Is Minecraft CPU Or GPU Intensive – A Surprising Answer [2022]

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Asen Stoyanchev

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Asen is a Microsoft Certified Professional turned blogger with 10+ experience working in the IT industry as a hardware and software support engineer.

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Is Minecraft CPU or GPU intensive? It relies mainly on the CPU, which contrasts with most games. In fact, you won’t need a high-end GPU to play Minecraft, even at higher resolutions and graphics settings.

Some say that integrated graphics will do the job with Minecraft, which is one area we’ll cover in this article. We’ll also discuss how Minecraft uses your CPU and GPU, and why the CPU is so dominant. 

Put simply, Minecraft’s famous block-based gameplay means less complex rendering for GPUs. 

Once we’ve covered the main points, we’ll provide an FAQ section, so you can read more about Minecraft and how it uses CPUs and GPUs.

Let’s dive straight in! 

Does Minecraft Use Your GPU?

Minecraft does use your GPU as it’s a video game, but it makes more use of the CPU.

If your CPU has more power than the GPU, and you want to allocate more resources from the CPU than the GPU, you can change the settings in-game.

Will Minecraft Run Without A GPU?

If you lack a graphics card, your only choice is to rely on integrated graphics. We’ll cover these later. But it is possible to run Minecraft without a dedicated graphics card.

This is because it doesn’t need significant resources from the GPU.

As a related resource, you might check “Is 60 Degrees Celsius Hot For A Cpu“

Is Minecraft CPU Heavy Or GPU Heavy?

Minecraft relies more on the CPU than the GPU, making it CPU-heavy but not GPU-heavy.

As we mentioned above, you can change the graphics settings if you want Minecraft to draw more resources from the CPU. 

Here are the top processors for Minecraft as of 2022.

How Does Minecraft Utilize The CPU & GPU?

In some instances, you may notice a larger demand placed on the GPU instead of the CPU.

If you’re using Minecraft shaders, this can happen, but the GPU shouldn’t get used at 100% capacity. Instead, the CPU will get utilized far more.

Is Minecraft CPU Or GPU Intensive?

Minecraft is CPU-intensive because it has blocky graphics. These don’t use advanced GPU functions, like rendering complex 3-D models. But if shaders are in use, GPU usage can be higher.

Related resource: “Is Fortnite CPU or GPU Heavy“

Does Minecraft Run Faster With A Better GPU Or CPU?

Minecraft doesn’t place much demand on the GPU, so it will run fast in most cases regardless of your GPU. But the CPU should be a decent mid-range one made in recent years.

What Is The Normal FPS For Minecraft?

The standard FPS for Minecraft is between 45-60 FPS, which gets classified as smooth. It’s still playable between 30-45 FPS, but you might notice that the quality isn’t good.

If you’re a gamer with an advanced system, you can play Minecraft at higher FPS figures, like 60-90.

What Gives Better FPS In Minecraft GPU Or CPU?

If you upgrade your GPU, you’ll notice a slight increase in FPS, but the best FPS gains will come from upgrading your CPU.

If you do this, you’ll improve single-core performance. This is important because Minecraft generally uses only one core.

Does Minecraft Rely On GPU Or CPU?

Minecraft relies more on the CPU than the GPU because of the game’s lack of complex graphics. This means that the CPU will be particularly relevant for Minecraft’s performance.

Does Minecraft Use More CPU Or GPU?

Minecraft only uses one core in your CPU (so that you can even play it on an AM1 processor), but does most of its processing via the CPU rather than the GPU.

But if you’ve modified the texture pack of the game, or you play it at a very high resolution, then the GPU will get more usage. If you want to run the game with a dedicated GPU, this video should help:

How Do I Run Minecraft On GPU And Not CPU?

If you want to shift the burden of running Minecraft off the GPU and onto the CPU, you can try changing the options for your graphics card. An example for an NVIDIA card would be to:

• Use the NVIDIA Control Panel
• Select Manage 3D Settings
• Choose NVIDIA GPU for all games
• Select high-performance NVIDIA processor in Global Settings

How Do You Force Minecraft To Use A GPU?

You can try the option we outlined above, but that’s the only way to incentivize the game to rely more on the GPU.

The settings can’t prevent a game from accessing the CPU, including Minecraft. It will need to use the CPU and won’t rely more on the GPU unless needed.

How GPU Intensive Is Minecraft? How About With Mods?

Minecraft isn’t GPU intensive because it doesn’t need to use detailed rendering.

The game will only use more resources if you’ve modded it with texture packs or other upgrades.

How Can I Force My GPU To Run Minecraft In High-Performance Mode?

If you have an NVIDIA GPU, the example we gave before will apply. If you have integrated graphics, you can try following a similar process.

Even then, a high-performance mode may not get triggered unless it’s essential.

Why Is Minecraft So CPU Intensive For Me?

Minecraft relies on a single core within your CPU to run the game. This is why it’s more CPU-intensive than you might expect for a simple game.

It’s also affected by the age of your computer. If it’s more than a few years old, you may have trouble with your CPU usage and FPS rate.

How Do I Get My Minecraft To Use CPU Instead Of GPU?

Minecraft should use your CPU by default, so you won’t need to do much to encourage this. If there’s a burden on the GPU, it might be because you’ve added mods to the game or adjusted its texture pack.

In this case, there is not much you can do to reduce GPU usage.

How Can You Get Minecraft To Only Use Your CPU And Not My GPU?

I think it’s only possible if you use the vanilla version of Minecraft and the most basic graphics settings. If you go beyond this, the GPU will get used to ensure Minecraft is playable.

By the way, you can play Minecraft by using GameRanger.

How Do I Stop Minecraft Using So Much CPU?

If you’re concerned that Minecraft is using too many CPU resources, it could be because your computer is old.

The only way to address this is to upgrade your computer. It’s not possible to stop Minecraft from using the CPU.

Another trick worth trying is to close any other programs while you play Minecraft. That will free up processor resources.

What’s The Best CPU And GPU For Playing Minecraft?

Is Minecraft CPU or GPU intensive is a crucial debate if you’re choosing a computer to play the game with.

The recommended CPU for a smooth experience is an Intel Core i3 or AMD Athlon II (K10). The best GPU is GeForce 2xx Series or AMD Radeon HD 5xxx Series. 

Can I Play Minecraft With Integrated Graphics?

Yes, you can. If you want to play the game with integrated graphics, consider an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G.

If you don’t want a new GPU, Intel HD or AMD Radeon HD integrated graphics will give you a playable experience.

Can You Play Minecraft Without A Graphics Card?

If you have no graphics at all, you won’t be able to play Minecraft. If you have integrated graphics, you can play Minecraft if your computer isn’t outdated.

FAQs