God of War PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum for God of War lists an Intel i5-2500K (4 cores, 3.3 GHz) or an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (4 cores, 3.1 GHz) as the processor, paired with an NVIDIA GTX 960 (4 GB) or AMD R9 290X (4 GB) graphics card. It asks for 8 GB of RAM and 70 GB of storage. On FrameScope's tier scale, the minimum GPU sits roughly at the level of a GTX 1050 Ti, an older entry-level card, and the minimum CPU is in the very old, entry-level band, similar to an FX-8350.
The official recommended tier is an Intel i5-6600K (4 cores, 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2400G (4 cores, 3.6 GHz), with an NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD RX 570 (4 GB) graphics card. The recommended GPU is roughly a GTX 1650 4GB class card, and the recommended CPU is an older mainstream part such as the i5-6600K. RAM and storage stay at 8 GB and 70 GB in both tiers. The publisher does not state an SSD requirement, so SSD use is not mandatory, though we still recommend one.
For most players, the gap between minimum and recommended comes down to the GPU and CPU generation. Meeting the recommended tier means you should have more headroom at the official settings than someone running right at the minimum. If your system only just meets the minimum, start with lower graphics settings, check how the game runs, and raise them gradually.
Graphics settings and resolution are the main levers, so the official tiers should be read as a starting point rather than a guarantee for any particular resolution or refresh rate.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build suits players on a tight budget who mainly target 1080p. A GTX 1650 4GB, GTX 1660, or RTX 3050 6GB pairs well with a newer six-core CPU such as the Ryzen 5 4500, and 16 GB of RAM is the sensible baseline. This combination sits above the official recommended tier, so you can play at medium settings without leaning too heavily on reductions.
The mainstream build is the choice most players will find the best value. A GTX 1660 Super, RTX 3050 8GB, or RX 5600 XT works with a Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10400, again with 16 GB of RAM. It runs the game comfortably at recommended-level settings and leaves room to upgrade the graphics card later.
The high build is for players who want higher graphics settings or a higher refresh rate monitor. An RTX 3060 Ti, RX 7600 XT, or RTX 4060 paired with a Ryzen 5 5600 or Ryzen 7 5700X gives clear headroom above the recommended tier. We suggest 32 GB of RAM so the system stays responsive when other programs are running, and this is the build to choose if you want a long-lived main machine.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In a large open-world action adventure like this, the settings that usually cost the most are shadows, volumetric fog and lighting, draw distance, and the density of vegetation and crowd objects. Shadows and volumetric effects are often the heaviest, while view distance strains both the GPU and memory. If you need to make cuts, lower these first and keep texture detail and anti-aliasing where you can, since the overall visual quality usually holds up well.
Ray tracing, where offered, is typically one of the most expensive options on mid-range graphics cards. Unless your GPU has strong ray tracing capability, it is usually better to turn it off and spend that budget on settings that have a more visible effect.
Upscaling technologies such as NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS work by rendering at a lower internal resolution and reconstructing the image to your display's resolution. Generally this trades a small amount of detail for extra performance. Check the in-game menu for which modes your hardware supports. Quality or balanced modes tend to give the best result, while performance modes can make fine detail and edges look soft.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop graphics chips often share names with desktop cards, such as an RTX 3050 Laptop GPU, but they are limited by power and cooling and usually perform below the desktop version of the same name. When evaluating a laptop, look at its power limits and cooling design. While playing, set the power mode to high performance, keep the machine well ventilated, and use mains power, since throttling from heat or battery limits can noticeably reduce performance.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally are portable PC platforms. Their performance and power budgets are limited, so they generally suit lower resolutions and lower graphics settings, and built-in scaling or dynamic performance options help. FrameScope has no verification data for this game on handhelds, so treat this as general guidance and check the official requirements against your own device before deciding how much of the game you can run comfortably.
Storage and memory
The official requirement is 8 GB of RAM, but on a modern system we suggest 16 GB so the operating system and background programs have room. Install the memory as a dual-channel pair, meaning two modules of matching capacity, which gives more memory bandwidth and helps overall performance and loading.
For storage, the official figure is 70 GB. Leave more free space than that, because updates, shader caches, and other files add to the total over time. An SSD is not officially required, but it cuts loading and scene-transition waits dramatically. If your budget allows, installing on an SSD is strongly recommended. A traditional hard drive will still run the game, but you will notice longer waits when the game streams in large amounts of data.