Best gaming PC for Minecraft

Minecraft is loved by children and adults alike. Plain Minecraft runs on almost any PC, but mods and shaders can make it far more demanding.

What Minecraft needs

There are really three kinds of Minecraft player, and each needs a different PC:

• Plain Minecraft: light. Built-in graphics (graphics inside the processor, with no separate card) is enough to play it well.
• Mods: add-ons made by players that add new things to the game. Big mod packs lean on the processor and memory more than the graphics card.
• Shaders: add-ons that add realistic light, shadow and water. These need a proper graphics card.

For any of them we suggest 16GB of memory (RAM) and an SSD, a fast storage drive, so worlds load quickly. A modern processor helps with big worlds and mod packs. See how much RAM you need.

Going further: shaders, 1440p and recording

Shaders are where Minecraft gets demanding. The best-looking shader packs ask a lot of the graphics card, especially at 1440p, a sharper screen than normal 1080p.

Many young players also want to record or stream their games, like the creators they watch. That asks more of the PC too, so a stronger graphics card and processor is worth it if they plan to do this.

Which screen?

For plain Minecraft, any 1080p screen is fine. If you use shaders, a sharper or bigger screen shows them off, but needs a stronger PC. Read 1080p, 1440p or 4K and what size monitor is best for gaming.

Buying for a child? Read our parent's guide. Other game? See what PC you need for your game. Sandbox Computers builds and tests every PC on our own bench in Worcester, and sells them through sandboxcomputers.com.

Want the official specs? The Game Finder shows the minimum and recommended specs published by the makers of Minecraft, and our PCs that meet them.

Questions people ask