Every laptop we have figures for

Frame rates measured by Notebookcheck.

What it asks of a laptop

At 1,920 × 1,080 on the High preset with upscaling off, Days Gone looks relatively forgiving for a gaming laptop in this set of Notebookcheck measurements. All 13 laptops cleared 60fps, including the slowest result: the Schenker XMG Focus 15 with an RTX 3050 Ti at 75W, which averaged 80fps. The median result is 130fps, and 11 of the 13 machines reached at least 100fps.

That does not mean laptop specification is irrelevant. The recorded results span from 80fps to 177fps, a 97fps gap between the Schenker XMG Focus 15 and the MSI GE76 Raider with its RTX 3080 Ti at 175W. The game scales clearly with GPU class and, importantly, with the power available to that GPU. The RTX 3060 results are a useful example: the Schenker XMG Core 17, with an RTX 3060 at 130W, reached 107fps, while the MSI Katana GF76’s RTX 3060 at 85W managed 95fps.

There is a similar pattern among RTX 3070 laptops. The Schenker XMG Apex 17 M21 reached 140fps, the Medion Erazer Beast X20 with an RTX 3070 at 140W managed 123fps, and the Acer Predator Helios 300 with an RTX 3070 at 100W recorded 112fps. Those are all comfortably playable results, but they are not interchangeable. A laptop GPU’s label alone does not fully describe the performance you should expect.

The figures cover 13 laptops, which is a useful overall sample, but several individual GPU tiers contain only one machine. In particular, the RTX 3080 Ti, RTX 4070, RTX 4060 and RTX 3050 Ti figures each come from a single laptop. They show what those specific machines achieved, rather than proving that every laptop carrying that GPU will deliver the same result.

What runs it

For 60fps: every machine in the measured set cleared the target at 1080p High without upscaling. The entry point here is the Schenker XMG Focus 15, whose RTX 3050 Ti at 75W averaged 80fps. Above it, the MSI Katana GF76 with an RTX 3060 at 85W reached 95fps, while the higher-powered RTX 3060 in the Schenker XMG Core 17 achieved 107fps.

Based on these numbers, an RTX 3050 Ti laptop can run Days Gone acceptably at the measured settings, at least in the specific 75W Schenker tested. The main reason to move beyond that level is not to make 60fps possible; it is to gain a larger performance margin and access to consistently higher refresh-rate performance.

For 100fps: 11 of the 13 measured laptops got there. The lowest result above the line was the Schenker XMG Core 17’s 107fps with its RTX 3060 at 130W. The RTX 3070 and RTX 3070 Ti machines were all over 100fps: 112fps, 123fps and 140fps for the three RTX 3070 laptops, plus 115fps and 135fps for the two RTX 3070 Ti machines.

The RTX 4060 result was 131fps in the MSI Katana 17. The two RTX 3080 laptops averaged 135fps as a tier, with 140fps from the Lenovo Legion 7 16ACHg6 and 130fps from the Medion Erazer Beast X25. Notebookcheck’s measured figures therefore suggest that a well-configured RTX 3060 can break 100fps, while RTX 3070-class and newer mid-range hardware provides more headroom in this particular test.

For 144fps: only two of the 13 laptops reached it. The MSI GE76 Raider with an RTX 3080 Ti at 175W was the fastest machine at 177fps, while the Asus ROG Strix G18 with an RTX 4070 at 165W recorded 155fps. The next-best result was 140fps from the Lenovo Legion 7 16ACHg6 and 140fps from the Schenker XMG Apex 17 M21, so they fell just short of a 144fps average.

If a 144Hz panel is central to your buying decision, the measured data supports treating 144fps as a high-end target rather than assuming it from an RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080 or RTX 4060 badge. The RTX 4070 and RTX 3080 Ti results are each based on one laptop, but those two specific high-power systems were the only measured machines to clear 144fps.

The cheapest laptop that handles it

The fact sheet includes a price for only one of the measured laptops: the MSI Stealth GS66, listed at £2,688. Its RTX 3070 Ti delivered 115fps at 1080p High with upscaling off. That is well above both 60fps and 100fps, but it cannot be identified as the cheapest suitable option because no prices are supplied for the other 12 laptops.

More usefully, the lowest-performing measured system was still the 80fps Schenker XMG Focus 15 with RTX 3050 Ti at 75W. It demonstrates that Days Gone does not require an expensive high-end laptop merely to achieve smooth performance at these settings. Price, however, cannot be compared from the supplied figures.

What this means if you’re buying

For a buyer targeting a conventional 60fps experience at 1080p High, the measured results indicate that even the lowest-tier GPU represented here, an RTX 3050 Ti at 75W, had substantial room above that target. An RTX 3060 system adds further margin, ranging from 95fps to 107fps in these two measurements.

For a 100Hz or 120Hz display, the stronger evidence starts with the 107fps RTX 3060 result and becomes more consistent among the RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 4060 and RTX 3080 laptops measured. Check the specific laptop’s GPU power configuration rather than buying on the GPU name alone: the results within the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 groups show meaningful variation.

For a 144Hz screen, the data points towards the particular high-power RTX 4070 and RTX 3080 Ti laptops tested. They were the only machines to average above 144fps. Days Gone is not especially punishing at 1080p High in this sample, but chasing a 144fps average still demands considerably more from a laptop than simply maintaining 60fps.