The Challenges of Running Hogwarts Legacy on a 2012 Graphics Card

The impact of outdated hardware on gaming performance is becoming more apparent as games become increasingly graphically demanding. A prime example is Hogwarts Legacy, a visually stunning game that transports players back to the world of magical academia at the beginning of the previous century. The game's graphics, impressive even by today's standards, falter when played on a decade-old graphics processing unit (GPU), which struggles to meet the game's graphical requirements.

Hogwarts Legacy is built using Unreal Engine 4, one of the gaming industry's most popular graphics engines. Although Unreal Engine 5 is now available, its predecessor has been in use since 2014, powering games such as Borderlands 3, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Gears 5. Avalanche Software, the team behind Hogwarts Legacy, chose to work with this well-established engine. However, older GPUs struggle with the requirements of newer games developed on this platform.

An illustration of this issue was given by Reddit user Adeno, who demonstrated what Hogwarts Legacy looks like when played on Nvidia's GTX 660, a GPU released in 2012. The results were decidedly retro, with the game's rich graphics reduced to something reminiscent of titles from the original PlayStation or Nintendo 64 era. Lauded for its reliability upon release, the GTX 660 is now outperformed by newer models that can more ably handle the demands of contemporary titles.

This stark example supports the widely-held belief that regular hardware upgrades are necessary to achieve optimal gaming performance. Although Nvidia's earlier models, such as the GeForce 30 series, remain capable of supporting new titles like Hogwarts Legacy, the company's latest GeForce 40 series proved to be in high demand following its release in October 2022. This suggests that gamers are aware of the graphical limitations of older GPUs and are willing to invest in new ones to enjoy the full gaming experience.