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What Are the Returnal PC Requirements?

Now that Returnal is no longer a PlayStation 5 exclusive, you might be eyeing up the PC version of this time-looping shooter. But will your computer run it? Here are all of the PC system requirements for Returnal, from minimum all the way up to epic and ray tracing.

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Here Are the Returnal PC Requirements: You’ll Need a Powerhouse to Get Ray Tracing

Sony has detailed not only the minimum and recommended specs, but several performance bands. No matter how powerful — or otherwise — your PC is, you’ll need to be running at least Windows 10 64-bit. Sony hasn’t confirmed it runs on Windows 11, but we’d be very surprised if it didn’t.

So, first of all, here’s what you’ll need just to run the game in 720p mode, at up to 60 FPS.

Minimum requirements (low graphics settings)

  • Processor: Intel Core i5-6400 (4 core 2.7GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 core 3.5GHz)
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB)
  • Memory: 16 GB DDR4
  • Storage: 60 GB HDD (SSD Recommended)

Next up, to run at 1080p up to 60 FPS, you’ll need a PC with the below specs.

Medium graphics settings requirements:

  • Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 (6 core 2.8GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 core 3.4GHZ)
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB)
  • Memory: 16 GB DDR4
  • Storage: 60 GB SSD

Or if you want Returnal to look that little bit prettier, but still run at 1080p up to 60 FPS, you’ll need these specs below.

High graphics settings requirements:

  • Processor: Intel i7-8700 (6 core 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (8 core 3.7 GHz)
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB)
  • Memory: 16 GB DDR4
  • Storage: 60 GB SSD

For epic graphics, there are even meatier PC system requirements, but you’ll be able to run Returnal at up to 4K and 60 FPS.

Epic graphics settings requirements:

  • Processor: Intel i7-9700K (8 core 3.7 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 core 3.6 GHz)
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 3080 (10 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
  • Memory: 32 GB DDR4
  • Storage: 60 GB SSD

Finally, if you want to run Returnal at 4K, up to 60 FPS, with ray tracing, you’ll need a pretty cutting-edge machine.

Ray-tracing requirements:

  • Processor: Intel i9-11900K (8 core 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 core 3.7 GHz)
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB)
  • Memory: 32 GB DDR4
  • Storage: 60 GB SSD

Could you run Returnal with lower-than-minimum PC system specs? It’s possible, conceivably, but even if it does run, you could be looking at graphical glitches, slowdown, and so on. We’d recommend you stick with at least the minimum requirements.

And those are all the PC system requirements for Returnal.


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Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen is a freelance contributor at The Escapist and has been with the site since 2020. He returned to writing about games following several career changes, with his most recent stint lasting five-plus years. He hopes that, through his writing work, he settles the karmic debt he incurred by persuading his parents to buy a Mega CD. Outside of The Escapist, Chris covers news and more for GameSpew. He's also been published at such sites as VG247, Space, and more. His tastes run to horror, the post-apocalyptic, and beyond, though he'll tackle most things that aren't exclusively sports-based. At Escapist, he's covered such games as Infinite Craft, Lies of P, Starfield, and numerous other major titles.