PC for Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition: requirements and builds
You can only run Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition with a graphics card that supports hardware ray tracing – that is, a GeForce RTX or a Radeon RX 6000 series or newer. For 1080p at 60 FPS, developer 4A Games lists an RTX 3060 or RX 6700 XT and an eight-core processor. Among today’s cards, the RTX 5060 Ti or RX 9060 XT 16 GB, for example, target this level. For 1440p and higher frame rates, plan on an RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT with DLSS, or a reduced Shading Rate on Radeons.
Summary
- Enhanced Edition is a separate PC version with fully reworked ray-traced lighting. Owners of the original game got it free of charge.
- Ray tracing cannot be switched off – it is the basis of the lighting. That is why Enhanced Edition does not have “low” requirements like the original game.
- The developer published five requirement tiers from 1080p/45 FPS to 4K/60 FPS. They were measured without DLSS, so with upscaling the result is better.
- If you do not have a card with ray tracing, you can play the original version of Metro Exodus, which runs even on a GTX 1050.
What Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition is
Studio 4A Games released Enhanced Edition in May 2021. The game is the same as the original Metro Exodus including the expansions, but all the lighting is calculated with ray tracing – reflected light, shadows and surface colours. Owners of the original version on Steam have Enhanced Edition in their library free of charge, and separately purchased expansions are transferred too.
What are the official requirements for Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
4A Games divided the requirements by target resolution and frame rate. The values apply to average FPS with Shading Rate 1 (native resolution) and DLSS switched off.
| Tier | Target | Quality / ray tracing | Processor | RAM | NVIDIA | AMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 1080p, 45 FPS | Normal / Normal | 4 cores with Hyper-Threading | 8 GB | RTX 2060 | not stated |
| Recommended | 1080p, 60 FPS | High / High | 8 cores | 8 GB | RTX 2070 / RTX 3060 | RX 6700 XT |
| High | 1440p, 60 FPS | Ultra / High | 8 cores | 16 GB | RTX 3070 | RX 6800 XT |
| Ultra | 4K, 30 FPS | Ultra / High | 8 cores | 16 GB | RTX 3080 | RX 6900 XT |
| RT Extreme | 4K, 60 FPS | Extreme / Ultra | 8 cores | 16 GB | RTX 3090 | not stated |
Steam also lists 59 GB of space and DirectX 12. The original Metro Exodus has a much lower minimum: Core i5-4440, 8 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 1050 or GTX 670.
Which PC for Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition: three builds for 2026
The cards listed by the developer are now two to three generations old. The builds below are put together from components available as of 10/2026; we do not give prices because they change quickly.
| Build | Graphics card | Processor | RAM | SSD | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget 1080p | GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB or Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB | Ryzen 5 7600X | 16 GB DDR5 (2 × 8 GB) | 1 TB NVMe | Full HD on High with ray tracing High (the recommended requirements tier) |
| Optimal 1440p | GeForce RTX 5070 Ti or Radeon RX 9070 XT | Ryzen 7 9700X or Core Ultra 7 270K Plus | 32 GB DDR5 (2 × 16 GB) | 1 TB NVMe | 1440p on Ultra; with DLSS or a lower Shading Rate, higher frame rates too |
| High-end | GeForce RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 | Ryzen 7 9800X3D | 32 GB DDR5-6000 | 2 TB NVMe | 4K and the Extreme preset with ray tracing Ultra |
In this game, the graphics card is what matters most. Treat the eight cores in the developer’s table as a guide – modern six-core processors have significantly faster cores than processors from 2021. At 4K, however, a stronger processor pays off so that it does not hold the card back.
What matters most in Metro Exodus Enhanced
A graphics card with ray tracing
NVIDIA cards traditionally have the edge in ray tracing, plus DLSS. Radeons of the RX 9000 series have improved significantly in ray tracing compared with older generations and are a good alternative. Instead of DLSS, use a lower Shading Rate on them. Always choose the graphics card according to your monitor: decide on the resolution first, then the card, and only then the processor and other parts.
Memory and drive
For 1080p, 16 GB RAM is enough; for 1440p and 4K the developer counts on 16 GB, and we recommend 32 GB for headroom. Install the game on an SSD. With high-resolution textures, a conventional hard drive causes stutters when loading new sections of the map.
Power supply and cooling
Ray tracing keeps the graphics card fully loaded throughout the game. Plan on a power supply with headroom and a case with good airflow, otherwise the card will start lowering its clocks because of the temperatures.
How to set up Metro Exodus Enhanced for higher FPS
- On NVIDIA cards, turn on DLSS. Enhanced Edition supports it, and at higher resolutions it adds significant performance.
- Lower the Shading Rate below 1 (for example 0.8). The game then renders at a lower resolution. This is useful mainly on Radeons.
- Switch the ray tracing quality from Ultra to High or Normal. The difference in image quality is smaller than the difference in frame rate.
- Turn off Hairworks and Advanced PhysX – they have little visible effect but cost performance.
- Lower tessellation and the quality preset by one step (from Extreme to Ultra, from Ultra to High).
- Update your graphics card driver and keep the game on an SSD.
What next
- A comparison of graphics cards by performance and generation can be found in the article List of graphics cards.
- Card overheating and FPS dropping? At PC Praha’s PC service we will find the cause and repair the card and the computer.
- The whole process of choosing a gaming build is described in our guide How to choose a gaming computer.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Will Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition run on a GTX 1060?
Do I have to buy the Enhanced Edition again?
Can ray tracing be turned off in the Enhanced Edition?
Which card is enough for Metro Exodus Enhanced at 1440p?
This text was prepared with the help of AI. Facts, figures and procedures were checked by Yegor.