If you’re one of the lucky ones who has managed to secure a new RTX 30 series or a AMD RX 6000 series GPU, you’re probably looking to push it to the its limits and see how well it can perform by checking out the most demanding PC games.
Well, we’ve got you covered because these, especially at higher than 60fps, will push your PC to its limits, some utilize ray tracing and DLSS too.
Most Demanding PC Games 2021
Here’s our picks for the most demanding PC games that you can play in 2021, in no particular order.
1. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Minimum Configuration – Low preset 1080p 30 FPS
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 1200 – 3.1 Ghz / INTEL i5-4460 – 3.2 Ghz
RAM: 8 GB (Dual-channel mode)Video Card: AMD R9 380 - 4GB / GeForce GTX 960 4GBStorage: 50 GB HDD (SSD Recommended)Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)DirectX Version: DirectX 12Additional note: Requires GPU with DirectX 12 (Feature Level 12_0) support
Recommended Configuration – High preset 1080p 30 FPS
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 – 3.2 Ghz / INTEL i7-4790 – 3.6 Ghz
- RAM: 8 GB (Dual-channel mode)
- Video Card: AMD RX 570 – 8GB / GeForce GTX 1060 – 6GB
- Storage: SSD (50 GB)
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- DirectX Version: DirectX 12
- Additional note: Requires GPU with DirectX 12 (Feature Level 12_0) support
Recommended Configuration – High preset 1080p 60 FPS
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 – 3.0 Ghz / INTEL i7-6700 – 3.4 Ghz
- RAM: 8 GB (Dual-channel mode)
- Video Card: AMD Vega 64 – 8GB / GeForce GTX 1080- 8GB
- Storage: SSD (50 GB)
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- DirectX Version: DirectX 12
- Additional note: Requires GPU with DirectX 12 (Feature Level 12_0) support
2K Configuration – Very High preset 1440p 30 FPS
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X – 3.7 Ghz / INTEL i7 – 7700 – 3.6 Ghz
- RAM: 16 GB (Dual-channel mode)
- Video Card: AMD Vega 56 – 8GB / GeForce GTX 1070 – 8GB
- Storage: SSD (50 GB)
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- DirectX Version: DirectX 12
- Additional note: Requires GPU with DirectX 12 (Feature Level 12_0) support
2K Configuration – Very High preset 1440p 60 FPS
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X – 3.8 Ghz / INTEL i7 – 8700K – 3.7 Ghz
- RAM: 16 GB (Dual-channel mode)
- Video Card: AMD RX 5700XT – 8GB / GeForce RTX 2080 S – 8GB
- Storage: SSD (50 GB)
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- DirectX Version: DirectX 12
- Additional note: Requires GPU with DirectX 12 (Feature Level 12_0) support
4K Configuration – Ultra High preset 2160p (4K) 30 FPS
- Processor : AMD Ryzen 7 3700X – 3.6 Ghz / INTEL i7 – 9700K – 3.6 Ghz
- RAM: 16 GB (Dual-channel mode)
- Video Card: AMD RX 5700XT – 8GB / GeForce RTX 2080 – 8GB
- Storage: SSD (50 GB)
- Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
- DirectX Version: DirectX 12
- Additional note: Requires GPU with DirectX 12 (Feature Level 12_0) support
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the latest entry in the series, releasing alongside the next-generation of consoles in November 2020. Valhalla sees the series go Nordic as Vikings are the main theme of the game.
Being a modern title, the game is quite demanding, especially when starting to head into 4K territory. It requires an Intel i7-9700K and Nvidia RTX 2080 to play at 4K 30fps, so we can only imagine 60fps is even harder to achieve.
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READ MORE: Who Is The Best Mario Character To Party With?
2. Control
Minimum Requirements
- Processor: Intel Core i5-4690 / AMD FX 4350
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 / AMD Radeon R9 280X
- RAM: 8 GB
- Operating System: Windows 7, 64bit
- DirectX: DX11
Recommended Requirements
- Processor: Intel Core i5-7600K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660/1060 / AMD Radeon RX 580
- For ray tracing: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- RAM: 16 GB
- Operating System: Windows 10, 64-bit
- DirectX: DX11 / DX12
Control is often used as a benchmark game when testing ray tracing, and with good reason because it looks beautiful with RT turned on.
While not the most demanding to play without ray tracing, turning it on will see your frames drop as the game has a lot of reflective surfaces which make use of it.
3. Microsoft Flight Simulator
Minimum Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
- RAM: 8 GB
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 770
- PIXEL SHADER: 5.0
- VERTEX SHADER: 5.0
- FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 2048 MB
Recommended Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better
- RAM: 16 GB
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 970
- PIXEL SHADER: 5.1
- VERTEX SHADER: 5.1
- FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4096 MB
Microsoft Flight Simulator saw its latest release in 2020, and it looks incredible and is also really demanding to play. The game uses over 2TB of map data to accurately recreate the entire planet. With a bit of detective work you will be able to find your house in the game.
READ MORE: Will GTA 6 Be On PC?
The requirements above aren’t too demanding, but neither of those will be for maxed out settings. One thing to know is, the game favours a consistent frame rate over a choppy higher one.
