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Why you’ll probably need to upgrade your PC to play Diablo IV

Monica J. White
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Diablo IV is joining the growing list of games that require copious amounts of RAM. The question is: Are you going to need to upgrade your PC?

Blizzard has just released the system requirements for Diablo IV, and it looks like playing at maximum settings is not going to be easy for most gamers.

Diablo IV poster.
Blizzard Entertainment

Not too long ago, 16GB of RAM was considered to be plenty for gaming purposes. It seems that these days, game devs are slowly pushing that number up to 32GB, making it the new amount to aim for. Diablo IV serves to prove that theory.

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In all fairness, the much-anticipated new entry in the Diablo franchise is going to support a wide range of specifications. Even if your PC was not made to handle the most demanding AAA games out right now, you can play the new Diablo — you’ll just have to compromise on the settings by quite a lot.

To run the game at low graphics settings, at 1080p native resolution, and hit 30 frames per second (fps), all that’s needed is an Intel Core i5-2500K or an AMD FX-8350 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GTX 660 or an AMD Radeon R9 280. Even with such outdated components, you’re still expected to have an SSD with at least 90GB of storage space.

The RAM requirement jumps to 16GB if you want to play on medium settings. Gaming on high also calls for 16GB, alongside some much newer hardware. However, if you want to see Diablo IV in all of its glory, you’re going to need loads of RAM and one of the best graphics cards currently available.

In order to run Diablo IV at 4K and with ultra graphics settings and still hit 60 fps, you need at least an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU, a whopping 32GB of RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 3080 or AMD RX 6800 XT. To maximize your experience, Blizzard recommends an RTX 40-series graphics card for fully supported DLSS 3.

Diablo IV characters stand in a cathedral.
Activision Blizzard

Of course, you can comfortably play without 32GB of RAM, but the growing list of games that require it marks a clear trend. Seemingly started by Returnal, this trend is likely to stick around, and soon enough, many people will have to make the choice. Buying 32GB of RAM can get pretty expensive, especially if you switch up to DDR5. Fortunately, DDR5 prices are slowly dropping to a more normal level, and should continue to normalize as it becomes the main supported type of memory.

Whether your PC is ready for it or not, you can soon test out Diablo IV and see it for yourself. Blizzard has also announced a “Server Slam” event, which is essentially an open beta weekend, taking place between May 12 and May 14. The final release date of the game was set to June 6, so you still have some time to top up on RAM if you need to.

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Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
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