Diablo 4 Requires 16 GB VRAM GPU on PC for Ultra Textures, Digital Foundry

The latest installment in the popular Diablo franchise, Diablo 4, has received praise from both critics and players. Activision Blizzard has also announced that the game has achieved remarkable commercial success, with sales reaching an astounding $666 million within just five days of its launch. The game’s availability on multiple platforms has undoubtedly contributed to its widespread popularity.

To ensure the best gaming experience on PCs, Digital Foundry has conducted an in-depth analysis of Diablo 4’s optimal settings and hardware requirements, as is customary with every new game release. Don Allen from Digital Foundry tested the game on three different PC configurations and in-game settings and compared its performance across them as well as with the PlayStation 5.

Interestingly, some of the system requirements were found to be inaccurate, such as the suggestion that 32GB of system RAM is required for ultra textures when 16GB is actually sufficient.

When the game was tested on a high-end system featuring a Core i7 13700K and an RTX 4080 graphics card, it achieved over 100 FPS at native 4K resolution, surpassing 200 FPS with DLSS enabled. While DLSS 3 frame generation has the potential for higher performance, it can paradoxically impact frame rates. DLSS 3 does, however, prove beneficial when paired with DLAA (Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing).

Performance-wise, Diablo 4 impresses across a wide range of PC hardware configurations. On an optimized settings setup, even an 11-year-old CPU Core i7 3770K paired with a seven-year-old GPU 6GB GTX 1060 can consistently deliver a locked 1080p resolution at 60 FPS.

Although 4K and 1440p resolutions are challenging, a solid gaming experience can be attained at 1080p with minimal sacrifices. Blizzard’s history of crafting games to run well on various hardware setups is evident in Diablo 4’s performance. 

However, a GPU with 16GB of VRAM is necessary for smooth gameplay with ultra textures in order to match the visuals of the game on PlayStation 5, as lower VRAM capacities can cause severe stuttering. Moreover, the high texture setting suffers from noticeable visual degradation.

Comparisons with medium and low texture quality reveal poor image quality. The necessity of a 16GB GPU for ultra textures raises questions about the viability of a 12GB alternative. Adjusting textures to high and enabling DLSS seems to be the only reliable way to eliminate stuttering on an 8GB graphics card.

What are your thoughts about this? Do you think 16 GB of VRAM is too much for ultra textures, considering that the game doesn’t even occupy anywhere close to the recommended 32 GB of system RAM at the same settings? Let’s discuss this in the comments section below.