Arc Raiders PC Specs Are Surprisingly Modest — What That Really Means for Your Rig

Good News: Arc Raiders Won’t Torch Your PC

When Embark Studios dropped Arc Raiders’ system requirements, I did a double take – not because they were brutal, but because they weren’t. For a 2025 shooter, these specs are surprisingly friendly. If you’ve been limping along on a sensible mid-range rig, you won’t need to sell a kidney to get in. That said, “can run” and “runs well” are not the same, so let’s break down what this really means for your frame rate and your wallet.

Key Takeaways

• Minimum targets older hardware: GTX 1050 Ti/RX 580 with an i5-6600K or Ryzen 5 1600, plus 12GB RAM.
• Recommended moves to RTX 2070/RX 5700 XT and i5-9600K/Ryzen 5 3600 with 16GB RAM.
• Ultra lists RTX 4070 Ti or RX 7900 XTX with i7-9700K/Ryzen 7 3700X – still “last-gen high-end,” not unicorn-tier.
• Storage size is TBC and an SSD isn’t required, but you’ll want one for load times and streaming.

Breaking Down the Requirements

Minimum: Windows 10 or later, Intel Core i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen R5 1600, Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) or AMD RX 580 (8GB), and 12GB of system RAM. That’s 2016-2017-era gear. The unusual bit here is the 12GB RAM floor; most “minimum” lists still say 8GB even if that’s fantasy in modern shooters. If you’re on 8GB, budget a small RAM bump – it’s the cheapest, most impactful upgrade for older setups.

Recommended: Intel Core i5-9600K or Ryzen 5 3600 and an RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT, with 16GB RAM. This is the sweet spot for 1080p high or 1440p medium-high in a lot of shooters, and I’d expect the same here if Embark’s optimization mirrors its other work.

Ultra: RTX 4070 Ti or RX 7900 XTX paired with an i7-9700K or Ryzen 7 3700X, and still 16GB RAM. One oddity: the VRAM guidance floating around mentions 16GB for Nvidia and 24GB for AMD at this tier. The RX 7900 XTX does pack 24GB, but a standard 4070 Ti is 12GB (the 4070 Ti Super is 16GB). Either Embark is using VRAM as a general guideline or that Nvidia callout is a touch optimistic. Translation: if you’re on a 12GB 4070 Ti, you’ll probably be fine — just watch texture settings at 4K.

Minimum Specs: The Reality Check

GTX 1050 Ti and RX 580 owners, you’re invited — with caveats. Expect 1080p at low settings (perhaps a mix with medium), and be prepared to cap to 30-45fps for consistency. The RX 580’s extra VRAM helps with textures, but both cards are bandwidth-limited by modern standards. The CPU side is fine; an i5-6600K or R5 1600 won’t bottleneck at “low” targets, but you’ll feel the strain in busy firefights or large-scale AI scenarios.

Recommended: The Sweet Spot for Most Players

An RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT with a 9th-gen i5 or Ryzen 5 3600 is the classic 1080p/1440p combo. If Arc Raiders follows recent Embark trends, you’re looking at 1080p high north of 60fps and 1440p medium-high with sensible tweaks. This tier is where upscalers (DLSS/FSR) routinely carry you from “good” to “silky.” Embark supported modern upscaling in The Finals, so I’d be shocked if Arc Raiders didn’t ship with similar options.

Ultra: High Refresh 1440p or Clean 4K

On a 4070 Ti/7900 XTX with 2019-era i7/Ryzen 7, 1440p at 120-144fps seems reasonable with headroom for “very high” settings, while 4K at 60fps+ should be on the table if you lean on upscalers and avoid VRAM-hungry texture sliders. If you’re chasing max textures at 4K on a 12GB Nvidia card, monitor VRAM usage — stutter can creep in when assets spill to system memory.

Why This Matters Now

We’ve seen a rash of 2023–2024 PC releases set a new “you must have an SSD” baseline and flirt with 32GB RAM recommendations. So a 2025 shooter that’s comfortable on mid-range, last-gen hardware is refreshing. It suggests Embark is prioritizing scalability — a smart move if Arc Raiders wants a healthy player base at launch instead of a narrow slice of 4080 owners.

Embark also showed with The Finals that it can squeeze strong performance out of the chaos — lots of physics, destruction, and networked mayhem without turning mid-tier rigs into space heaters. Arc Raiders is a different beast (and has pivoted design-wise before), but the philosophy seems intact: broad compatibility first, flash second.

Practical Advice Before You Queue Your Downloads

• If you’re on 8GB RAM, jump to 16GB. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it will smooth out hitching.
• SSD isn’t “required,” but it should be for you. Faster loads, fewer stalls during asset streaming — especially in open, AI-heavy zones.
• Match textures to VRAM. 4GB cards should stick to low/medium textures; 8GB can go higher at 1080p; 12–16GB can flirt with 4K assets.
• Use upscaling. DLSS/FSR can turn borderline 60fps into locked 60 and let you push settings elsewhere.
• Cap your frame rate if CPU spikes show up. Networked shooters often behave better with a sensible cap and consistent frametimes.

TL;DR

Arc Raiders’ PC specs are friendly: older quad/six-core CPUs, mid-tier GPUs, and 12–16GB RAM will do the job. Expect 1080p low on minimum, 1440p medium-high on recommended, and 4K or high-refresh 1440p on ultra — with the usual caveat to lean on upscaling and keep an eye on VRAM at the top end.