Cyberpunk 2077 may be over three years old now, but it remains among the most demanding PC games even today. We’ll help you experience the game to the fullest with our best PC builds for Cyberpunk 2077.
With the hardware necessary to max out Cyberpunk 2077’s performance on PC, it’s a small miracle this game ever launched on old-generation consoles. It’s no wonder the now 11-year-old consoles struggled to run the game properly, and you’ll face the same issues trying to play the game on a similarly aged computer.
You’ll need more firepower than that, and our guide to the best Cyberpunk 2077 PC builds in 2024 will make sure you don’t miss a beat while strolling through Night City. Whether you want to build a PC yourself or buy a pre-built rig, we’ve got you covered.
PC system requirements for Cyberpunk 2077
Minimum PC system requirements
- CPU – Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- GPU – Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, AMD RX 580 8GB, or Intel Arc A380
- RAM – 12 GB
- SSD required
- 64-bit Windows 10
- DirectX 12
Recommended PC system requirements
- CPU – Intel Core i7-12700 or AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
- GPU – Nvidia GTX 2060 Super, AMD Radeon 5700 XT, or Intel Arc A770
- RAM – 16 GB
- SSD required
- 64-bit Windows 10
- DirectX 12
There are some issues with these official requirements. The minimum requirements are exactly that: Playing on such a rig will barely be good enough to avoid a straight-up slideshow on the lowest settings at 1080p. The recommended specs, particularly the CPU, go too far in the opposite direction. You don’t need the most powerful gaming CPU ever released to run Cyberpunk 2077. That being said, you won’t be able to get away with something akin to our Baldur’s Gate 3 budget PC build. You’ll have to spend a decent coin to become V, but we’ll help you spend on the best possible parts for your budget.
Our recommendations are based on the presumption that you’re building a new PC, which means older AMD CPUs and their accompanying motherboards and memory are out of the picture. Going AM4 or older would severely cripple your PC’s upgradability, so our advice is to always go AM5 for newly built machines.
The officially recommended 2060 Super and 5700 XT are enough for just around 60 FPS at 1080p Ultra settings, so if that’s all you’re looking for, these GPUs will be sufficient. The A770 would pump out closer to 50 FPS under these conditions. We’ve gone for a little more than that with our PC builds, but these graphics cards are a legitimate option for ultra-budget rigs.
Best Low-Budget PC build
Component | Item | |
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7600X | |
CPU Cooler | DeepCool AK400 | |
GPU | GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4060 Gaming OC 8GB Graphics Card | |
Motherboard | Asrock B650M-HDV | |
Memory | TEAMGROUP Elite Plus DDR5 16GB | |
Storage | Silicon Power 1TB | |
Power Supply | MSI MAG A650BN | |
Case | Antec NX410 ATX Mid-Tower Case |
Cyberpunk 2077 is a GPU-intensive game, which means you can get the cheapest current-gen CPU and not lose a beat along the way. We’ve listed the Ryzen 5 7600X here because it’s currently sold at nearly the same price as the non-X version, but if the price difference is more than $20-30, you can save those and get the 7600 instead.
We had to draw the line on a sensible low-budget GPU price-to-performance ratio, and that line fell on the RTX 4060. The graphics card is hovering right around the $300 mark currently. For your money, you get several options to choose from: 70 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 30 FPS with ray tracing on, 40 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and even a stable 30 FPS experience at 4K, though that’s only possible at Low to Medium settings.
The Cyberpunk 2077 minimum specifications say that 12 GB or RAM is enough, but you should really have at least 16 GB in today’s day and age, even on a limited budget. The same applies to the 1TB SSD, which is more open to personal needs and preferences.
This PC build will cost you under $1000 and will be capable of running Cyberpunk 2077 even at 4K resolution, and do a good job at it with the help of upscaling. Furthermore, the parts have been selected with longevity and upgradability in mind, making any future changes to the rig easier and cheaper.
Best High-Powered PC build
Component | Item | |
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D | |
CPU Cooler | Arctic Liquid Freezer III | |
GPU | ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition Gaming Graphics Card | |
Motherboard | ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WiFi AM5 | |
Memory | Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 32GB | |
Storage | Samsung 980 Pro 2TB | |
Power Supply | MSI MPG A1000G | |
Case | LIAN LI O11 Dynamic EVO Gaming PC Case |
Cyberpunk 2077 is one of these games where ray tracing actually makes a difference visually, but the price for admission is heavy. There’s one card in existence capable of pushing 30 FPS at 4K Ultra settings with RT on, and that’s the RTX 4090. Even without the burden of ray tracing, you’ll need Nvidia’s flagship to hold a consistent 60 FPS at that resolution.
