Our Top Picks
Thinking about playing Planet Coaster 2 on PC and wondering what hardware you actually need? Planet Coaster 2 arrived in November 2024 as a park-management sim rather than a graphics showcase, and its official requirements reflect that: the minimum is a mid-range GPU from several generations ago, and the recommended tier is a card from 2019. The hardware conversation around this game is therefore less about raw rendering power and more about how much simulation your PC can chew through once a park fills up with guests, rides and scenery. This guide breaks down the official PC requirements for Planet Coaster 2, the best GPU for each resolution, and complete build recommendations.
How Demanding Is Planet Coaster 2?
Planet Coaster 2 is not a demanding game by the standards of big-budget action titles. The official minimum asks for a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM, a Radeon RX 5600 XT or an Intel Arc A750, paired with an Intel i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and 16 GB of RAM. The recommended tier steps up to an RTX 2070 Super, RX 6700 XT or Arc A770 alongside an i7-10700K or Ryzen 7 5800. Those are mid-range parts from older generations, which tells you the renderer itself is light. The catch is the simulation: a park with thousands of guests, dozens of rides and dense scenery is CPU-bound, and frame rates in a huge park depend far more on your processor than on your graphics card. The install is small at 25 GB, but the official notes call for an SSD — recommended at minimum spec and required at recommended spec. Everything below is based on the developers’ own published figures rather than guesswork.
ASUS ROG G700 (2026) Gaming Desktop PC, Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 265KF Processor, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5070, 1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4 SSD, 16GB DDR5 RAM, Windows 11 Home, G700TF-DB774
One of the home product options compared in this guide.
View on Amazon
ASUS ROG GM700 (2025) Gaming Desktop PC, AMD Ryzen™ 7 9800X3D Processor, AMD® Radeon™ RX 9070 XT Prime OC, 2TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4 SSD, 32GB DDR5 RAM, Windows 11 Home, GM700TZ-MS777
One of the home product options compared in this guide.
View on Amazon
ASUS ROG G700 (2025) Gaming Desktop PC, Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 265F Processor, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5060Ti, 1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4 SSD, 32GB DDR5 RAM, Windows 11 Home, G700TF-AS776Ti
One of the home product options compared in this guide.
View on AmazonPlanet Coaster 2 Official PC System Requirements
| Component | Minimum (official) | Recommended (official) |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64bit (22H2) | Windows 10,11 64bit |
| Processor | Intel i5-6600K / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | Intel i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800 |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 5600XT (6GB VRAM) / Intel Arc A750 (8GB VRAM) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8GB VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12GB VRAM) / Intel Arc A770 (16GB VRAM) |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
| Storage | 25 GB available space | 25 GB available space |
Source: the official Planet Coaster 2 Steam store listing (app 2688950), checked October 2026. Publishers can update these specs after patches.
Best GPU for Planet Coaster 2 by Resolution
1080p
1080p is comfortably covered by the official minimum tier: a GTX 1060 6GB, an RX 5600 XT or an Arc A750 will run the game at 1080p with sensible settings, and 16 GB of system memory is all the game asks for at this level. If you want headroom for higher settings, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is a sensible target, and current-generation options such as the RTX 5060 or Radeon RX 9060 XT sit in the same bracket. Because the game becomes CPU-bound as a park grows, spending well beyond this tier mostly buys quieter running and future-proofing rather than more frame rate in a packed park.
1440p
For 1440p, the official recommended class — RTX 2070 Super, RX 6700 XT or Arc A770 — is the sensible floor, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER sits comfortably above it. Cards like the RTX 5070 or Radeon RX 9070 will also cruise at this resolution. Keep in mind that raising resolution increases GPU load without reducing CPU load, so in a very large park a faster processor will do more for you than a faster card. This is the resolution most PC gamers target, and this class of card gives Planet Coaster 2 plenty of headroom.
4K
4K is within reach for Planet Coaster 2 precisely because the game is not a heavy renderer, and the official recommended spec only calls for 8 GB of VRAM. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a comfortable entry point, and anything from an RTX 5070 upward, or a Radeon RX 9070-class card, will handle 4K with upscaling enabled. The bottleneck in a busy park at 4K is still the CPU, not the graphics card.
