Genshin Impact is quite optimized to run on your low specced laptop or PC, as it can even run on mobile devices. The cost of playing Genshin Impact on a potato Laptop/ PC is paid in terms of quality and framerate loss.
Developed by miHoYo, Genshin Impact offers a massive JRPG experience, which, for the most part, feels inspired by Zelda: BotW. Players should be aware that this is not an MMO by any means, and the game mechanisms validate that too.
The central talking point about Genshin Impact was how the game could run on both PC and mobile devices. The game might even be able to run on your five-year-old hardware with zero configurations just out of the box.
Genshin Impact is made with optimizations in mind; it can run on your old low specced hardware given you have a dedicated graphics card to support the game. Even onboard, iGPUs can run the game but will suffer hard.
The performance will depend on your exact hardware. Hence I looked at numerous benchmarks on low spec configuration and how much quality loss exists in real-life performance.
1. Genshin Impact System Requirements
| Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs | |
| OS | Windows 7 SP1 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, or Windows 10 64-bit (Windows 10 dev builds are not currently supported) | Windows 7 SP1 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, or Windows 10 64-bit (Windows 10 dev builds are not currently supported) |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 or equivalent | Intel Core i7 or equivalent |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Graphics | NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 1030 or better | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6GB or better |
| DirectX | 11 | 11 |
| GPU VRam | 2 GB | 6 GB |
| Storage | 30 GB | 30 GB |
The minimum system specs are indeed on the heavier side, but these minimum requirements are meant to provide a smooth gameplay experience.
If you can sacrifice some frames to drop down to 30fps and set some graphical settings to low, you will very well be able to play Genshin Impact on a potato PC.
2. Low Spec Benchmarks For Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact was tested on low spec hardware to see how low one can go in terms of hardware to play the game. The results were benchmarked on client v1.0.0.
I. Intel Systems
- Intel Core i3 4360T Desktop, Intel iGPU HD4600 – 720p, very low = 12-18 FPS (Dual Core, 100% CPU usage)
- Intel Core i7 8550U Mobile, Intel iGPU UHD 620 – 720p, very low = 30 FPS (heavy crashes)
- Intel Core i7 8550U Mobile, nVidia MX150 2GB – 1080p, very low = 45-60 FPS (GeForce 1030 equivalent, drops now and then)
- Intel Core i5 8400 Desktop, Intel iGPU UHD 630 – 720p, very low = 40-50 FPS
- Intel Core i5 8400 Desktop, Intel iGPU UHD 630 – 1080p, very low = 18-24 FPS
- Intel Core i5 8400 Desktop, nVidia GTX 1060 6GB – 1080p, high = 60 FPS
II. AMD Systems, with Dedicated GPU
- AMD Ryzen 3200G Desktop, AMD iGPU Vega 8 – 1080p, very low = 40-60 FPS (close to GeForce 1030)
- AMD Ryzen 3600 Desktop, nVidia GTX 1070 8GB – 1080p, high = 60 FPS
- AMD Ryzen 3600 Desktop, nVidia GTX 1070 8GB – 1440p, high = 45-60 FPS
- AMD Ryzen 3600 Desktop, nVidia GTX 1070 8GB – 2160p, high = 35-60 FPS (in-Fight drops)
- AMD Ryzen 3900X Desktop, nVidia GTX 2070 Super 8GB – 1440p, high = 60 FPS
Hakto performed the above benchmarks over at Genshin News (Source).
Intel’s older onboard GPUs struggled even at very low graphic settings, sure you can turn down the resolution to 360p, but at that point, playing the mobile game would provide higher pixel density.
AMD’s stronger onboard Vega GPU proved to be the way to go if you are not going for a dedicated GPU as it can even handle 1080p at constant 40-60fps. Intel’s newer iGPU could handle the game but was still losing in the resolution category.
3. So, What is The Hard Limit to Run Genshin Impact on Low Specs?
A Dual-Core will be at its limit, even when paired with a dedicated GPU. AMD’s Vega iGPU will be the way to go for onboard Graphics. Nvidia MX150 or 1030 will be the hard limit for dedicated GPUs.
Forget older iGPUs as they will not be able to do even 30fps on 720p; newer iGPUs can get you to 30fps, though (UHD 530 and above).
Quad-Core Laptops or desktops with dedicated GPUs will be able to handle Genshin Impact for sure, even if you have to turn some graphical flags down.
Strapped for hardware, folks can follow the optimization guide to squeeze those last frames out of their hardware.
4. How To Improve Genshin Impact FPS on Potato Hardware?
- Reduce Resolution
The most sure-shot way to increase FPS is to reduce the game’s resolution. If your hardware is considerably sweating even at 720p, reduce the resolution to 640×480, and you will see the bump in framerates right away. At this point, though, it’s better to play the mobile version as that will probably be faster.
- Reduce Graphics Quality
You can not have the best of both worlds, either you can run the game at high quality or run it on potato hardware. So, bump those texture filtering to ‘LOW’ or ‘VERY LOW’ as that will considerably be less taxing on the GPU.
- Change Render Resolution
Changing Render Resolution from the default 1.1 to 0.8 has helped many users to gain framerates, so do that right away as your old specced PC/ Laptop can probably not afford to render those high res textures.
- Force Close’ zfgamebrowser’
In-game ‘gacha’ tabs, once opened, do not close automatically, so they eat up precious computer resources. Head to the task manager and force close “zfgamebrowser” to free up some of these resources and decrease the CPU load.
5. Where to Get Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact is available on PS4, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, and soon, on Nintendo Switch.
6. About Genshin Impact
Developed and published by miHoYo, Genshin Impact is an action-adventure RPG. It allows for both single-player and multiplayer gameplay. Furthermore, the game supports both cross-platform and cross-save features.
Genshin Impact is full of countless magical characters that will come with their own set of unique skills to kill enemies. Since it is an open-world game that one can explore by several movements like walking, swimming, gliding, and climbing.
The game allows enthusiasts to choose the gender of the playable character. In a quest to find your lost sibling, you will stumble upon other playable characters too who will assist you in unveiling the secrets of the gods of this dynamic world.
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