Can I Run Cyberpunk 2077 on My Pc? Requirements, FPS Expectations and Upgrade Tips

Cyberpunk 2077 launched in 2020 in a rough state, but years of patches, a major expansion, and plenty of under-the-hood rework have turned it into one of the best-looking games on PC. It’s also one of the hungriest. Ask any hardware reviewer which game they load up when a new graphics card arrives, and there’s a good chance Night City gets a mention.

So if you’re wondering whether your own machine can handle it, that’s a fair question. The good news is that you don’t need a monster rig just to play. Here’s how to check your PC, what frame rates to expect, and which upgrades are actually worth your money.

The official system requirements

CD Projekt RED lists two main tiers. The minimum spec is meant for 1080p at low settings, with an average of around 30 FPS:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
• RAM: 12GB
• Graphics card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, AMD RX 580 8GB or Intel Arc A380
• Storage: 70GB on an SSD

The recommended spec targets 1080p with high settings at a smoother 60 FPS:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 or AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• RAM: 16GB
• Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super, AMD RX 5700 XT or Intel Arc A770
• Storage: 70GB on an SSD

One detail people often miss is that the game asks for an SSD, not just free space on a hard drive. We’ll come back to why that matters.

If your PC was built in the last five years or so, there’s a good chance you’re already past the minimum line. The recommended tier is a bit more demanding, and the very top end, which calls for something like an RTX 4080, is a different story altogether.

How to check your specs in under a minute

You don’t need extra software to see what’s inside your PC. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, then click the Performance tab. You’ll see your CPU model, how much memory is installed, and your graphics card listed on the left.

For a fuller picture, press the Windows key + R, type “dxdiag,” and hit Enter. It shows your processor, RAM, and graphics details in one place. To check storage, open Settings, go to System, then Storage. Back in Task Manager, the Disk entry tells you whether a drive is an SSD or an HDD.

Write down your CPU, GPU, RAM, and drive type, then compare them with the tables above.

What FPS can you realistically expect?

Meeting the requirements tells you the game will run. It doesn’t tell you how it’ll feel. Frame rates depend on your CPU, your settings, whether you use upscaling, and how heavily you lean on ray tracing. Treat the numbers below as ballpark figures, not promises.

• Entry-level PCs (GTX 1060 or RX 580 class). Expect 1080p at low settings, with frame rates mostly in the 30s and sometimes pushing into the 40s. It’s playable, and the story still lands, but you’ll want to keep ray tracing off.
• Mid-range PCs (RTX 2070 Super or RX 5700 XT class). This is the sweet spot for 1080p with high settings, usually landing around 60 FPS. Drop to medium and turn on upscaling, and you can try 1440p without too much pain.
• High-end PCs (RTX 4070 class and above). Here, 1440p at high or ultra settings becomes comfortable, and you can start enabling ray tracing with upscaling to keep frame rates healthy.
• Top-tier PCs (RTX 4080 class, RTX 50-series, latest AMD cards). This is where 4K with heavy ray tracing becomes realistic, especially with upscaling and frame generation switched on.

The settings that make the biggest difference

Cyberpunk gives you a lot of sliders, but a handful do most of the work.

• Upscaling is the easiest win. DLSS on NVIDIA cards, FSR on AMD, and XeSS on Intel render the game at a lower resolution and sharpen it back up. On quality modes, the picture still looks great, and the FPS gain can be huge.
• Ray tracing is the biggest performance hit. It looks stunning in a city full of neon and rain, but on weaker hardware it can cut your frame rate dramatically. If your FPS is struggling, turn it off before touching anything else.
• Texture quality depends mostly on your graphics card’s video memory. If you see stutters or blurry textures popping in, lower it a notch.
• Crowd density is one for the CPU. Busy streets look great, but they can slow down older processors, so try a lower setting if you get dips in crowded areas.

RAM and storage matter more than you’d think

Most people focus on the graphics card, but Cyberpunk is a big open world that constantly streams in new areas, textures and characters. That puts real pressure on your memory and drive.

The game lists 12GB of RAM as the minimum, but 16GB is a much more comfortable starting point, and 32GB gives you breathing room if you keep a browser, Discord or streaming software open while you play. Running memory in dual-channel mode (two sticks instead of one) also helps, particularly on newer processors.

As for storage, playing on a hard drive is asking for trouble. You’ll likely notice slow loading, stutters when you drive through the city, and textures arriving late. An SSD fixes most of that, and since the game needs about 70GB, it’s worth giving it a fast drive of its own.

Use the built-in benchmark

If you want to know how well your PC runs the game, the quickest way is to ask the game itself. Cyberpunk has a built-in benchmark tucked into the graphics settings. Pick the settings you want, run it, and it plays through a short scene before showing your average frame rate.

Each run takes less than a minute, so it’s easy to test a few different setups back to back. If your FPS is higher than you need, raise some settings. If it’s too low, turn on upscaling or lower a few options and test again. For more on how to read the results, this Cyberpunk 2077 system requirements and benchmark guide walks through both tiers and the benchmark step by step.

Which upgrade should you make first?

If your PC falls short, resist the urge to replace everything at once. In most cases, here’s the order that makes the most sense:

1. Graphics card. It has the biggest impact on how Cyberpunk looks and runs, so it’s usually the first upgrade to consider.
2. RAM. If you’re on 8GB, moving to 16GB or 32GB is affordable and noticeably helpful.
3. SSD. If the game is on a hard drive, moving it to an SSD cuts loading times and stutter.
4. CPU. Upgrade this last, unless your processor is clearly holding back a newer graphics card.

It’s tempting to hunt for second-hand bargains, but it can be hard to know how a used part has been treated, so buy carefully.

Final thoughts

So, can you run Cyberpunk 2077? Almost certainly, as long as you’ve got a reasonably modern PC. The real question is how good you want it to look and how smooth you want it to feel. Check your specs, compare them with the requirements, run the benchmark and adjust from there.