After several years in Early Access, Baldur’s Gate 3 launches for PC on August 3rd and is coming soon. The game looks like a true next-gen PC RPG, combining the classic turn-based gameplay that Larian Studios is known for with stunning visuals never seen before in an isometric CRPG.
It’s been a while since the game was released as early access, so we have a pretty good idea of how it will perform. the way Divinity: Better than Original Sin 2, but the system requirements are actually less demanding. Instead, it will be a game that aims to scale from low-end hardware to the best graphics cards on the market today.
Baldur’s Gate 3 system requirements
Baldur’s Gate 3 has so far had official system requirements for both Windows and Mac. The minimum requirements are quite reasonable, requiring only an Nvidia GTX 970 (an 8 year old graphics card) and an Intel Core i5-4690. Both were mid-range products nearly a decade ago. That means all kinds of budget gaming PCs can easily play games.
The only reason you can’t play the game on older budget builds is the heavy SSD requirements. But with the best of his SSDs getting cheaper by the day, getting an affordable drive for your PC shouldn’t be too difficult.
The recommended specs are a little more stringent, but those requirements are settling for 2023 as well. Larian recommends his Nvidia RTX 2060 Super or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT for graphics and the Intel 8700K for CPU. Both parts have been around for a while, and current-generation equivalents are very cheap. For example, the Intel Core i5-13600K gives you almost the same CPU performance, and the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti gives you the same GPU performance.
Baldur’s Gate 3 will run on even the best MacBooks, but you’ll need quite a machine to handle it. The developer recommends at least MacBook Pro 15 (2016) with AMD Radeon 460 – These are the minimum specs. If you want to run with the recommended specs, you’ll want to consider either a MacBook Pro 16 (2019) or a MacBook with an M1 and 16GB RAM.
Best PC for Baldur’s Gate 3
I’ve been playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC since it launched in early access in 2020, and the recommended system requirements are perfect if you’re playing at 1080p. However, all of these parts are discontinued at this time, so in 2023 they will need performance on par with what’s on store shelves.
The closest graphics card to the RTX 2060 Super at the moment is the Nvidia RTX 3060. That graphics card has been replaced by the RTX 4060 and is on the way to launch, so it’s available like this for pretty cheap now. $289 version from Amazon’s MSI.Probably the best 1080p graphics card for Baldur’s Gate if you want to go Team Red AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, a little cheaper at $279.
If you want to step up to 1440p, you’ll need a little more graphics horsepower. We recommend using Nvidia RTX 3070 (if still in stock). Failing that, you should get roughly the same performance. RTX4060Ti.
However, if you want to play Baldur’s Gate 3 on your best gaming laptop, a good rule of thumb is to move up one tier for comparable performance. Therefore, a gaming laptop with Nvidia RTX 4070 will perform similarly to RTX 4060. So if you want to play Baldur’s Gate 3 on the go, you’ll need: at least Nvidia RTX 3070 or RTX 4070.
As for the CPU, Larian Studios recommends at least the Intel Core i7-8700K, but they don’t sell it anywhere. FYI though, this he was a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a 4.7 GHz turbo boost. The best way to get similar performance is actually with Team Red. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Only about $160 will come back These days, it’s a 6-core, 12-thread processor, just like the old Intel chips.
To complete your build, you’ll need an AMD B550 or X570 motherboard, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and at least a 256 GB SSD. The game only requires 150 GB of storage space, but Windows 11 will require some more as well.
A suitable power supply is also required. Luckily, the components in this build aren’t particularly power hungry, so you don’t have to fuss too much here. A robust 700 W power supply should be enough to handle all that has been said so far. Look for one that supports PCIe 5.0, as the latest Nvidia graphics card he most likely has a 12VHPWR connector.
To save you a little time, below we’ve gathered links to all the parts to build a perfect Baldur’s Gate 3 PC build in 1080p or 1440p.
Need to play Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC?
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the first game designed for PC, even though the PS5 will be released a month later. If you have hardware that can be set to at least maximum settings, it might not only look better on your PC, but also have better keyboard and mouse control. In fact, the game is playable with a controller, but Larian Studios hasn’t added controller support to his PC Early Access, with a worldwide launch just a few weeks away.
Not only was the game built for PC first, but it actually released earlier on PC, on PS5 on August 3rd instead of September 6th. Running the game on his gaming PC would allow him to quickly start this massive RPG in a month.
