Fortnite is a game that almost everyone out there wants to get a taste off. Unfortunately though, not everyone has deep pockets to dish out hundreds of dollars to buy a dedicated graphics card for gaming.
This begs the question, “do you need a graphics card for Fortnite at all?”
If you are talking about dedicated graphics cards – the standalone GPUs that plug into your motherboards – then fortunately, the answer is no, you do NOT need to have a dedicated graphics card for Fortnite.
In other words, if you have a desktop or a PC that you have recently bought, then the integrated graphics card found in the CPU should be sufficient for playing Fortnite.
However, you must realize that your overall experience when playing on an integrated GPU would not be remotely as close to when playing on a dedicated GPU – even if you compare to a low end dedicated GPU.
In the following article, I will explain the integrated graphics cards, how powerful they, the official requirements of Fortnite and how well integrated graphics card can support Fortnite.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
All Games Require a Graphics Card to Run
For starters, know that all games require a graphics card to run. In fact, to get any sort of video output from your PC and to display it on a monitor, you need a graphics card.
The question boils down whether you need an integrated or a dedicated graphics card.
Integrated graphics cards are built-into the CPU itself. They are weaker and generally not intended for high quality gaming. They CAN, however, manage to an extent certain light games.
Dedicated graphics cards, on the other hand, are your typical standalone devices that plug into the PCIe slot of your motherboard. These range from low-end all the way to high end graphics cards. High-end graphics, such as the likes of NVIDIA RTX 3080Ti can cost you a fortune.
Take a look at the following table. It lists some of the integrated graphics and entry level dedicated graphics cards as well as their corresponding G3DMark scores. I have included th RTX 3080Ti for good measure.
| GPU | G3D Mark |
Notes |
| Intel HD 4000 | 332 | Integrated; very old and obsolete released in 2012 |
| Intel UHD 630 | 1395 | Integrated; As found on 8-10th Gen Intel CPUs |
| Intel UHD 750 | 1684 | Integrated; As found on 11th Gen+ Intel CPUs |
| Intel UHD 770 | 1928 | Integrated; As Found on 12th Gen Intel CPUs. |
| Intel Iris Pro 580 | 2044 | Integrated; Found on premium laptops. |
| Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 |
2613 | Dedicated Entry Level |
| AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Vega 7 Graphics |
2639 | Integrated; As found on the Ryzen 5600G |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5700G Vega 8 Graphics |
2708 | Integrated; As found on the Ryzen 5700G |
| AMD Radeon RX 550 |
2764 | Dedicated Entry Level |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 |
6034 | Dedicated Lower-Mid Range |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super |
10,046 | Dedicated Mid Range |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 |
13,970 | Dedicated Midrange |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 |
15,121 | Dedicated High End |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080Ti |
26,677 | Dedicated Top of the Line |
- Scores taken from G3D Benchmark.
You can see here that even best integrated GPU as found on the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G, is nowhere near comparable to the mid range or the high end dedicated graphics cards.
But an NVIDIA RTX 3080Ti, just the graphics card itself, has an MSRP price tag of $1,119! Mid range NVIDIA RTX 2060 has an MSRP of $349.
As such, dedicated graphics card are certainly not something that everyone can afford.
Hence, when talkin about Fortnite in this context, a better question would be to ask: “Do you need a DEDICATED graphics card for Fortnite?”
Fortunately, the answer to that question is no. Let us explore a bit more.
Also Read: GPU Hierarchy – Graphics Card Tiered Performance List
Official System Requirements of Fortnite
According to the official system requirements, Fornite has three tiers of requirements:
- Minimum
- Recommended
- Epic
They are as follows:
Minimum Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i3-3225 (3.3 GHz) |
| GPU | Intel HD 4000 on PC Intel Iris Pro 5200 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR4 RAM |
| Hard Drive | 30 GB (May change overtime as the game updates and gets bigger) |
| Operating System | Windows 7 (64 Bit) or Newer Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6 |
Recommended Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7300U (3.5 GHz) |
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 960 AMD R9 280 |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Hard Drive | 30 GB (May change overtime as the game updates and gets bigger) |
| Operating System | Windows 7 (64 Bit) or Newer Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6 |
New Epic Quality Recommendations
Fortnite after the Chapter 2 Season 7 launched a graphics overhaul. As a result, the revised hardware requirements for Epic settings are as follows:
The current High Settings is equivalent to the EPIC Settings of the past versions.