The 7800X3D isn’t as mandatory. At these higher resolutions, whether you have it or the much cheaper 7600 makes next to no difference. We’re still gunning for the best possible build here, and you will get some extra FPS at 1440p and 1080p, but if you don’t want to go completely bonkers all around, this is one area where you can make cuts.
The remaining components were selected to fit the needs of a high-powered premium PC build, but you can also add your own customization. CPU cooling doesn’t need to be liquid; RAM and SSD capacities are open to interpretation, though you’d never need more than 32 GB of RAM if you’re just gaming, and of course, the case is a very personal touch. Just make sure you can fit the 4090 in whatever you end up buying. That GPU is massive.
Best pre-built gaming PCs
Skytech Gaming Nebula Gaming PC Desktop
Component | Item |
CPU | Intel Core i5 13400F |
GPU | Nvidia RTX 4060 8GB |
Memory | 16GB DDR4 |
Storage | 1TB NVMe SSD |
This pre-built PC is a slightly weaker version of our low-budget custom build. Based on that, you can expect great performance at 1080p, good performance at 1440p, and the bare minimum at 4K. For what is supposed to be a low-tier PC, getting that kind of experience from a game as demanding as Cyberpunk 2077 is a decent bargain.
iBuyPower Pro Y60 Gaming PC Computer Desktop
Component | Item |
CPU | Intel i9-13900KF |
GPU | Nvidia RTX 4070 12GB |
Memory | 32GB DDR5 |
Storage | 1TB NVMe SSD |
This iBuyPower pre-built will bump your performance up a notch at double the price. With this PC, you won’t have to worry about anything at 1080p, can get to a 30 FPS average at 1440p with ray tracing and at 4K without RT. This is a good offering for folks who want a more premium experience with Cyberpunk 2077, but don’t have a bottomless wallet to work with.
Skytech Gaming Azure PC Desktop
Component | Item |
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
GPU | Nvidia RTX 4090 24GB |
Memory | 32GB DDR5 |
Storage | 1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD |
If budget doesn’t matter, then Skytech’s Gaming Azure PC is the way to go. It more or less recreates our high-powered custom PC build, with some minor differences, like SSD capacity. As mentioned, even this expensive rig can’t get you to 60 FPS at 4K with maxed-out settings and ray tracing enabled, but this is as good as it gets in 2024.
How we came up with this list of PC builds
You can’t try out every single PC part in existence, but you can try out as many as you can yourself and look toward professional reviews for the rest. That’s what we did to come up with our PC builds, and of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without looking at the feedback of the most important people in all of this: The users. This mixture of personal experience, professional testing and analysis, and consumer assessments is the formula behind our list of the best PC builds for Cyberpunk 2077.
FAQs about Cyberpunk 2077 PC builds
1. How much FPS do you need for Cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 is a single-player game, so you don’t really need super high FPS to enjoy it. Depending on your preferences, even 30 FPS could be fine, though we’d personally expect something closer to 60 to call the performance good.
2. Should you prioritize visuals or FPS in Cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 is a visually stunning game that isn’t too mechanically demanding. Playing it with maxed-out visuals is the optimal way to go, even if it comes at the expense of FPS. We’d recommend going as high with the settings as your PC can handle without dipping into unplayable FPS territory.
3. Is Cyberpunk 2077 CPU or GPU intensive?
Cyberpunk 2077 is a GPU intensive game. You get significant performance gains with more powerful graphics cards and next to no improvement when going from this generation’s weakest CPU to the strongest.
4. Is Cyberpunk 2077 4K 60 FPS?
Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 can be played at 60 FPS in 4K resolution. In fact, several GPUs can produce that kind of performance at Low and Medium settings. Things stand differently on Ultra settings, where the RTX 4090 and the Radeon 7900 XTX are the only cards to maintain 60 FPS at 4K. It is currently impossible to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K 60 FPS with ray tracing on.
Published: Apr 18, 2024 12:20 pm