Can I Run Starfield on My PC / Laptop?

A Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i7-6800K processor, a Radeon RX 5700 or GeForce GTX 1070 Ti graphics card, and 16GB of RAM, aimed at 1080p on low settings around 30 fps. Full details are in the table above.

For a smoother experience Bethesda recommends a Ryzen 5 3600X or Core i5-10600K, a Radeon RX 6800 XT or GeForce RTX 2080, and 16GB of RAM, targeting 1080p on high settings at around 60 fps outside cities.

Yes. Bethesda lists 16GB for both the minimum and recommended tiers, and it's genuinely enough for normal play. There's no official tier that asks for more, though running a lot of background apps alongside the game can still push you into swapping.

You can try, but it's below the official minimum of 16GB. Expect stutter, long load times, and possible crashes as the game and Windows both fight over that memory. 16GB is a real requirement here, not a suggestion.

You can install it there, but expect noticeably longer loading, visible texture pop-in as areas load in, and stutter in busy locations. It's the one requirement on this page that Bethesda is genuinely firm about, so moving the install to an SSD is the single best fix if you're on a hard drive now.

125GB, the same figure for both the minimum and recommended tiers. Leave a bit more free than that for future patches and the shader cache.

Bethesda doesn't publish a separate VRAM figure, and testing shows the game rarely uses more than about 8GB even at native 4K on Ultra with a 24GB card. An 8GB graphics card is fine for 1080p and most 1440p play. Texture Quality is the setting that controls how much of your VRAM pool the game actually uses, so lowering it is the fix if you're on a 4GB or 6GB card and seeing stutter.

Yes, but not at launch. It shipped in September 2023 with FSR2 only, and Bethesda added official DLSS, DLAA, Nvidia Reflex, and DLSS Frame Generation in a November 2023 update.

Yes. FSR2 was there from day one, and FSR3 arrived in a February 2024 update alongside Intel XeSS, so AMD, Nvidia, and Intel owners all have an upscaler built for their hardware now.

It means your GPU sits below the official floor of a GeForce GTX 1070 Ti or Radeon RX 5700, and it's a hard block on launching, not just a warning. Cards like a GTX 1060 or GTX 1650 are common examples of ones that trigger it. Updating your driver won't get an underpowered card past this, since it's a performance-tier check, not a compatibility bug.

Both, but in different places. Open planet surfaces and space combat lean on the GPU like most modern games. Cities, especially New Atlantis and Neon, are where the CPU becomes the limit, since the engine concentrates a lot of the simulation on one or two threads.

Yes. It requires a DirectX 12 capable graphics card, and there's no DirectX 11 fallback.

No. Unlike a lot of recent AAA releases, Starfield doesn't have a ray-traced lighting, shadow, or reflection mode. All of the lighting you see is handled through traditional rasterization, so ray tracing hardware on your GPU isn't a factor here.

Yes, gradually. Updates through 2024, including the ones that added DLSS and FSR3, also included CPU and city performance tuning, and one 2024 patch measurably improved frame rates in New Atlantis and Neon. The core single-thread limitation is still there, but the worst of the launch-week stutter has been patched down.

By default it's capped at 60 to keep some of the game's physics and ship effects stable, but you can uncap it in Display settings by turning Framerate Limit off. Above 60 fps a few physics interactions and ship visual effects can look slightly off, though most players who uncap it don't notice anything wrong.

Windows 10 version 21H1 or newer, or Windows 11 with current updates. Older Windows 10 builds and Windows 7 or 8 aren't supported.

No. It's a single-player game and doesn't need a connection once it's installed and activated, aside from normal Steam or Xbox app sign-in and updates.

There's evidence for it. AMD was Starfield's official PC launch partner, and independent testing found AMD cards outperforming similarly priced Nvidia cards by a wider margin than you'd expect in a rasterized game. AMD has said it didn't block Bethesda from adding DLSS, and Nvidia support did arrive two months after launch, but the early AMD-favoring gap was real and documented.

