DICE and EA have released the minimum and recommended PC specifications for their WWI shooter Battlefield 1, and fans of the franchise who have been running a little close to the minimums with the previous installment may want to budget for a system upgrade.
In the three years since Battlefield 4 was released DICE have essentially leap-frogged the PC specs, whereby the old Recommended is essentially the new minimum. In practice this means you'll need an older mid-range GPU from 2013 to hit the minimums - an AMD HD 7870 or NVIDIA GTX 660 for instance - whilst to hit recommended specs a modern mid-range GPU is the order of the day. Even so, for a franchise which has a reputation for stunning visuals that's a pretty modest requirement.
Minimum System Specs:
OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Processor (AMD): AMD FX-6350
Processor (Intel): Core i5 6600K
Memory: 8GB RAM
Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Graphics card (Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
DirectX: 11.0 Compatible video card or equivalent
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
Hard-drive space: 50GB
Recommended System Specs:
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 or later
Processor (AMD): AMD FX 8350 Wraith
Processor (Intel): Intel Core i7 4790 or equivalent
Memory: 16GB RAM
Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
Graphics card (Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
DirectX: 11.1 Compatible video card or equivalent
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
Available Disk Space: 50GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Processor (AMD): AMD FX-6350
Processor (Intel): Core i5 6600K
Memory: 8GB RAM
Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Graphics card (Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
DirectX: 11.0 Compatible video card or equivalent
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
Hard-drive space: 50GB
Recommended System Specs:
OS: 64-bit Windows 10 or later
Processor (AMD): AMD FX 8350 Wraith
Processor (Intel): Intel Core i7 4790 or equivalent
Memory: 16GB RAM
Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
Graphics card (Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
DirectX: 11.1 Compatible video card or equivalent
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
Available Disk Space: 50GB
Assuming in-game performance parity, AMD's RX 480 4GB would be a little better value than the GTX 1060 3GB for Battlefield 1 alone; however you should always ensure that you take a holistic view of performance across all games. Either way you shouldn't be shelling out a small fortune to play the game as DICE intend it to be played.
On the other hand CPU and memory requirements are far more stringent. DICE's minimum is either an AMD six-core APU or Intel Quad-core CPU, the latter of which doesn't come cheap. Predictably the recommended specification ramps up, seeking either an AMD eight-core FX 8350 Wraith or Intel Core i7-4790. This step up is echoed by an memory stipulation increase from 8GB to 16GB RAM. Take as a whole DICE may be indicating that Battlefield 1 is particularly taxing on CPUs and other non-GPU components.
Finally, the 50GB storage space needed for the game should only be a concern if you're running the game from a particularly cramped SSD.
There's currently no indication from DICE that DX12 or Vulkan support is planned. However as the Vulkan-supporting Frostbite Engine will be used on BattleField 1, albeit in 'optimised' form, the latter seems most likely.
Battlefield 1 is due for release on October 21st for PC, XBOX ONE and PS4.
SOURCE: Battlefield.com via Guru3D