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8700 AMD Ryzen 7 3700x |
| GPU | Nvidia GTX 1080 |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Hard Drive | 30 GB (May change overtime as the game updates and gets bigger) |
| Operating System | Windows 10 (64 Bit) or Newer |
Also Read: Build Guide for Fortnite
So Do You Need a Graphics Card for Fortnite?
No, you do not need to have a dedicated graphics card in order to play Fortnite at bear minimum settings.
There are three tiers of graphics requirements for Fortnite:
- Entry: Intel HD 4000
- High: Nvidia GTX 960
- Epic: Nvidia GTX 1080
You can see that the entry level requirement essentially stipulates that the game CAN be played with just an integrated graphics card.
In other words, for bear minimum gameplay, you DO NOT need to have a dedicated graphics card for Fortnite.
I am going to test this myself with the Intel HD 630 integrated graphics card I have on my laptop. This has a score of 1,395 on G3DMark, which is much higher than the Intel HD 4000 as required for bear minimum gameplay.
Testing Fortnite on Intel UHD 630 Integrated Graphics Card – Low Settings and 3D Resolution to 100% at FHD
So far starters, I tested the game by setting the graphics settings to low, resolution to Full HD (1920 x 1080) and keeping the 3D resolution scale to a max 100%.
At a 3D resolution of 100%, the game was unbearably slow. The game kept staggering between 23-25 FPS. Note I am basically standing idle, in an action packed sequence, the FPS would be expected to drop even lower.
A typical gamer, particularly for a competitive game as Fortnite, requires at least 30 FPS if not 60 FPS.
TL;DR: NOT PLAYABLE at 3D Resolution of 100% and Low Settings
Testing Fortnite on Intel UHD 630 Integrated Graphics Card – Low Settings and 3D Resolution to 50% at FHD
Bring the 3D resolution down by 50% makes a whole world of difference for the FPS you can on integrated graphics card for Fortnite.
With the 3D resolution set to 50%, the game was constantly giving me the sweet 60FPS even with an Intel UHD 630. This is an iGPU found on 7th and 8th gen CPUs released all the way back in 2017.
If you have a newer integrated graphics, particularly one found in the 5000 series Ryzen CPUs, then you can expect to get even better results.
TL;DR: Yes, you can play Fortnite WITHOUT a graphics card so long as you keep the graphics settings to low and tweak the 3D resolution settings to reach a playable frame rate.
But it should be pointed out, that the QUALITY experience of playing Fortnite at such low graphics settings is simply horrendous. The graphics will look utterly hideous, but hey, that doesn’t matter for many as long as you can play competitively.
Also Read: Do You Need a Graphics Card for Minecraft?
FAQ
Can I Play Fortnite Without Graphics Card?
If by that you mean without a dedicated graphics, then the answer to that question is a yes. You can play Fortnite without a dedicated graphics card.
What is the Minimum Graphics Do You Need to Run Fortnite?
The minimum graphics cards as stipulated by the official requirement as well as through my testing would be an integrated graphics.
The official requirement make mention of Intel HD 4000 as the minimum requirement for GPU. I find that to be a tad too weak for Fortnite even for low settings.
At the bear minimum, I would recommended having a CPU with an iGPU that is about half a decade or so old.
An Intel UHD 630 or better would be good start.
Also Read:
Final Words
So to conclude the question, “do you need a graphics card for Fortnite?” The answer is no. As according to the official minimum requirements as well as according to the test I conducted with my Intel UHD 630 graphics, Fortnite can be played with just an integrated graphics card.
However, the game would be playable only at low graphics settings and you will need to scale the 3D resolution down to a reasonable level in order to get playable frame rates.
