Starfield showing an astronaut on an alien planet

Starfield Has Put My Gaming PC on Death Row

All good things must come to an end.

Before the Xbox Showcase, I was only mildly interested in Starfield.  Sure, it looked cool and Bethesda games guarantee you two things: bugs and incredible worlds to explore.  I knew I’d enjoy it, but I wasn’t overly excited for it.

By the end of the Xbox Showcase, Starfield had become the game I’ve been most excited for since Cyberpunk 2077 (don’t bring the hype level down by reminding me how that one ended up).

Starfield showing two spaceships engaging in an intergalactic dogfight.

Sure, it looks a bit rough around the edges, but it looks absolutely gorgeous and the amount of content and level of detail is awe-inspiring.

The problem is, my PC just can’t handle it.

I got my gaming PC way back in 2014.  It is basically as it was when I bought for it, apart from graphics card upgrade: Z87M motherboard, i7 4770k, 16GB of DDR3 RAM and a 1080ti.

Here are the specs for Starfield:

Starfield PC Minimum System Requirements

  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700, NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
  • Storage: SSD, 125 GB available space
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel i5-10600K
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
  • Storage: SSD, 125 GB available space

TL; DR: Save for the graphics card, my PC literally doesn’t meet the minimum specs for Starfield.

 

Starfield showing an astronaut on an alien planet which resembles Mars with a ringed planet in the sky.

This is the first time I have ever wanted to play a game that my PC cannot run.  Red Dead Redemption 2 took some tweaking, but following Hardware Unboxed guide, I was able to get a decent experience.  Likewise, I had to make do with 25-30 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077.  But, they ran, and they were fine.

Starfield, on the other hand, is more likely to resemble a PowerPoint presentation on my PC.

And that sucks.  A lot.

So, now I have a few options.  I have an Xbox Series X, and if visually the Xbox version is the same as “High” settings on the PC, I’ll just play it on my console at 30FPS.  I’ll also be watching to see whether Starfield comes to Nvidia’s Geforce Now, as I’d definitely consider grabbing the 4080 tier if it is added.  Finally, I could consider buying a whole new gaming PC, but, y’know, money.

I’m lucky to have got 10 years out of my gaming PC and I’ve had lots of amazing experiences with it over the years (being able to play VR games is a huge highlight).  But, all good things must come to an end.

Written by John

I'm a 36-year-old gamer, clinging onto the gamepad despite real life responsibilities trying to pull me kicking and screaming away. You can follow me on Twitter: @johnlevelsup.

Current setup: Gaming PC with a 1080 Ti, Xbox Series X, Steam Deck, and retro consoles, on a Gigabyte M32Q monitor, sitting on a Flexispot E7 standing desk.