Last updated: 25 June 2026

Crimson Desert PC System Requirements

Pearl Abyss published official PC performance specs ahead of Crimson Desert's March 2026 launch, covering five distinct hardware tiers from a GTX 1060 minimum all the way up to RTX 5070 Ti Ultra. Regardless of which tier your machine falls into, there are two non-negotiable requirements that apply to every configuration: 16 GB of RAM and a 150 GB SSD. Here is every confirmed spec so you can gauge where your PC sits before you hit install.

01Universal Requirements (All Tiers)

Before diving into per-tier hardware, these requirements apply across the board:

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (version 22H2 or later)
• RAM: 16 GB — the same for every tier, including Ultra
• Storage: 150 GB free space on an SSD; a traditional HDD is not listed as an alternative
• API: DirectX 12 (required across all configurations)
• Audio: Windows-compatible audio device

The SSD-only storage requirement is notable. Pearl Abyss designed Crimson Desert around seamless, load-screen-free open-world transitions, and the sustained sequential read speeds of a solid-state drive are necessary to stream assets quickly enough during fast traversal. Install it on an HDD at your own risk — the game is not officially supported in that configuration.

02All Five Performance Tiers at a Glance

Pearl Abyss published five hardware tiers, each with a stated resolution and frame-rate target. The table below consolidates the officially published specs.

All storage and OS requirements are identical across every tier. Performance figures are based on Pearl Abyss internal testing; actual performance will vary with individual hardware configurations and in-game graphics settings.

03Tier-by-Tier Breakdown

Minimum — Upscaled 1080p at 30 fps

The entry point is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT paired with a Core i5-8500 or Ryzen 5 2600X. This tier delivers 1080p output that is natively rendered at 900p and upscaled, keeping frame rate at 30 fps. If your GPU is older or weaker than a GTX 1060 6 GB, the game is not officially supported.

Low — Native 1080p at 30 fps

A GTX 1660 or RX 6500 XT lifts the render resolution to a full native 1080p while keeping the 30 fps target. The CPU requirement is unchanged from Minimum — a Core i5-8500 or Ryzen 5 2600X remains sufficient at this tier.

Medium — 1080p at 60 fps

Doubling the frame-rate target to 60 fps requires a significant GPU step up. Pearl Abyss specifies an RTX 2080 or RX 6700 XT, with the CPU moving up to a Core i5-11600K or Ryzen 5 5600. This is the most common target for players on mid-generation hardware from 2020–2022, and it also happens to be the minimum spec for a smooth 4K 30 fps experience according to the official tier descriptions.

High — 1440p at 60 fps

Stepping to 1440p at 60 fps calls for an RTX 4070 or RX 7700 XT on the GPU side, with the CPU moving to a Core i5-12600K or Ryzen 5 7600X. This tier represents a current-generation mid-range rig and is likely the sweet spot for most dedicated PC players who own a 1440p monitor.

Ultra — 4K at 60 fps

The top tier requires an RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT — both very recent flagship-adjacent GPUs — alongside a Core i7-13700K or Ryzen 7 7700X. Hitting 4K 60 fps with maximum graphical fidelity in an open world of this scale is genuinely demanding, and the hardware Pearl Abyss specifies reflects that. If you have an RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX, those cards will comfortably exceed the Ultra tier target.

04GPU Generation Comparison

One useful way to read the five tiers is by GPU generation. The table below maps each tier's GPU requirement to its approximate release year and VRAM, so you can quickly see where your card lands.

The jump from Medium to High is the steepest GPU leap in the tier list — going from an RTX 2080 to an RTX 4070 to gain 1440p 60 fps. If you are on an RTX 3070 or RX 6800, you likely sit between Medium and High; expect native 1440p performance somewhere between 40–55 fps depending on scene complexity. These mid-tier interpolations are not officially confirmed by Pearl Abyss.

05Intel Arc and Other Considerations

Intel Arc GPUs are not listed in the official requirement tiers. As of the March 2026 launch, Crimson Desert was reported to launch and run on Intel Arc hardware, but Pearl Abyss had not fully optimised for Arc's driver stack. Performance on Arc cards was variable at launch. Check current driver release notes and community benchmarks for the most up-to-date Arc compatibility picture.

The PC version ships with Denuvo DRM. This has no impact on the hardware tier you need but is worth knowing if DRM is a consideration for your purchasing decision.

Upscaling support (DLSS, FSR, or XeSS) has not been detailed in the official tier specifications published by Pearl Abyss. It is reasonable to expect upscaling support given the scope of the game, but this is not officially confirmed as of this writing.