This sandbox game is an absolute classic that a lot of people started playing in their teen years and have continued grinding up through their adult life. Released in 2009, Minecraft is a game that refuses to die. Year after year, the game manages to retain its high player count and is frequently called one of the greatest video games of all time. If you’re new to the world of Minecraft and are wondering whether your PC or your GPU, in particular, can support your Minecraft adventures, you’re at just the right place. Here’s all you need to know about GPU utilization in Minecraft.
Is Minecraft CPU or GPU Dependent?
Unlike most modern AAA titles, Minecraft is more heavily dependent on your CPU. Whether or not you’ll get a stable performance out of your device boils down to your CPU. Most i5, i7, and third-generation AMD CPUs can run Minecraft at a stable 60 fps without a dedicated graphics card. However, if you want optimal performance, you have to go for a GPU.
How Much Does GPU Matter?
Need a simple answer? It doesn’t. As stated earlier, you can practically run Minecraft without a GPU at all. If you do decide to add a GPU, even a weak one will give you a significant FPS boost.
Shader Mods and High Texture Packs
Shader Mods and texture packs are a great way to beef up the ancient graphics of Minecraft. The game is many things, but visually aesthetic is not one of them. If you really want to get the visual feels from your game, you’re going to need Minecraft’s shader mods and high texture packs. They add a fair bit of graphics to the outdated engine of Minecraft. If you’re looking to run these texture packs, you need a high-end GPU. On the Nvidia side, you’ll want something along the lines of a GTX 1060 6GB. Alternatively, you’ll need an AMD RX570 4GB to run these packs smoothly.
Ray Tracing
Ray Tracing is the final cherry on top of the Minecraft cake. If you’re looking for the very best visuals possible for your gaming ventures, you’re going to want to enable ray tracing. It really improves the ambient lighting in the game and makes it look that much more realistic. However, ray tracing will require a pretty hefty GPU. You’ll need an Nvidia RTX 2000 or 3000 series GPU. Ray tracing does also work with high-end Nvidia cards, but since this is a technology that was released by Nvidia, AMD GPUs just don’t cut it. If you need a stable performance with ray tracing, Nvidia is the company to go for.