So if you can squeeze 30fps out of this then that isn’t a bad thing, even the top gaming rigs are only doing 60fps. And when it comes to flying through the sky for hours and hours, a few extra frames don’t really enhance the experience.
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4. Cyberpunk 2077
Minimum Requirements: 1080p Low
- CPU: Core i5-3570K or FX-8310
- GPU: GTX 780 3GB (or RX 470 4GB)
- RAM: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB storage
- OS: Windows 7 or Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 1080p Low
Recommended Requirements: 1080p High
- CPU: Core i7-4790 or Ryzen 3 3200G
- GPU: GTX 1060 6GB, GTX 1660 Super (or R9 Fury)
- RAM: 12GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB SSD storage
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 1080p High
Recommended Requirements: 1440p Ultra
- CPU: Core i7-4790 or Ryzen 3 3200G
- GPU: RTX 2060 (or RX 5600 XT)
- RAM: 12GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB SSD storage
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 1440p Ultra
Recommended Requirements: 4K Ultra
- CPU: Core i7-4790 or Ryzen 3 3200G
- GPU: RTX 2080 Super, RTX 3070 (or RX 6800)
- RAM: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB SSD storage
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 4K Ultra
Recommended Requirements: 1080p Medium Ray Tracing
- CPU: Core i7-4790 or Ryzen 3 3200G
- GPU: RTX 2060 (or RX 6800)
- RAM: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB SSD storage
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 1080p RT Medium
Recommended Requirements: 1440p Ultra Ray Tracing
- CPU: Core i7-6700 or Ryzen 5 3600
- GPU: RTX 3070 (or RX 6800 XT)
- RAM: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB SSD storage
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 1440p RT Ultra
Recommended Requirements: 4K Ultra Ray Tracing
- CPU: Core i7-4790 or Ryzen 3 3200G
- GPU: RTX 3080 (or RTX 3090)
- RAM: 16GB RAM
- Storage: 70GB SSD storage
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Target: 4K Ultra
Ah Cyberpunk, what could have been? It is hard to tell whether the game is demanding or not because right now the game is really broken, which causes a lot of performance issues. It is that broken that Sony removed it from their PlayStation Store.
When it comes to PC, the game is really hit and miss. At the time of writing this I use a Ryzen 3700X and a Nvidia RTX 3070 FE, so a pretty decent rig.
READ MORE: Cyberpunk 2077: A Broken Game and A Broken Promise
I recently played the game and it auto set the graphics to maxed out, ultra settings and ultra ray tracing and I was getting 90fps, I can’t complain at that.
But, I decided to turn off ray tracing because I’d rather have higher frames over better reflections,,,,70fps, strange.
As I continued to lower settings I ended up at just 40fps on the lowest settings possible, how? And then when someone called V my performance tanked down to just 20fps, and this was after the most recent patch.
Over time a lot of these performance issues should be fixed, but it is a shame that a game so hyped could end up disappointing so much.
5. Grand Theft Auto V
Minimum Requirements
- Operating System: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
- Memory: 4GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
- Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
- HDD Space: 65GB
Recommended Requirements
- Operating System: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
- Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs)
- Memory: 8GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB
- Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
- HDD Space: 65GB
Despite releasing in 2015, GTA V is still a stellar example of PC gaming, especially when pushed beyond 60fps and the graphics settings cranked up.
Rockstar’s most successful game to date, generating tens of billions of dollars, still sees hundreds of thousands of gamers play daily.
Buy a high refresh monitor, turn up the graphics and listen to your fans go wild as this game pushes your system to the limit.
6. Metro Exodus
Minimum Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 or equivalent
- RAM: 8 GB
- OS: Windows 7/8/10
- VIDEO CARD: GeForce GTX 670 / GeForce GTX 1050 / AMD Radeon HD 7870
- FREE DISK SPACE: 59 GB
Recommended Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k or equivalent
- CPU SPEED: Info
- RAM: 8 GB
- OS: Windows 10
- VIDEO CARD: GeForce GTX 1070 / GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD RX VEGA 56
- FREE DISK SPACE: 59 GB
Like Control, Metro Exodus has become a popular ray tracing benchmark game and was one of the earlier games to utilise the feature.
READ MORE: 7 Games Like Valheim That You Need To Play
While not very demanding with RT turned off, a GTX 1070 is a very reasonable requirement, it is incredibly demanding with ray tracing turned on and it looks incredible.
If you own an RTX 20 or 30 series, definitely give this game a go to see how good ray tracing can look.
7. Red Dead Redemption 2
Minimum Requirements
- Operating System: Windows 7
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K / AMD FX-6300
- RAM: 8 GB
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280
- Disk Space: 150 GB
Recommended Requirements
- Operating System: Windows 10
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
- RAM: 12 GB
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
- Storage Space Required: 150 GB
Perhaps the most demanding games available at the time of writing this, Red Dead Redemption 2 has become 2021’s Crysis.
This game will make most PCs beg for mercy, with many top spec systems struggling to hit 60fps in 4K.
Even at 1080p you will need something like an RTX 3070 to play over 100fps with the game’s graphics completely maxed out, but it is worth it.
RDR2 is a perfect example of how good PC gaming can look. If you played it on console in the past, it is definitely worth another purchase just to see how good the game can look.
BUY RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 HERE
