Step 2 — Working out whether your computer can run it

Step 2 of 5

A published list of system requirements looks forbidding until you realise it is only four numbers: the processor, the memory, the graphics hardware and the free disk space. This step shows you where those four live on a Windows, macOS or Linux machine, what each one actually governs, and how to read a requirements list without being intimidated by it.

You can do all of this in about ten minutes, without installing anything and without a single purchase. Write the four answers on paper. You will use them again in Step 4.

The four numbers, and what each one does

Before you hunt for them, it helps to know what you are looking at.

Frame rate is the term you will meet most often. It is how many pictures the computer draws each second, written as fps. Thirty is playable, sixty is comfortable, and a fast shooter benefits from more. It is the single most useful measure of whether a machine is coping.

Reading them on Windows

1. Press the Windows key, type About and open About your PC. The processor and the installed memory are listed there, along with whether Windows is 64-bit.
2. Note the processor exactly as written, including the model number. "Intel Core i5" alone tells you almost nothing; "Intel Core i5-10400" tells you the generation, which is what matters.
3. Press the Windows key, type dxdiag and open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Choose the Display tab. The name of the graphics chip and its dedicated memory appear there.
4. Open File Explorer, select This PC, and read the free space under each drive. The drive marked C: is usually where programs install.
5. To find out whether a drive is solid-state, press the Windows key, type Defragment and open Defragment and Optimise Drives. The media type column says either "Solid state drive" or "Hard disk drive".

If any of those tools opens to an unfamiliar screen, nothing is wrong — you are reading, not changing. Close the window when you have the number.

Reading them on macOS

1. Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. The chip or processor, the memory and the macOS version are all on that panel.
2. On recent Apple silicon machines the processor and graphics are the same chip, and the memory is shared between them. That is normal and is not a fault; it simply means the graphics figure is not listed separately.
3. For more detail, hold the Option key and choose System Information from the Apple menu, then look under Graphics/Displays and Storage.
4. Read free space in System Settings under General, then Storage. The bar shows what is occupying the drive.

Also note your macOS version. Game requirements are often written as a minimum version, and an older Mac that cannot be updated past a certain release will be excluded regardless of its other specifications.

Reading them on Linux

Most desktop environments have a settings panel called About or System Details that lists processor, memory and graphics in one place. If you prefer a terminal, four commands cover it.

1. lscpu prints the processor model and core count.
2. free -h prints total and available memory in readable units.
3. lspci | grep -i vga prints the graphics hardware.
4. df -h prints free space for every mounted filesystem; the line for /home or / is the one you want.

On Linux, also note your graphics driver, because it matters more here than on other systems. Your distribution's documentation will tell you whether you are using the open-source driver or the manufacturer's proprietary one, and many games behave quite differently between them.

Comparing your four numbers with a requirements list

Published requirements usually come in two columns, minimum and recommended. They are not a pass mark set by an examiner. They are the vendor's estimate of what is needed to reach a playable frame rate at a modest setting (minimum) and a comfortable one at higher settings (recommended).

Read them like this. If your machine is at or above the recommended column on all four, expect it to be comfortable. If you are between the two columns, expect it to work with reduced settings. If you are below the minimum on memory or storage, those are hard limits and the game will not run properly. If you are below the minimum only on graphics, it may still start but will likely be unpleasant.

Two cautions. First, the processor and graphics names in a requirements list are examples of a performance level, not an exclusive list — a different chip of similar age and class is usually comparable. Second, requirements change. A game that was comfortable two years ago may have grown since, so read the current list on the vendor's own site rather than an older summary elsewhere.

What to do when you fall short

Falling short of a figure is not the end of the exercise. In order of how much they help for how little they cost:

• Free disk space. Empty the recycle bin or trash, remove installers you have already used, and move photo and video libraries to an external drive. This is almost always the cheapest fix and often the only one needed.
• Close what you are not using. A browser with forty tabs open can hold several gigabytes of memory. Closing it before a match is free and measurable.
• Update the graphics driver. The software that drives the graphics chip is updated often, and a current driver can be the difference between a game starting and not starting. Get it from the operating system's update mechanism or the chip maker's own site, never from a third-party "driver updater".
• Lower the settings. Resolution and detail level are adjustable inside the game, and lowering them trades picture quality for a steadier frame rate. Step 4 explains which ones to move first.
• Accept the answer. Sometimes the machine is genuinely too old for a particular title. That is a legitimate result of this step, and it is far better to learn it now than after a sixty-gigabyte download.

Things you do not need to buy to answer this question

Every tool used in this step came with your operating system. You do not need a system scanner, an optimiser, a registry cleaner or a "game booster" to find out what is inside your computer, and programs that advertise themselves that way have a long history of charging for information the machine already displays for nothing.

If you want to check whether a particular program is trustworthy before installing it, the Australian Cyber Security Centre publishes general guidance for individuals and families at cyber.gov.au, and Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au describes the approaches currently being reported in Australia. Neither of them will tell you about a specific game, but both are better starting points than a search result advertisement.

Before you move on

You should now have four figures written down, a note of which drive the game would go on, and a judgement about whether the machine is comfortable, workable or genuinely unsuitable. If it is unsuitable, the honest move is to stop here rather than to spend an afternoon on a download that cannot work.

If it is workable, Step 3 deals with the part that happens before any file is downloaded: making the account and confirming the email address without creating a problem for yourself.

Checklist: Roll call for Step 2

1. 2AI have written down the processor, exactly as the system panel names it, model number included.
2. 2BI have written down the installed memory in gigabytes.
3. 2CI have written down the graphics chip, and whether it is separate or integrated.
4. 2DI have written down the free space on the drive where the game would install.
5. 2EI know whether that drive is solid-state or mechanical.
6. 2FI have noted my operating system and its version.
7. 2GI have read the current requirements from the vendor's own page, not a second-hand summary.
8. 2HI have compared my four figures against both the minimum and the recommended column.
9. 2IIf space is short, I have cleared room rather than assuming the installer will cope.
10. 2JMy graphics driver is current, obtained from the system updater or the chip maker.