CPU, RAM and Storage for Planet Coaster 2
Because large parks are CPU-bound, this is the section worth paying the most attention to. The official minimum is an Intel i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, and the recommended is an i7-10700K or Ryzen 7 5800 — both older six- and eight-core parts. Any modern six-core clears those bars comfortably: the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is excellent value, while the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the fastest mainstream gaming CPU if you want maximum frame rates in crowded parks. Intel fans can opt for the Intel Core i5-14600K. For memory, 16 GB is the official requirement at both minimum and recommended tiers and remains the practical target; 32 GB such as the Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB is not needed by the game itself but gives comfortable headroom if you keep other apps open while building. Storage is simple: 25 GB of space, with an SSD recommended at minimum and required at recommended, so install it on a fast NVMe drive like the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB NVMe SSD to keep load times short.
Recommended PC Builds for Planet Coaster 2
1080p budget build: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 + AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + 16 GB DDR5 — comfortably above the official minimum and enough for high settings at 1080p.
1440p sweet-spot build: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER + AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D + 32 GB DDR5 + 2TB NVMe SSD — well beyond the official recommended spec, with the CPU headroom that big parks reward.
4K high-end build: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER + AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D + 32 GB DDR5 + fast NVMe SSD — for 4K with upscaling, though in crowded parks the extra CPU power matters more than the extra GPU power.
Is It Worth Upgrading Your PC for Planet Coaster 2?
Because the official requirements are modest, this is not a game that forces an upgrade. If you already have something around a GTX 1060 6GB, RX 5600 XT or Arc A750 and a modern quad-core processor or better, you are at or above the minimum and can play. Where upgrades do pay off is the processor: an older chip will hold back frame rates in large parks, so a CPU and platform upgrade is the most meaningful change for a simulation fan, even though it is usually the more expensive one. A graphics card upgrade only matters if you are below the minimum spec or chasing 4K. Moving the game to an SSD is required at the recommended tier and is a cheap upgrade that helps load times, and since the official figure is 16 GB of RAM at both tiers, there is no need to over-buy memory. Rather than replacing everything at once, target the weakest link in your build.
Can You Play Planet Coaster 2 on a Laptop or Handheld?
Gaming laptops with a discrete GPU in the RTX 4050/4060 mobile range sit at or above the official recommended desktop spec, so they can run Planet Coaster 2 well at 1080p, though expect more heat and shorter battery life than a desktop. On handhelds such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally, the integrated GPU is below the official minimum on paper, so plan on reduced settings and upscaling, and treat very large parks as a stretch rather than a guarantee. Storage is easy on portable devices because the game only needs 25 GB, and an internal SSD is strongly preferred over a microSD card for load times.
How to Boost FPS in Planet Coaster 2
If frame rates are low, first work out whether you are GPU-limited or CPU-limited: if dropping resolution and quality changes nothing, the bottleneck is your processor and the size of your park. On the graphics side, enable upscaling if the game offers it (DLSS on NVIDIA, FSR on AMD, XeSS on Intel) and turn on frame generation if your GPU supports it. Shadows and effects are usually the most expensive settings to lower, followed by resolution. On the simulation side, smaller parks with fewer simultaneous guests and objects are the biggest lever, and no graphics setting will fix a CPU-bound scene. Keep your GPU drivers up to date, close background apps, and install the game on an SSD rather than a mechanical hard drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my PC run Planet Coaster 2?
If your PC meets the official minimum — a GTX 1060 6GB, RX 5600 XT or Arc A750, an Intel i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 16 GB of RAM and 25 GB of SSD space — it can run Planet Coaster 2 at 1080p with adjusted settings. For the recommended experience, aim for the published recommended tier of an RTX 2070 Super, RX 6700 XT or Arc A770 with an i7-10700K or Ryzen 7 5800.
Is Planet Coaster 2 demanding on PC?
No. The official minimum is a mid-range GPU from several generations ago and the recommended card dates from 2019, so the renderer is light. What can become heavy is the simulation: very large parks with thousands of guests are CPU-bound, which is where frame rates suffer.
What GPU do I need for Planet Coaster 2 at 1440p 60fps?
The official recommended class — an RTX 2070 Super, RX 6700 XT or Arc A770 — is the right baseline for 1440p, and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER-class card sits well above it if you want headroom for high settings. Just remember that in large parks your processor, not your graphics card, is usually what limits the frame rate.
How much RAM does Planet Coaster 2 need?
The official requirement is 16 GB of RAM at both the minimum and recommended tiers, which is also the practical target for a modern gaming PC. 8 GB falls short of the published spec. More than 16 GB will not raise frame rates in this game, though it gives you headroom for other apps running alongside it.
Do I need an SSD for Planet Coaster 2?
The official notes list an SSD as recommended at minimum spec and required at recommended spec, and the game itself only needs 25 GB of space, so there is no reason not to install it on one. An NVMe drive like the Samsung 990 Pro is ideal.
