In just over a week's time, Halo is back on PC where it belongs. In a roundabout way though, unfortunately, with PC gamers being treated to the oddity that is Halo 5: Forge on September 8th. It's all of Halo 5's map-making tools in ultra sharp 4K and a rock steady 60 frames per second. Rather than just build maps though, PC players are free to test them out online in 16-player deathmatches. It sounds hazy on the surface, but it's all going to be totally free so there's nothing stopping you from giving it a go, should you manage to meet Halo 5 Forge's system requirements that is. 

Halo 5: Forge Minimum System Requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i5-2500T 3.2 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 2 GB Video Memory
• GPU: GeForce GTX 650 Ti or Radeon R7 260
• HDD: 40 GB Available Space
• DX: DirectX 12

Halo 5: Forge Recommended System Requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz or AMD FX-8350 3.5 GHz
• RAM: 12 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 4 GB Video Memory
• GPU: GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon R9 390
• HDD: 40 GB Available Space
• DX: DirectX 12

Halo 5: Forge Ultra System Requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5 GHz or AMD FX-9590 4.7 GHz
• RAM: 16 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 6 GB Video Memory
• GPU: GeForce GTX 980 Ti or Radeon R9 Fury X
• HDD: 40 GB Available Space
• DX: DirectX 12

Look, it's a Microsoft published PC game in the year 2016, of course Halo 5: Forge has some ultra high system requirements. Fortunately however, there is a nice big gulf between the  minimum and the ultra, which we can estimate from Gears of War 4's system requirements scales from 1080p for minimum up to 4K for ultra.

As expected Windows 10 is a necessity. In fact, you'll need the recent Anniversary Update installed to play Halo 5 on PC, but if you've got Windows 10 this should all take care of itself in the background. Aside from this there isnt much to grumble about on the minimum specs. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti and Radeon R7 260 are mid-tier cards getting on a bit in years, likewise the CPUs.

For the majority of players the focus should be on hitting the recommended requirements. While Microsoft hasn't specified, Ultra likely only applies to those after a 4K / 60fps experience on the much extreme gaming rigs money can buy. The vast majority of us won't be able to do this, but at least the option's there if Halo 5: Forge has some legs and we're still playing 2 or 3 years down the line. 

Remember, you can always check out how well your PC can run the Halo 5: Forge System Requirements here, where you can check benchmarking and performance from other users. Compare your graphics card to the Halo 5: Forge benchmark chart.