System Requirements

System Requirements

Flashback runs on 64-bit Windows 11 with a graphics card or integrated GPU that has a hardware video encoder. This page lists what you need, what is optional, and what to expect from different hardware.

At a glance

	Requirement
Operating system	Windows 11, 64-bit (x64)
Video encoder	A hardware encoder that Windows Media Foundation can use, from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel graphics
Account	None. Recording, screenshots, editing and the library work without one
Internet	Only to download Flashback, check for updates, or use Cloud. Recording works offline
Administrator access	Not needed. Flashback installs for your Windows user
Separate runtime	Not needed. The .NET and Visual C++ runtimes Flashback uses ship inside the installer
Download	About 105 MB for 0.8.0

Operating system

Flashback targets 64-bit Windows 11 only. It is built on Windows capture, audio, tray, startup and hardware-encoding APIs, so there is no macOS or Linux version, and Windows 10 and 32-bit Windows are not supported targets.

Graphics and the hardware encoder

The replay buffer is encoded by your GPU, not your CPU. Flashback asks Windows Media Foundation for the hardware encoder your graphics driver provides, and it is designed and tested for hardware encoding. Plan on a GPU with a working hardware H.264 or HEVC encoder: most current NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics have one.

Codec setting	What it needs
Auto (recommended)	Hardware H.264. Auto picks it whenever it is available, because it is the most-tested replay path and plays almost everywhere. If hardware H.264 is missing, Auto uses hardware HEVC when the PC can both encode and play it back
H.264	A hardware H.264 encoder. Widest compatibility
HEVC	A hardware HEVC encoder and the ability to play HEVC on this PC. Better quality per bit. If an HEVC start fails, Flashback falls back to H.264 at a clean boundary

AV1 is not used for the live buffer. Some smaller-file exports can use a hardware AV1 encoder when the PC has one that works.

Trims and exports run through Flashback's bundled FFmpeg, which can use NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF, Intel Quick Sync or Media Foundation encoders from the graphics driver you already have, with a software H.264 fallback.

Laptops and PCs with two GPUs

On some laptops the display is driven by a different GPU from the one Desktop Duplication would use. Flashback's Automatic capture method tries Desktop Duplication first and switches to Windows Graphics Capture when that path would cross adapters or never delivers a real frame. Windows may draw a capture border while Windows Graphics Capture is in use.

What your hardware can sustain

Flashback offers 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K UHD or source resolution, at 30, 60, 120 or 240 FPS, when the hardware supports the combination.

Preset	Output	Good fit
Competitive	1080p, 60 FPS, 10 Mbps	Lowest overhead and storage use
Balanced (default)	1080p, 60 FPS, 15 Mbps	Most PCs and games
Quality	1440p, 60 FPS, 21 Mbps	Sharper footage on a capable GPU
High motion	1080p, 120 FPS, 24 Mbps	Fast games where smooth motion matters

• 4K UHD starts at 45 Mbps, with up to 100 Mbps available. A native 3840×2160 source stays native, larger sources are reduced to 2160 lines, and smaller sources are never upscaled.
• 240 FPS is meant for high-end hardware.
• Not every GPU can sustain every 4K or high-frame-rate profile. If Flashback sees sustained dropped frames and an encoder backlog, it warns you that the profile is too demanding. Lowering the frame rate, resolution or bitrate fixes it.
• HDR output is not available in this release.

All of Flashback's published performance measurements were taken on an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070. Release testing covers NVIDIA, AMD and Intel hardware, but there are no published AMD or Intel numbers yet. See Benchmarks.

Games and displays

Because Flashback records the display instead of hooking into the game, it works the same way for DirectX, Vulkan, OpenGL and Java games, in windowed, borderless or fullscreen mode, and for the desktop itself. It handles multiple monitors, 4K and high-refresh displays. By default it follows your game to the monitor it is on. See Capture Pipeline.

Disk space

What	Where	How big
The app	%LocalAppData%\Flashback.Desktop	The 0.8.0 installer is about 105 MB; the current size is listed at https://flashbk.gg/faq
Rolling replay buffer	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Flashback\Buffer	Bounded. Flashback keeps only the short segments your replay length needs
Saved clips and screenshots	%USERPROFILE%\Videos\Flashback by default	Up to your storage limit: 20 GB by default, or Unlimited

The size of each clip depends on the preset, bitrate and length. Settings shows an estimate as you change them. Keep some free space on the drive that holds the buffer: if it fills up, Flashback tells you which drive to clear instead of restarting capture over and over.

Optional extras

For	You need
Microphone recording	A microphone. Off by default; editable audio tracks work without one
Voice commands	A microphone. Recognition runs offline on your PC; nothing is uploaded
Discord status	The Discord app on the same PC. On by default, and you can turn it off
Flashback Cloud	An internet connection, a web browser, a Discord account (or Google where offered), and you must be 13 or older. Uploading needs a paid plan

Related pages

Getting Started · Installing and Updating · Recording Quality and Presets · Known Limitations