Minecraft is a well-known game with sandbox-style gameplay that offers players a plethora of in-game tasks and an open world to explore. If you’re looking to get a computer to play Minecraft, you might be wondering whether the game is more GPU or CPU intensive.
Minecraft uses far more CPU power than GPU power and requires a high-end CPU to run efficiently. As a result, you could even use a low-end GPU to play Minecraft. However, if you’re using shaders mods or texture packs, you’ll also require a powerful GPU.
Minecraft is coded in Java and runs on your computer’s CPU. So, to run Minecraft flawlessly, you’ll need a powerful CPU. This article will break down the requirements for running Minecraft and highlight ways to optimize your gaming experience.
Minecraft System Requirements
Here are the system requirements for Minecraft. These requirements will help you determine the hardware you need to run this game.
Minimum System Requirements:
- RAM: 2 GB
- GPU (Discrete): AMD Radeon HD 7000 | Nvidia GeForce 400 Series
- GPU (Integrated): AMD Radeon R5 series | Intel HD Graphics 4000
- CPU: AMD A8-7600 APU 3.1 | Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz
- HDD: Minimum free disk space of 1GB
Recommended System Requirements:
- RAM: 4 GB
- GPU: AMD Radeon Rx 200 Series | Nvidia GeForce 700 Series
- CPU: AMD A10-7800 APU 3.5 GHz | Intel Core i5-4690 3.5 GHz
- HDD: Minimum free disk space of 4GB
Does Minecraft use more CPU or GPU?
A quick glimpse shows that Minecraft does not put too much emphasis on graphics. Minecraft depends more on your computer’s CPU over the GPU than most games. If your system lacks a decent CPU, your gaming experience will suffer.
As a result, even a low-end GPU can run Minecraft smoothly. However, if you prefer Minecraft’s bedrock edition — an optimized version of Minecraft — you will need more help from your GPU. Hence, if you want to run this version, you won’t enjoy using a low-end GPU.
However, gamers using shaders or other texture packs to improve the game’s graphics will require a more powerful GPU. So, if you intend on playing Minecraft for hours, choose a system with a powerful CPU.
Minecraft CPU Requirements
The CPU is the most important component to consider when getting a PC for Minecraft. Because Minecraft can render a wide range of different objects, you’ll notice significant differences in performance between a low-end CPU and a high-end one.
Nonetheless, Minecraft is still playable on low-cost CPUs, especially when paired with a low-cost discrete GPU. Furthermore, because Minecraft relies heavily on single-core CPU performance, you’ll need a CPU with excellent single-core performance.
Minecraft GPU Requirements
Minecraft isn’t particularly taxing on your graphics card unless you install shader mods. Although a powerful CPU with integrated graphics can easily run Minecraft, we recommend using a separate graphics card. Even a low-cost graphics card can significantly improve performance.
Minecraft RAM Requirements
Minecraft’s minimum RAM requirement is 2 GB of RAM, while the recommended requirement is 4GB. Even though you can run Minecraft with 2GB of RAM, we recommend using a system with 4GB of RAM if you intend to play Minecraft at its highest settings.
Moreover, using a PC with 8 GB of RAM is best because you can dedicate more RAM to the game to get faster load times and better performance. Furthermore, using a dedicated GPU will help relieve some of the load on the CPU.
How to Optimize Gaming Performance in Minecraft
When playing Minecraft’s Java Edition, you may notice a drop in FPS (frames per second) or frame rate. This drop could be due to background applications or your system’s inability to run the game smoothly at your current settings.
Gamers can monitor the game’s frame rate in the debug menu by pressing F3. Moreover, navigating to the options menu and selecting video settings will present options that you can tweak to improve performance. Press the ‘Esc’ key to access it. To optimize Minecraft:
- Reduce the render distance.
- Switch the graphics settings from ‘Fancy’ to ‘Fast.’
- Switch off Smooth Lighting and Clouds.
- Set particles to minimal
- Switch off VSync
- Disable Biome Smoothing
- Disable Mipmaps
- Switch to windowed mode. Similarly, you can switch to full-screen mode by toggling it in-game or clicking ‘F11’.
Conclusion
Even though Minecraft’s graphics appear rudimentary, you’ll need a good GPU if you want to play at maximum settings. However, your CPU has a greater influence on the gaming performance than your GPU. So, if you’re going to build a computer solely for Minecraft, we recommend allocating a larger portion of your budget to acquiring a powerful CPU.
Frequently Asked Questions
Because Minecraft relies on single-core performance, Intel CPUs are generally superior to AMD CPUs.
You can play Minecraft with an integrated GPU. If you want the best gaming performance, you’ll need at least 4 GB of RAM.
If you want to build a powerful computer, you should use an Intel Core i5 or i7 CPU. Moreover, if you’re installing shader mods, you’ll need at least a GTX 1060 or RX 580.
Minecraft’s average frame rate is 45-60 frames per second. It’s still playable at 30-45 frames per second, but the quality isn’t great.
Because Minecraft does not handle multi-threading like some other games, there is no way to make it use your multiple cores more efficiently.
Minecraft could lag because there might be too many plugins running on your Minecraft server. Furthermore, your system might not have enough RAM. Lastly, you could also be running an old Minecraft version run.
