An RTX 5080 for 1080p? F1 25’s path tracing requirements are nuts

Forget path tracing, its hardware requirements for F1 25 are too high to consider using

Last month, EA confirmed that F1 25 would feature an “Ultra Max” graphical preset that brings path tracing to the series. Detailed PC system requirements are now available for the game, unveiling the hardware needed to run F1 25 with path tracing.

Simply put, it looks like this racer’s path tracing mode is too demanding to consider using. At 1080p with upscaling in “Quality” mode, Nvidia’s RTX 5080 and RTX 4080 Super are recommended for 60 FPS gameplay. On the AMD side, their RX 7900 XTX is recommended. Typically, these GPUs target higher resolutions, and we wouldn’t expect any gamer with these GPUs to be running games at 1080p. These GPUs can run F1 25 at 4K with ray tracing enabled. Adding path tracing brings these high-end GPUs to their knees.

F1 25’s “Ultra Max” mode improves lighting and reflections by adding more bounce lighting. This enables reflections of reflections, and allows more ambient light to enter partially shadowed areas. This makes games look more realistic, bringing F1 25’s visuals much closer to reality. However, the hardware demands of this mode are simply too high. If the specifications below are correct, only RTX 5090 users can use F1 25’s “Ultra Max” mode at high resolutions and framerates.

Thankfully, F1 25’s ray tracing features are optional. If you own lower-end hardware, you can still play F1 25. However, if you want to max this game out, you will need an insanely powerful gaming PC. Perhaps EA is targeting next-generation GPUs with this path tracing mode. That said, I’d expect F1 26 to launch long before the next generation of graphics cards.

You can join the discussion on F1 25’s insane path tracing hardware requirements on the OC3D Forums.