Briefs.
Short definitions for the two terms every Kiln user must know: the firmware PUP and Vulkan 1.3.
Vulkan 1.3.
Vulkan 1.3 is the graphics API Kiln renders on. Your driver provides it. Old driver, wrong GPU, no frames.
◎ At a glance
Reviewed 2026-10-13.
| Term | Vulkan 1.3 |
| What | Required graphics API |
| Provided by | Current GPU driver |
| Setting | Discrete device selected |
Definition
Vulkan is the low-level graphics API Kiln renders through. Version 1.3 is the baseline — the emulator will not run on older Vulkan or on DirectX fallbacks.
Your GPU driver provides Vulkan. Current drivers from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel all ship Vulkan 1.3-capable loaders for supported cards.
What goes wrong
Old driver: missing features, crashes, black screens. Fix is a driver update, not a setting.
Wrong GPU: the launcher renders on the iGPU while the discrete card idles. Fix is selecting the discrete Vulkan device — see GPU and CPU.
Stale iGPU driver interfering with the discrete card: update both drivers. Yes, both.
Vulkan is necessary, not sufficient
Vulkan 1.3 does not guarantee a card exposes every feature a title asks for. Old or weak cards expose the version and still choke.
8 GB VRAM is the realistic bar for graded 1080p. The API opens the door; the hardware walks through it.
Questions
How do I get Vulkan 1.3?
Update your GPU driver from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. The driver ships the Vulkan loader — there is no separate Vulkan download for users.
Kiln says Vulkan is missing. What now?
Update the GPU driver, confirm the discrete device is selected in the launcher, and check the missing runtime page for loader-adjacent errors.
Related
GPU and CPU.
GPU: Vulkan 1.3, 8 GB+ VRAM, current driver, discrete device selected. CPU: 8 real cores. Everything else is secondary.
Boost fps.
The lab checklist for frames: right GPU, current driver, 1080p Performance preset, shader patience, NVMe, nothing else running.
Firmware PUP.
PS5UPDATE.PUP is Sony's official system software. You get it from Sony, Kiln installs it, games boot from it.
Missing runtime.
vcruntime140.dll missing? Install the official Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 x64 runtime. Never download loose DLLs from mirrors.
Windows installer · 400+ titles in the launcher
Get the launcher.
Install Firmware with your own PS5UPDATE.PUP, boot the system software, then start a game you own.