Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
- Developer
- Tantalus Media
- Publisher
- Xbox Game Studios
- Released
- 15 October 2020
- Age rating
- PEGI 16
Platforms: PC
Genres: real time strategy rts , strategy
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition completes the celebration of one of the most beloved real-time strategy franchises with remastered graphics and music, all previously released expansions and brand-new content to enjoy for the very first time.
Best gaming PC for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition in 2026
Full buyers guide →Below are the four PC tiers we'd actually recommend for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition today. These are our 2026 hardware picks, not the dated publisher minimums you'll find on Steam.
Budget
1080p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 1TB NVMe SSD
Mid-tier
1440p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
High-end
1440p · 144fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
Enthusiast
4K · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32GB
- RAM
- 64 GB
- Storage
- 4TB NVMe SSD
Official system requirements
These are the minimum and recommended specs as published by Xbox Game Studios on Steam. They tend to be conservative — usually "what ran the game at 1080p when it shipped". For what you should actually buy in 2026, see the tier cards above.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 version 18362.0 / higher | Windows 10 version 18362.0 / higher |
| CPU | Intel i3-2105 @ 3.1GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 973 with an average CPU Passmark score of 1830 or better | Intel i5-3300 @ 3.0GHz or AMD FX-8350 or equivalent with an average CPU Passmark score of 4100 or better |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | GeForce GT 430, Radeon HD 5570, or Intel HD 4400 with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 570 or better @720p | GeForce GTX 980 or Radeon R9 Fury or equivalent with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 9500 or better @1080p |
| Storage | 42 GB | 42 GB |
| DirectX | 11 | 11 |
Verified 16 July 2026 against the Steam store page.
Can your PC run Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
If your CPU is roughly equivalent to Intel i5-3300 @ 3.0GHz and your GPU is at or above GeForce GTX 980, you'll hit recommended settings at 1080p/60. For 1440p or higher, see the tier picks above.
Best gaming PC for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition → · Can I run it?