Real World Minimum Hardware Specs

[Gunthrek]

Greetings!

I bought into Star Citizen back when if first came out, but stopped playing due to lack of content and performance issues.  There still seems to be issues in the performance department, unless my system just isn't up to snuff for the game.  I turned every setting all the way down, and I still struggle to get smooth gameplay, especially in the settlements. 

I have the following hardware:

1. CPU: Intel Core i7 9700k (AIO water cooled)

2. Motherboard:  Asus Prime Z390-A

3. RAM:  32 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3200MHz

4. Graphics:  RTX 2060 Super

5. Hard Drive:  NVMe Gen 4 x4

6. OS: Windows 11 (all updates installed)

Is my system just really out of date already, or is there something else going on here?  Do you still need ridiculous hardware just to run the game at low to medium settings?

 

[Porcupine]

I'm afraid lack of content is not something expected to change in the next few decades; as for performance, we really need to clarify what constitutes "up to snuff" because while you can achieve ~30FPS with a 4-core rig and an RX480, if you're shooting for 120FPS you'll need tech that doesn't fucking exist yet.

[Chimaera]

On 12/7/2022 at 3:18 PM, Gunthrek said:

1. CPU: Intel Core i7 9700k (AIO water cooled)

2. Motherboard:  Asus Prime Z390-A

3. RAM:  32 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3200MHz

4. Graphics:  RTX 2060 Super

5. Hard Drive:  NVMe Gen 4 x4

6. OS: Windows 11 (all updates installed)

I am running an i7-9700k rig with a similar board (MSI version). I have 64 gig RAM and a 3080ti installed and Star Citizen runs like butter. It seems to me the only thing lacking on your current rig for it to run well would be an updated/better video card. Before my 3080ti I was running it on a 2080ti and when I upgraded the card I saw a very good performance increase. 

That said, I also run this on a laptop with a higher core type (can't remember offhand) 32 gig RAM and a 2070 laptop card and it handles it very well on medium settings. I think you'll be fine if you don't crank the settings too high and don't mind stutter/frame drops in certain planetary settings. In space and on moons you should be fine.

[Danakar Endeel]

Looks like your GPU may be what's holding you back. The RTX 2060 Super sits below the 1080TI (which I used since 2018) and as such I suspect that this is what is giving you lower results.

However, if things are still playable for you I would not upgrade it. The game is far from optimized and it will still take some time (read: years) before we can even think of a release candidate. Also with the current market of ridiculously overpriced videocards I would just wait.

Lastly, I'm not sure if there's any truth to this but apparently lowering your settings simply results in everything getting offloaded to your CPU instead of your GPU. I just kept everything at High and while I do get the occasional lag or stutter; it's not something that bothers me all that much considering we're playing alpha builds.

Once SQ42 gets an actual release date would be the time for me to start thinking of either upgrading or getting a new PC.