Now before we get into the nitty-gritty, a point of order: as of yet Rockstar has not actually confirmed that a PC version is releasing for GTA 6. The only date on paper is May 26, 2026 for PS5/Xbox Series X|S — but you don’t need a crystal ball to assemble a PC ready for a sprawling city-scale open world. It’s the same pressure points that recent Rockstar ports (coughRed Dead Redemption 2cough), and modern AAA trends in general, have been triggering: CPU threads for crowds/traffic, fast storage for streaming, and plenty of VRAM for high-res textures/weather. So the purpose here isn’t prophecy; it’s the equivalent of a “buy now, no regrets later” strategy.
TL;DR picks (you really don’t need to read anything else — what to buy today without much thought)
1080p/60 High: Ryzen 5 7600 or Core i5-13600K, RTX 4070 12GB or RX 7800 XT 16GB,32GB DDR5,1TB Gen4 NVMe.
1440p/60 Ultra: Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Core i7-13700K/14700K, RTX 4070 SUPER or RX 7900 XT, 32GB DDR5, 1TB–2TB Gen4 NVMe.
4K/60 High–Ultra: 7800X3D or i7-14700K, RTX 4080 SUPER/4090 or RX 7900 XTX, Exciting new generation of GPUs Launching then should crush If you want to future-proof a bit more ?.32–64GB DDR5,2TB Gen4 NVMe.
If you breezed past that and found yourself wondering “what’s with the VRAM bump? open worlds love memory. Cities that are high in detail, rain, reflective surfaces and dense traffic all take little bites of VRAM that simple benchmarks don’t always show.
Why those parts (and why not the more expensive ones)
Rockstar-scale games? CPU scheduling (car/ped AI), IO throughput (seamlessly streaming neighborhoods as you drive) and VRAM for texture + effect headroom. You don’t necessarily need halo parts to mask that. (8 core with strong single thread (3D cache)) keeps the sim running well a mid high end GPU around 12–20GB Vram at 1440p gives you headroom for “ultra” textures without needing to constantly tweak. And, yes, NVMe SSD isn’t an option All but NVMe aren’t really an option anymore SATA or (please no) HDDs will hitch the moment you cross a bridge at speed.
Three buy-now build-ups (w/ justification, not bragging)
1) 1080p/60 Value that lasts
If you lack of a high end CPU (Ryzen 5 7600 or i5-13600K)
GPU: RTX 4070 12GB or RX 7800 XT 16GB
RAM: 32GB of DDR5-6000 (16GB feels, but 32GB ages well).
Storage: 1TB Gen4 NVMe
PSU/Case: 650–750W Gold, airflow-first mid-tower
Why it works: 1080p is generally relatively GPU-light but spike the CPU with open worlds, and these chips keep population-density / density sliders honest. That extra VRAM on the 7800 XT comes in handy when “High” quietly means “very high” textures plus a sticky helping of weather.
2) 1440p / 60 Ultra — best in-between spot
CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D or i7-13700K/14700K
GPU: RTX 4070 SUPER or RX 7900 XT (I like to have at least 20gb of VRAM)
RAM: 32GB DDR5-6000
Storage: 1–2TB Gen4 NVMe
PSU/Case: 750-850W Gold, decent downright air or 240/280 AIO
32 INCH ARC Why it works: Big cities are the place for 1440p to shine. Big cache AMD or high-IPC Intel makes AI and physics not stutter during rush hour; that GPU does Ultra with space for DLSS/FSR in stormy downtowns.
3) 4K / 60 High–Ultra — now bring your big guns
CPU: 7800X3D or i7-14700K (or higher)
GPU: RTX 4080 SUPER/4090 or RX 7900 XTX (16-24GB VRAM)
RAM: 32–64GB DDR5
Storage: 2TB Gen4 NVMe (captures/mods eat space)
PSU/Case: 850–1000W Gold/Platinum, premium airflow
Why it works: Volumetrics, reflections, shadows and high-res crowds can crush weaker cards at 4K. You will forfeit a notch of those “cinema” sliders in exchange for a locked 60 — worth it. Upscalers help; MSAA usually doesn’t.
Settings that tank FPS (or how you are not chasing ghosts)
CPU-biased : Stuff like pops density/count then traffic count, sometimes physics quality. Dropping these a tick will do more to stabilize frametime than murdering shadows.
GPU-lite: Volumetric fog, screen-space/mirror reflections, water physics (or at least really high shadow resolution), MSAA. Choose DLSS/FSR/XeSS before raw AA if you can.
Storage related: the “hitching” while traversing just screams “slow drive”. Keep on NVMe with like 10–15% empty space, do not record to the same SSD.
How many cores are “enough” in 2025?
A floor value for manageably busy open worlds is 8 cores/16 threads. Will a fast 6-core survive? Most of the time, yes until you reach the two dirtiest words in PC gaming: big city. If you’re shopping for new, begin with 8 cores and never look back.
RAM, VRAM and disk — boring, fundamental, forward-looking
RAM: Well, 32GB of DDR5 is the new sane default. That keep Chrome, Discord, capture tools and game from elbowing each other.
VRAM: Target 12GB+ for 1440p, 16–24GB at 4K if you have a hankering for Ultra textures.
Storage: Plan on 1–2TB NVMe. It all adds up shockingly quickly between large installs, photo mode shots, clips and mods.
Smart upgrades if you already have a PC
Still on 16GB RAM? Throw in a dual-channel 16GB kit to match the one you’ve already got.
HDD/SATA SSD? Move your open-worlds to NVMe first, it’s the “felt” upgrade per dollar.
OP has a shitty GPU but by god does he have more than enough cores and threads if you are running off an older 6/8 core cpu (like a 5600x/12400F+). Upgrade your GPU to some RX 7800 XT / RTX 4070 level and ride the wave.
Tiny boot SSD? And on top of that, slap in a second 1-2TB NVMe drive for games/captures to minimize disk thrash.
Manageable expectations (and how to tune without driving yourself up the wall)
Beginning with a Performance preset, where available: Bump the two or three visuals you can actually discern: texture quality, shadow cascades and crowd density. (2) Lock frame with VRR if your screen support it.否则开启V-Sync并设置为精调替掉micro-stutter. Lose motion blur and film grain a notch A clear picture beats a faux fancy when you’re weaving through traffic in the rain.
FAQs (because you’ll ask anyway)
Is GTA 6 on PC confirmed? Not yet. Right now it’s PS5/Xbox only and has a release date of May 26, 2026.
So why build now? Because those parts already squish the current sandbox heavyweights and won’t be aging out by the time a PC port rolls in.
How big will it be? Rockstar PC releases of the past were massive installs- so budget 150GB or more and be prepared for it to likely exceed that.
Will my 6-core run it? Maybe, but count on some hard scenes to chew. If you are going to upgrade one thing for stability, make that be CPU depending on if you have an 8-core already or just an NVMe if your already on 8 core.