Step 2 of 5

Step 2 — Working out whether your desktop computer suits it

A requirements list is only useful if you know what your own machine has. This step walks you through finding six numbers on Windows or macOS, writing them down once, and then reading any published list against them for the rest of your life. It needs no extra software and takes about fifteen minutes.

The six numbers worth knowing

Every published requirements list for a desktop game describes the same handful of things. If you record your own values once, on paper or in a note, you never have to go looking again until you change computers.

The six values and why each one matters
Value	What it is	Why it matters
Operating system and version	Windows 10, Windows 11, or a named macOS version.	A client built for one will not run on another. This is the first thing that rules a title in or out.
Processor	The chip's maker, family and model, for example an Intel Core i5 of a stated generation, or an Apple silicon chip.	Requirements lists name a comparable chip; yours is either newer, similar or older.
Memory (RAM)	A figure in gigabytes, commonly 8, 16 or 32.	Too little memory shows up as stuttering and long loading, not as a refusal to start.
Graphics	The name of the graphics chip or card, and how much memory it has.	This is the value that most often decides whether a game looks smooth or not.
Free disk space	Gigabytes free on the drive you would install to, not the drive's total size.	Large clients need their stated size plus working room, and they grow.
Screen resolution	The pixel dimensions your display is set to, such as 1920 × 1080.	A higher resolution asks more of the graphics chip. Lowering it is the easiest performance adjustment there is.

Finding them on Windows

Nothing below installs anything or changes a setting. Every panel named here is part of Windows.

Open Settings. Press the Windows key, type Settings, and open it. Alternatively, right-click the Start button and choose Settings.
Read the system summary. Go to System, then About. The page names the edition and version of Windows, the processor, and the installed memory. Write all three down exactly as they appear, including the version number.
Check free disk space. Still in System, open Storage. It lists each drive with the space used and the space free. Note the free figure for the drive you would install to — usually C.
Find the graphics chip. Go to System, then Display, then Advanced display. The display information panel names the graphics adapter. If you prefer, press the Windows key, type dxdiag, open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, and read the Display tab, which also shows the adapter's memory.
Note the resolution. The Display page shows the current resolution and marks the recommended one. Record what it is actually set to.
Check for pending updates. Under Windows Update, apply anything outstanding before testing a new game. The Australian Cyber Security Centre, the federal government's cyber security agency, publishes general advice that treats keeping software updated as one of the basic protections for a home computer, and it also avoids chasing faults that a pending update would have fixed.

Finding them on macOS

Open the Apple menu at the top left of the screen and choose About This Mac.
Read the summary. It names the macOS version, the chip or processor, and the memory. Write them down as shown.
Open More Info or System Report from the same panel for the detail, including the graphics section, which names the chip and, on machines that have one, its dedicated memory.
Check free space. In System Settings, open General, then Storage. The bar shows what is used and what remains on the startup disk.
Note the resolution. In System Settings, open Displays. The current scaled resolution is shown there.
Check for updates. System Settings, General, Software Update. Apply what is pending before you test anything new.

One macOS-specific point is worth knowing: Macs have used two different kinds of processor in recent years, Intel chips and Apple's own silicon. Some games are built for one, some for both. A requirements list that names only Intel Macs may not be a complete answer for a newer machine, and the vendor's own support pages are the place to confirm it.

Reading a requirements list honestly

A published requirements list is a statement by the publisher about the conditions under which it expects the game to run. It is not a promise, and it is not a benchmark. Read it as a rough boundary.

Compare line by line rather than forming an overall impression. Your operating system against theirs. Your memory figure against theirs. Your free space against theirs, with room to spare. Where a processor or graphics chip is named and yours is different, the honest answer is often "I cannot tell from this alone" — and that is a perfectly good answer that leads to the next move, which is to look for the vendor's own support documentation rather than to assume.

We do not publish requirements figures for any specific title on this site, including the example used throughout the course. The vendor does not state them in the material behind our affiliate link, and inventing plausible numbers would be worse than useless. For the example title, as for any other, the requirements are on the vendor's own website.

Visit the World of Warships website Paid link. A commission is paid to Pure Stanza if an account is created and activated after following it. The hardware advice above is the same whether you follow it or not. How this site is funded.

Minimum, recommended, and what sits between

Most lists give two columns. The minimum column describes what the publisher believes is needed for the game to function at all, usually at low settings and a modest resolution. The recommended column describes what it believes gives a comfortable experience at higher settings.

A useful way to read them: minimum means "it should start"; recommended means "you should not have to think about it". Between the two is a wide band where a game runs but asks you to lower settings, and most ordinary household computers sit somewhere in that band.

Sitting near the minimum

Costs nothing to try.
Lower settings and a lower resolution usually help a great deal.
Long loading and occasional stutter are the normal symptoms.
You learn quickly whether the game interests you at all.

Against that

A poor first impression may be the computer, not the game.
Competitive modes are less forgiving of stutter.
Disk space pressure can affect the whole machine, not just the game.
Diagnosing problems takes patience you may not want to spend.

Your internet connection

Online games care less about raw download speed than people assume and more about consistency. Two things matter.

The first is the size of the initial download against your plan. If your plan has a monthly allowance, a client of several tens of gigabytes is a noticeable share of it. Check the allowance before you start, not halfway through.

The second is latency — the delay between your computer and the game's servers, usually reported in milliseconds. Players in Australia connecting to servers hosted a long way away will see a higher figure than players near them, which is one reason publishers run regional servers. The game itself will normally show you your latency once you are in; there is nothing to check in advance beyond knowing the word.

A wired connection is steadier than wireless. If the computer is near the router, a cable is the single cheapest improvement available.

If the machine is borderline

You have more options than "buy a new computer".

Free up disk space first. Removing things you no longer use is free and often solves the only hard blocker.
Lower the resolution and the graphics settings before judging performance.
Close other programs. A browser with many tabs open competes for the same memory.
Plug in a laptop. Many laptops deliberately reduce performance on battery.
Accept that some titles will not suit the machine, and that this is information rather than failure.

What is not worth doing is installing a third-party "optimiser" or "booster" that promises to make games run faster. Advice about downloading software only from the maker's own site applies here too, and Step 4 covers it.

A worked example

Hypothetical — not a real household

The invented two-person household from the homepage sits down with a notepad. Ten minutes later they have: Windows 11, a mid-range processor from a few years ago, 8 GB of memory, an onboard graphics chip, 60 GB free on the system drive, and a 1920 × 1080 display. No judgement yet — just six lines.

Those six lines now do work. A title asking for 16 GB of memory is doubtful. A title asking for 100 GB of disk space is out until they clear space. A title whose minimum column looks close to what they have is worth reading further about. They have not downloaded anything, and they have already avoided two disappointments.

Before you move on

You should have six values written down somewhere you can find again, and a sense of whether your machine sits below, near or above the kind of figures a large modern game asks for. If the free disk space figure is small, deal with that before Step 4, because it is the one that stops an installation outright rather than merely slowing it.

Step 2 checklist

Checklist — knowing your machine

Write down the operating system and its exact version number.
Write down the processor as the system panel names it.
Write down the installed memory in gigabytes.
Write down the graphics chip or card, and its memory if shown.
Write down the free space on the drive you would install to.
Write down the current screen resolution.
Apply any pending operating system updates.
Check your internet plan's monthly data allowance, if it has one.
Decide whether a wired connection is practical for this computer.
Clear disk space now if the free figure is below about 100 GB.
Keep the six values somewhere you will find them again.