diff --git a/src/main/index.ts b/src/main/index.ts
index 02af86af296..5a7e5be27a6 100644
--- a/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/src/main/index.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,10 @@ import {
   type GpuFallbackTier
 } from './startup/gpu-fallback-tiers'
 import { purgeGpuCaches } from './startup/gpu-cache-purge'
+import {
+  getResumeGpuFallbackTier,
+  recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier
+} from './startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier'
 import { captureGpuInfoSnapshot } from './crash-reporting/gpu-info-snapshot'
 import {
   DEFAULT_GPU_CRASH_FALLBACK_THRESHOLD,
@@ -1434,8 +1438,14 @@ function handleGpuChildCrash(reason: string, exitCode: number | null): void {
   if (!result.shouldEngageFallback) {
     return
   }
+  const userDataPath = getGpuFallbackUserDataPath()
   const currentTier = gpuFallbackTierThisLaunch
-  const nextTier = getNextGpuFallbackTier(currentTier)
+  // Why: after an update the build-scoped marker is gone but the machine is not.
+  // Resuming at the tier it already needed is the difference between one relaunch
+  // per update and re-walking the whole ladder every time.
+  const resumeTier =
+    currentTier === NO_GPU_FALLBACK_TIER ? getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath) : null
+  const nextTier = resumeTier ?? getNextGpuFallbackTier(currentTier)
   if (currentTier !== NO_GPU_FALLBACK_TIER) {
     // Why: 20 of 21 crashed launches on the reported machine already carried
     // gpu_fallback_applied. Without this breadcrumb the failure looked like a fix.
@@ -1463,6 +1473,7 @@ function handleGpuChildCrash(reason: string, exitCode: number | null): void {
     exitCode,
     tier: nextTier,
     previousTier: currentTier,
+    resumedFromHistory: resumeTier !== null,
     crashesInWindow: result.crashesInWindow
   })
   const engagedAt = Date.now()
@@ -1470,7 +1481,6 @@ function handleGpuChildCrash(reason: string, exitCode: number | null): void {
   if (!environment) {
     return
   }
-  const userDataPath = getGpuFallbackUserDataPath()
   try {
     writeGpuFallbackMarker(
       userDataPath,
@@ -1485,6 +1495,12 @@ function handleGpuChildCrash(reason: string, exitCode: number | null): void {
     console.warn('[gpu-fallback] failed to persist marker:', error)
     return
   }
+  // Why: survives the update that invalidates the marker above.
+  const recordedTier = recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, nextTier, environment, engagedAt)
+  recordCrashBreadcrumb('gpu_fallback_required_tier_recorded', {
+    tier: nextTier,
+    recordedTier: recordedTier ?? null
+  })
   // Why: a shader cache written by the driver that just crashed replays the same
   // crash on the next GPU init, defeating the tier we just escalated to.
   const purge = purgeGpuCaches(userDataPath)
diff --git a/src/main/startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier.test.ts b/src/main/startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f2921ead179
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+import { existsSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import os from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_FILE,
+  getResumeGpuFallbackTier,
+  readGpuFallbackRequiredTier,
+  recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier
+} from './gpu-fallback-required-tier'
+
+describe('gpu-fallback-required-tier', () => {
+  let userDataPath: string
+  const environment = { appVersion: '1.4.155', electronVersion: '43.1.0' }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    userDataPath = mkdtempSync(join(os.tmpdir(), 'orca-gpu-required-tier-'))
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    rmSync(userDataPath, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  it('round-trips a recorded tier', () => {
+    expect(recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 2, environment, 1_000)).toBe(2)
+    expect(readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)).toEqual({
+      schemeVersion: 1,
+      requiredTier: 2,
+      recordedAt: 1_000,
+      appVersion: '1.4.155',
+      electronVersion: '43.1.0'
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('reports no resume tier for a machine with no history', () => {
+    expect(getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath)).toBeNull()
+    expect(readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  // Why: this is the whole point — the marker is version-scoped, this is not.
+  it('survives an app and Electron version change', () => {
+    recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 2, environment, 1_000)
+    expect(getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath)).toBe(2)
+    expect(readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)?.appVersion).toBe('1.4.155')
+  })
+
+  // Why: a shallower later burst must not talk a known-bad machine back down a rung.
+  it('is monotonic', () => {
+    recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 2, environment, 1_000)
+    expect(recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 1, environment, 2_000)).toBe(2)
+    expect(readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)?.requiredTier).toBe(2)
+    expect(readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)?.recordedAt).toBe(1_000)
+  })
+
+  it('raises the recorded tier when escalating', () => {
+    recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 1, environment, 1_000)
+    expect(recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 2, environment, 2_000)).toBe(2)
+    expect(readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)?.requiredTier).toBe(2)
+  })
+
+  it('leaves no temp file behind', () => {
+    recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath, 2, environment, 1_000)
+    expect(existsSync(join(userDataPath, `${GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_FILE}.tmp`))).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  // Why: a hint, not an authority — bad input degrades to normal ladder escalation.
