Unofficial fan guide
PC check
Will Star Citizen
run on my PC?
Pick your components and the PC check compares them with RSI’s requirements and real benchmarks. You’ll know whether the game starts, whether it’s fun – and which part is holding you back.
Your starting bonus
50,000 UEC
In-game currency for your start – with the Stonehearst code when you create your RSI account.
- Click the sign-up button – the code is already filled in.
- Create your RSI account – that is when you get the bonus.
- Choose a game package and take off.
Referral link: If you buy a package worth 40 USD or more after signing up with our code, we receive a referral point at RSI. Your bonus does not depend on it. Forgot the code? According to RSI you can add it up to 24 hours after creating your account: Referral FAQ at RSI ↗
Data window · System check
Will my PC run it?
Pick your components. The nav computer checks them against RSI’s requirements and against measurements by PC Games Hardware, and shows you where the bottleneck is. Windows tells you what is inside your PC: press Windows + R and enter “dxdiag”.
Diagnostic log
- Ready. Pick your components and run diagnostics.
RSI requirements at a glance
Figures from the RSI help centre, checked November 1, 2026. macOS and Linux are not supported.
it runs it's fun runs really smoothly. “Optimal” is not an RSI figure but our experience from the crew and the community – Star Citizen benefits most from a fast processor and enough memory. The package page in the RSI store partly still lists older, lower figures – the current help article in the RSI “First Steps” section ↗ is what counts.
Based on: RSI minimum requirements ↗ (checked November 1, 2026), the PC Games Hardware CPU test ↗ with 30 processors (Alpha 4.7.2, May 2026) and community recommendations. Processors without a measurement of their own are estimated from the closest measured model; if the estimate lands just above a tier boundary, we use the lower tier. The “Optimal” tier is not an RSI figure but our own experience. No guarantee – frame rates also depend on server, location and player count.
Transmission · Ivo Brenner
“Give me your numbers and I’ll tell you where it’s stuck.”
PC questions
Frequently asked questions
What are the minimum requirements for Star Citizen?
According to the RSI help centre (checked November 1, 2026): Windows 10 (64-bit, up to date), a quad-core CPU with AVX, AVX2 and FMA3 (Intel i7 Haswell or newer, AMD Excavator or newer), 16 GB of RAM, a graphics card with DirectX 11.1, Vulkan 1.2 and 4 GB of VRAM (e.g. GTX 1060, RX 460, Arc A380), and 150 GB free on an SSD plus 10 GB of SSD space for the page file. RSI recommends 32 GB of RAM and a DirectX 12 card with 8 GB.
Do I need an SSD?
Yes. RSI requires an SSD. On a hard disk the game loads so slowly that the fun is gone before you reach the cockpit. A SATA SSD is enough; an NVMe SSD loads faster and streams more smoothly.
Is 16 GB of RAM enough?
To get started, yes – 16 GB is RSI’s minimum. But the game keeps reloading data. 32 GB is the upgrade you will notice most.
Does Star Citizen run on Mac or Linux?
No, RSI only supports Windows. On a Mac with an Intel processor you can install Windows via Boot Camp; on Macs with an Apple chip you can’t. On Linux the game only runs unofficially via Wine/Lutris – no guarantees, updates can break it again.
What helps most when the game stutters?
In cities and busy stations Star Citizen runs almost everything on the processor – that is where an upgrade pays off most, ideally a CPU with 3D V-Cache. If the graphics card is the bottleneck, lower the resolution or details or switch on upscaling. Even fast PCs see the occasional stutter in the alpha; some of it is down to the server.
How do I find out what is inside my PC?
Press Windows + R, enter “dxdiag” and confirm. The first tab shows your processor and memory, the “Display” tab your graphics card.