Escape from Tarkov is a multiplayer shooter with a storyline and RPG elements. Developed by Battlestate Games, it was released in 2017. The game was built on the Unity 5 engine, which is uncommon for MMO titles.
Story
The universe of the game "Russia 2028" was previously used in the little-known game Contract Wars. All events take place in the fictional city of Tarkov, located in the equally fictional Norvinsk region. According to the plot, this territory was a zone of free industrial cooperation between the European Union and Russia.
The city is isolated from the outside world by UN forces and the Russian army due to the activities of the TerraCorp corporation, which has been declared illegal. Clashes occur between USEC (a hired private military group protecting the corporation’s interests) and BEAR (a local faction funded by the city authorities).
The player must escape from the completely locked-down city in order to survive.
Gameplay
This is a realistic military shooter with hardcore gameplay. The core loop of the game involves venturing into the city to gather gear and making it back to the extraction point to keep what you’ve acquired — and possibly sell it.
You can equip yourself with all your gear before the battle — but should you? If you're killed, someone else can loot what you’ve worked so hard to get. During a raid, you face a range of threats, from direct enemies like USEC or BEAR to marauders, who are partially controlled by AI and partially by other players.
With good gear, the player is almost untouchable — opponents without armor and only a pistol are no match for these walking tanks. The balance is slightly corrected by the fact that the game spawns hordes of marauders: individually they’re harmless, but as a group they can take down even a veteran player in top-tier gear.
And all of this is for the sake of gathering as many useful items as possible, getting them out of the city, and selling them. You can also work as a mercenary and earn discounts, money, or valuable items for completing missions. These missions are given by numerous traders.
As for content — there are over a hundred types of ammunition alone, each designed for specific tasks. There's even more weaponry, and when you add the ability to customize it, the possibilities are nearly endless.
The resources you collect can be spent on equipment or upgrading your offline base. There is also a skill progression system — each skill takes time and effort to level up.
Engine
The Unity 5 engine is far from the most advanced tool for game development. It's typically used for mobile games. At the moment, the system requirements for Escape from Tarkov state that the game uses no more than 2 GB of video memory, which means there are currently no high-resolution textures in the game. However, Escape from Tarkov is still in development, so whether this will change in the future remains to be seen.
Overall, even during development, the visuals already look quite lively — especially considering that in late 2021, the game switched to the newer Unity 2019 engine. Escape from Tarkov also introduced support for DLSS, which helped compensate for some of the optimization issues and allowed for high-resolution gameplay. The level of detail in both character models and weapons is impressive and continues to improve with every patch.
That said, the game still has some gaps (at least for now) — such as FPS drops on different maps and areas, or optimization that’s still “limping” a bit. So for a smooth gameplay experience, a PC with significantly higher specs than those listed by the developers is recommended.
Escape from Tarkov System Requirements
The game has been in alpha/beta testing for about 5 years. As of July 2022, the current version of Escape from Tarkov is 0.12.12.30, but the release date remains unknown. The developers do not specify the exact processor model (only the series and clock speed) or GPU (only memory size and DirectX version).
Despite being official data, playing on such hardware is unlikely to be enjoyable. With this configuration, you’ll get an average of 40–50 FPS on low settings at FullHD resolution. If optimization doesn't improve, FPS could fluctuate by up to 40% from the average during peaks and drops.
| Minimum | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR4 @ 3200 MHz |
| Storage | 8 GB on SSD |
According to the developers, this setup can handle the game on medium-high graphics settings at FullHD resolution.
| Recommended | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 @ 3600 MHz |
| Storage | 8 GB on SSD |
As always, we offer up-to-date components for gaming so you can achieve maximum FPS on “ultra” settings in FullHD. A PC like this can deliver 75+ FPS in Escape from Tarkov with extra performance headroom to smooth out poor optimization.
| Realistic | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 @ 3600 MHz |
| Storage | 8 GB on SSD |
This setup allows you to play Escape from Tarkov in 2K and 4K resolution with 100 and 95 FPS respectively — ensuring no less than 60 FPS even in the most demanding locations, and a stable 90 FPS in open areas or indoors.
| Ultra | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7/i9 or AMD Ryzen 7/9 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 @ 3600 MHz |
| Storage | 8 GB on SSD |
How to Choose a PC for Escape from Tarkov
The game is heavily CPU-dependent. While graphics are relatively light, poor optimization causes uncomfortable FPS drops during intense fights. You can easily smooth this out by choosing a more high-performance configuration or lowering the graphics settings. So if you want smooth visuals and maximum settings, your PC must be truly powerful.
The game requires a lot of RAM. Few modern games — mostly AAA titles — consume 12 GB. The game itself takes up minimal disk space and runs fine on an HDD, but using an SSD will significantly improve load times.
Graphics Card
Due to poor optimization and lack of high-resolution textures, 4K gameplay puts heavy strain on the GPU and eats up excessive system resources. Even top-tier cards struggle. Buying two high-end GPUs for Tarkov is overkill — graphics settings don’t add much to visuals but demand a lot from hardware.
The table below shows average FPS in Escape from Tarkov on various GPUs at max settings, based on 2022 data.
| Frames per Second | 1920x1080 FullHD |
2560x1440 2K |
3840x2160 UltraHD |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 4060 | 80 | 50 | 30 |
| GeForce RTX 5070 | 95 | 85 | 65 |
| GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | 125 | 115 | 60 |
| GeForce RTX 5080 | 100 | 90 | 80 |
| GeForce RTX 5090 | 145 | 130 | 120 |
FPS values are averaged and meant to illustrate relative system performance at maximum settings.
As you can see, the game still suffers from optimization issues. Based on FPS stats, the best options for FullHD are the RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 5090. Since this is a multiplayer game, high FPS can help in combat. You’ll need a gaming monitor with a high refresh rate (75, 90, 120, 144 Hz) and a matching GPU that can deliver the performance.
If you plan to play at higher resolutions and want to avoid frame drops below 60–70 FPS, you can use DLSS technology or slightly reduce graphics settings. This won’t impact visuals much but will significantly increase FPS.
How Much VRAM You Need
Unlike other parameters, VRAM usage is relatively stable.
- At max settings in 4K, the game uses up to 3.5 GB of VRAM.
- At the same settings in 2K, memory usage drops to 2.5 GB.
- In FullHD with max settings, no more than 2 GB of VRAM is used.
Processor
The developers don’t specify exact CPU models, but based on testing, it’s clear that the game uses no more than 4 processing threads — ideally physical cores. There are hardly any modern CPUs left with such a low core count; the closest relevant models now have 6 cores.
- Intel Core i5-12400(F) and i5-12600(F) are excellent processors for a gaming PC if you’re playing in FullHD or 2K.
- Intel Core i7-12700(F) and i9-12900(F) are more advanced models suitable for 4K gaming, streaming, video editing, virtual reality, and other related tasks.
RAM
The game isn’t very stable, so performance may vary depending on your PC configuration and the game version. Video memory also plays a role — if there’s enough of it, RAM usage will be within the standard limits shown below; if not, RAM usage will increase.
- At max settings in 4K, up to 13 GB of RAM is used, which matches the recommended system requirements for Escape from Tarkov.
- At lower resolutions, RAM usage is up to 12 GB, as indicated by the developers.
- At minimum graphics settings, you’ll need only 5.5 GB of RAM.
PCs for Escape from Tarkov – March 2025
Conquer the harsh trials of Tarkov with our powerful PCs from the selection below. Balanced configurations will provide the performance you need to win not only in Escape from Tarkov but in many other multiplayer games as well!
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