What you need to know
- Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED is raising the game's system requirements on PC in three months.
- This is being done because the studio is upgrading multiple parts of the game shortly before and with the launch of its Phantom Liberty DLC releasing on September 26, 2023.
- Notably, the game won't officially support HDD storage anymore, meaning you'll need to upgrade to an SSD or else you may experience issues.
- Though the game will still technically work on the old required specs, CD Projekt RED will no longer test future game updates with them or support them.
One of the biggest upcoming releases teased during the Not-E3 weekend was Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the one and only story DLC coming to CD Projekt RED's 2020 action RPG. Though positioned as an expansion, previews indicate that it's more accurate to treat Phantom Liberty as a massive overhaul to the complete Cyberpunk 2077 experience, with a great deal of fundamental changes, additions, and quality of life improvements included in the package.
With that context in mind, it doesn't surprise me that the developers are raising Cyberpunk 2077's system requirements on PC, with the changes slated to go live in 90 days — about two weeks from Phantom Liberty's September 26 release date. Something that I didn't see coming, though, was an end to the game's support for hard disk drives (HDDs). Once Cyberpunk 2077 is updated with the new requirements, faster solid-state drives (SSDs) will be listed as required instead of recommended.
"One of the changes is the choice to stop supporting HDDs for the minimum requirements," wrote CD Projekt RED in an official blog post. "SSDs offer faster loading times, improved streaming, and better overall performance when compared to HDDs."
While Cyberpunk 2077 is the second game to list an SSD as a requirement — Starfield, Bethesda's massive upcoming sci-fi RPG, also needs one according to its Steam Store page — it's the first to sunset HDD support completely.
Notably, the developers went on to say that the game will technically still be playable with the original minimum required specs. However, active support for those requirements will be cancelled once the new ones are live, and CD Projekt RED will cease testing further updates with those components.
As for why the game's requirements are changing, the studio says that the updated ones are more current, take newer components into account, and target resolutions of either 1080p or 4K. The new minimum requirements are specifically intended to "better represent the minimum PC configuration required to run the game at 1080p," with the developers explaining that refreshing them "is an important part of the game improvement process."
The good news is that getting your hands on a speedy SSD with lots of storage is more affordable than its ever been, especially with how often models from a year or two ago go on sale. At the time of writing, for example, you can pick up the excellent 1TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD for just $60 thanks to a 25% discount. Why not treat yourself to significantly improved loading speeds?
In the section below, we've listed all of Cyberpunk 2077's official new minimum, recommended, and ultra specs, both for ray traced and non-ray traced gameplay.
Cyberpunk 2077: New PC system requirements
Here's the complete list of Cyberpunk 2077's new system requirements. If you're an existing player, we recommend comparing them with the game's original requirements and seeing if you need some upgrades.
No ray tracing
Minimum (1080p, 30 FPS, Low preset)
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Core i7-6700 or Ryzen 5 1600
- Graphics card: Geforce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 580 8GB or Arc A380
- VRAM: 6GB
- RAM: 12GB
- Storage: 70GB SSD
Recommended (1080p, 60 FPS, High preset)
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Core i7-12700 or Ryzen 7 7800X
- Graphics card: Geforce RTX 2060 Super or Radeon RX 5700 XT or Arc A770
- VRAM 8GB
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 70GB SSD
Ultra (2160p, 60 FPS, Ultra preset)
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Core i9-12900 or Ryzen 9 7900X
- Graphics card: Geforce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- VRAM: 12GB
- RAM: 20GB
- Storage: 70GB NVMe
Ray tracing enabled
Minimum (1080p, 30 FPS, Low ray tracing preset)
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Core i9-12900 or Ryzen 9 7900X
- Graphics card: Geforce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- VRAM: 12GB
- RAM: 20GB
- Storage: 70GB NVMe
Recommended (1080p, 60 FPS, Ultra ray tracing preset)
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Core i9-12900 or Ryzen 9 7900X
- Graphics card: Geforce RTX 3080Ti or Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- VRAM: 12GB
- RAM: 20GB
- Storage: 70GB NVMe
Ultra (2160p, 60 FPS, Overdrive ray tracing preset)
- OS: 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Core i9-12900 or Ryzen 9 7900X
- Graphics card: Geforce RTX 3080Ti or Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- VRAM: 12GB
- RAM: 20GB
- Storage: 70GB NVMe
CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077 had quite a rough start when it launched in 2020, but since then, the game's been patched and updated frequently. The Phantom Liberty DLC is set to further transform the experience with new content and features when it releases on September 26, and may cement it as one of the best PC games for action RPG fans.
