Turns out you can play the PC port of The Last of Us without a graphics card, and using an iGPU doesn’t make it a slideshow. The setup makes Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic caper look a bit like a PlayStation 2 demake, but you’ll still be able to travel across the land with Joel and Ellie without catastrophic hardware hiccups.
Even the simple suggestion that you can run the TLoU PC port without a GPU contradicts The Last of Us system requirements. Naughty Dog says you’ll need something on par with the Nvidia GTX 970 just to meet the minimum specs, this which means that the port depends on dedicated hardware. While we don’t doubt the developer’s hardware advice, we now have proof that you don’t need a graphics card to run The Last of Us.
In a new video from YouTuber RandomgaminginHD, the low-spec enthusiast runs The Last of Us using an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G, a processor with integrated Radeon graphics. Surprisingly, the iGPU can manage to increase the fps to around 30fps with low settings and FSR 2.0 enabled. We’d say the results aren’t a complete assault on the eyes, but you might want to check out the pictures and see for yourself.
RandomgaminginHD says you should be able to recreate the setup using one of our top gaming CPU picks, the Ryzen 7 5600G, as AMD FSR 2.0 seems to do the heavy lifting. That said, it’s worth noting that while the experience uses 1080p as the resolution, as an “ultra performance” mode, it technically changes that to 360p and then scales it up. For context, even the PS2 can run games at 480p, so perhaps it makes sense that modern CPUs can handle low spec graphics.
RandomgaminginHD is no stranger when it comes to running games without a GPU, as previous experiences have included playing Spider-Man, Warzone 2, and No Man’s Sky without a graphics card. We always recommend going with one of the options from our list of the best graphics cards, but putting the iGPU tech to the test is a bit of fun and can help someone on a budget enjoy Steam gaming.
Playing TLoU with an AMD APU is arguably old news, as support for The Last of Us Steam Deck already exists. Sure, Deck’s Van Gogh chip is made on purpose, but they both perform similar processing tricks under the hood. Of course, Linux and SteamOS are an additional hurdle for portable devices, and Valve currently considers The Last of Us to be incompatible with the Steam Deck.
If you already have a decent graphics card and aren’t interested in CPU shenanigans, check out the best Last of Us settings. Our menu options tip should help with some performance issues, and Naughty’s latest patch Dog takes aim at the quirks of the Nvidia RTX 3000 GPU.