If you're below the GTX 1070 Ti or RX 5700 minimum, a GPU upgrade is hard to avoid, since the game won't launch otherwise. If your GPU already clears the minimum but your CPU predates something like a Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i7-6800K, a CPU upgrade will help more than a GPU upgrade in cities specifically, since that's where the bottleneck sits.

Mostly, yes. Starfield does not publish a separate VRAM figure, and a 6GB card handles 1080p on high settings without much trouble. It gets tight at 1440p or with Texture Quality pushed to Ultra, so if you are on a 6GB card like an RTX 2060 or RX 6600, keep that setting at medium or high instead.

No. 16GB covers both the minimum and recommended tiers and is genuinely enough for normal play. 32GB will not raise your frame rate on its own. It mainly helps if you are running the game alongside a lot of other memory-heavy software at the same time.

Probably not worth it. The RTX 3050 is short of Starfield's minimum, so even very low settings may not give a smooth result.

No, not comfortably. The GTX 1650 misses Starfield's minimum bar, so any session would be very low settings and low fps. Roughly 27 fps at 1080p in community testing. Also below the official minimum GPU tier.

Realistically, no. The GTX 1060 6GB is beneath Starfield's minimum, which means very low settings and a rough frame rate at best. Around 20 fps at native 1080p. Below the official minimum, so FSR2 Performance and low settings are needed to get close to playable.

This one struggles. The RX 580 sits below what Starfield needs, so expect low settings, low fps, and possibly some launch trouble. In the low to mid 20s at native 1080p, similar to the GTX 1060, and also below the official minimum.

Yes, at the lower end. With the RTX 4060 you clear Starfield's minimum, so 1080p low to medium is the target and easing back a setting helps. About 49 fps at 1080p high, roughly matching the official recommended-tier RTX 2080.

It will run. The RTX 3060 meets Starfield's minimum, which means 1080p on low to medium and a smoother result once you lower a couple of options. Roughly 42 fps at 1080p high, with dips into the 30s in busy cities.

Yes. Starfield runs on the RTX 2060 at 1080p low to medium; shave a setting or two and the frame rate settles. About 35 fps at 1080p high, better outdoors than in New Atlantis or Neon.

Not really. The GTX 1660 falls under Starfield's minimum card, so you are looking at very low settings and low frame rates, if it starts at all.

Not really. The GTX 1660 Super falls under Starfield's minimum card, so you are looking at very low settings and low frame rates, if it starts at all. Around 36 fps at 1080p on high settings, clearing the minimum with a bit of headroom.

Fine for a lighter setup. The RX 6600 clears Starfield's minimum, so target 1080p low to medium and adjust down for a steady rate. Roughly 45 fps at 1080p high, competitive with Nvidia cards a tier above it in price.

Not really. The GTX 1660 Ti falls under Starfield's minimum card, so you are looking at very low settings and low frame rates, if it starts at all.

The RTX 3060 Ti gets you in. It meets Starfield's minimum, so low to medium at 1080p works, and turning a couple of things down keeps it steady. Around 48 fps at 1080p high, a comfortable step above the RTX 3060.

Good enough to play. The RTX 4050 sits at Starfield's minimum, so expect 1080p low to medium and a bit of tuning for smoothness.

It is under the bar. The GTX 1050 Ti does not meet Starfield's minimum, so any play would be very low settings with weak performance.

You are well set. The RTX 4070 exceeds Starfield's recommended card, so 1080p high is easy and 1440p is realistic. About 61 fps at 1080p and 48 fps at 1440p, both on high settings.

Bethesda has never built a Mac client, M-series chip included, so a MacBook is out on its own. GeForce Now is the workaround worth using, since Starfield's cloud app runs on Mac; an unofficial Windows layer is the fallback, and a shaky one for something this CPU-heavy.

Chromebook hardware was never in the running for a game this demanding, so GeForce Now cloud streaming, which does support Starfield, is the practical path.

