What's the minimum gaming PC for Star Citizen?

AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 8GB and 32GB of RAM hits 1080p/60 on high settings.

Is Star Citizen CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy?

Star Citizen is primarily GPU-bound. Prioritise the graphics card; a mid-range CPU like the Ryzen 5 7600 will keep up at 1080p/60.

Do I need ray tracing for Star Citizen?

Star Citizen does not require ray tracing. Any current-generation GPU will deliver the intended visual experience.

How much RAM do I need?

For Star Citizen, 32GB is the sensible answer in 2026. 16GB still works for the budget tier but limits future-proofing.

← Star Citizen

Best gaming PC for Star Citizen (2026)

For Star Citizen, we'd build the CREATE ZION at £3,693 (RTX 5070 Ti) for high-refresh 1080p, up to the CREATE APOC at £7,164 with RTX 5090 32GB for 4K with everything on. Prefer to build it yourself? The component tiers are further down, where RTX 5050 8GB is the sensible floor.

The PCs we'd actually build for Star Citizen

These are real machines from Create PCs, the UK builder we run, ordered cheapest first, £3,693 to £7,164 depending on the resolution and frame rate you're targeting. Specifications and prices are live, and each link lands on that exact build.

CREATE ZION

Mid-high

£3,693

CPU: Intel 14 Core Ultra 5 245K Unlocked Desktop CPU/Processor
GPU: ASUS ROG STRIX NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti OC Blackwell Graphics Card
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Grey 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 Dual Profile Memory Kit
Storage: Sandisk Black SN850X 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4 NVMe SSD PC/PS5

See this build →

CREATE ORACLE

High-end

£3,405

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8 Core AM5 Zen4 3D V-Cache PCIe 5.0 CPU/Processor
GPU: PALIT NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GamingPro-S Blackwell Graphics Card
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Grey 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 Dual Profile Memory Kit
Storage: WD Black SN8100 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD / Solid State Drive

See this build →

CREATE REDLINE

High-end

£3,514

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8 Core AM5 Zen4 3D V-Cache PCIe 5.0 CPU/Processor
GPU: XFX Radeon RX 7900 XTX Speedster MERC 310 Black 24GB GDDR6 Ray-Tracing Graphics Card, RDNA3, 6144 Streams, 2615MHz Boost
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Grey 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 Dual Profile Memory Kit
Storage: WD Black SN8100 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD / Solid State Drive

See this build →

CREATE CYPHER

High-end

£3,958

CPU: Intel 20 Core Ultra 7 265 Desktop CPU/Processor
GPU: INNO3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 X3 16GB Blackwell Graphics Card
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Grey 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 Dual Profile Memory Kit
Storage: WD Black SN8100 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD / Solid State Drive

See this build →

CREATE MORPHEUS

Flagship

£7,066

CPU: Intel 24 Core Ultra 9 285K Desktop CPU/Processor
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB VENTUS 3X OC Blackwell Graphics Card
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Black 64GB 6000MHz DDR5 Memory Kit
Storage: Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe 2.0 M.2 SSD / Solid State Drive

See this build →

CREATE APOC

Flagship

£7,164

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D 12 Core AM5 CPU/Processor
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB VENTUS 3X OC Blackwell Graphics Card
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Black 64GB 6000MHz DDR5 Memory Kit
Storage: Samsung 9100 PRO 2TB PCIe 5.0 NVMe 2.0 M.2 SSD / Solid State Drive

See this build →

Prices from Create PCs, the UK builder we run, and include VAT. They're the price shown on arrival, not a teaser, but components get repriced, so treat them as current rather than fixed. Custom-built machines start around £2,400; below that a self-build is usually the better answer, and we say so on our budget guides.

What to expect at each resolution

1080p: 100+ fps, High settings; RTX 5060 Ti / RX 9060 XT
1440p: 90 to 120+ fps, High settings; RTX 5070 Ti / RX 9070 XT
4K: 60 to 90+ fps, High settings; RTX 5080 / RTX 5090

Building it yourself: the four tiers for Star Citizen

Custom-built machines start around £2,400. Below that, a self-build is the better answer, so here are the component tiers we'd put together at each level, no assembly service, but far more performance per pound.

Budget

1080p · 50fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 8GB
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 2TB NVMe SSD

Star Citizen is not sold on Steam and publishes no useful requirements, so these tiers come from how the game actually behaves. Two things are non-negotiable at every level: 32GB of RAM and an NVMe drive. The game streams constantly and a SATA SSD produces stutter no GPU can hide. At 1080p expect 40 to 60fps in space and noticeably less in Lorville or Area 18, where the frame rate is set by the CPU and the server, not the card.

Build this at Create PCs →

Mid-tier

1440p · 60fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
RAM: 32 GB
Storage: 2TB NVMe SSD

1440p at around 60fps in open space and the mid 40s in the busiest landing zones. That gap between locations is normal for Star Citizen and is not something you can buy your way out of, because a good deal of it is server-side. A solid choice if you mostly fly and trade.

Build this at Create PCs →

High-end

1440p · 100fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
RAM: 64 GB
Storage: 4TB NVMe SSD

The tier we would actually recommend. Star Citizen is one of the most CPU-bound games in PC gaming, and the 9800X3D's V-Cache lifts the 1% lows in cities more than any GPU upgrade will. 64GB is genuinely useful here rather than indulgent: the game regularly commits well past 32GB with a browser open alongside it.

Build this at Create PCs →

Enthusiast

4K · 90fps

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
RAM: 64 GB
Storage: 4TB NVMe SSD

4K with everything on. Said plainly: Star Citizen remains in alpha, and no hardware fully smooths out a busy server. This buys you the best available experience, not a fixed one. If you are building specifically for Star Citizen, put the money into the CPU and RAM before the GPU.

Build this at Create PCs →

What Star Citizen actually demands from your PC

Star Citizen isn't sold on Steam, so there's no Steam-published requirements table to quote. The picks above are based on real-world performance and comparison with similar titles rather than a publisher spec sheet.

What makes Star Citizen more demanding than its spec sheet suggests: CPU-bound persistent universe. We've factored this into the tier picks above.

GPU-bound title: Framerate scales directly with GPU power. If you have a fixed budget, prioritise the graphics card and accept a mid-range CPU.

What you can skip vs what matters

Worth spending on: GPU first, then a fast NVMe SSD (most modern games benefit from sub-3000MB/s sustained reads), then RAM at the tier amount.
Worth skipping at this budget: RGB lighting, exotic cooling, brand-name PSUs above 850W (unless you're building enthusiast tier), and motherboards with more than 4 M.2 slots.
Don't compromise on: The PSU. A reliable 750W gold-rated unit will outlast two GPU upgrades.

Frequently asked questions

What's the minimum gaming PC for Star Citizen?: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 8GB and 32GB of RAM hits 1080p/60 on high settings.
Is Star Citizen CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy?: Star Citizen is primarily GPU-bound. Prioritise the graphics card; a mid-range CPU like the Ryzen 5 7600 will keep up at 1080p/60.
Do I need ray tracing for Star Citizen?: Star Citizen does not require ray tracing. Any current-generation GPU will deliver the intended visual experience.
How much RAM do I need?: For Star Citizen, 32GB is the sensible answer in 2026. 16GB still works for the budget tier but limits future-proofing.