The Most Graphically Demanding PC Games

Whenever the newest and most competent computer components are released to the public, so are the video games that fully utilize their potential. With hardware manufacturers pivoting their technologies towards AI and those components getting even more expensive for the average consumer, it's clear why the gaming industry has been consistently experiencing a technological incline.

These games are created to push the boundaries of what PCs can render and display at high refresh rates. For those looking to upgrade their rig, look at the recommended requirements of these most graphically demanding games to draw inspiration.

Updated January 14th 2026, by Hilton Webster: The gaming industry has changed a lot since this article was last updated. Some games don't seem quite so demanding now, while the march of AI has priced people out of getting new hardware, making the latest games proportionately extortionate in terms of requirements.

List entries are in no particular order.

20 Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds is a great new entry in the series, but that's been massively overshadowed by the game's performance, which leaves quite a bit to be desired. It's far from a complete disaster, though it's remarkably poor considering the specs it asks of you.

While the minimum is hardly demanding, you shouldn't expect much of a looker here. The issue is that the recommended specs ask for a lot more, and even then, it's under the assumption you'll be using upscaling to steady it out. Even getting a steady 1080p 60 FPS at the recommended without DLSS and the like is a tall ask.

The game is also quite CPU intensive, so you'll realistically want something a bit beefier than Capcom recommends here.

19 Stalker 2

Stalker is an atmospheric game, one of the greatest around for pure vibes. It's also very unsettling to exit in as a result. And all of those immaculate vibes and simulative elements come at a cost. Thankfully, the game is fairly scalable downwards. It can also go very high, too. If your rig can handle it.

On the lowest end, achieving 1080p 60 FPS is fairly modest, even if the game does have to be brought to its lowest settings. The high settings ask quite a bit more of you, though pulling the resolution down to 1080p at those settings can get you some stronger performance while still looking good.

18 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

If you ever wanted to travel the world but didn't have the money to do so, then Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the next best thing. A 1:1 (mostly) recreation of the entire world, with real-time weather updates and cloud formations, there's really nothing that gets closer to the aviation experience than this.

The game also has one of the most impressive ranges in terms of specs, scaling incredibly low as an entry point, and soaring almost impossibly high at the furthest end. You can get in on hardware that's a decade old, and can push it to the max with the latest GPU on the market.

What makes these specs so accessible is the game's use of cloud computing. Not only do you need a constant internet connection to play the game, but you need a decent connection too. The better you internet speeds, the smoother the game itself, even with lower specs.

17 Total War: Warhammer 3

The third chapter in the Total War: Warhammer series unleashes the forces of Chaos across the mortal world. Vast armies clash against one another in large-scale battles that include hundreds of units on screen. Rendering this level of carnage isn't as taxing as one might expect, although a powerful PC can really flex its muscles in Warhammer 3.

Hitting a solid 60 FPS at 1080p will require a Ryzen 5 Series CPU and a GTX 1660 Ti or equivalent. That's by no means taxing, but Warhammer 3 can become quite performance heavy when you start scaling your resolution, texture quality, and in-game army sizes. If you want to spill blood for the blood god at a sharp 4K resolution with 60+ FPS, an Nvidia RTX 30 or 40 series GPU is ideal.

16 Halo Infinite

The latest entry in the Halo franchise is a faithful reimagining of the franchise, right down to the game's gorgeous art style. The PC version of Halo Infinite requires an RTX 2070 and Intel i7-9700k to hit recommended settings, both of which are rather high requirements when compared to most PC titles.

Most PCs should be able to play the multiplayer component of Infinite at 1080p 60 FPS with these specs, but those looking to play the single player or high-budget Forge maps at higher resolutions or frame rates will want a particularly high-end PC or an Xbox Series X.

15 Control

Control is one of the most GPU-intensive video games that released during the eighth console generation. This game's crowning achievement—at least visually—is its implementation of ray tracing. Environments and particle effects are drop-down gorgeous while RTX is on, but this comes with a heavy price, both metaphorically and literally.

You need an RTX 2060 or better GPU to use ray tracing. Considering just how good RTX's implementation is here, it's well worth the GPU requirement. DLSS is also available on the RTX series of cards, increasing performance substantially with minimal graphical compromises.

You can also play Control without an RTX card, greatly lowering the GPU requirement to a GTX 1660 for 60 FPS gameplay. Rasterization isn't too taxing for modern PCs, but enabling ray tracing will incur a serious performance cost for most builds.

14 Starfield

Bethesda's newest IP is also the studio's most technically impressive title to date. Starfield uses the updated Creation Engine 2 to bring Bethesda's open worlds to a modern generation, featuring better visual fidelity and physics than any previous BGS title.

That visual upgrade is also reflected in Starfield's system requirements, recommending an RTX 2080 and Ryzen 5 3600. This seems to be targeting a 1080p resolution, so those looking to play at 1440p or higher will need an even stronger GPU. And with the large-scale cities on some of Starfield's planets, you'll want to upgrade your CPU as well.

13 Baldur's Gate 3

Larian Studio's magnum opus has forever changed the RPG genre, and that includes visual fidelity you can expect from an isometric RPG. Baldur's Gate 3 features breathtaking art direction that perfectly captures its D&D source material, all of which is brought to life with stellar lighting and texture work that you'd expect from a triple A title.

While the game's isometric camera and turn-based combat might leave the impression that BG3 is easy to run, that couldn't be further from the truth. Larian recommends a 2060 Super and an R5 3600 for a smooth experience at 1080p. This holds until you enter the massive city of Baldur's Gate itself, wherein you'll need something comparable to a 2080 or 30 series card to achieve high refresh rates.

12 Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most stunning games released in 2021. Beautiful lighting, realistic car models, and incredible weather effects all make for an immersive experience that all racing fans can appreciate. It also makes for a rather demanding PC title.

The recommended GPU for Horizon 5 is a GTX 1070, quite a large leap from Horizon 4's recommended GTX 970. And that's just for 1080p resolution running at 60 FPS. As reported by Digital Foundry, if you want to push Horizon 5 into 4K territory, you'll want at least an RTX 2080ti or an RTX 3070. You'll also want a stronger CPU to maintain a solid 60 FPS during this game's more performance-heavy races.

Why Not Forza Motorsport?

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Forza Motorsport's PC port is not in a good place currently. The PC version suffers from poor frame pacing, limited CPU utilization, and missing visual settings that were showcased in pre-release trailers. Until Turn 10 fixes the CPU issues that Motorsport 2023 suffers from, we recommend playing Forza Horizon 5 instead.

11 Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered & Miles Morales

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and its sequel, Miles Morales, come to life on PC with updated visuals and unique settings. Features such as DLSS, upscaling options, ray tracing, and ultrawide support make this the definitive version of Insomniac Games' superhero masterpieces.

Indeed, this version of Spider-Man proves to be Sony's best port of a PlayStation game yet. Swinging across New York will take a toll on your PC on high settings, as expected. A GTX 1060 and Intel i5-4670 are required to play the game at solid framerates, but those looking to play at 4K will need an Nvidia 30 or 40 series GPU. If you're sensitive to frame drops, this title supports Nvidia's DLSS 3.0 frame-generating technology, one of very few PC games to support this feature.