Rockstar has unveiled the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V PC update, aptly named GTA V Enhanced. This free update marks a significant evolution of the game, as players will notice in their Steam or Epic Games Store libraries, where the previous version is now designated as GTA V Legacy. The distinction is warranted, given the new version’s notably higher system requirements.
System Requirements
For those eager to dive into the enhanced experience, here are the essential specifications:
Minimum:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (latest service pack)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-4770 | AMD FX-9590
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (4GB VRAM) | AMD Radeon RX 6400 (4GB VRAM)
- Storage: 105 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX 10 Compatible
- Additional Notes: SSD Required | Compatible PC and/or device required. 3D Audio via Windows Spatial Sound compatible audio systems
Recommended:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-9600K | AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (8GB VRAM) | AMD Radeon RX 6600XT (8GB VRAM)
- Storage: 105 GB available space
- Sound Card: Windows Spatial Sound-compatible audio system; solution containing Dolby Atmos support required for a Dolby Atmos experience
- Additional Notes: SSD with DirectStorage compatibility
Players should also be mindful that progress can only be transferred from the Legacy version once. While they can continue from where they left off in GTA V Legacy, any progress cannot be reverted back. This applies to both Story Mode and GTA Online, encompassing characters, in-game currency, stats, vehicles, properties, weapons, clothing, and player-created jobs.
New Features in GTA V Enhanced
The update introduces a plethora of new features:
- Ray tracing support, including reflections and shadows, alongside PC-exclusive global illumination and ambient occlusion.
- Upscaling support for AMD FSR 1 and 3, as well as NVIDIA DLSS 3.
- Faster load times enabled by DirectStorage support.
- Enhanced 3D audio with Dolby Atmos support for compatible sound systems, improving the fidelity of speech, cinematics, and music.
- Support for the DualSense controller’s Adaptive Triggers feature, allowing players to experience directional damage, weather effects, rough road surfaces, and explosions.
- General optimization across the board.
Despite these advancements, some players may find it disappointing that Rockstar has yet to implement High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) display support, especially in 2025. Additionally, the NVIDIA App currently does not recognize the new version, limiting the ability to tweak the ApplicationStorage.json file for the new DLSS 4 transformer models. However, the inclusion of built-in support for DLAA is a welcome addition.
Each ray tracing setting—shadows, reflections, global illumination, and ambient occlusion—can be individually adjusted up to Ultra, with an additional Scene BVH Quality setting maxing out at Very High. Testing on a high-end rig revealed a striking visual upgrade over the original version, particularly with the enhancements in ray traced global illumination and reflections, which elevate the game’s graphical fidelity significantly. While the underlying models and textures still reflect the game’s age, mods can enhance the experience further, although this may be limited to single-player mode due to Rockstar’s introduction of the kernel-level anti-cheat BattlEye in GTA Online.
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On the aforementioned high-performance rig, the game runs smoothly, achieving an average of 123 frames per second during a 20-minute free-roaming session, even without Frame Generation—a feature Rockstar has indicated may be added in a future update. The potential for NVIDIA DLSS Multi Frame Generation could further enhance performance, making for an even more consistent gaming experience.
GTA V Enhanced serves as an enticing invitation for players to revisit the game, especially with the much-anticipated GTA VI on the horizon, rumored to launch as early as 2026. The incorporation of modern features such as ray tracing, NVIDIA DLSS/AMD FSR, Dolby Atmos, and DualSense controller compatibility signals a positive shift for a developer that has historically sidelined PC gamers, as evidenced by the considerable delay in delivering this ‘Next-Gen’ update compared to console releases.
Nevertheless, challenges remain. Regardless of whether players own the game on Steam or the Epic Games Store, they must navigate the Rockstar Games Launcher, which complicates matters related to the DLSS version. Fortunately, a mod is already available on Nexus that automatically manages the DLSS file during gameplay, alleviating some of the frustrations faced by PC gamers. This is an area Rockstar should address moving forward, particularly with the impending release of GTA VI.
