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Heroes of the Storm PC Build Guide

Specs Needed for 60FPS or 144FPS Low-Extreme Settings (1080p, 1440p, 4K)



Last Updated: August 8, 2020

Planning a new gaming desktop computer build and want to play Heroes of the Storm? In this hardware buyer's guide we'll break down the minimum modern CPUs and GPUs you'll require to get that magical, magnificently smooth 60FPS or 144FPS performance level (for 60Hz or 144Hz monitors) to enjoy the game to the fullest without lame lag getting in the way of your domination.

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Heroes of the Storm is a MOBA game created by Blizzard where you battle it out with heroes from various Blizzard franchises including Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, Overwatch and The Lost Vikings. First released back in 2015, it grew to very popular heights with a nice tournament scene going there for while.

Blizzard stopped tournaments at the end of 2018, but in 2020 it's still played by many and regularly has a few thousand streamers live on Twitch at any given moment. So you could say, the competitive HOTS scene is dead, but the casual aspect of the game certainly isn't, and fans will continue to play for many years (I predict).

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How Demanding is Heroes of the Storm on Hardware?

HOTS is built on a version of the StarCraft 2 engine, and overall isn’t very demanding on your system - something to be expected from a game that released a fair few years ago now. 

That said, if you want flawless performance in Heroes of the Storm on high/ultra settings, you'll still need decent specs, and especially if using a 144Hz monitor, as reaching that level of performance in this game requires a strong CPU due to the fact that the engine is quite CPU-intensive at high frame rates.

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So if you're wondering which parts to buy for the game, let's get straight into our recommended PC parts for Heroes of the Storm to get the best performance for the money (without overpaying on specs you don't need if you're on a tight budget).

For full desktop computer build examples using the below components, read our latest gaming PC builds in conjunction with this HOTS guide (or our latest recommended prebuilt PCs if you don't want to build your own) and you'll have everything you need to setup the best new computer for this particular game.



Heroes of the Storm Requirements for 60FPS (1080p 60Hz) 

Based on our benchmark research from multiple sources (we've listed some at the end), to get a super smooth 60FPS, and to do it consistently without dropping under that mark much (if at all), you don't need much in terms of hardware. A very cheap Athlon 3000G, with its integrated Vega 3 graphics chip, is all the processing and graphics grunt you need to get a consistent 60FPS on low settings (and medium settings will be great too). You could even use higher settings with the 3000G and get nicely smooth performance, especially if you get fast 3000MHz RAM modules as integrated graphics chips like the 3000G get a noticeable performance gain from faster RAM. 

Cheapest Hardware for 1080p 60FPS (LOW)

  • CPU: AMD Athlon 3000G
  • GPU: Radeon Vega 3 (integrated in CPU)
  • RAM: 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB, 2666MHz or faster)

Best Hardware for 1080p 60FPS (EXTREME)

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
  • GPU: Radeon Vega 11 (integrated in CPU)
  • RAM: 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB, 2666MHz or faster)

If you want to guarantee a silky smooth 60FPS on maxed/ultra settings (technically listed as "extreme" settings in this particular title), you'll want to consider the Ryzen 5 3400G, which is a more powerful CPU with a better integrated graphics chip. The older Ryzen 5 2400G would also be suitable, as it's not much slower than the 3400G. As for the 3200G (and slightly older, slightly slower 2200G), they would be absolutely fine choices too, and would give you performance roughly in-between the 3000G and the 3400G, meaning you'd get flawless 60FPS performance on medium-ish settings (and still decently smooth, completely playable performance on high/ultra settings).



Heroes of the Storm Requirements for 144FPS (1080p 144Hz)

HOTS isn't as intensely fast-paced as FPS games like say CSGO or Overwatch (where 144Hz monitors are highly recommended and almost crucial if you want to remove any edge your opponents might have over you). But being a MOBA, a genre full of action and quick decisions, HOTS is still a relatively fast-moving title, and so using a 144Hz monitor (that allows for up to 144FPS) does come in handy if you have the money for both the monitor and the specs needed to get 144FPS. Reaching 144FPS (or thereabouts) consistently to take full advantage of a 144Hz monitor is not easy though, as the game is based on the CPU-intensive Starcraft 2 engine (meaning you need a strong CPU to get such high performance levels). You also need a fairly decent graphics card to achieve 144FPS, but nothing too crazy.

Cheapest Hardware for 1080p 144FPS (LOW)

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
  • GPU: NVidia GTX 1660 Super
  • RAM: 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB, any speed)

Best Hardware for 1080p 144FPS (EXTREME)

  • CPU: Intel Core i5 10600K
  • GPU: NVidia RTX 2060 Super
  • RAM: 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB, any speed)

Just keep in mind HOTS is notoriously unreliable when it comes to performance due to the way the game engine is designed, meaning there's no guarantees in this game of getting a certain performance level from certain specs. Plus, it's hard to avoid random performance drops in the game based on many user reports. So let me just make it clear that whilst the above setups should theoretically get 144FPS and above, unfortunately there’s always the chance that you’ll stumble across performance issues with this game and you either won’t reach that mark, or you won’t reach it consistently. If you search around online there are tons of little tips and hacks to help your frame rate with this game, so if you encounter issues a little research can go a long way.



Heroes of the Storm Requirements for 1440p or 4K

If you're wondering about hardware requirements for 1440p or 4K resolution with Heroes of the Storm, to get 60FPS on good settings (high/ultra, potentially extreme) you'll do fine with a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU for either resolution, as that CPU is great for higher resolutions (60FPS doesn't require a crazy CPU, even in high resolutions and even in CPU-intensive games like HOTS). And for graphics you'll do well with either a GTX 1650 Super (for 1440p 60FPS extreme settings) or a GTX 1660 Super (for 4K 60FPS extreme settings). As for 1440p 144Hz monitors, you'll need some serious firepower for 144FPS on ultra/extreme settings, and we recommend a RTX 2070 Super and Intel i7-10700K (or similar performing GPUs/CPUs such as a GTX 1080 and i7-9700K).





Heroes of the Storm Benchmark Compilation

We've estimated the various requirements above based on analyzing as many different performance benchmarks as possible. While we do our best to bring you the most accurate recommendations we can based on what performance data is available out there in Internet land, keep in mind these are just estimations and we recommend you do your own research if you're seeking a specific performance level and want to be absolutely sure you reach your aims. For a start, here are some of the best HOTS benchmarks for different CPUs and GPUs that we found and used to write this build guide.



Get Help / Feedback

Need further help choosing the best parts for Heroes of the Storm? Found this guide helpful or have your own 2 cents to share? Let us know. GG.

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