A month ago the requirements of Returnal for PC were published, a long awaited game which was initially released as a temporary PS5 exclusive. At that time we were only able to find out the minimum and recommended requirements, a range that today Sony has expanded with five different levels:
- Minimum requirements to move the game in 720p and 60 FPS with low quality.
- Average requirements to move Returnal in 1080p with 60 FPS and medium quality.
- Recommended requirements that will allow us to configure it in 1080p and 60 FPS with high quality.
- Epic requirements to play in 4K with “epic” quality and 60 FPS.
- Requirements to play with ray tracing, maximum quality and 4K while maintaining 60 FPS.
Returnal’s requirements are quite high, even at the minimum level. We could say that this is somewhat understandable because it is a game that starts from the technical base of PS5, whose hardware is much superior to that of PS4, but the truth is that even with that in mind it is obvious that the requirements are inflated. And if you wish to get more fun out of this game, you better buy a Returnal account and have fun.
PS5 version renders at native 1080p, a resolution that is temporally upsampled to get to 1440p, and then checkerboarded to get to 4K. This means that we are actually dealing with a title that renders in 1080p, and this is noticeable in the final graphic finish, as DigitalFoundry indicated in its technical analysis.
One of the big claims for Returnal was the use of ray-traced accelerated lighting, but this was something that caused a lot of confusion. In PS5 said technology has no real impact on the graphical quality of Returnaland the game developer itself confirmed that they only used it to “improve performance.”
Returnal Requirements on PC
The minimum requirements They are almost at the level of what had been the recommended requirements in ports of the previous generation of consoles in games that are not very demanding:
- Windows 10 64-bit.
- Intel Core i5-6400 or Ryzen 5 1500X processor. There is an equivalence error, the correct one would be a Ryzen 3 2300X.
- 16GB of RAM.
- Graphics card GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB or Radeon RX 580 with 8 GB.
- 60 GB of free space.
- SSD recommended.
- Configuration and performance: 720p and 60 FPS with low quality.
jumping to the medium requirements we see a significant jump at the CPU and GPU level, although it is not crazy since the GTX 1070 has been on the market for more than six years:
- Windows 10 64-bit.
- Intel Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 2600 processor. The most accurate equivalence would be a Ryzen 5 3500.
- 16GB of RAM.
- Graphics card GeForce GTX 1070 with 8 GB or Radeon RX 5600 XT with 6 GB. There is another equivalence error, the closest would be a Radeon RX Vega 56.
- 60 GB of free space.
- SSD recommended.
- Configuration and performance: 1080p and 60 FPS with medium quality.
In the recommended requirements We already get into more advanced generations of graphics cards, and there is a big leap:
- Windows 10 64-bit.
- Intel Core i7-8700 or Ryzen 7 2700X processor. We have another equivalence error, the closest would be a Ryzen 5 3600.
- 16GB of RAM.
- 8GB GeForce RTX 2070 Super or 12GB Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card. Another mismatch, as the Radeon RX 6600 XT is the closest match to the GeForce RTX 2070 Super.
- 60 GB of free space.
- SSD recommended.
- Configuration and performance: 1080p and 60 FPS with high quality.
The higher requirements They allow us to enjoy the game in all its splendor, but they are very high as we will see below:
- Windows 10 64-bit.
- Intel Core i7-9700K or Ryzen 7 3700X processor.
- 32GB of RAM.
- 10 GB GeForce RTX 3080 or 16 GB Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card.
- 60 GB of free space.
- SSD recommended.
- Configuration and performance: 4K and 60 FPS with maximum quality.
Finally we have the ray tracing requirements which require a very powerful PC:
- Windows 10 64-bit.
- Intel Core i9-11900K or Ryzen 9 5900X processor. Another equivalency error, the closest would be a Ryzen 7 5800X.
- 32GB of RAM.
- 12GB GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or 16GB Radeon RX 6950 XT graphics card.
- 60 GB of free space.
- SSD recommended.
- Configuration and performance: 4K and 60 FPS with maximum quality with ray tracing.
If we meet the Returnal requirements but we are a bit tight and we want to improve the fluidity, we can do it by activating the DLSS or FSR technologies, which will be integrated into the PC version. The game will be available from February 15.
