Elden Ring’s PC Requirements, Explained
FromSoftware has a record of making games that aren’t too technically demanding for PC gamers, so Elden Ring’s PC specs may come as a shock.
With Elden Ring set to release on Feb. 25, FromSoftware has finally announced the recommended and minimum system requirements for those intending to experience the game on PC. Considering that the game will be released on the previous generation of consoles, many were expecting the minimum threshold to be quite accommodating to those running on budget rigs. Unfortunately, it looks as though a number of the specs are a long way from those required for previous games from the developer, and there’s not a huge gap between the minimum and recommended requirements.
For players looking to dial up the in-game settings, 4K resolution, anti-aliasing options, and anisotropic filtering will take huge chunks out of available GPU memory and power here. Confirmation of the specs for Elden Ring will sadly stop many people playing at a reasonable framerate on PC and leave maxing out the graphical settings to a privileged few.
Elden Ring’s CPU Requirements
FromSoftware has said that either Intel’s six-core i5-8400, from the Coffee Lake series of processors, or the AMD Ryzen 3 3300X will be enough to get by as a minimum requirement. These mid-tier processors are far beyond the i3-2100 needed to run Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and are among the highest for any PC game of the last year. Beyond that, the recommended requirements ask for a CPU with significant output, either the i7-8700k or the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X. Both pack six cores and at least 3.80 GHz of clock speed, occupying the upper echelons of mid-tier gaming CPUs.
Elden Ring’s GPU Requirements
The GPU requirements for the game do very little to offset the processing power required from the CPU. Starting with the minimum specs, potential players will need either the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 3GB of VRAM or an AMD Radeon RX 580 with 4GB of VRAM. These are, again, mid-tier graphics cards and far beyond anything FromSoftware games have required in the past.
The recommended specifications go a lot further, asking for a lot more in the way of VRAM across the board. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 are appropriate here, both of which come with a hefty 8GB of video memory. This is far beyond what is usually considered as a bare minimum for running a game. For example, the GTX 1060 (admittedly with more VRAM) is enough to run Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on high settings at 30fps and beyond.
Elden Ring’s RAM and Storage Requirements
It’s in the RAM requirements that there is the greatest disparity between what is needed and what players were expecting. Although 8GB RAM seems to have become the industry standard as a minimum for relatively demanding games, the 12GB that Elden Ring needs puts it in an incredibly exclusive club beyond even games like Control and Microsoft Flight Simulator. Sweet relief from this barrage of difficult news comes only in the form of Elden Ring‘s relatively low storage requirements. Standing at 60GB in a world full of titles that need 70GB or more, this should be the least of players’ worries.
Overall, a lot of the specs above will come as a disappointing shock in the light of the developer’s history of making its games playable for almost everyone. It is unclear whether this comes from poor optimization, FromSoftware playing it on the safe side or the demands of Elden Ring‘s open world. As the main story alone is expected to take 30 hours, it may well be that those who play on both PC and console purchase the game for a platform that is guaranteed to run the game properly.
About The Author
