Elden Ring
FromSoftware’s open-world epic is capped at 60 FPS, which makes it surprisingly affordable to run well. A used GTX 1070 or RTX 3060 hits the cap at 1080p — no high-end hardware required.
Elden Ring (and its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion) is FromSoftware’s open-world action RPG. Its engine hard-caps frame rate at 60 FPS, so there’s no benefit to buying a monster GPU for it — the goal is a stable, locked 60 with no traversal stutter. The game’s known micro-stutters are largely CPU and shader-compilation related, which is why an SSD, a modern 6-core CPU, and updated drivers matter as much as the graphics card.
Genre: Action RPG / Soulslike | Developer: FromSoftware | Platform: PC, Console
- CPU: i5/Ryzen 5 quad-core minimum, 6-core recommended to smooth out open-world stutter.
- RAM: 12 GB official minimum — in practice, 16 GB.
- GPU: GTX 1060 3GB scrapes minimum; GTX 1070 / RTX 3060 locks 60 FPS at 1080p high-max.
- Storage: SSD strongly recommended — reduces traversal stutter and death-to-retry loading.
Why does Elden Ring stutter even on good PCs?
The engine compiles shaders and streams assets as you explore, causing brief hitches. An SSD, a modern CPU, and up-to-date GPU drivers minimise it — buying a bigger graphics card does not.
Do I need an RTX card for Elden Ring?
No. Elden Ring’s ray tracing option is subtle and costly; most players leave it off. A used GTX 1070 or RX 5700 delivers the full 60 FPS experience — one of the best value AAA targets on the used market.
Our mid-tier used desktops hit Elden Ring’s 60 FPS cap at 1080p — see the full guide for exact GPU-to-FPS mapping.
