Cyberpunk 2077 170 FPS Mode Is Real, And It’s Ridiculous

1 week ago 22

Published Jan 26, 2026, 4:00 PM EST

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond.

Cyberpunk 2077 fans have been gearing up for the game's official sequel, which despite being a long way off, will undoubtedly be one of the most beautiful open-world sci-fi games ever made. Gamers have been curious about what the next Cyberpunk game could offer in terms of performance, but may not have to wait that long to find out.

According to sources at Find Articles, Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake platform just blew expectations out of the water for graphics performance by averaging 170 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 on a "thin-and-light laptop," a feat few gamers would’ve predicted was possible just a year ago and giving a sense of what's to come in the future.

Cyberpunk 2077 At 170 FPS Is Wild

At the annual CES event this year, Intel showcased its Core Ultra Series 3 chips with a brand-new GPU architecture, marking a significant leap over previous integrated graphics solutions. These processors pair advanced hardware with Intel’s latest upscaling and AI-powered frame-generation tech, and the combination has proven to make absolutely ridiculous frame rates possible.

In early demos on a "thin-and-light" reference laptop equipped with Intel's Panther Lake CPU, Cyberpunk 2077 averaged 170 FPS at 1080p on the Ultra preset when XeSS 3 upscaling and 4X frame generation were enabled. Without those upscaling tricks, the same run dropped to a much more modest 43 FPS, underscoring just how critical the new software enhancements are to hitting high refresh targets.

It’s not just Cyberpunk seeing dramatic boosts either. Similar tests saw titles like Battlefield 6 reaching between 160 and 210 FPS with balanced settings and aggressive upscaling. Further, older games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider hit solid performance numbers even without upscaling, marking a huge jump forward for what's possible on mid-range and even lower-end laptops.

Does Anyone Really Need This?

Johnny Silverhand seen from the back in Cyberpunk 2077

While Cyberpunk 2077 at 170 FPS is more than overkill in terms of frame rates, it's an exciting advancement that could actually mean more affordable laptops could potentially run games much better for more people. The current ecosystem has gamers forking out a pretty penny for a decent gaming laptop that can reliably run games at high rates, but that could change sooner than most people expected.

Ultimately, while it's an exciting development for PC gamers and players who can't afford more expensive rigs, the current numbers are still based on demos and are subject to change in the future. Cyberpunk 2077 fans probably never thought 170 FPS was even possible or necessary, but it's an impressive development from Intel that gamers will want to take note of.