Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum CPU is an Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X. These are early entry-level quad-core chips, roughly comparable to the Intel Core i5-4570 class, and their job is mainly to get the game launching at basic settings. The minimum GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 4GB, both older entry-level graphics cards. The minimum asks for 16 GB of RAM and 150 GB of storage, and an SSD is not required.
The recommended CPU is an Intel Core i5-8600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600. The Ryzen 5 3600 is still a practical six-core mainstream processor. The recommended GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 5700, which sits in the mainstream 1080p band. RAM and storage stay the same at 16 GB and 150 GB.
For most players the gap between minimum and recommended shows up mostly in the graphics card. Meeting the minimum means the game runs, usually with conservative settings and resolution. Meeting the recommended tier means you can play with comfortable settings across the full picture. The publisher does not list any tier above recommended, so any extra headroom beyond that has to be judged from the hardware itself.
If you are unsure where your current parts fall, compare them against the tier references above rather than raw model numbers from a different generation.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build pairs an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500X. It suits players on a tight budget who are happy to play at 1080p with low to medium settings. This combination only just reaches the recommended tier, so it can finish the game comfortably at moderate settings but leaves little room for high quality.
The mainstream build pairs an AMD Radeon RX 5700 with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600. This is the closest match to the official recommended requirements. Both parts sit in the same tier as the recommended spec, and they can run medium-high settings smoothly. It is the practical choice for most players.
The high-end build pairs an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X. It is well above the official recommended tier and suits players who want higher resolution, higher graphics settings, or who stream and record while playing. At this level the hardware is more than enough rather than required, so the upgrade mainly buys you a higher ceiling and more headroom.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In open-world action RPGs like this one, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric lighting and fog, draw distance, vegetation and crowd density, and any ray tracing options. Shadows and volumetric effects tend to be the heaviest, while view distance and vegetation density add up quickly in large scenes. If you need to free up resources, lower these first and keep texture and material quality high, since the visual difference is often smaller than it looks.
If ray tracing is offered, it is best enabled only when your graphics card is clearly above the recommended tier. Otherwise you may have to give up other settings to afford it. If your card supports upscaling such as DLSS, FSR or XeSS, rendering at a lower internal resolution and upscaling the result is a general way to gain smoothness with limited loss of image quality. Pick a quality mode based on how much softness you can tolerate.
Anti-aliasing and texture detail are usually good value. Texture quality depends mostly on video memory, so as long as the card has enough VRAM, keeping it high rarely causes a major cost. In practice, adjust shadows, volumetrics and distance first, then tweak the rest as needed.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop graphics chips often share a name with desktop parts, such as an RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, but real performance is limited by power targets and cooling, so they usually run below their desktop namesakes. When evaluating a laptop, check its graphics power limit (TGP) and cooling design, and make sure it runs well on mains power. Laptop performance also fluctuates with temperature and power mode, so use the high-performance profile when playing.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally generally use built-in integrated or mobile-class processors and graphics. They are best run at a lower resolution with adjusted graphics settings. Whether a given handheld runs the game smoothly depends on how its hardware compares with the official requirements. FrameScope has no Steam Deck verification data for this title, so we cannot give a compatibility rating for that device. Check other reliable sources before buying and keep room to lower the settings.
Whatever portable device you use, sustained heavy load heats the chassis. Capping the frame rate or lowering the power limit helps keep performance steady and battery life reasonable.
Storage and memory
For memory, both the official minimum and recommended specs call for 16 GB, which is the baseline for playing without trouble. If you keep a browser, chat app or streaming tool running alongside the game, 32 GB gives more breathing room, especially when moving quickly through large open worlds. Install memory in dual-channel pairs, since dual-channel helps both CPU and integrated graphics performance.
For storage, the official spec lists 150 GB, but the installed footprint grows with updates and extra content, so leave more free space than the listed figure. An SSD is not required, but it noticeably cuts loading times and streaming pauses, making it one of the most worthwhile upgrades for this game. A traditional hard drive still works, but you may notice stalls when fast traveling across the map.
Finally, keep the drive hosting the game from running close to full for long periods. This helps updates write cleanly and keeps overall system performance healthy.