Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
PC hardware build guide for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve — recession, budget, mid-range, and high-end rigs for Bandai Namco's Unreal Engine 5 aerial combat sequel.
Official System Requirements
Source: Steam store page (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2288340/ACE_COMBAT_8_WINGS_OF_THEVE) — full minimum and recommended PC requirements verified 2026-07-28 against the Steam appdetails API. Release date per Bandai Namco announcement (https://www.bandainamcoent.com/news/ace-combat-8-wings-of-theve-takes-flight-this-october): launch for all players October 2, 2026, Deluxe early access September 29. (July 2026)
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 11 64-bit | Windows 11 64-bit |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i7-12700K / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| GPU | NVIDIA RTX 2060 (6 GB) / AMD RX 6600 XT (8 GB) — hardware ray tracing required | NVIDIA RTX 3070 (8 GB) / AMD RX 6800 (16 GB) — hardware ray tracing required |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Storage | 125 GB SSD (SSD required) | 125 GB SSD (SSD required) |
Recommended Builds
The floor, and it sits right on the official minimum. Ace Combat 8 demands a hardware ray-tracing GPU and DirectX 12 Shader Model 6.6 — no GTX-class card qualifies. The Intel Arc A580 has hardware RT (Xe RT units) and clears the RTX 2060 / RX 6600 XT bar; XeSS holds the official 1080p Low / 30 FPS estimate. The Ryzen 5 7500F is far above the steep i7-10700K CPU minimum.
| Component | Part | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Thermaltake S100 TG | $70 | $70 at Newegg |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7500F | $175 | $175 at Amazon |
| GPU | Intel Arc A580 8GB | $185 | $185 at Amazon |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B650M DS3H | $130 | $130 at Amazon |
| PSU | Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold | $72 | $72 at Amazon |
| RAM | G.Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-6000 (2x8GB) | $235 | $235 at Newegg |
| Storage | Patriot P300 256GB NVMe SSD | $53 | $53 at Amazon |
The comfortable 1080p tier. The RTX 5060 clears the official RTX 3070 recommended target with RT cores to spare for the game's mandatory ray tracing — 1080p High at a locked 60 with DLSS. Its 16 GB RAM matches the minimum, though the official recommended tier asks for 32 GB.
| Component | Part | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Thermaltake S100 TG | $70 | $70 at Newegg |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7600 | $175 | $175 at Newegg |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 8GB | $350 | $350 at Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASRock B650M PG Riptide WiFi | $130 | $130 at Amazon |
| PSU | Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold | $72 | $72 at Amazon |
| RAM | G.Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-6000 (2x8GB) | $235 | $235 at Newegg |
| Storage | Kingston NV2 1TB NVMe SSD | $157 | $157 at Amazon |
Over Budget: the RTX 5060 Ti reaches 1440p High with DLSS, and 32 GB RAM matches the newly published recommended tier. Flight combat is lighter on geometry than an open world, so the mid tier stretches further here than in a dense RPG.
| Component | Part | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Fractal Design Pop Mini Air | $100 | $100 at Amazon |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7600 | $175 | $175 at Newegg |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | $430 | $430 at Amazon |
| Motherboard | MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WiFi | $176 | $176 at Amazon |
| PSU | Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold | $72 | $72 at Amazon |
| RAM | G.Skill Flare X5 32GB DDR5-6000 (2x16GB) | $459 | $459 at Newegg |
| Storage | Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe SSD | $235 | $235 at Newegg |
Over Mid: native 1440p Ultra, or 4K with DLSS. The RTX 5070's RT throughput makes the game's ray tracing a non-issue, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D buries the high CPU minimum.
| Component | Part | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Fractal Design North | $155 | $155 at Amazon |
| Cooler | Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 | $35 | $35 at Amazon |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | $425 | $425 at Amazon |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12GB | $580 | $580 at Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASUS TUF Gaming B650-PLUS WiFi | $117 | $117 at Amazon |
| PSU | Corsair RM750e 750W 80+ Gold | $72 | $72 at Amazon |
| RAM | G.Skill Flare X5 32GB DDR5-6000 (2x16GB) | $459 | $459 at Newegg |
| Storage | Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe SSD | $358 | $358 at Newegg |
Over High: native 4K Ultra with frames to spare. The RTX 5090 treats the ray-tracing requirement as a rounding error.
| Component | Part | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO | $125 | $125 at Amazon |
| Cooler | Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 | $77 | $77 at Amazon |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D | $657 | $657 at Amazon |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB | $4330 | $4330 at Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi | $440 | $440 at Amazon |
| PSU | Corsair RM1200x Shift 1200W 80+ Gold | $170 | $170 at Amazon |
| RAM | G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64GB DDR5-6000 (2x32GB) | $910 | $910 at Amazon |
| Storage | Samsung 990 Pro 4TB NVMe SSD | $725 | $725 at Newegg |
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What to Upgrade First
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the first mainline entry in the series in seven years, and the move to Unreal Engine 5 reshapes what it asks of a PC. The official minimum is published on Steam — an RTX 2060 / RX 6600 XT, an i7-10700K / Ryzen 5 3600X, 16 GB of RAM, and a 125 GB SSD — but the line that matters is in the fine print: the game requires a hardware ray-tracing-enabled GPU and DirectX 12 with Shader Model 6.6. That single clause sets the floor. No GTX-class card runs this game, however fast it is in raster, because none of them have RT cores.
So the first thing to get right is the GPU’s feature level, not its frame rate. Every tier on this site clears it. The Recession build’s Intel Arc A580 has hardware ray tracing built into its Xe cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, so it qualifies and lands on the official 1080p Low / 30 FPS estimate with XeSS doing the upscaling. From there it is a clean scaling ladder: the RTX 5060 makes 1080p comfortable at 60, the 5060 Ti reaches 1440p, the 5070 unlocks 4K with DLSS, and the RTX 5090 brushes the requirements aside.
The other surprise is the CPU. A flight game built around open skies should be light on the processor, but the i7-10700K / Ryzen 5 3600X minimum is steeper than most 2026 releases — a UE5 cost, paid up front. The official recommended tier now steps to an i7-12700K / Ryzen 5 5600X, an RTX 3070 / RX 6800, and 32 GB of RAM for 1080p Medium at 60 FPS with upscaling. The Budget build clears the GPU target, while the Mid tier is the first to pair that graphics headroom with the full recommended 32 GB. Storage stays fixed at a mandatory 125 GB SSD across both official tiers.