Is 16GB RAM Obsolete? What are the latest AAA recommended specs required for PC games now [UPDATE]

The eternal problem of PC gamers is when to replace parts. In particular, for those who move around the FPS genre, they should be able to cut down the settings to get a smooth frame rate, and be able to move comfortably even at 1 frame.

In this article, let's take a look at the required specs of the current latest game and review the specs that are likely to be required in the next update.

What specs are required for a AAA-level game?

When it comes to the appearance of the screen, the game genre called FPS requires specs that can be said to be blue ceilings. These days, when considering ray tracing, a powerful video card is also required, and the budget is also extravagant.

"CPU/Memory/GPU (video card)" is especially important for PC specs in games.

The CPU is used not only for physics calculations such as fragments and bullets, but also for connection with the video card. It will be the part that has the most impact on the game, such as high FPS support. If you choose high-spec parts, it's normal to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single unit, and in the high-spec world, it's relatively common to exceed 200,000 for just the CPU and video card.

On the other hand, if you just want to play smoothly, the recommended specs are enough for PC games. For example, the AAA game released in November 2021 is Battlefield 2042.

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, Intel Core i7 4790
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

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The recommended CPU is the Haswell generation CPU released in June 2014, and most of the CPUs currently on the market will meet the recommended specs. Even the cheap "Core i3 10105" with an average price of about 10,000 yen can reach enough in terms of CPU performance, but the possibility of becoming a bottleneck for the video card due to the number of cores cannot be denied. However, looking at the benchmark results published on various sites, I think the cost performance is not that bad.

The problem is the video card. Both of the recommended specs are currently in short supply, but they can't be replaced with lower specs, and they end up being expensive parts. In that respect, if you're going to buy/rebuild your PC to play Battlefield 2042, you'll need higher specs.

But for those of you who want to play a different game than Battlefield 2042, let's take a look at other AAA games. This is "Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War" released in November 2020, which is also the second best of the latest work "BF".

Processor: Intel® Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen R5 1600X processor
Memory: 12 GB RAM
Memory (when using ray tracing): 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 390
Graphics (Ray Tracing/Recommended): RTX 3070

It doesn't require the same specs as "Battlefield 2042", but the CPU itself was released in 2011 and can easily be replaced with most CPUs now. The required specifications for the video card are not so high that most of the current standard video cards can be supported, but if you want the much-talked-about ray tracing, RTX 3070 or higher is essential.

And speaking of ray tracing, take a look at Cyberpunk 2077 and Watch Dogs Legion.

Cyberpunk 2077
Processor: IIntel Core i7-4790 or AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
Memory: 12 GB RAM
RAM (when using Raytre): 16G
Graphics: GTX 780 or Radeon RX 470
Graphics (Ray Tracing/Lowest): RTX 2060

"Watch Dogs Legion"
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
RAM (when using Raytre): 16G
Graphics: GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 970/GeForce GTX 1650
Graphics (ray tracing/lowest): RTX 2060

This is also not so different after watching the previous two. If you want to make the most of ray tracing, the recommended specs may feel a little underpowered, but at the current stage of writing the article, if you have the recommended specs for Battlefield 2042, you can play most current AAA games satisfactorily. It will be possible, but if it is the recommended specs that do not consider ray tracing for the games listed above, BTO can be prepared without much effort.

If you just want to play smoothly, you don't need high specs even at the level of the game listed in this article. Unless you want to play 4k, ultra-high quality, and ray-traced, it shouldn't be a problem.

Even if you build your own video card, inventory is a problem, but I believe that mining demand will settle down after 2022, so if you replace it, it will be around March or April after 2022. Isn't it just the right time?

How many specs do you really need?

I also felt that the PC specs were insufficient when I ran ray tracing in "Idolmaster Starlit Season", so I'm thinking about reviewing the specs. As a goal, we aim to introduce a low-latency high-FPS display and a certain work environment.

However, my PC usage is quite special. In addition to games, we mainly use Adobe applications that specialize in video processing and image processing, so we use a special CPU called Xeon even in the current environment.

For ordinary people, such a CPU is not necessary, but considering the future PC environment (Windows 11), the recommended memory is 16GB for all games, but 32GB is better for multitasking. In the modern environment where it is essential, you can rest assured (I am considering increasing the amount to 128GB next time to stabilize business applications).

If you look at the recommended specs and look to the future, if you prepare a CPU of "Core i7-10700" or higher or equivalent, and a GPU of "RTX3060 Ti" or higher with or without ray tracing, there is no problem with AAA games. I don't think so. If you don't need ray tracing, you can lower the rank to the "GTX1660 SUPER" class, but regardless of the presence or absence of ray tracing, if the video card has a certain level of performance, you can rest assured in the game environment.

Assuming that the PC will be used for a long time, a budget above a certain level should be assumed, and it is not something that can be easily rearranged. Parts are consumables, but if you purchase them with due consideration at the preparation stage, you will be able to use them stably for a long time with the addition of a warranty.

The important thing is what you want to do

Updating the specs required by the OS update means that the base specs will also increase, so not only "Windows 11" but also the specs required for games It's self-evident that it's getting taller.

Since it is still the latest OS, there are quite a lot of unstable parts, so switching OS is not urgent, but eventually the game will not start unless it is "Windows 11". "Halo Infinite", which can be said to be the latest flagship model of Microsoft's game specs, and the basic free-to-play multiplayer came out in November 2021, is currently a heavy game with the same level of recommended specs as "Battlefield 2042". .

But the most important thing is what you want to do. AAA games are not the only games, and when used in business, specs that can withstand business levels are essential. It is a good idea to consider the following PC specs with that in mind.

I wish you all the best in your PC gaming life.

*UPDATE (2021/11/23 21:40): There was an error in the operating environment, so it was corrected and republished. Thank you for pointing out in the comment section.