The Outlast Trials PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum for The Outlast Trials lists an Intel Core i7-3770 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 processor, a graphics card in the GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB, Radeon R7 360 2GB or Intel Arc A310 4GB range, 8GB of RAM and 40GB of storage. In our tier terms, that CPU sits in the old entry band, and the listed GPUs are very old entry-level cards, roughly in the GT 1030 neighbourhood. The minimum is about getting the game to launch and run, not about leaving much room for higher settings.
The recommended level asks for an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, a GeForce GTX 1660 6GB, Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB or Intel Arc A580 8GB, and 16GB of RAM. The CPU is roughly an older mainstream part, and the GTX 1660 is a mainstream 1080p card, so the jump from minimum to recommended is substantial. Most of that gap is in the graphics card and memory capacity. If you want steady visuals and fewer stutters, aim for the recommended level.
The listing does not require an SSD, and both tiers ask for 40GB of storage. An SSD is therefore optional, but it will noticeably shorten loading and scene transitions.
The publisher did not specify a separate tier for ray tracing or a specific minimum resolution, so treat the listed parts as the baseline for general gameplay.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build suits players on a tight budget who are happy to play at lower settings. Good choices include a GeForce GTX 1650 Super, GTX 1660, RTX 3050 6GB, Radeon RX 6500 XT or Intel Arc A380, paired with a CPU such as the Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i3-10100F. This tier already clears the official recommended level, though how much headroom you get depends on the settings you choose. Pair it with at least 16GB of RAM.
The mainstream build is the sweet spot for most players. Consider a GeForce GTX 1660 Super, RTX 3050 8GB, Radeon RX 5600 XT, Intel Arc A580 or RTX 2060 6GB, with a CPU like the Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10400. This combination comfortably meets the recommended requirements and leaves room to raise the visual settings. 16GB of RAM is a good match.
The high build is for players who want higher settings or a higher resolution. Look at an RTX 3060 Ti, RX 6700 XT, RTX 3070, RX 7600 XT or RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, with a CPU such as the Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 7 5700X or Core i5-13400F. Both the CPU and GPU sit well above the recommended tier here, and 32GB of RAM keeps multitasking relaxed.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In a game like this, with dim interiors and atmospheric lighting, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric lighting and fog, particle and effect density, and view distance together with the number of scene objects. Shadows and volumetrics are often the most noticeable load, so if you need to free up resources, drop those to medium first. Texture quality mainly affects how much video memory is used, so as long as your card has enough VRAM, raising textures rarely costs much performance.
Ray tracing, where available, is usually one of the most expensive options. On entry and mainstream systems, leave it off and spend your budget on base lighting and resolution instead.
Upscaling technologies such as DLSS, FSR and XeSS render internally at a lower resolution and reconstruct the image, which can trade a small amount of image quality for a meaningful performance gain. Quality modes usually look close to native, while performance modes show more softness. Whether to use one, and which, depends on what your graphics card supports and how much detail you care about.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop graphics chips often share a name with desktop cards but deliver noticeably less performance. They are limited by power caps (TGP) and by the cooling a given chassis can dissipate, and the same model name can behave differently between laptop designs. When comparing machines, look at the advertised power limit and the cooling design rather than the model name alone. A laptop that is cooled poorly will throttle under sustained load.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally use integrated platforms with fixed power and performance budgets. They generally work best at lower resolutions and moderate settings, and built-in scaling and frame-rate limiting tools can help keep play smooth. We have no Steam Deck verification data for this game, so we cannot give a specific compatibility verdict. Compare the official requirements with the device's specifications to judge for yourself.
Storage and memory
For memory, the official minimum is 8GB and the recommended level is 16GB. 16GB is a sensible starting point today and leaves comfortable headroom for the system and the game. If you run streaming software, a browser or other apps alongside it, 32GB is more relaxed. Make sure your RAM runs in dual-channel mode by installing sticks in the correct slots, since the extra bandwidth helps most on integrated or weaker platforms.
For storage, the listed requirement is 40GB, but installation and later updates need extra free space, so keep at least 50GB available. An SSD is not required by the publisher, yet it cuts loading times and reduces stutter during scene changes. If your budget allows, an SSD is one of the more worthwhile upgrades for this game.