CHOOSING THE BEST HARDWARE FOR SMITE



How to Build a Gaming PC for Smite, Choose the Right Hardware Parts for 60FPS or 144FPS at Max Settings, & Recommended 2018 CPUs and GPUs for Smite


Last Updated: Mar 8, 2018

Smite is another popular MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) eSports game that has tournaments around the world. Like LOL and DOTA 2, it’s free-to-play, however unlike those titles it’s played in a third-person perspective which sets it apart.

Created by Hi-Rez Studios, Smite is based on the Unreal game engine, and like LOL (and DOTA 2 to a lesser degree) it doesn’t require too much processing and graphics grunt to run well – unless you plan on getting high frame rates in which it’ll require a fairly powerful rig (even more so than LOL).

Read on if you want to know which modern parts you’ll need to get that all-important flawless performance to play at your best with nothing slowing you down.

Note that 60FPS is perfectly fine for the majority of gamers, especially for a game like Smite, and 144FPS or higher (to take advantage of a high-end, high-refresh rate 144Hz display etc) is a luxury that you don't need. Higher refresh rates of 144Hz or higher are more important with faster-paced games like CS:GO and Overwatch.


Minimum Smite Hardware for 60 FPS+

To get a constant 60FPS and over in 1080p when running Smite (and on maximum settings) the minimum modern CPU and graphics card you’ll need is an Intel Pentium G4560 and a NVidia GT 1030 (or AMD’s equivalent card in the RX 550).

  • CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 (with stock cooler)
  • GPU: NVidia GTX 1050 2GB
  • RAM: 4GB DDR4 (any speed)

As you can see, getting to the buttery-smooth 60 frames-per-second mark consistently is easy and Smite doesn't require a high-end gaming rig to achieve this.


Minimum Smite Hardware for 144 FPS+

As for getting a smooth 144Hz experience (with a 144Hz monitor) which means getting over 144FPS, you’ll need a much more capable gaming PC.

Whilst our previous recommended specs for Smite at 60FPS+ are basically the same as our recommended League of Legend specs for 60FPS, when it comes to enthusiast performance (ie 144FPS and over) Smite will need quite a bit more GPU and CPU power than League of Legends does for 144FPS+.

So, to get to over 144FPS constantly in 1080p on max settings in Smite, the following are the cheapest modern parts that will reliably achieve that:

  • CPU: Intel i5-8400 (with stock cooler) or AMD Ryzen 1600X (with stock cooler)
  • GPU: NVidia GTX 1070 8GB
  • RAM: 8GB DDR4 (any speed)

As you can see, getting high frame rates in Smite on max settings will require a beasty GPU, namely the GTX 1070 8GB, and a decent CPU.

If you don’t mind dropping the game settings and/or not always staying above 144FPS, you could get away with a GTX 1060 (3GB or 6GB version), but for flawless performance to take full advantage of a 144Hz monitor for the smoothest game experience there’s no real way around dropping some serious cash on a great GPU like the 1070.

Like mentioned already though, Smite is NOT one of those games where 144Hz displays make a huge difference (unlike CS:GO, Overwatch, etc where higher refresh rates really do make a difference if you wanna play at your max capacity). 

That's all you need to know about choosing the best hardware parts for a custom Smite PC build (or upgrade). Good luck out there.







About the Author

A hobbyist game programmer turned hardware enthusiast, Julien "cyberjulz" is the founder of BGC and has kept a keen eye on the latest in DIY gaming ever since starting BGC back in '06 as an almost laughably-basic and brief 20 page site with the aim to make building PCs more accessible to the average gamer since most resources weren't too noob friendly. Over countless reinventions and reiterations to the quality, depth and usefulness of the content over many years the site has steadily grown into the expansive, comprehensive and ever-updated first-time PC builder resource that it is today that now reaches and helps thousands of gamers and power users each month to more easily plan optimal setups for their exact needs. You can learn more about the BGC mission and ways to support it here.


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