go for 240Hz+? Not really. Of course, if you’re playing something like CS:GO on the side, then yes, a refresh rate counted in hundreds will give a slight edge, but for Tarkov – not really.

IPS vs. TN for Tarkov

IPS is my preferred panel type. It provides better color contrast and wider viewing angles. Ideally, I’d opt for an IPS panel laptop for gaming on the go and an external 144Hz+ TN display when I really want to push it.

For most casual players, I see no reason to not go for an IPS display. To put it bluntly – they just look better. And isn’t that the whole point of a display?

Meanwhile, if you’re a seasoned player who really wants to get most of your grind – I’d recommend a TN panel laptop. It’s worth mentioning that I only recommend TN panels if you’re buying a high refresh rate panel (120Hz and above) and you can’t comfortably afford a fast-IPS panel.

8 Best Laptops for Escape From Tarkov

Table of Best Laptops for Escape From Tarkov

Laptop	Price (approx)
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-55-53E5	$770
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-45-R83Z	$850
HP Pavilion	$900
Acer Predator Helios 300	$1230
Sager NP7879KQ	$1380
Sager NP7879PQ	$1700
ASUS ROG Zephyrus	$2600
Clevo X170 KMG 17	$3750