The purpose of this thread is to help you determine whether your computer's hardware is capable of running SpaceEngine, or to help you choose hardware that is in case you're shopping for a new computer or components. This thread supersedes an older thread (archived here).
Note: the information listed below applies to hardware requirements for version 0.990. Older versions of SE have lower requirements for GPU and VRAM.
GPU and VRAM
By far the most important piece of hardware for determining how well SE will run on your system is your graphics processor (GPU) and its associated dedicated video memory (VRAM). I've made a list below showing all desktop GPUs that should be able to run SE at minimum or recommended levels.
Minimum Requirements:
Nvidia GeForce:
- 500 Series: GTX 560 (2048 MB), GTX 560 Ti (2048 MB or more), GTX 570 (2560 MB), GTX 580 (3072 MB)
- 600 Series: GTX 650 Ti (2048 MB), GTX 660 (2048 MB or more), GTX 660 Ti, GTX 670, GTX 680 (2048 MB), GTX 690
- 700 Series: GTX 750 (2048 MB), GTX 750 Ti (2048 MB or more), GTX 760 (2048 MB or more), GTX 760 Ti, GTX 770 (2048 MB), GTX 780 (3172 MB), GTX 780 Ti
- 900 Series: GT 945A (2 GB), GTX 950, GTX 960
- 10 Series: GT 1030 (GDDR5), GTX 1050, GTX 1050 Ti, GTX 1060 (3 GB)
ATI/AMD Radeon:
- 5000 Series: HD 5850 (2048 MB), HD 5870 (2048 MB), HD 5970 (2048x2 MB)
- 6000 Series: HD 6870 (2048 MB), HD 6930 (2048 MB), HD 6950 (2048 MB), HD 6970, HD 6990
- 7000 Series: HD 7770 (2048 MB), HD 7790 (2048 MB), HD 7850 (2048 MB), HD 7870, HD 7870 XT, HD 7950, HD 7970 (3072 MB), HD 7990
- 8000 Series: HD 8760, HD 8770, HD 8950, HD 8970, HD 8990
- 200 Series: R7 250X (2048 MB), R7 260X (2048 MB), R7 265, R9 270, R9 270X, R9 280, R9 280X, R9 285, R9 285X
- 300 Series: R7 360, R9 360, R7 370, R9 370, R9 370X, R9 380 (2048 MB)
- 400 Series: R7 450, R7 455, RX 460
- 500 Series: RX 540, RX 550, RX 560
Recommended Requirements: *highly recommended (will run SE very well)
Nvidia GeForce:
- 600 Series: GTX 680 (4096 MB)
- 700 Series: GTX 770 (4096 MB), GTX 780 (6144 MB), GTX Titan, GTX Titan Black, GTX Titan Z
- 900 Series: GTX 970, GTX 980, GTX 980 Ti, GTX Titan X
- 10 Series: GTX 1060 (5 GB), GTX 1060 (6 GB), GTX 1070, GTX 1070 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1080 Ti, Titan X, Titan Xp
- Volta Series: Titan V
- 16 Series: GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Super, GTX 1660, GTX 1660 Super, GTX 1660 Ti
- 20 Series: RTX 2060, RTX 2060 Super, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Super, RTX 2080, RTX 2080 Super, RTX 2080 Ti, Titan RTX
- 30 Series: RTX 3070, RTX 3080, RTX 3090
AMD Radeon:
- 7000 Series: HD 7970 (6144 MB), HD 7990 (6144 MB)
- 200 Series: R9 290, R9 290X, R9 295X2
- 300 Series: R9 380 (4096 MB), R9 380X, R9 390, R9 390X, R9 Fury, R9 Nano, R9 Fury X, Pro Duo
- 400 Series: RX 470D, RX 470, RX 480
- 500 Series: RX 570, RX 580 (4 GB), RX 580 (8 GB), RX 590
- Vega Series: RX Vega 56, RX Vega 64, Radeon VII
- 5000 Series: RX 5300, RX 5300 XT, RX 5500, RX 5500 XT (4 GB), RX 5500 XT (8 GB), RX 5600, RX 5600 XT, RX 5700, RX 5700 XT
- 6000 Series: RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, RX 6900 XT
CPU
Regarding CPUs, SpaceEngine is much more flexible. Most desktop-grade CPUs made within the last 8 years or so will be able to meet at least the minimum requirements for SE, though of course it will benefit from faster hardware.
To see if your CPU meets the minimum requirements, go to the link below and change one of the CPUs to the one you have or are thinking about getting. If the difference is 0% or is some percentage in favor of the one you picked, then it meets SE's minimum requirements.
Minimum requirements tester
To see if your CPU meets the recommended requirements, follow the same procedure for the link below.
Recommended requirements tester
RAM
The requirements for your computer's RAM are even simpler: if it has at least 4 GB of RAM, then it meets minimum requirements. If it has at least 8 GB of RAM, then it meets recommended requirements.
Operating System
Currently, SpaceEngine is only natively compatible with 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows. The minimum requirement is for Windows 7.
Support for additional operating systems is planned for the future, and users of some Linux operating systems should be able to run SpaceEngine right now using Wine or Proton (on Steam).