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Star Citizen system requirements (2026): Minimum and recommended specs

Checked , against RSI Support. RSI last updated its Minimum System Requirements article on . If RSI’s page and this one ever disagree, go with RSI.

RSI supports Star Citizen only on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. At minimum, RSI asks for a quad-core CPU with AVX, AVX2 and FMA3 support (Intel i7 Haswell or later, AMD Excavator or later), 16 GB of RAM, a DirectX 11.1 graphics card with 4 GB of VRAM on a driver that supports Vulkan 1.2, and 150+ GB of free space on an SSD. Everything on this page comes from RSI’s own support articles. We don’t add frame-rate claims of our own.

Two Eclipse stealth bombers fly low over a snowy, mountainous moon, the pilot visible in the red-lit cockpit of the nearer one
Fig. 01Eclipse stealth bombers over the moon Yela · in-game · Image: Cloud Imperium Games / RSI

Minimum and recommended PC specs

RSI publishes two lists: the minimum a PC needs to run Star Citizen, and a recommended spec. Here they are side by side, in RSI’s own terms.

Source: RSI Support, Minimum System Requirements (article 360042417374), updated , and Game and Launcher Requirements (article 360000758928), updated · checked · Alpha 4.10.2
ComponentMinimumRecommended
OSWindows 10 (latest service pack), 64-bitWindows 10 (latest service pack) or Windows 11
CPUQuad core: Intel i7 (Haswell or later), AMD Excavator or laterQuad/eight core: Intel i7 (Haswell or later), AMD Ryzen 5 or later
CPU instructionsAVX, AVX2 and FMA3Same
GraphicsDirectX 11.1 card with 4 GB VRAMDirectX 12 card with 8 GB VRAM
Graphics driverMust support Direct3D 11.1 and Vulkan 1.2Same
Memory16 GB32 GB DDR4
Storage150+ GB SSD required150+ GB SSD required

RSI’s Game and Launcher Requirements article words the minimum operating system as “Windows 10 (64bit, latest Service Pack) or Windows 11”. Under its recommendations, it also asks for an NTFS-formatted install drive.

Can my PC run Star Citizen?

Check your PC against RSI’s minimum. It needs all five of these. Falling short on any one puts it below what RSI lists.

  • Windows: 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11.
  • Processor: quad-core Intel i7 (Haswell or later) or AMD Excavator or later, with AVX, AVX2 and FMA3 support.
  • Memory: 16 GB of RAM.
  • Graphics: a DirectX 11.1 card with 4 GB of VRAM, on a driver that supports Direct3D 11.1 and Vulkan 1.2.
  • Storage: 150+ GB free on an SSD.

Is 16 GB of RAM enough?

It meets RSI’s minimum: 16 GB is the lowest amount RSI lists. RSI’s recommended spec doubles that to 32 GB of DDR4. RSI doesn’t publish frame rates for either amount, and we don’t guess.

What graphics card do I need?

At least a DirectX 11.1 compatible card with 4 GB of VRAM, and its driver matters too. In RSI’s words, “Star Citizen requires a GPU with at least 4GB VRAM and a driver with support for Direct3D 11.1 and Vulkan 1.2.” RSI’s recommended spec is a DirectX 12 card with 8 GB.

As examples of minimum-spec cards, RSI lists the NVIDIA 1060, the AMD RX 5700, RX Vega 56 and RX 460, and the Intel A380 and UHD Graphics 730. RSI doesn’t say which version of the 1060 it means, so check that yours has at least 4 GB of VRAM. RSI also says graphics drivers “must be updated to the latest versions to ensure the best support.”

Does Star Citizen need an SSD?

Yes. Both of RSI’s lists, minimum and recommended, say “150+ GB SSD required”, so a hard drive doesn’t meet the requirement. Leave room beyond that too: RSI’s Game and Launcher Requirements article recommends at least 10 GB of extra SSD space for the Windows pagefile.

Does Star Citizen need AVX or AVX2?

Yes, both, plus FMA3. These are instruction sets built into the processor. RSI’s Game and Launcher Requirements article asks for a “Quad Core CPU with AVX, AVX2, and FMA3 instructions”, and its Minimum System Requirements article says the game “requires a computer with the ability to run AVX, AVX2, and FMA3 instructions”. The oldest processors RSI lists are Intel i7 Haswell and AMD Excavator, so anything older falls below RSI’s minimum.

PC ready?

Next comes the install: here’s how to download Star Citizen. Once you’re in, our beginner’s guide walks you through your first session.

Laptops, handhelds, Mac and Linux

A laptop or a Windows handheld meets RSI’s operating-system requirement if it runs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, and the rest of the table applies to it just as it does to a desktop. Neither macOS nor Linux meets it: RSI says “Star Citizen is not available for macOS or Linux.”

Sources

Every spec on this page comes from these RSI support articles, quoted or summarized in our own words.

RSI Support

Game version