Here are all the PC requirements and specs for Forza Horizon 5

If any game is destined to be added to the list of best racing games you can play, it’s Forza Horizon 5. This upcoming open-world racing title from Playground Games aims to improve over its predecessor in every way imaginable, including launching simultaneously on PC through the Microsoft Store and Steam, on top of its obvious Xbox release. Of course, the sheer variety of PC hardware out there means it’s imperative you ensure your PC is up to par to handle everything FH5 throws at it.

Here are the full PC requirements for Forza Horizon 5, how you can check your own PC’s hardware, and your options for nabbing a PC capable of running FH5 at its very best.

Forza Horizon 5 is an open-world racing game developed by Playground Games and Xbox Game Studios, but it’s also more than just a racing game. This long-running series is situated around the mythical Horizon Festival, which sees racers from all over the world congregate in beautiful locations to become the very best. Players are able to accomplish anything they want in Forza Horizon, and FH5 appears to turn the dial up to 11.

Playground has made huge improvements to their latest Forza Horizon iteration, with an extra year of development contributing to Forza Horizon 5’s map being the largest and most diverse ever, while the Forza Horizon 5 car list will feature more cars at launch than any previous entry. With huge strides made in accessibility, diversity, and a ton of player-centric features surrounding customization and choice, Forza Horizon 5 looks to be an excellent addition to the Xbox platform.

Forza Horizon 5 is now available to preorder, and will release on Nov. 9, 2021 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, Xbox Game Pass for consoles and PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

What are the PC requirements for Forza Horizon 5?

Forza games have long been visual showcases on any platform they launch, and Forza Horizon 5 is no different. When it launches, it’ll undoubtedly be one of the most attractive games on the market today, with a myriad of features and optimizations to highlight FH5’s graphical and technical prowess. Forza Horizon 5 marks a noticeable improvement over its predecessor, and as such requires relatively beefy PC specifications to get the most out of it.

Playground has finally unveiled the full PC requirements for their upcoming racing title, and it’s split into the standard three tiers: minimum, recommended, and ideal. While players will be able to obtain a solid racing experience even on minimum specs, recommended will provide the greatest balance between performance and visuals. Those with powerful gaming rigs may be able to experience Forza Horizon 5 at its very best, with peerless visual quality and resolution, and even ray tracing features while viewing cars in the Forzavista mode.

Below is a table of all the PC requirements for Forza Horizon 5, which should, hopefully, give you an idea of what it’ll take to get the experience you’re after in Forza Horizon 5.

If any alterations are made to FH5’s PC requirements at any point, we’ll be sure to update the table here. If you need help finding out exactly how powerful your PC is, and whether or not it can reliably run Forza Horizon 5, be sure to keep reading.

Can my PC run Forza Horizon 5?

Forza Horizon 5 is impressive from every angle, and is certainly a step above the game that came before it. Gaming PCs come in all manners of specs, shapes, and sizes, so FH5’s PC requirements beg the question: Can my PC run Forza Horizon 5?

There are a number of ways to check your PC’s hardware, if you’re not already familiar with the intimate specs, but the easiest method is the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, and piece of software built into Windows that will thoroughly check and break down all of your PC’s hardware. From this tool, you’ll be able to obtain an overview of all the components in your PC, letting you easily check it against Forza Horizon 5’s PC requirements.

Here’s how you can use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to check if your PC can run Forza Horizon 5.

1. On your computer, open the Start Menu or Search by tapping the Windows button on your keyboard, or clicking the icon on your taskbar.
2. Once the Start Menu or Search is open, type in dxdiag to search for the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.

   

   Source: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy

3. Once you’ve searched for it, click on the “dxdiag” command option or press enter to open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
4. Once you’ve opened the DirectX Diagnostic tool, navigate to the “System” tab to see your Windows version (“Operating System”), CPU (“Processor”), and RAM (“Memory”).

   

   Source: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy

5. Then, navigate to the “Display” tab to see your GPU (“Name” / “Chip Type”) and VRAM (“Display Memory”).

   

   Source: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy

6. Once you have all your PC specifications, compare them to the Forza Horizon 5 PC requirements listed up above.

What are the best pre-built PCs and PC parts for Forza Horizon 5?

Many players might have perfectly capable PCs that aren’t quite ready for Forza Horizon 5, and many others may be in the market for a new PC altogether. Fortunately, there are options for both groups, as there are plenty of excellent PCs, both desktops and laptops, that are capable of delivering an excellent high-speed experience in FH5. Those who need just a little more graphical oomph can peruse the best PC GPUs for gaming.

For those who are in the market for a brand-new gaming rig, look no further than the best gaming desktop PCs and best gaming laptop PCs that are available right now. Below we’ve listed some of our top picks that meet FH5’s PC requirements.

Budget / Minimum

Here are the best options for those looking to play Forza Horizon 5 on a budget by meeting or exceeding the game’s minimum requirements.

Desktop

Our choice for running Forza Horizon 5 on minimum settings is the CyberPowerPC Gamer Master, which features capable budget gaming hardware in a traditional and easily upgradeable case. While thermal performance isn’t the greatest in this desktop PC, and the entry specs aren’t anything to be too excited about, CyberPowerPC has delivered a PC almost custom-built to run FH5 on a budget, by comfortably exceeding the minimum requirements without breaking the bank.

