Step 2 of 5
Working out whether your computer will run it
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that costs the most time when it goes wrong. Twenty minutes of checking now saves an evening spent on a download that will never start.
The operating system comes first
Your operating system is the software your whole computer runs on: Windows, macOS on an Apple computer, or one of the Linux distributions. Before any other question about speed or memory, a game either supports your operating system or it does not, and no amount of hardware fixes a mismatch.
This matters more for PC games than people expect. Publishers decide which systems to support based on what they are willing to build and maintain, and many online games support Windows only, or Windows and Linux. Crossout is an example of the second case: its vendor states that the game runs on desktop Windows and Linux, and that macOS is not supported. If the household computer is a Mac, that is the end of the enquiry for that title, and it is far better to learn it in the first five minutes than after a long download.
The word "desktop" in that sentence is doing work as well. A requirement written for desktop operating systems is not a statement about phones or tablets, which run entirely different software even when the brand name looks similar.
The first question, every time
Does this game support the operating system on the machine I actually intend to use? Not the one in the house, not the one at work — the one that will run it.
How to find your own specifications
"Specifications", usually shortened to "specs", means the list of components inside your computer and the version of the system software running on it. You do not need to open the case or know anything about hardware; the computer will tell you if you ask.
Finding your specifications on Windows
- Press the Windows key on the keyboard and type the word
system. - Choose the entry called "System Information" or, on recent versions, open Settings and then the System section followed by About.
- Write down four things: the edition and version of Windows, whether it is 64-bit, the processor name as it appears in full, and the amount of installed RAM in gigabytes.
- For the graphics card, press the Windows key, type
dxdiag, open the tool it offers, and look at the Display tab. Write down the name of the display adapter and how much memory it reports. - Keep that note. You will use it for every game you ever consider, not just this one.
Finding your specifications on Linux
- Open your desktop environment's settings application and look for an "About" or "Details" panel. Most distributions show the distribution name and version, the processor, the memory and the graphics driver there.
- If you prefer a terminal, the commands
lscpu,free -handlspci | grep -i vgareport the processor, the memory and the graphics hardware respectively. - Note your distribution and its version number as well as the hardware. Publishers that support Linux usually name the distributions they have tested.
Both lists take about five minutes. The result is a short note you will reuse indefinitely, because hardware changes far less often than the games you might try.
Reading a requirements list
Nearly every PC game publishes two columns: minimum and recommended. They are not two opinions about the same thing.
Minimum is the publisher's statement that the game will start and run on this hardware. It is not a promise about how it will feel. A game at minimum specification often runs at a low frame rate and with visual settings turned down, which is perfectly playable for some people and unpleasant for others.
Recommended is the publisher's estimate of hardware that gives a comfortable experience at ordinary settings. It is a softer claim, and publishers define "comfortable" differently, so treat it as a rough signal rather than a threshold.
| If your machine is… | What that generally means |
|---|---|
| Below minimum in any single line | Treat the game as unsupported. One line below minimum is enough, and it is usually the graphics card or the operating system. |
| At or just above minimum | It should start. Expect to reduce visual settings, and expect the opening experience to be rougher than videos of the game suggest. |
| Between minimum and recommended | The common case. Most people spend ten minutes adjusting settings and then stop thinking about it. |
| At or above recommended | Hardware is unlikely to be what limits your enjoyment. |
One more habit: read the requirements on the vendor's own site, and read today's version. Online games are updated continually, and a requirements list copied onto a third-party page two years ago may describe a build that no longer exists.
Visit the Crossout website Paid affiliate link. This publisher is paid a commission if you create and confirm an account after following it. Nothing on this page was written because of that arrangement, and your cost is unaffected.
What each part actually does
You do not need to understand computer hardware to follow a requirements list, but four words recur and are worth twenty seconds each.
The processor, or CPU, does the general calculation: physics, game rules, what the other players are doing. In an online game with many participants it matters more than beginners expect.
The graphics card, or GPU, draws the picture. It is the component most often responsible for a game refusing to start or running badly, and it is the line to check first in any requirements list.
RAM is short-term working memory. Too little and the computer constantly shuffles data to and from storage, which feels like stuttering rather than slowness.
Storage is the permanent disk, measured in gigabytes. A solid-state drive loads a game noticeably faster than an older mechanical drive, which in an online game mostly affects how long you wait between matches.
Storage, connection and data
Two practical constraints get overlooked. The first is disk space. An online game's client is often several gigabytes and grows with updates, so leaving only exactly enough space is a recipe for a failed update in three months. Check what is free before you begin, not during.
The second is your internet connection. An online game needs a connection that stays up for the length of a session, and it will use data every minute you play as well as for the initial client download. If your household is on a plan with a monthly data allowance, or on a mobile connection, work out roughly what a multi-gigabyte download leaves you with. This is an ordinary household budgeting question, not a technical one.
Latency — the delay between your computer and the game's servers — also shapes how an online game feels in Australia, because servers are often located overseas. Publishers rarely publish figures for this, and we are not going to invent any. The practical approach is to try the game and judge for yourself, which is what Step 5 is about.
A household working through it
Worked example (a hypothetical household)
Two adults and one teenager share a desktop computer in the living room. Nobody knows what is inside it. They follow the Windows list above and write five lines on a sticky note: the Windows edition and version, 64-bit, the processor name, 16 GB of RAM, and the display adapter name from the diagnostic tool.
They then open the requirements page on the vendor's own site for the game the teenager wants to try. The operating system line matches. The graphics line is between the minimum and the recommended entry. Free disk space is 40 GB, which is comfortable. Their internet plan has an allowance, and about two-thirds of this month's is left.
Their conclusion is not "yes" or "no" but something more useful: it will run, settings will need lowering, and the download is better done at a time when nobody else needs the connection. Total time spent: eighteen minutes, once, for a note they will reuse.
When you are borderline
If one line falls short, you have three honest options, and none of them involves hoping. You can lower the game's visual settings once it is installed, which often recovers more than people expect. You can decide the title is not for this machine and look at something lighter. Or you can treat the shortfall as a reason to consider a hardware change later, in which case take your written specifications to a repairer or retailer rather than guessing at parts.
What you should not do is seek out unofficial installers, cracked clients or "patches" that claim to remove a hardware requirement. Material distributed that way is a well-known route for malicious software. The Australian Cyber Security Centre publishes free, plain-language guidance on protecting devices and accounts, and is a sensible place to read about this generally. Nothing on this page suggests your own computer is at risk; this is a precaution about where software comes from, not a claim about your machine.
Before you move on
You should now have a written note of your operating system, processor, memory, graphics card and free disk space, and you should be able to compare that note to any requirements list without help. Step 3 moves from the machine to the account.
Checklist for Step 2
- Identify the operating system on the computer you will actually use, including its version.
- Confirm the game's vendor supports that operating system. If it does not, stop here for that title.
- Write down the processor name exactly as the computer reports it.
- Write down the installed memory in gigabytes.
- Write down the graphics card name and its reported memory.
- Check free disk space and leave room for the client plus future updates.
- Open the requirements list on the vendor's own site, not a third-party copy.
- Compare your note line by line against the minimum column.
- Check your internet plan's remaining data allowance for the month.
- Pick a time for the download that does not compete with anyone else in the house.
- Keep the note somewhere you will find it next time.
This checklist is also on the All checklists page, which prints cleanly.