The best GPUs to play Honkai Star Rail: Should you upgrade?

❘ Published: 2023-04-26T10:23:40

Honkai Star Rail art with a graphics card

Hoyoverse / AMD

Looking for the best GPU to play Honkai Star Rail? We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know about the graphical might of Hoyoverse’s next game right here.

Honkai Star Rail is the latest title from the developers of Genshin Impact, HoYoverse. With its gorgeous anime-esque visuals and full of banner characters to attain, it’s an attractive title for anyone wanting a beautifully designed anime romp.

The game was released on both mobile and PC, so for those wanting that big-screen experience, should you grab a new graphics card, like the pricey RTX 40-series to play the game? To answer that question, we first need to take a look at the system requirements of the game. You can also take a look at its mobile requirements on our dedicated page.

Honkai Star Rail minimum PC specs

Processor: Intel® Core™ i3
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 or better
Storage: 20 GB available space

Honkai Star Rail recommended PC specs

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or better
Storage: 20 GB available space

The best GPU for Honkai Star Rail: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

Buy the Nvidia RTX 3060 (Amazon)

Buy the Nvidia RTX 3060 (Best Buy)

CUDA Cores: 3584
VRAM: 12 GB GDDR6
Memory Interface: 192-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 360 GB/s
Base Clock Speed: 1320 MHz
Boost Clock Speed: 1780 MHz
TDP: 170W
Recommended PSU: 550W
MSRP: $329

The Nvidia RTX 3060 is the most popular modern graphics card, and it’s because it packs so much power at an affordable MSRP of just $329 for its Founders Edition models. It also happens to handily clear the “recommended” bar of being able to run Honkai Star Rail smoothly. With all of the graphics power underneath its hood, you’ll easily clear the hard 60FPS limit of the title at 1080p and 1440p, and even manage to run the game at 4K.

You won’t need a fancy new RTX 40-series GPU to run the game, as it really doesn’t need all that much power in order to run, simply because of that 60FPS limitation.

The best budget GPU for Honkai Star Rail: AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT

Buy the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (Amazon)

Buy the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (Best Buy)

Stream Processors: 1024
VRAM: 4GB GDDR6
Memory Interface: 64-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 143.9 GB/s
Base Clock Speed: 2310 MHz
Boost Clock Speed: 2815 MHz
TDP: 107W
Recommended PSU: 300W
MSRP: $199

When it comes to getting a budget GPU, if your PC does not meet the requirements for Honkai Star Rail, you should be able to absolutely sail through the game at full HD at 60FPS with the AMD RX 6500 XT. Though it’s indeed a low-powered GPU, it’s an absolute steal if you can only afford a couple of hundred dollars.

While its specifications are not earth-shattering, it also won’t break the bank, too. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is an ideal entry-level graphics card for those who are looking to boost the graphical power of their PC, which might not be built for gaming, or house a dedicated graphics card. However, it may struggle to run other modern titles such as Cyberpunk 2077. With this in mind, it would still fit the bill as a cheap GPU for Honkai Star Rail.

Best premium GPU for Honkai Star Rail: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

RTX 4070 founders edition on white background

Buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 (Amazon)

Buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 (Best Buy)

CUDA Cores: 5888
VRAM: 12 GB GDDR6X
Memory Interface: 192-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 504 GB/s
Base Clock Speed: 1920 MHz
Boost Clock Speed: 3475 MHz
TDP: 200W
Recommended PSU: 550W
MSRP: $599

If you are looking for a higher-end gaming option that will breeze through Honkai Star Rail at 4K at a stable 60FPS, look no further than the Nvidia RTX 4070. Its powerful architecture in tandem with its ray tracing capabilities makes it one of the fastest graphics cards around if you can stomach the $599 MSRP.

It’s ideal for someone who wants to upgrade their older graphics card, such as an RTX 10 or 20 series GPU, and bring it up to modern standards. While Honkai Star Rail doesn’t really require this much horsepower, it’s an ideal GPU for someone looking to upgrade to something that will likely last them for years when gaming at 1080p or 1440p resolutions. It will even manage to run the speedy Overdrive Mode for Cyberpunk 2077, too.

Should I upgrade my graphics card to play Honkai Star Rail?

Honestly speaking, you might not need to upgrade your GPU in order to run the game. Since it’s seemingly an incredibly scalable title, older graphics cards will be able to run the game just fine. However, if you cannot run the game at all, then we recommend picking up a modern entry-level graphics card.

For someone looking to build a new gaming PC, then you should aim higher, with modern parts such as an Intel or AMD current-generation CPU, alongside an RTX 40-series GPU that you can afford. Then, you’ll be able to run Honkai Star Rail and much more at blazing-fast framerates, depending on your resolution.

Is it a good time to upgrade my GPU for Honkai Star Rail?

If you are running an older graphics card from before 2016, then 2023 might offer one of the best ranges and bang-for-buck graphics cards around right now. The RTX 3060 we recommended above will manage to run almost every AAA game you throw at it at 1080p and 1440p at playable framerates. While, if you have more cash to splash, then you can opt for an RTX 4070 or higher-end GPU, with access to groundbreaking new tech like DLSS 3.

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