If you want to download the Minecraft RTX beta, it’s not as simple as clicking a button. Minecraft ray tracing isn’t available in the standard beta, so you’ll have to enroll in a special one to gain access to that feature. You’ll also have to make sure you meet the Minecraft RTX beta system requirements to be able to run the game once you’ve got it downloaded.
How to download the Minecraft RTX beta
To sign up for the Minecraft RTX beta, you’ll need to own Minecraft for Windows 10. This beta isn’t available for the Java, console, or mobile versions, so make sure you have access to the Windows 10 version before you start.
To sign-up for the Minecraft RTX beta:
- Install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Microsoft Store.
- Click “Insider content” in the sidebar.
- Under Games, you’ll see Minecraft for Windows 10; click on it to proceed.
- In this screen, either hit “Sign Up” if you’ve never been a part of the Minecraft beta or “Manage” if you’ve enrolled in a beta in the past.
- Select “Minecraft for Windows 10 RTX Beta” to sign up for the ray tracing beta.
Note that it may take some time for your enrollment to change from “pending.” You’ll have to wait until your application is entirely accepted before you can download the RTX beta.
Once you’ve enrolled in the beta, you can download the Minecraft RTX beta from the Microsoft Store. If you already have Minecraft for Windows 10 installed, you’ll need to either update the application or uninstall and reinstall it to get the RTX beta.
Minecraft RTX beta graphics card system requirements
You can’t run the Minecraft RTX beta on any PC, unfortunately. Ray tracing will only work on PCs with one of NVIDIA’s RTX line of GPUs.
To run Minecraft RTX, you’ll need one of the following graphics cards:
- GeForce RTX 2060
- GeForce RTX 2060 Super
- GeForce RTX 2070
- GeForce RTX 2070 Super
- GeForce RTX 2080
- GeForce RTX 2080 Super
- GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
- Titan RTX
AMD GPUs and Nvidia cards outside of the RTX line are incompatible with Minecraft RTX. It’s possible that a future beta may include DirectX Raytracing support for other card models. However, I wouldn’t count on any cards outside of the RTX family being compatible in the immediate future, if at all.
