Cyberpunk 2077 System Requirements: Minimum, Recommended, Ray Tracing & Storage (2026)

Cyberpunk 2077 needs at least a Core i7-6700 or Ryzen 5 1600 CPU, a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580 8GB GPU, 12GB of RAM, and 70GB of SSD storage to hit 1080p/30 FPS on Low settings — but the official Cyberpunk 2077 system requirements actually span five tiers, from bare minimum up to 4K Ray Tracing: Overdrive (path tracing) on an RTX 4080. Below is exactly what CD Projekt Red specifies for every tier as of the Update 2.0 / Phantom Liberty patch, what ray tracing and path tracing really cost in hardware, how much storage to set aside, and how to get a genuine copy of the game without overpaying.

Cyberpunk 2077 System Requirements: Minimum vs Recommended

These are CD Projekt Red’s official published specs, updated after the Update 2.0 overhaul that shipped alongside Phantom Liberty. All tiers assume 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 and DirectX 12.

Two things jump out compared with most 2020-era games: the minimum RAM is 12GB, not 8GB, and an SSD isn’t optional at any tier — Night City streams assets constantly, and a mechanical hard drive will cause severe stuttering and pop-in regardless of your CPU or GPU.

Ray Tracing and Path Tracing (Ray Tracing: Overdrive) Requirements

Cyberpunk 2077 has three additional tiers once you turn ray tracing on, and a fourth for full path tracing via Ray Tracing: Overdrive mode. Expect a real jump in GPU and VRAM needs the moment reflections and global illumination move from rasterized to ray-traced.

Ray Tracing: Overdrive is CD Projekt Red’s full path-traced lighting mode — it simulates light bounces instead of faking them, which is why the official benchmark for 60 FPS at 4K relies on an RTX 4080 with DLSS Frame Generation switched on, not native rendering. Older RTX 20/30-series cards can technically enable Overdrive mode, but expect framerates well below 60 FPS without upscaling. AMD and Intel GPUs support the standard ray-traced tiers but are not part of CDPR’s official Overdrive benchmark configuration.

How Much Storage Does Cyberpunk 2077 Need?

The base game officially requires 70GB of SSD space. Once you add the Phantom Liberty expansion and the patches released since its launch, real-world installs typically land closer to 90–100GB combined — so budget at least 100GB free if you’re installing everything. Two storage rules matter more than the exact gigabyte count:

• SSD is a hard requirement, not a suggestion. Since Update 2.0, CD Projekt Red no longer lists HDD support — the open-world streaming system needs SSD read speeds to avoid texture pop-in and traffic/NPC stutter.
• NVMe is recommended for the Ultra and Ray Tracing: Overdrive tiers, where 4K asset streaming and path-traced lighting put extra load on storage bandwidth during fast travel and vehicle sequences.

Performance Guidance: 1080p, 1440p and 4K

The official tiers only cover 1080p and 4K directly, but here’s how they translate in practice for the resolutions most PC players actually use:

• 1080p, no ray tracing: the Recommended tier (RTX 2060 Super / RX 5700 XT class) comfortably holds 60 FPS on High.
• 1440p, no ray tracing: aim for an RTX 3070 / RX 6800-class GPU or better; anything at the Recommended tier will need Medium-High settings and DLSS/FSR Quality mode to stay near 60 FPS.
• 1440p or 4K with ray tracing: an RTX 4070-class card and above is the realistic starting point; below that, lean on DLSS/FSR Balanced or Performance mode.
• 4K with Ray Tracing: Overdrive (path tracing): this is RTX 4080/4090 territory with DLSS Frame Generation enabled — it is not designed to run natively at 4K on anything less.

CPU choice matters more in Cyberpunk 2077 than in most open-world games because of Night City’s crowd and traffic density. If your framerate dips specifically in busy downtown areas rather than during combat, lowering crowd density and local shadow mesh quality before touching your GPU settings is usually the fastest fix, and it costs far less visual quality than dropping ray tracing entirely.

Phantom Liberty: Does the Expansion Need a Better PC?

No — since the Update 2.0 overhaul, Phantom Liberty runs on the exact same system requirement tiers as the base game. There’s no separate, higher expansion-only spec sheet — CD Projekt Red confirmed the unified requirements in its official system requirements update. You do need the base Cyberpunk 2077 game to play it, plus the extra storage space noted above for the DLC’s own files and the patches bundled with it.

Where to Buy Cyberpunk 2077 for PC

Cyberpunk 2077 is a Steam-activated title (see the official Steam store page for the current listing), so once your PC clears the tiers above, all you need is a genuine key. NDWS Market sells official Cyberpunk 2077 Steam keys at a lower price than buying direct, with instant email delivery and no waiting for a physical case or regional restrictions. Browse the full video games category for the base game, the Phantom Liberty expansion, and other Steam-key deals, or check the complete NDWS Market shop for software, subscriptions, and gift cards to pair with your new build. If you’re unsure how key delivery and redemption works before you buy, our digital key FAQ covers activation step by step.

FAQ

Can Cyberpunk 2077 run on 8GB of RAM?

Not officially. CD Projekt Red’s minimum requirement is 12GB of system RAM; 8GB will run into stuttering and asset-streaming issues even on Low settings, since the game reserves a chunk of that memory just for background loading.

Do I need an SSD to play Cyberpunk 2077?

Yes. An SSD is required at every official tier, and CD Projekt Red no longer lists HDD support after the Update 2.0 patch. A traditional hard drive will cause severe texture pop-in and traffic/pedestrian stutter regardless of your CPU or GPU.

What GPU do I need for ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077?

An RTX 2060 or RX 6800 XT meets the ray tracing minimum for 1080p at 30 FPS. For a smooth 60 FPS with ray tracing on Ultra, CD Projekt Red recommends an RTX 3080 Ti or RX 7900 XTX. Full path tracing (Ray Tracing: Overdrive) is benchmarked on an RTX 4080 with DLSS Frame Generation.

Is Cyberpunk 2077 more CPU-intensive or GPU-intensive?

It’s GPU-heavy overall, especially with ray tracing enabled, but the CPU matters more than usual in dense downtown areas because of NPC and traffic simulation. A weak CPU paired with a strong GPU will still bottleneck framerates in crowded districts.

Does Phantom Liberty require higher system requirements than the base game?

No. Since the Update 2.0 overhaul, Phantom Liberty uses the identical minimum, recommended, and ray tracing tiers as the base game — you just need extra free storage for the expansion’s files.

Can I play Cyberpunk 2077 without ray tracing?

Yes, ray tracing is optional. The standard Minimum, Recommended, and Ultra tiers all run with ray tracing off, and the game looks and performs well on rasterized lighting — ray tracing is an added visual layer, not a requirement to play.