Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum requirements for Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition list an Intel Core i3-9100 or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X for the processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 560 with 4GB of VRAM for the graphics card, 8GB of system memory, 60GB of storage, and state that an SSD is not required. In our tier comparison, the GTX 1050 Ti is an older entry-level card, and the RX 560 belongs to the same era. That means the minimum is a bar for launching the game and running it at low settings, not a target for a smooth experience.
The recommended requirements step up to an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel i5-8600K or newer, running at 3.6 GHz or higher, with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB or AMD RX Vega 56 8GB, and 16GB of memory. The RTX 2060 sits roughly in the mainstream, 1080p class. If your hardware meets the recommended level, you have a solid baseline for the game's default settings. If you only meet the minimum, expect to lower your graphics settings noticeably.
The publisher does not list the frame rate or resolution these tiers were designed around, so treat the comparison as a relative guide. Both tiers ask for 60GB of storage, which is a number to treat as a floor: leave extra room for patches and updates.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build pairs an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500X and 16GB of memory. It suits players on a tight budget who aim for 1080p. The GPU sits between the official minimum and recommended levels, so you will need to trim some demanding settings, but the card handles most scenes. Sixteen gigabytes of RAM keeps things steady during long sessions and when other programs are open.
The mainstream build uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, also with 16GB of memory. Both parts clear the official recommended level, which makes this the sensible choice for 1080p at higher settings with some headroom. The 8GB of VRAM gives comfortable room for textures and scene data.
The high-end build uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and 32GB of memory. It is aimed at players who want higher resolutions or higher settings, and the extra memory leaves room for multitasking and future updates. At 1080p alone the step up may not be worth it, but on a high-resolution monitor it makes more sense.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In open-world action games like this one, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric lighting and fog, ray tracing, crowd and simulation density, and view distance. Shadows and volumetric effects become especially heavy in complex scenes, and crowd density loads both the processor and the GPU. If you need to free up resources without losing much visual quality, lower these one or two steps first. Texture quality usually has little effect on performance as long as your VRAM is sufficient, and anti-aliasing matters a lot for image clarity, so keep those higher.
If your graphics card supports DLSS, FSR, or XeSS, these upscalers render the image at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct it to your display's resolution. In general, quality modes keep most of the detail, while performance modes trade more detail for speed. Which mode makes sense depends on your card and how much detail matters to you.
Ray tracing is an optional extra here. On mid-range and lower cards, it is best left off so the budget goes to resolution and core settings. Owners of higher-end cards can try enabling some ray-traced effects and see how the balance between image quality and stability looks on their system.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop GPUs often share names with desktop cards, but the laptop versions usually run at lower power limits and have less room for cooling, so they tend to trail their desktop namesakes. When shopping for a laptop, look at the stated power limit (TGP) and the cooling design rather than only the GPU name. Sustained load exposes thermal limits quickly, so cooling matters for consistent performance.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck and ROG Ally run full PC software but have much less hardware than a desktop. They generally need lower resolutions and settings, and it is worth using their built-in performance controls. We do not have verification data for the Steam Deck, so we cannot give a specific rating for it. As a general approach, start with low settings and a lower resolution, then adjust upward from there.
Whether you use a laptop or a handheld, good airflow, running on power, and keeping vents clean will help sustain performance during long play sessions.
Storage and memory
For system memory, the official minimum is 8GB and the recommended amount is 16GB. Sixteen gigabytes is the safer starting point for most setups today and keeps things smooth when the game runs alongside other programs. If you stream or run many background apps, 32GB gives more room. Use dual-channel memory by installing matched sticks in the correct slots to get the most bandwidth.
For storage, the official figure is 60GB, but plan for more so you have space for patches and any later content. An SSD is not an official requirement, yet it noticeably shortens loading and helps with the constant city traversal this game involves. The game will run from a traditional hard drive, but loading and streaming may be slower.