GTA V and GTA Online Get Major Visual Overhaul with New Ray Tracing Features
Twelve years after its original release, Grand Theft Auto V is still one of the most-played titles, and now it’s getting a significant update that’s sure to breathe new life into the game. On March 4th, both GTA V and GTA Online will receive a major visual upgrade, including the long-awaited addition of ray tracing for PC players.
As Tom’s Hardware notes, these enhanced visuals were already available in the special edition of the game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, PC players are getting a bit of extra love with exclusive ray tracing features, including ambient occlusion and global illumination. These will give the game a stunning new level of realism. If your graphics card is already struggling with these features, don’t worry—Rockstar is also adding support for Nvidia DLSS 2 and AMD FSR1/FSR3, which will help upscale the visuals without hurting performance. Plus, with new higher-resolution and aspect ratio options, GTA V will look better than ever on the latest monitors.
Of course, all these enhanced features come with higher hardware demands. Rockstar now recommends an Intel Core i5-9600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, paired with a Nvidia RTX 3060 or AMD RX 6600XT, and at least 16GB of RAM for smooth performance. If you’re aiming for the highest settings, you’ll need even more powerful hardware to get those crisp frame rates and resolutions.
But it’s not just about the visuals—this update will also introduce new vehicles, tuning options, ambient animals in the wild, a new photography challenge, and career progress in GTA Online, adding more variety to the already vibrant world.
Grand Theft Auto VI was officially announced in 2022 and is slated for a late 2025 release on consoles, though there’s no word yet on a PC version.
