Admittedly, building a new PC for Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t easy. It’s one of the worst times to source high-performance PC hardware components as most of the world faces the current COVID-19 pandemic (supply chains are completely disrupted). However, even if that’s true, we’ll try our best to give you a viable PC for Cyberpunk 2077.
What Do You Need to Run Cyberpunk 2077?
Here are the minimum and recommended specifications for Cyberpunk 2077:
Minimum
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K or AMD FX-8310 GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB or AMD Radeon RX 470 RAM: 8 GB Disk space: 70 GB HDD (SSD recommended) OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 10
Recommended
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD Ryzen 3 3200G GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB or AMD Radeon R9 Fury RAM: 12 GB Disk space: 70 GB SSD OS: 64-bit Windows 10
Now, keep in mind, this doesn’t include running the game at “High”, as well as “Ultra”, as well as with “Ray Tracing”.
Recommended Components for Cyberpunk 2077
If you’re building a PC for Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll need to pay attention to four things: CPU, RAM, GPU, and SSD. Everything else outside of those four is negotiable and more of a personal preference.
CPU / Processor
Both the “Minimum” and “Recommended” specifications for Cyberpunk 2077 highlight the need for, at the very least, 4 cores. However, with Cyberpunk 2077 bound to receive better optimization for multi-core processors, we’re recommending getting a processor that has at least six cores. If you’re on an older Intel or AMD platform, you don’t necessarily need to upgrade to a new platform. Even if you’re using something like, let’s say, a 3rd or 4th generation Intel processor right now, upgrading to an Intel Core i7-4790 or Intel Core i7-3770 provides enough of a boost without costing you that much. The performance boost is even more substantial if you’re using a processor that’s overclockable, like the Intel Core i7-4790K or the Intel Core i7-3770K. If, however, you’re building a new PC, we’re recommending no less than the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X (6 cores, 12 threads, and up to 4.4GHz) or the Intel Core i5-9400F (6 cores, 6 threads, and up to 4.1GHz). Both processors are using platforms with accessible upgrade paths for when your budget allows. But, at the same time, even if you are stuck with them, you won’t be missing out on performance much so long as you keep your expectations realistic.
RAM
CDPR recommends at least 8GB of memory for Cyberpunk 2077, with 12GB or 16GB recommended for higher settings. However, according to multiple users, RAM capacity doesn’t matter as much as memory speed and latency. Even then, in-game performance and frame rates are more dependent on your graphics card and your chosen settings. With that said, 8GB was the recommended RAM for the better part of the last decade. It won’t really hurt you to double that, considering how inexpensive RAM prices are today.
GPU / Graphics Card
This here is where building a PC for Cyberpunk 2077 gets tricky. The thing is, getting a decent graphics card these days is hard. Most will come at a higher price premium than most are willing to pay. Even an RTX 2060 will be hard to come by, and it’s even harder to get your hands on an RTX 30-series graphics card, regardless of whether you’re willing to pay list price or not. With that said, if you’re building a new PC for Cyberpunk 2077, we recommend getting at least an Nvidia GTX 1660Ti or the AMD RX 5600 XT. Both cards are often still available at list price these days. However, if you can get at least an Nvidia RTX 2060 at list price if not lower, then we recommend getting that if you can. Anything less will leave so much to be desired that you might as well not play Cyberpunk 2077 or get yourself a PlayStation 4 Pro and play Cyberpunk 2077 there.
SSD
Open-world RPGs have long been considered as heavily taxing on conventional storage drives. This is why, in recent years, more and more people are shifting towards using SSDs for most of their games while using an HDD strictly for storage purposes only. It also certainly helps that the prices of SSDs have dropped to the point that it just doesn’t make sense not to invest in one today. If you plan on building a PC for Cyberpunk 2077, putting the game on an SSD will significantly lower load times compared to using a regular HDD. This will affect how fast in-game loading screens work, but also how fast textures load when you’re in the game, which can have a huge positive effect on performance and result in smoother overall gameplay. If it’s any consolation, Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t take up too much storage. For a game its size and beauty, it only requires 70GB of storage space.
Conclusion
Building a PC just for Cyberpunk 2077 these days isn’t recommended. You’ll have to wait a while for more component stock to arrive, as well as prices to stabilize, unless you’re willing to pay a significant premium. If you already have a gaming PC that meets all of the requirements we mentioned above, even if your graphics card is only a GTX 10-series graphics card (so long as it’s not lower than the GTX 1060 6GB), you should be able to play Cyberpunk 2077 just fine. You may also follow our performance guide to squeeze out more performance from your current gaming set-up.
