FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The publisher's minimum lists an Intel Core i5-2500 (3.3GHz or faster) or an AMD FX-6100 (3.3GHz or faster) for the processor. Today that roughly corresponds to the old entry-level tier, around the Intel Core i5-2400 band in our reference list. The minimum graphics card options are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760, GTX 1050 or AMD Radeon R9 280, which sit roughly in the GTX 670 band: legacy, budget hardware. The listed minimum is 8GB of RAM and 100GB of storage. The publisher does not require an SSD, only enough free space on the drive.
The recommended level asks for an Intel Core i7-3770 (3.4GHz or faster) or an AMD FX-8350 (4.0GHz or faster), a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 480, 16GB of RAM, and the same 100GB of storage. The graphics card step is the largest. The recommended GPUs fall roughly in the R9 390 band, a clear generational jump from the minimum. Moving from minimum to recommended is mainly about GPU power and memory capacity rather than storage.
In practice, the minimum suits players who are happy to lower settings and aim for basic smoothness. The recommended level describes a configuration the publisher considers capable of a fuller visual experience. If your PC falls between the two, lowering shadows and view distance is usually the first step. The publisher lists no higher tier, so anything beyond the recommended level is a judgment call on your part.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build suits players on a tight budget who mainly target 1080p. The GeForce GTX 1660 reaches the recommended level, while the GTX 1650 4GB, Intel Arc A380 and Radeon RX 6500 XT only meet the minimum, so you will need to lower settings in demanding scenes. A six-core processor such as the Ryzen 5 3500X or Core i5-10400F is well beyond the recommended CPU. Pair it with 16GB of RAM.
The mainstream build suits players who want 1080p or 1440p with some visual headroom. The GeForce GTX 1660 Super, RTX 3050 6GB and GTX 1660 reach the recommended level. If your budget allows, the RTX 3050 8GB, GTX 1660 Ti, Radeon RX 5600 XT and Intel Arc A580 sit comfortably above it. A Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10400 is far beyond the recommended Core i7-3770. Sixteen gigabytes is enough, and 32GB is worth considering if you stream or keep a browser open.
The high build suits players who want higher resolutions and higher settings. Cards such as the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, Radeon RX 6700 XT and RTX 4060 are well above the recommended level, letting most visual options sit at higher presets. Processors such as the Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i7-11700K are in the same league. Pick 32GB of RAM so the game and background software both have room. This tier leaves margin above the recommended level, which makes upscaling easier to use if you need it.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In large open-world RPGs like this one, the settings that usually cost the most are shadows, volumetric lighting and fog, vegetation and crowd density, and view distance. Shadow quality and view distance tend to be the most noticeable, so start there. Dropping shadows from high to medium often makes little visible difference while giving a steadier experience. Volumetrics and fog are also expensive, so consider lowering them if your card is close to the recommended level.
Newer effects such as ray tracing usually have the highest cost. If your graphics card has no dedicated ray tracing hardware, turn it off. Even with ray tracing hardware, it is sensible to tune the other settings first and treat ray tracing as the last thing to enable.
Upscaling technologies such as NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR and Intel XeSS work by rendering at a lower internal resolution and reconstructing the image at your target resolution. This eases the load on the graphics card without a large loss of sharpness, and it is most useful at 1440p and above. Support depends on your graphics card model and the game version. The publisher's data does not list upscaling support, so check the in-game options.
Laptops and handheld PCs
A laptop graphics chip often shares a name with a desktop part but performs noticeably lower. The main reasons are a lower power limit and limited cooling. During long sessions the chip may throttle and performance can drop. When buying a laptop, check the power and suffix details of the GPU rather than only the model name. If a laptop model is close to the recommended desktop card, confirm its power setting and cooling design are adequate.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally use integrated or low-power platforms. They suit lower resolutions and lower settings. The publisher gives no specific guidance for handhelds, so we cannot say whether they reach the recommended level. Trust in-game settings and how the device actually runs. If the picture is unstable, lowering resolution and shadow quality usually helps most. Battery life also depends on graphics settings and screen brightness, so lower them when playing away from a charger.
Storage and memory
For memory, the publisher lists 8GB as the minimum and 16GB as the recommended amount. Sixteen gigabytes is a practical baseline that leaves more room for the game and background programs. If you run streaming software, a browser or other applications at the same time, 32GB is a more comfortable choice. When installing memory, use dual-channel configuration: two sticks of matching capacity in the correct slots. This noticeably helps data transfer bandwidth between the processor and integrated graphics.
Storage must be at least 100GB. The publisher does not require an SSD, so a traditional hard drive will work. An SSD does shorten loading and loading between areas in a large open world, so if your budget allows, install the game on one.
Finally, updates and cache files take up extra space. Leave more room than the listed figure so updates and installations do not fail for lack of disk space.