Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more, all while trying to survive.
Best gaming PC for Subnautica in 2026
Full buyers guide →Below are the four PC tiers we'd actually recommend for Subnautica today. These are our 2026 hardware picks, not the dated publisher minimums you'll find on Steam.
Budget
£7991080p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Storage
- 1TB NVMe SSD
Mid-tier
£1,2991440p · 60fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Super 12GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
High-end
£1,7991440p · 144fps
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Storage
- 2TB NVMe SSD
Enthusiast
£3,4994K · 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 Gearbox Publishing 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 Vista SP2 / newer / 64-bit | Windows Vista SP2 / newer / 64-bit |
| CPU | Intel Haswell 2 cores / 4 threads @ 2.5Ghz or equivalent | Intel Haswell 4 cores / 4 threads @ 3.2Ghz or equivalent |
| RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| GPU | Intel HD 4600 or equivalent - This includes most GPUs scoring greater than 950 points in the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark | Nvidia GTX 550 Ti or equivalent, 2GB VRAM |
| Storage | 20 GB | 20 GB |
| DirectX | 11 | 11 |
Verified 18 May 2026 against the Steam store page.
Can your PC run Subnautica?
If your CPU is roughly equivalent to Intel Haswell 4 cores / 4 threads @ 3.2Ghz and your GPU is at or above Nvidia GTX 550 Ti, you'll hit recommended settings at 1080p/60. For 1440p or higher, see the tier picks above.