It runs, but it's one of the tougher games these handhelds handle. Valve rates it Playable rather than Verified on Steam Deck, and real-world performance sits around 20 to 30 fps with everything on Low, FSR2 turned on, and the refresh rate capped to 30. The ROG Ally and Legion Go, with a bit more power, land in a similar range with the same kind of settings tuning.

You'll want an RTX 4090 or similarly high-end card, and even then expect to lean on DLSS or FSR to hold a steady frame rate, since native 4K pushes even flagship GPUs into the 50s and 60s rather than triple digits.

An RTX 4070 or RX 6800 XT class card gets you a comfortable 1440p experience outside cities, roughly in the high 40s to 40s on high settings. Cities will still pull that number down regardless of GPU strength.

An RX 6800 XT or RTX 4070 class card holds close to 60 fps at 1080p high in open areas. Hitting 60 in cities like New Atlantis needs a strong CPU as much as a strong GPU, since that's where the bottleneck shifts to the processor.

An RTX 4070 or better handles 1080p on max settings well, and an RTX 4090 is really the card built for 1440p or 4K at max. The CPU-bound slowdown in cities happens regardless of your settings level, so maxing out graphics options won't fix that particular issue.

Yes. Starfield is on GeForce Now, though it wasn't there at launch. Priority members get up to 1080p at 60 fps, and Ultimate members can stream up to 4K at 120 fps on Nvidia's higher-end cloud hardware, as long as you own the game on Steam or have it through PC Game Pass.

No. Intel's older HD Graphics and UHD Graphics chips sit far below Starfield's minimum GPU tier, and the launcher blocks the game from starting on them rather than just running it badly.

No. Iris Xe is a real step up from Intel's older integrated chips, but it is still well short of the GTX 1070 Ti or RX 5700 minimum, and Starfield checks for that specifically before it lets you in.

No. Both handle light gaming reasonably well, but neither comes close to Starfield's Radeon RX 5700 minimum. You will hit the same graphics card does not meet minimum requirements block that any card below that line triggers.

No. Starfield needs a dedicated GPU at or above a GTX 1070 Ti or RX 5700, and it will not launch on a system running only onboard or integrated graphics. There is no workaround for this short of adding a real graphics card.

Yes, both, and it's a day-one Xbox Game Pass title. Xbox Series X got a proper 60 fps mode in a May 2024 update, letting you pick between 30, 40, 60, or uncapped frame rate targets and prioritize visuals or performance. Xbox Series S didn't get those extra options and stays closer to a fixed 30 fps.

Yes, as of April 2026. Bethesda brought Starfield to PS5 with the same kind of frame rate choices as Xbox Series X, including a 4K visuals mode around 30 fps and a performance mode targeting 60 fps, plus extra enhancements on PS5 Pro. Reviewers generally found the port well built given how much the game had already been patched by the time it arrived.

No. Starfield has never been released for PS4. It's on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and PS5 only.

There's no Starfield on the original Switch, and none is planned. A Switch 2 version has been rumored through leaks and a ratings-board listing, but Bethesda hasn't officially confirmed it, so nothing about a Switch 2 release is certain yet.

At the bare minimum of a Radeon RX 5700 or GTX 1070 Ti, a Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i7-6800K, 16GB of RAM, and an SSD, you can play 1080p on low settings around 30 fps outside cities. Below that GPU tier, the game won't launch at all rather than just running poorly.

It's risky. Starfield's official minimum CPUs, a Ryzen 5 2600X or Core i7-6800K, are both six-core parts, and testing shows even six-core CPUs get maxed out in cities. A quad-core i3 or Ryzen 3 is likely to bottleneck hard in New Atlantis and Neon regardless of how good your graphics card is.

A card under the GTX 1070 Ti or RX 5700 floor blocks the game outright, and that is the first thing to rule out. Beyond that, a hard drive install instead of an SSD, stale graphics drivers, or under 16GB of RAM cause most of the rest. If a bad driver release is the culprit, rolling back a version or two has fixed crashes for a number of players.