+  it('degrades to no history on corrupt, off-ladder, or wrong-version records', () => {
+    const file = join(userDataPath, GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_FILE)
+
+    writeFileSync(file, '{ not json')
+    expect(getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath)).toBeNull()
+
+    writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify({ schemeVersion: 1, requiredTier: 99, recordedAt: 1 }))
+    expect(getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath)).toBeNull()
+
+    writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify({ schemeVersion: 99, requiredTier: 2, recordedAt: 1 }))
+    expect(getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath)).toBeNull()
+
+    writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify({ schemeVersion: 1, requiredTier: 2 }))
+    expect(getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath)).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  it('reports failure rather than throwing when the record cannot be written', () => {
+    expect(
+      recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(join(userDataPath, 'missing'), 2, environment, 1_000)
+    ).toBeNull()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier.ts b/src/main/startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..872beef9e7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/startup/gpu-fallback-required-tier.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import { readFileSync, renameSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { clampGpuFallbackTier, isGpuFallbackTier, type GpuFallbackTier } from './gpu-fallback-tiers'
+
+/**
+ * Version-independent record of the strongest fallback tier this machine has needed.
+ *
+ * The crash marker is scoped to appVersion+electronVersion so a new build gets a
+ * fresh hardware attempt — deliberate, since a driver or Electron update may fix
+ * the machine. But that scoping also discarded everything we had learned: every
+ * update replayed the entire crash loop from the bottom of the ladder, which is
+ * what made the app repeatedly unusable rather than once-unusable.
+ *
+ * This record survives updates. The post-update hardware probe still happens, but
+ * when it fails the app resumes at the tier it already needed instead of walking
+ * the ladder again.
+ *
+ * It is a hint, not an authority: any read failure degrades to normal escalation,
+ * so a corrupt or unreadable file costs extra relaunches, never correctness.
+ */
+
+export const GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_FILE = 'gpu-fallback-required-tier.json'
+const GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_TEMP_FILE = `${GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_FILE}.tmp`
+export const GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_SCHEME_VERSION = 1
+
+export type GpuFallbackRequiredTierRecord = {
+  schemeVersion: number
+  requiredTier: GpuFallbackTier
+  recordedAt: number
+  /** Build that last needed this tier. Diagnostic only — it never scopes validity. */
+  appVersion: string
+  electronVersion: string
+}
+
+function recordPath(userDataPath: string): string {
+  return join(userDataPath, GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_FILE)
+}
+
+export function readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(
+  userDataPath: string
+): GpuFallbackRequiredTierRecord | null {
+  let parsed: Partial<Record<keyof GpuFallbackRequiredTierRecord, unknown>>
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(readFileSync(recordPath(userDataPath), 'utf-8')) as Partial<
+      Record<keyof GpuFallbackRequiredTierRecord, unknown>
+    >
+  } catch {
+    return null
+  }
+  if (
+    parsed === null ||
+    typeof parsed !== 'object' ||
+    parsed.schemeVersion !== GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_SCHEME_VERSION ||
+    !isGpuFallbackTier(parsed.requiredTier) ||
+    typeof parsed.recordedAt !== 'number' ||
+    !Number.isFinite(parsed.recordedAt)
+  ) {
+    return null
+  }
+  return {
+    schemeVersion: GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_SCHEME_VERSION,
+    requiredTier: clampGpuFallbackTier(parsed.requiredTier),
+    recordedAt: parsed.recordedAt,
+    appVersion: typeof parsed.appVersion === 'string' ? parsed.appVersion : '',
+    electronVersion: typeof parsed.electronVersion === 'string' ? parsed.electronVersion : ''
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Raises the recorded tier to `tier`. Monotonic: a machine that once needed tier 2
+ * must not be talked back down to tier 1 by a later, shallower crash burst.
+ * Returns the tier now on disk, or null if it could not be persisted.
+ */
+export function recordGpuFallbackRequiredTier(
+  userDataPath: string,
+  tier: GpuFallbackTier,
+  environment: { appVersion: string; electronVersion: string },
+  now: number
+): GpuFallbackTier | null {
+  const existing = readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)
+  if (existing && existing.requiredTier >= tier) {
+    return existing.requiredTier
+  }
+  const record: GpuFallbackRequiredTierRecord = {
+    schemeVersion: GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_SCHEME_VERSION,
+    requiredTier: tier,
+    recordedAt: now,
+    appVersion: environment.appVersion,
+    electronVersion: environment.electronVersion
+  }
+  const tempPath = join(userDataPath, GPU_FALLBACK_REQUIRED_TIER_TEMP_FILE)
+  try {
+    writeFileSync(tempPath, JSON.stringify(record))
+    renameSync(tempPath, recordPath(userDataPath))
+    return tier
+  } catch {
+    try {
+      rmSync(tempPath, { force: true })
+    } catch {
+      // best effort; a stray temp file is inert
+    }
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Tier to resume at when a hardware launch fails and no build-scoped marker exists,
+ * or null when this machine has no history and should start at the bottom.
+ */
+export function getResumeGpuFallbackTier(userDataPath: string): GpuFallbackTier | null {
+  return readGpuFallbackRequiredTier(userDataPath)?.requiredTier ?? null
+}