Gears of War: E-Day arrived on 6 October, on PC and Xbox only (there's no PlayStation version), and it's on Game Pass Ultimate from day one. Will your PC cope? Probably. The listed requirements are gentler than most big releases. The catch is a number that has nothing to do with your graphics card.
What the Steam page asks for
These are the figures TechSpot quoted from the Steam listing, and Insider Gaming reported the same. Neither source gives resolution or frame rate targets, so don't read "recommended" as a promise of 60fps at any particular setting.
| Minimum CPU | Ryzen 5 2600X, Core i7-6850K or Core i5-10400 |
| Minimum GPU | RTX 2060, RTX 5050, RX 6600, RX 9060 or Arc A580 |
| Minimum RAM | 12GB |
| Recommended CPU | Ryzen 5 5600 or Core i5-11600K |
| Recommended GPU | RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 5060, RX 6700 XT, RX 9060 XT or Arc B580 |
| Recommended RAM | 16GB |
| Storage | 130GB, SSD required (both tiers) |
| Operating system | Windows 10 22H2 minimum, Windows 11 25H2 recommended |
The 130GB problem
This is where most people will get caught. A 500GB drive that already holds Windows and a few other games has no room for a 130GB install, and the game won't run from a hard drive at all. If you're in that spot, the cheapest fix is often a second SSD rather than a whole new PC. Storage has become one of the dearer parts of a build lately, so it's worth reading how to spec storage sensibly now before you buy.
Graphics: ray tracing isn't optional
The final feature list, reported by GamingOnLinux in September, includes hardware ray-traced lighting, reflections and shadows, DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR "Redstone", optional frame generation and a built-in benchmark. It also says the game is optimised for handhelds such as the Steam Deck and the Xbox Ally devices.
One review is worth reading with a pinch of salt. 91mobiles tested on a laptop with an RTX 5070 Ti, 12GB of VRAM and a Core Ultra 9 275HX. With DLSS on Quality and 4x frame generation at 2560×1600, they saw roughly 128fps in the built-in benchmark and about 140fps in-game. VRAM peaked around 7.5GB, they found the game fairly heavy on the CPU, and they noticed some shimmering around shadows and reflections. That's one machine, so use it as a rough guide rather than a guarantee. If you're unsure how much memory you need on a card, I've covered 8GB versus 16GB.
You probably need to upgrade if
- Your only drive is a hard disk, or an SSD with less than 130GB free
- Your graphics card is older than an RTX 2060 or RX 6600
- You have 8GB of RAM
You're probably fine if
- You have a Ryzen 5 5600 or i5-11600K class CPU, or better
- You have an RTX 3060 Ti, RX 6700 XT or newer
- You have 16GB of RAM and a spare 130GB on an SSD
A quick check before you hit download
- Free space. Look at your SSD in Windows Settings and clear out old installs first
- Windows version. Windows 10 22H2 is the minimum, but the recommended tier lists Windows 11. See what's happening with Windows 10 if you're still on it
- Pre-load or benchmark. The built-in benchmark is the quickest way to get a straight answer for your own hardware
- Upgrade the weakest part first. It's rarely the whole PC. If prices matter, my take on waiting for Black Friday is worth a read
Summary
E-Day is kinder to older hardware than you might expect, but only if you have the space, a ray-tracing-capable GPU and enough RAM. Check your free SSD space first, then your graphics card and memory. Upgrade only the part that is actually holding you back.
