Brief 05-2Step 2 of 5

Step 2 — Working out whether your desktop can run one

This is the step that saves people the most time. In about fifteen minutes you can read your own machine's specifications off the screen, compare them against a published requirements table, and know whether to continue — instead of downloading twenty gigabytes to find out.

What a requirements table is telling you

Every publisher puts a system requirements table on their site, usually with two columns: minimum and recommended. Both are claims by the publisher about their own software, not independent measurements, and both are rougher than they look.

The minimum column means, roughly, "below this the program may refuse to start, or will run so poorly that we do not want to hear about it". It is not a promise of an enjoyable session. The recommended column means "this is what we were aiming at", and usually implies a particular screen resolution and picture quality that the table may or may not name. If the table does not say which resolution the recommendation assumes, treat the whole thing as approximate, because it is.

There is no official standard behind either column. No Australian or international body certifies them. That is why this step teaches you to find your own numbers rather than to trust a badge.

The five numbers that matter

Operating system and version. A game may require a particular version or newer. On a machine that has not been updated in years, this is the first thing that rules it out. Keeping the operating system updated is also the single most repeated piece of advice from the Australian Cyber Security Centre, so it is worth doing regardless.

Processor, or CPU. The general-purpose chip. In this category it handles the simulation, the physics and the work of talking to the server. You want its full model name, not just the brand.

Graphics, or GPU. The chip that draws the picture. This is the number that most often decides whether a game in this category is pleasant or unbearable. Many laptops have "integrated" graphics, which means the drawing is done by a part of the processor rather than by a separate card; integrated graphics are much weaker, and plenty of games in this category list a separate card in their recommended column.

Memory, or RAM. Measured in gigabytes. Too little and the machine will stutter as it shuffles data back and forth with the disk.

Free storage. Clients in this category are large, and they grow with each update. Whatever the table says, assume you will want noticeably more free space than the figure printed, because an update has to download before it can replace what it is updating.

Finding them on Windows

1. Press the Windows key, type About your PC, and open the result. The page that appears lists the processor name, the installed memory, and the Windows edition and version.
2. Write down the full processor line, including the model number, and the installed RAM figure in gigabytes.
3. Press the Windows key again, type dxdiag, and open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Allow it a few seconds to finish gathering information.
4. Open its Display tab. The name and manufacturer of the graphics chip appear there, along with how much dedicated video memory it has.
5. Open File Explorer and select This PC. The free space on each drive is shown under its name; note the free space on the drive you would install to.

If the Display tab shows a chip whose name contains words such as "Graphics" with no model number, you are probably looking at integrated graphics. Some laptops have both integrated and separate graphics and will show two display tabs; the second one is the stronger chip.

Finding them on macOS

1. Open the Apple menu at the top left of the screen and choose About This Mac.
2. Note the macOS version name and number, the chip or processor line, and the memory figure.
3. From the same window, open the fuller system report. Its Graphics/Displays section names the graphics hardware; its Storage section shows free space.
4. Note whether the machine uses an Apple-designed chip or an Intel processor. Publishers often list these separately, because a game built for one may run on the other only through a translation layer, or not at all.

If a publisher's table names a minimum macOS version newer than yours, check whether your machine can be updated to it before concluding anything. Apple stops offering new macOS versions to older hardware, and that, rather than speed, is often the real blocker.

Finding them on Linux

1. Open a terminal and run lscpu to see the processor model.
2. Run free -h to see total memory in human-readable units.
3. Run lspci | grep -i vga to see the graphics hardware.
4. Run df -h to see free space per filesystem.
5. Note your distribution and release, and which graphics driver is in use — a desktop settings panel usually states this, and publishers sometimes name a minimum driver version rather than a minimum card.

Linux support in this category varies a great deal from title to title. Some publishers build a native client; others expect a compatibility layer; others do not support it at all. Check the publisher's own page rather than a forum post, because this is the detail that changes most often.

Your internet connection, and why distance matters here

For this category, raw download speed matters once — while the client downloads — and then barely matters at all. What matters during a match is latency: how long a message takes to reach the server and come back. A connection with modest speed and low latency will feel better than a very fast one with high latency.

Distance is a real constraint, and it is one Australian players meet more than most. If the nearest server for a game is in another country, every message has to cross an ocean, and no amount of money spent on your connection changes the speed of light. Many publishers list which regions they run servers in; it is worth finding that list before you commit a weekend to downloading.

Two practical notes. A wired connection is generally steadier than Wi-Fi, because Wi-Fi shares the air with everything else in the house. And large downloads are better started when nobody else needs the connection, which in a share house is a negotiation rather than a setting.

Comparing honestly

Now put your numbers beside the table. The honest readings are these.

Reading your result

Below minimum on any line	Treat it as a no for now. Being under on one line is enough; the weakest part sets the pace.
At or just above minimum	It will probably start. Expect to reduce picture quality and resolution, and expect some stutter in busy moments.
Between minimum and recommended	The usual case. Medium settings, generally fine. This is where most ordinary household machines land.
At or above recommended	You can start at the default settings and adjust upwards if you want to.
The table does not mention your operating system	Assume it is unsupported until the publisher says otherwise in writing on their own site.

Resist the temptation to buy hardware at this point. You do not yet know whether you will enjoy the game, and a machine that sits between minimum and recommended will tell you that for nothing.

Before you move on

You should now have five written-down facts about your own machine and a clear reading of them against a published table. If the reading was a no, Step 2 has done its job and saved you a download. If it was a yes or a probably, Step 3 is about making the account — which is where the mistakes become expensive rather than merely annoying.