Laptop

The Acer Ntro 5 is often considered as one of the best value gaming laptops you can buy, and the newest model continues to offer shocking levels of performance for what you pay. There are several different configurations to choose from, but every one is able to handle Forza Horizon 5’s minimum requirements with relative ease. For those seeking portability on a budget, the Acer Nitro 5 is one of the best options.

Recommended

Here are the best options for those looking to blend visual quality and performance by meeting or exceeding Forza Horizon 5’s recommended requirements.

Desktop

HP offers surprisingly great gaming hardware, often at aggressive prices. The HP OMEN 30L Gaming Desktop looks and runs fantastic, and comes with powerful and configurable hardware to provide the exact experience you’re looking for. The HP OMEN desktop should meet FH5’s recommended requirements in practically every configuration, but we do recommend that you opt for 16GB of RAM if you purchase the HP OMEN desktop straight from HP.

Laptop

That’s right, HP OMEN makes another appearance, but this time as a 15-inch gaming laptop. HP continues to bundle competent hardware into well-priced bundles, and the HP OMEN 15 Gaming Laptop is a pretty great option for playing Forza Horizon 5. Once again, try and opt for 16GB of RAM if you go through HP’s website.

Premium / Ideal

Here are the best options for those looking to obtain the most premium experience in Forza Horizon 5 by meeting or exceeding the ideal PC requirements.

Desktop

Alienware is well-known for stuffing incredibly powerful hardware into attractive and unique designs, and the Alienware Aurora R12 Gaming Desktop is no different. While the Aurora R12 is available in more affordable packages, those looking for the absolute best experience in Forza Horizon 5 will need to shell out much more for higher configurations.

Laptop

Razer has consistently made some of the best gaming laptops for years now, so it’s no surprise that its Razer Blade 15 Advanced tops our list of choices to play Forza Horizon 5 at its very best. Available in ludicrously powerful configurations, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced will let you max out FH5 while remaining portable, if you’re willing to pay the price.

Forza Horizon 5 will launch on more platforms simultaneously than Playground has ever accomplished before, including Steam and the Microsoft Store on PC, so many players may be wondering what they’re gaining (or losing) by playing this open-world behemoth of a racing game on PC versus other platforms. While we don’t know absolutely every detail about FH5 on PC, we do still have a lot to look forward to for players.

Here are some of the features of Forza Horizon 5 on PC platforms.

• PC specific settings and options. Forza Horizon 5 will feature “a vast array of graphics settings,” according to Playground Games, that lets players obtain the exact experience they’re looking for on PC. As long as your hardware can handle it, you’ll be able to configure different parts of your FH5 experience, including:
  • Tweak the visuals settings all the way up to a 4K resolution
  • Unlock the framerate for increased performance
  • Enable HDR for higher contrast
  • Expand the field-of-view settings
  • Play on ultrawide monitors, up to a 21:9 aspect ratio
• Increased steering wheel support. Alongside improved force feedback that ties into Forza Horizon 5’s rebuilt physics systems, and more granular contextual settings for steering wheels, FH5 will also support many of the most popular steering wheel options from several manufacturers, including:
  • Logitech’s Driving Force, G25, G27, G29, G920, G923PS, G923XB, and Momo wheels
  • Thrustmaster’s Ferrari 458, T150 RS, T300 RS, T500 RS, TMX, T-GT, TS-XW, TX, and TS-PC wheels
  • Fanatec’s V1, V2, V2.5, CSL, CSL DD, DD1, DD2, and Universal Hub wheels
• Support for haptic feedback on controller. All versions of Forza Horizon 5 will support haptic feedback on the Xbox Wireless Controller, even on Steam. This rumble support should provide a better and more tactile experience no matter where you play FH5.
• Support for ray tracing and audio improvements. Forza Horizon 5 supports ray-tracing while viewing cars in Forzavista, which offers realistic lighting, reflections, and textures when getting up close and personal with your vehicles. PCs with supported hardware will be able to take advantage of this, as well as ray-traced audio and ambient noises throughout the FH5 map.
• Support for cross-play between all platforms. While the Steam version of Forza Horizon 5, unfortunately, won’t support cross-save for keeping your progression across platforms, all versions of Forza Horizon 5 will support full cross-play. This means online multiplayer isn’t restricted between platforms, with all players able to race alongside each other, regardless of where you play.
• Support for Xbox Play Anywhere. Forza Horizon 5, like other first-party Xbox Game Studios titles that launch on PC, supports Xbox Play Anywhere. This means that players who purchase FH5 from the Microsoft Store will immediately own the game on both Xbox and PC, complete with cross-save and cross-play functionality. If you play on console and PC, this is the best of both worlds.
• No mod support. One of the only unfortunate piece of news for Forza Horizon 5 on PC, depending on who you ask, is the lack of mod support. It has been confirmed that no version of FH5 will feature mod support, which has drawn some criticism from the community. This move is likely to protect the always-connected nature of Forza Horizon 5, which prioritizes online play where everyone is on a level playing field. To help compensate for the lack of mod support, though, players can take advantage of EventLab. This powerful editing tool features many of the same controls and options that Playground uses to build the game itself, and can be used for custom game modes, events, races, and much more.