Star Citizen is one of the most ambitious space simulation games that has ever been made for PC. Before you jump in, make sure your PC meets the Star Citizen system requirements. This game offers trade, combat, exploration, and base building, as you carve out your own story across the stars. Star Citizen features two modes: The Persistent Universe and the single-player Squadron 42 campaign.
Star Citizen System Requirements Overview:
Currently, Star Citizen is known as the most demanding game in the market. Before heading towards the Star Citizen system requirements, this guide is very important for both low-budget and high-budget gaming PCs. The game will push CPU, RAM, and GPU to their limits even on the latest gaming computers. There is a star system within the United Empire of Earth that unfolds in the 30th century. The players are free to take any role, like miner, pirate, cargo hauler, explorer, and more.
Keep in mind that this game will consume the maximum levels of hardware parts, specifically the graphics card. This is why the system requirements for Star Citizen are too high. The reason behind the high consumption of hardware is the graphics and visual effects. As a result, the overall game performance will rely on multiple hardware components.
Star Citizen Minimum System Requirements:
The game requires an Intel Core i7-4720HQ or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X and 16 GB of RAM to run the game at low visual effects. The other specs should be 150 GB of SSD hard drive space, Windows 10 latest build 64-bit, and DirectX 11 as well. One of the most highly valued requirements is graphics, which should meet NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD RX 5600 XT to run it. You have to keep in mind that these specs are too high to play other games like GTA V and Forza Horizon 5. But for Star Citizen, these are the lowest required specs to play it.
Star Citizen Recommended System Requirements:
Playing it at high performance is difficult because it requires a high-end gaming PC. The CPU should be Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X or higher, with 32 GB of RAM. The rest requirements are Windows 11, the latest build 64-bit, DirectX 12, and an SSD with 150 GB of free storage. For the graphics card, it requires a GPU of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD RX 6700 XT or higher. With these high-cost hardware components, the gameplay will be smoother with high-performance graphics frame rates.
Star Citizen System Requirements (Minimum vs Recommended)
Let’s compare both low- and high-spec computer hardware to play this game on a PC. There is a high difference in hardware specs between the minimum and recommended requirements. This comparison will help you quickly review and decide whether to buy or upgrade to a performance tier.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| CPU (Intel) | Intel Core i7-4720HQ | Intel Core i7-12700K |
| CPU (AMD) | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | AMD Ryzen 7 5800X |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| GPU (NVIDIA) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 |
| GPU (AMD) | AMD RX 5600 XT | AMD RX 6700 XT |
| Size | 150 GB SSD | 150 GB SSD |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 | DirectX 12 |
| OS | Windows 10 (64-bit) latest | Windows 11 (64-bit) latest |
Can Your PC Run Star Citizen?
It depends on the hardware specs of your computer. If it meets any of the recommended or minimum specs, your PC can run Star Citizen. But the point to remember is the visual frame rate or graphic performance. On the other side, there will be a big impact on the cost of both tiers. Because it will almost double the specs, that means it will also increase the cost for the recommended tier.
How to Check the Computer Hardware of a PC?
You can check your computer hardware using two methods available in our Forza Horizon system requirements guide.