Best CPU for Hogwarts Legacy

What is the best CPU for Hogwarts Legacy? Let's find out.

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The long-awaited Warner Bros title Hogwarts Legacy is just around the corner. It’s set for release on February 10th, and we’re thrilled to have it finally come out. But what is the best CPU for Hogwarts Legacy?

Now Read: Best CPU for gaming

That said, Hogwarts Legacy looks like it will be a fairly demanding game, both on your CPU and GPU. Of course, to experience a game at its best, you need to have hardware capable of running it smoothly. 

If you’re wondering what CPU is best for Hogwarts Legacy, stick around.

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Best CPU for Hogwarts Legacy: Top picks

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What are Hogwarts Legacy’s CPU requirements?

The game’s official requirements were released only recently by the developers. Here are the recommended system specs. 

• OS: 64-bit Windows 10
• CPU: Intel i7-8700 (3.2 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (3.6 GHz)
• RAM: 16 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 1080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or INTEL Arc A770
• DX VERSION: DX 12
• STORAGE: 85 GB SSD
• NOTES: SSD, 1080p / 60 fps, High-Quality Settings

Not what you were expecting? Well, there’s more to it. The game’s official website makes clear that the recommended specs are designed with the high-quality preset in mind. 

The bar is raised even higher to play on Ultra (the best setting). The devs recommend you equip yourself with an Intel Core i7-10700K or an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X.

That’s a tall order. But, again, you don’t absolutely have to play on the highest settings. I’m sure the game will look great on the high preset as well. 

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Best CPU for Hogwarts Legacy – Intel’s Core i7-13700K

It’s easy to tell from the above specs that you will need a high-end processor to run Hogwarts Legacy seamlessly. We’ve chosen the Intel core i7-13700K. 

It’s three years newer than the officially recommended i7-10700K, which is a strong processor in its own right. 

The thing is, Intel gave the i7 series CPUs some pretty substantial boosts recently. They introduced the big.LITTLE architecture to the processor lineup with their 12th-gen Alder Lake release, and they have added even more cores and threads to this architecture with Raptor Lake. 

The i7 10700K is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.1GHz. A powerful chip, but one that is completely outmatched by the 13700K, which has 16 cores and 24 threads, with a maximum boost clock of 5.4GHz. 

The difference in specs alone makes it obvious why the 13700K is a far better option for Hogwarts Legacy. The higher boost clock means you’ll be able to run the game at a higher FPS, whereas the extra 8 threads will help take care of background tasks and help prevent bottlenecks. 

And avoiding bottlenecks actually is somewhat of a concern in this case. Because to experience Hogwarts Legacy’s stunning graphics, you will also need a top-of-the-line GPU – something from the RTX 3000 or the RX 6000 XT series, 

All the more reason the 13700K makes sense here, going with anything weaker could lead to bottlenecks. 

On the other hand, while it’s also possible for you to go with an i9-13900K or KS, the i9 CPUs may be a bit overkill. They won’t necessarily offer you better gaming performance since you will already be GPU bound with the 13700K, even if you pair it up with a 4090.

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Final thoughts

Hogwarts Legacy has some fairly high system requirements, especially for its ultra preset. While the developers have listed down the i7-10700K, we recommend you buy the newer 13700K. 

It may cost you a bit more, but it will offer you much greater performance, making it better value for your money overall.