Star Citizen, the eternally-in-development, hyper-ambitious space sim with an eyebrow-raising $800 million in crowdfunding, is running its annual Invictus Launch Week.
Translation: You can jump in and play for free right now, with access to dozens of normally premium ships and vehicles… but there’s a catch.
Even when it’s free, the game demands a lot from your hardware. Like, a lot. Whether you're exploring alien moons or navigating traffic jams in orbit, your gaming laptop will need more than just a decent GPU.
You’ll need the right mix of CPU muscle, high-speed storage, and (ideally) more RAM than most systems ship with by default. So, before you take off for microTech, let’s break down why Star Citizen is such a technical monster and, more importantly, which laptops can handle it.
The $800M question
What even is Star Citizen?
For the uninitiated, it’s a galaxy-spanning sci-fi sim still being built in real time. The brainchild of creator Chris Roberts promises a level of fidelity and scope that reads more like a wish list than a game pitch: Fully explorable planets, space combat, first-person missions, player-driven economies, and a persistent MMO-like world where hundreds of ships coexist.
If that’s not enough, there’s also a separate single-player campaign called Squadron 42 featuring a Hollywood cast.
Since 2012, developer Cloud Imperium Games has raised over $800 million in crowdfunding.
That includes standard backer kits along with ludicrous $40,000+ “Legatus” bundles that unlock nearly every ship in the game.
Despite over a decade of development, the game remains in alpha. Still, its most recent updates have finally nudged it toward better stability and higher performance, assuming your rig is up to the task.
Free ships, free chaos
From May 15 – 27, Star Citizen has opened its airlocks to everyone. During Invictus Launch Week, players can create a free account and log in without buying a game package.
The catch? It’s a limited-time event, and an overwhelming one. Each day, a new lineup of ships and manufacturers rotates, from alien corvettes to naval gunships, all temporarily rentable for zero credits. That’s dozens of ships, all free. But flying them well? That’s another story.
Although the game can technically run on lower-end machines, it's famously CPU-heavy, RAM-hungry, and almost allergic to hard drives. If you’re running this from anything but an SSD, don’t bother.
And while the official minimum spec lists 16GB of RAM, real-world testing (and thousands of forum posts) suggest 32GB should be your baseline. Expect sub-60 frame rates even on high-end gear unless you tweak settings or drop resolution.
And yes, laptop gamers are invited, but not all portable GPUs are created equal. Here’s what you’ll need to avoid turning your laptop into a space heater.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Model | CPU | GPU | RAM | Performance in Star Citizen |
Entry-level | HP Victus 16 (RTX 4050) | Ryzen 5 7640HS | RTX 4050 6GB | 16GB (upgradable) | ~30–40 FPS @ 1080p; playable, stutters in cities |
Mid-range | ASUS ROG Strix G16 (RTX 4060) | Core i7-13650HX | RTX 4060 8GB | 16GB DDR5 | ~50 FPS @ 1080p; dips in busy hubs |
Mid-range | Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (RTX 3070 Ti) | Intel Core i7-12700H | RTX 3070 Ti 8GB | 16GB (upgradable) | ~45–60 FPS @ 1080p; ~35 FPS at 1440p |
High-end | Alienware x16 R2 (RTX 4080) | Core Ultra 9 185H | RTX 4080 12GB | 32GB | ~60 FPS @ 1080p; smooth everywhere |
Flagship | MSI Raider GE78 (RTX 4090) | Core i9-13950HX | RTX 4080 12GB | 32GB | ~60+ FPS @ 1440p; closest to desktop-grade |
RAM matters most
Even the best GPU will choke if RAM bottlenecks you. We’ve seen Star Citizen consume 25 GB+ during prolonged sessions, meaning 16GB systems may resort to disk swapping (read: stuttering). If your machine supports it, upgrading to 32GB RAM is one of the best performance boosts you can get for this game.
As for the question of whether you should jump in? Now is the perfect time, even if you’re just curious about what $800 million in game development looks like.
The ongoing Invictus event frees the whole experience (and dozens of ships) for nearly two weeks. Just make sure your hardware can keep up with the most demanding game this side of a space sim.
And if your current laptop can’t cut it? This might be your sign to start shopping.
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