On equivalent settings a strong gaming PC will out-frame an Xbox Series X, but the city-related CPU bottleneck shows up on both platforms, since it comes from how the engine is built rather than from raw hardware power. PC also has the advantage of DLSS, FSR3, and XeSS all being available, where console is limited to FSR.

Proton gets it running, unofficially, and generally well, particularly on AMD hardware close to what the Steam Deck uses. Older Nvidia cards are the exception; they have had launch trouble on Linux specifically, separate from their Windows behavior, so budget extra troubleshooting time there.

No. Starfield was built for Xbox Series X and S only, and Bethesda has never released it for Xbox One. If you are still on an Xbox One, Xbox Series S is the cheapest way to actually play it on console.

Yes, easily on paper, but Starfield is the one game where that does not tell the whole story. At 1080p it runs around 90 fps and around 75 at 1440p, well above the recommended tier. In New Atlantis and Neon the frame rate can still fall into the 50s on this card, because that slowdown comes from the CPU, not the GPU.

Yes, comfortably above the recommended RTX 2080. Expect roughly 52 fps at 1080p on high settings, with the usual dip in busy cities coming from the game's CPU-bound crowds rather than anything the RTX 3070 itself is short on.

Yes. It sits a step above the RTX 4060 at roughly 54 fps on 1080p high, which clears the recommended RTX 2080 tier with room to spare.

Yes. At around 55 fps on 1080p high it lands close to an RTX 4060 Ti in this game, comfortably above Starfield's recommended tier.

Yes. It is literally the Nvidia card Bethesda lists as recommended. Expect around 55 to 60 fps at 1080p on high settings outside cities, with the same CPU-driven dip downtown that every card sees regardless of GPU strength.

Yes. It is Bethesda's official recommended AMD card, and testing puts it around 60 fps at 1080p and 40 fps at 1440p on high settings. AMD cards tend to outperform similarly priced Nvidia cards in Starfield specifically.

Yes, though it sits between the minimum and recommended tiers. Expect somewhere around 40 to 45 fps at 1080p on high settings, with medium settings a safer bet if you want to avoid dips in cities.

No, not officially. Starfield's minimum is a GTX 1070 Ti specifically, and the plain GTX 1070 falls just short of it, which is enough for the launcher's requirements check to block the game. A driver update will not fix this, since it is a performance-tier check rather than a compatibility bug.

Yes, well above the recommended tier. Expect roughly 70 to 75 fps at 1080p on high settings and a comfortable 1440p experience outside cities, with the usual CPU-driven slowdown in New Atlantis and Neon.

Yes, comfortably. It lands around 68 to 72 fps at 1080p on high settings and handles 1440p well, sitting closer to the RTX 4080 than the plain RTX 4070 in this game.

Yes, with plenty of headroom. Figure on roughly 80 fps at 1080p and a strong 1440p result, with 4K becoming realistic once you turn on DLSS. Cities are still the one place even this card can lose frames to the CPU bottleneck.

Yes. Early benchmarks put it in similar territory to an RTX 4070 Ti, roughly 68 to 72 fps at 1080p on high settings, well past Starfield's recommended tier.

Yes, comfortably. It performs close to an RTX 4080 in most testing, so expect somewhere around 78 to 82 fps at 1080p and a strong 1440p result outside cities.

Yes, with room to spare. It is roughly in RTX 4090 territory for raw power, so 1080p and 1440p are non-issues, and even 4K is realistic with DLSS on. The CPU-bound slowdown in cities still applies no matter how strong the card is.

Yes, it is currently the strongest consumer card available, but Starfield will not show its full potential. Outside cities you will comfortably clear 100 fps at 1080p and handle 4K well, but in New Atlantis and Neon the frame rate can still dip, because that bottleneck sits with the CPU, not the graphics card.

Yes. It performs a little above the recommended RX 6800 XT, around 62 to 65 fps at 1080p on high settings, with AMD's usual edge over similarly priced Nvidia cards in this particular game.