You just binged the latest season of Arcane, saw your friends posting about their wild ranked climbs, and finally decided to give League of Legends a shot for the first time. Before you hit download, the first question popping into your head is can my computer run league of legends? The good news is Riot Games built LoL to be accessible to as many players as possible, so it runs on far more hardware than most modern AAA titles. That said, you still want to make sure your setup can handle the game without frustrating lag, especially during chaotic 5v5 team fights that make or break matches. We’ll walk you through all the specs you need to know, how to check your current PC setup, and easy tweaks to get smooth gameplay even if your hardware is a little older.
Official Specs to Confirm If You Can Run League of Legends
Riot updates its official system requirements every year to match game updates, so the specs below are the most current numbers you can reference. Keep in mind these are based on 1080p resolution, which is the standard for most monitors and laptops. If you play on a higher resolution like 1440p or 4K, you’ll need slightly better hardware to hit the same framerates.
Minimum specs (30 FPS at low settings, 1080p) are the bare minimum you need to launch and play the game, though you may see lag drops during team fights. You’ll need a 3GHz processor (Intel Core i3-530 or AMD A6-3650 equivalent), 4GB of RAM, 16GB of free storage, a GPU with 1GB of VRAM (NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT or AMD Radeon HD 6570 equivalent), and Windows 10 64-bit or newer, or Mac OS 10.13 or newer. For context, I’ve run LoL on a 2017 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and Intel UHD 617 graphics for years, and I got a consistent 45 FPS on low settings, which is more than enough to play ranked without issues.
Recommended specs (60 FPS at medium to high settings, 1080p) are what you want for a smooth, hassle-free experience with few to no framerate drops. These include a 3GHz quad-core processor (Intel Core i5-3300 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 equivalent), 8GB of RAM, 16GB of SSD storage, a GPU with 2GB of VRAM (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 equivalent), and the latest OS version for your system. Most budget and mid-range laptops built after 2018 hit these specs easily, even if they don’t have a dedicated gaming GPU.
Optimal specs (144+ FPS at max settings, 1080p/1440p) are for competitive players who want the highest possible framerates to get an edge in ranked play. You’ll need a 3.5GHz quad-core processor (Intel Core i5-9400F or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 equivalent), 16GB of RAM, 16GB of NVMe SSD storage, a GPU with 4GB of VRAM (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT equivalent), and a 144Hz monitor to take advantage of the higher framerates.
How to Check Your Current PC Specs in 2 Minutes
Most people don’t know their exact PC specs off the top of their head, and that’s totally fine. You don’t need any fancy tools to find the info you need to cross-reference with the list above. For Windows users, just press the Windows + R keys at the same time, type “dxdiag” into the pop-up box, and hit enter. The first tab will show you your processor and RAM, and the Display tab will list your GPU and how much VRAM it has. For Mac users, click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen, select “About This Mac”, and all your core specs will be listed right on the main page.
You don't need any third-party software to check your specs – the built-in tools on both operating systems give you all the info you need, and you don’t have to worry about downloading random programs that might carry malware. If you’re not sure how to match your specs to the list, don’t overcomplicate it. If your CPU is newer than 2015, you have at least 4GB of RAM, and any GPU made in the last 10 years, you’re almost certainly good to go. Even many cheap Chromebooks can run LoL now that it’s available on the cloud through GeForce NOW, if you don’t mind playing over an internet connection.
Common Scenarios Where LoL Might Not Run Smoothly (And Fixes)
Even if your specs meet or exceed the official requirements, you might still run into performance issues from time to time. Most of these problems have super simple fixes that take less than 5 minutes to implement, so you don’t have to run out and buy a new PC right away. The most common issues and fixes are:
- You meet minimum specs but get 20 FPS or lower during team fights: Close all background apps you aren’t using while playing, including Chrome tabs, Discord, streaming software, and file downloaders. These eat up RAM and CPU resources that the game needs to run smoothly.
- You have a new gaming laptop but get lower FPS than expected: Make sure LoL is using your dedicated NVIDIA or AMD GPU instead of your default integrated graphics. You can adjust this setting in your GPU control panel, or by right-clicking the LoL icon and selecting “Run with graphics processor”.
- The game crashes immediately on launch or after an update: Verify your game files through the Riot Client to fix any corrupted files from the latest patch. You can find this option in the settings menu next to the LoL play button, and it only takes 1-2 minutes to run.
I’ve had all of these issues myself a few times after big game updates. The first thing I always do is verify game files, which fixes 90% of crash issues without having to reinstall the entire game. Team fights are the most demanding part of LoL – even if you get 60 FPS in the laning phase, you might drop to 20 during 5v5 fights if you’re running on minimum specs, so adjusting settings ahead of time avoids that frustration. If you still see lag after trying these fixes, you can move on to the more targeted performance tweaks we cover next.
Easy Performance Tweaks to Run LoL Better on Low-End PCs
If your specs are right on the edge of the minimum requirements, these small tweaks can boost your FPS by 30% or more without making the game look completely unrecognizable. The first setting you should turn down is shadow quality – shadows are by far the biggest drain on GPU resources in LoL, and most players barely notice they’re even there during fast-paced gameplay. Turning shadows all the way down can give you an instant 15-20 FPS boost, even on older hardware.
Next, turn off extra environmental and character effects like particle effects and anti-aliasing. These settings add small visual flourishes that don’t impact gameplay at all, but can eat up a lot of resources on low-end PCs. You can also turn off the in-game client animations and limit your background FPS to 30, so the game doesn’t waste resources when you’re tabbed out browsing rune builds or chatting with friends.
You don't have to sacrifice all visual quality to get smooth FPS – even if you turn down shadows and effects, you can keep character models on high so you still recognize skins and champion animations easily. Another quick hack is to lower your in-game resolution slightly if you’re still getting lag. Dropping from 1920x1080 to 1600x900 barely changes how the game looks, but can boost your FPS by 20-30% on older hardware. Make sure the Riot Client isn't running in the background after you close the game – it can eat up resources without you noticing, so disable auto-launch on startup if you don’t play every day.
At the end of the day, most modern PCs, even budget laptops from the past 8 years, will be able to answer the question can my computer run league of legends with a resounding yes. Riot’s consistent focus on accessibility means you don’t need a fancy $2000 gaming rig to enjoy ranked climbs, ARAM matches with friends, or even casual normal games to unwind after work. If your specs are right on the edge of the minimum requirements, the small tweaks we covered earlier will make a huge difference in how smooth your gameplay feels. Don’t let fear of lag stop you from trying one of the most popular multiplayer games ever made – you’ll probably be able to jump in and play within 15 minutes of downloading the client.