How do I check if my PC meets game requirements?

To check whether your PC meets a game’s system requirements, identify your exact CPU, graphics card, VRAM, RAM, Windows version and free storage, then compare each item with the game’s minimum and recommended specifications. Your PC qualifies only if every mandatory component meets or exceeds the relevant requirement.

How do I compare my PC with game requirements?

Record the published requirements and your computer’s specifications side by side, using exact model names rather than broad labels such as Core i7 or GeForce.

1. Use the correct requirements. Check the requirements for the exact Windows game, edition and release you intend to run. A remaster, sequel, VR mode or high-resolution texture pack may have different demands from the base game.
2. Find your CPU, RAM and Windows details. Open Windows Settings, select System and then About. Record the processor’s full model name, installed RAM, Windows edition and whether the operating system is 64-bit.
3. Identify the graphics card and VRAM. Open Task Manager and select Performance, then GPU. Record the exact GPU model and its dedicated GPU memory. If two GPUs appear, one may be integrated graphics and the other a dedicated card.
4. Confirm graphics feature support. Press Win + R, enter dxdiag and inspect the Display tabs. The DirectX version shown on the System tab can describe the installed software runtime; the Display tab’s feature levels are a better indication of what the GPU itself supports.
5. Check free storage. Open This PC in File Explorer and inspect the intended drive. Compare free space, not the drive’s total capacity. Leave additional room for unpacking, patches, caches and saved data.
6. Compare every line. Passing the CPU and RAM requirements does not compensate for an unsupported GPU or insufficient VRAM. The weakest mandatory component determines the result.

Flight simulators need extra caution because scenery, aircraft, traffic and add-ons can exceed the base program’s demands. Our component-by-component Prepar3D requirements walkthrough shows how those workloads affect the hardware comparison.

What do minimum and recommended requirements mean?

Minimum, recommended and ideal requirements represent different performance targets, but publishers do not follow one universal standard.

• Below minimum: the game may fail to start, reject an unsupported feature or run too poorly to be useful. Launching successfully does not mean the configuration is supported.
• Minimum only: expect compromises in resolution, image quality, frame rate or simulation complexity. There may be little capacity for background applications or add-ons.
• Recommended: this is the safer baseline, but it is not a promise of maximum settings or a fixed frame rate. Check what resolution and graphics preset the recommendation assumes, if stated.
• High resolution and VR: 1440p, 4K, ultrawide monitors and VR normally require more GPU performance and VRAM than a basic recommended specification.

For an example of how the target display changes the answer, see our comparison of minimum, recommended and ideal MSFS 2024 hardware tiers, including higher-resolution and VR use.

What if my CPU or GPU has a different name?

A differently named component can still qualify, but model numbers alone cannot establish equivalence across manufacturers, generations or desktop and laptop versions.

• Check the complete model name. Core i7, Ryzen 7 and GeForce RTX describe product families, not a specific level of performance.
• Do not compare by age alone. A newer entry-level GPU can remain slower than an older high-end model, while a newer CPU may outperform an older chip despite having fewer cores.
• Treat laptop parts separately. Mobile CPUs and GPUs can perform differently from similarly named desktop parts. Laptop power limits and cooling also affect sustained performance.
• Check capability as well as speed. A GPU may be fast enough in theory but still lack the required graphics feature, driver support or dedicated VRAM.
• Use title-specific evidence when the match is unclear. A benchmark for the same game, resolution and graphics settings is more useful than a single general performance score.

Integrated graphics deserve particular care. Shared memory figures can look large, but they do not turn an integrated GPU into a dedicated graphics card with the same amount of VRAM.

Why can a compatible PC still run the game poorly?

Meeting the listed requirements does not guarantee smooth performance because resolution, settings, cooling, drivers, background software and game modifications can change the workload.

• The game is using the integrated GPU: select the high-performance graphics processor in Windows graphics settings or the GPU control software.
• The resolution is too demanding: reduce output resolution, render scale, anti-aliasing or other GPU-heavy settings.
• VRAM is exhausted: lower texture quality, terrain detail or resolution and remove high-resolution texture modifications.
• The CPU is the limit: reduce settings such as AI traffic, object density, simulation complexity or view distance where the game provides them.
• The laptop is power- or temperature-limited: use mains power, an appropriate performance mode and unobstructed cooling.
• Storage or memory is overloaded: close unnecessary applications, preserve free SSD space and check whether add-ons have pushed usage beyond the original requirements.

If a game passes the requirements check but still stutters, the next task is identifying the limiting component. Our guide to finding a CPU, GPU, RAM, VRAM or storage bottleneck explains that diagnosis using a demanding simulator as the example.