Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum CPU is an Intel Core i3-7100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200. Today that roughly corresponds to an older entry-level processor, in the same band as a Ryzen 3 1300X, Ryzen 3 2200G or Core i3-7100. It is a basic level that can get the game running with conservative settings. The minimum GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, which is an older entry-level card, roughly in the GTX 1050 2GB class. The minimum asks for 8 GB of RAM and 75 GB of storage, and requires an SSD.
The recommended level rises to an Intel Core i5-8600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, a mainstream six-core CPU. The recommended GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, a mainstream card aimed at 1080p. RAM goes up to 16 GB, storage stays at 75 GB, and an SSD is again required. The gap between the two levels is clear: the minimum gets the game running, while the recommended level is what the publisher considers a comfortable starting point.
The official listing does not specify a higher tier, so players aiming for higher resolutions or settings will need to judge that for themselves. In general, a system that meets the recommended level should handle the game well for most mainstream players.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build centres on a card such as the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super or RTX 3050 6GB, paired with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500X or Intel Core i5-10400F, and 16 GB of RAM. It suits players on a tight budget who play at 1080p with low to medium settings and want to comfortably meet the recommended level.
The mainstream build uses a card such as the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 12GB or RTX 3060 8GB, or AMD Radeon RX 6600. For the CPU, an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i5-10400 works well, again with 16 GB of RAM. This is the option closest to the official recommended level and the best value for most players who want medium-high settings at 1080p.
The high-end build uses a card such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, AMD Radeon RX 6800 or RTX 3080 10GB, with an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, Ryzen 5 7600 or Intel Core i5-14400, and 32 GB of RAM. It suits players who want higher resolutions and settings, or who stream and record while playing, and it leaves more headroom beyond the game itself.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In open-world action adventure games like this one, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric lighting and fog, view distance, vegetation and crowd density, and reflections or ray tracing. Shadows and volumetric effects are often the heaviest, while view distance and vegetation density affect both the GPU and the CPU. If you want to keep the image looking good without giving up too much smoothness, lower these first and keep texture and material detail high. Texture quality mostly depends on how much VRAM your card has, and reducing it often costs less visual quality than people expect.
If your GPU supports DLSS, FSR or XeSS, these upscalers render at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct the image at your target resolution. Quality or balanced modes usually offer a good trade-off between sharpness and performance, but results differ between technologies and modes, so compare them yourself before settling on one.
A practical approach is to start from the game's default medium-high preset. If it feels choppy, reduce the heavy settings listed above one at a time rather than switching everything off at once.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop graphics cards often share a name with desktop parts, such as an RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, but they usually perform noticeably lower. Power limits and cooling design hold them back, so a laptop version can fall well short of its desktop namesake under sustained load. When comparing machines, check the laptop's power and cooling configuration rather than relying on the GPU name alone. Playing while plugged in and using a high-performance power mode generally gives more stable results.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck and ROG Ally run on low-power integrated or mobile chips and are built for portable use. In general, they are best played at lower resolutions with low to medium settings, using upscaling and a sensible frame cap to keep things steady. FrameScope does not have Steam Deck verification data for this game, so this is general guidance only, and actual results depend on the device and your settings.
Storage and memory
The official listing asks for 75 GB of storage and explicitly requires an SSD. An SSD noticeably shortens loading and read times and handles the constant data streaming of an open-world game much better than a traditional HDD, so installing on an HDD is not recommended. Beyond the game's own footprint, leave extra room for updates and save files so a full drive does not block patches.
For memory, the minimum is 8 GB, but the recommended amount is 16 GB. At 16 GB, the system has enough headroom to avoid stutter caused by running out of memory. If you also keep a browser, streaming or recording software open, 32 GB gives you more breathing room. When installing RAM, use dual-channel configuration with matched modules in the recommended slots, which generally lets the memory bandwidth work to its full potential.