Star Citizen System Requirements: Is Your PC Ready?

Star Citizen requires an SSD, a compatible 64-bit Windows PC and at least 16 GB of system memory. CIG recommends 32 GB of RAM and a graphics card with 8 GB of video memory. Those figures describe compatibility and capacity, rather than the frame rate you will get in a busy city or a crowded event.

Check the machine you already own before choosing a package or replacement components. The exact processor and graphics-card models matter more than labels such as “gaming laptop” or “Core i7”, which cover many generations of hardware.

Official Star Citizen system requirements

Both columns require a 64-bit processor and operating system. On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see the recommended specification.

The CPU must support AVX, AVX2 and FMA3 instructions. CIG also specifies driver support for Direct3D 11.1 and Vulkan 1.2. macOS and Linux are not officially supported. The broad processor families in the official requirements are not a ranking of equally fast CPUs.

Check the hardware Windows is actually using

Press Windows + R, enter dxdiag and open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. The System tab identifies the operating system, processor and installed memory; the Display or Render tabs identify the graphics hardware. Write down the full model names. A laptop’s integrated graphics and separate gaming GPU may appear on different tabs.

Keep system RAM and graphics VRAM separate. A PC with 16 GB of system memory and a 4 GB graphics card has two different memory pools; it does not have 20 GB of interchangeable RAM. On an integrated GPU, shared system memory is also not equivalent to a dedicated card with the same advertised capacity.

In Task Manager’s Performance view, check the disk that holds the game and the GPU used while it is running. If a laptop is launching Star Citizen on its low-power integrated GPU, lowering every graphics option will not address that selection. CIG’s memory troubleshooting guidance includes checking that the intended graphics card is in use.

Allow room beyond the initial download

Install the game itself on an SSD. Putting only the launcher on an SSD while leaving Star Citizen on a mechanical hard drive does not meet the storage requirement. Check the game’s installation location in the launcher’s Games settings if you have several drives.

The published 150+ GB figure is a planning minimum, not a promise that the installed folder will remain exactly that size. Leave additional free space for updates, Windows and the pagefile. CIG’s support guidance calls for at least another 10 GB of SSD space for paging; a nearly full drive leaves little room for either that memory reserve or future patches.

LIVE and the Public Test Universe are separate installations. You do not need PTU to begin playing on LIVE, and installing extra test environments can consume substantial additional storage. Our PTU versus LIVE guide explains when a second environment is useful.

Use the official launcher installation instructions to choose the location and install the game. If a download fails, follow the launcher error guide for that problem before attempting another full installation.

How to judge whether your PC is ready

If you have 16 GB of RAM

You meet the memory minimum, but Windows, browsers, recording software and other applications need memory too. Close applications you do not need during play and keep Windows’ pagefile enabled. Automatic management is the simplest starting point in CIG’s support instructions. A pagefile can help prevent an allocation failure; it does not turn SSD space into equally fast physical RAM.

If you are planning a memory upgrade specifically for this game, 32 GB is the official recommended capacity to compare against. Check your motherboard or laptop’s supported memory before buying. Adding RAM will not fix a processor that lacks the required instructions or a graphics card that cannot support the required APIs.

If the specification looks sufficient but performance is poor

Observe where the problem occurs. Consistently poor performance at your chosen resolution suggests a different investigation from a brief hitch on entering a new area, or an interaction that fails while the camera still moves smoothly. A high frame-rate reading in empty space also says little about performance in a populated landing zone.

Compare benchmarks only when the game version, location, resolution, graphics settings and full test system are stated. A result from an older build can help explain a hardware trend, but it cannot establish a current frame-rate guarantee. The official specification table itself does not promise a particular resolution or frame rate.

If you are considering a laptop

Check its exact GPU, memory capacity and available SSD space, then look for testing of that laptop configuration. Laptop and desktop parts with similar names can operate under different power and cooling limits. Also check which components can actually be upgraded: on some machines, the memory is soldered in place.

A suitable PC still needs the right game access

Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are separate games. Use Star Citizen’s requirements for the multiplayer universe; a Squadron 42 announcement or specification does not establish Star Citizen performance or access.

Once you are satisfied with the PC, check whether your RSI account already includes Star Citizen. If you need access, The Impound’s game-package collection lets you compare packages; read the exact contents for Star Citizen access rather than choosing by the ship picture alone. A standalone ship or an unused upgrade is not a replacement for a game licence.

If you already have access, keep the ship you own while learning. Our first-session guide takes you from the hangar to a first contract. Buying another ship will not resolve a hardware limitation.

PC ready? Compare packages with game access

Choose around the included Star Citizen access and the ship you want to learn in. Check each listing’s contents; Squadron 42 and other extras vary between packages.

Compare game packages