Fallout 4 system requirements

With Fallout Season 2 on the horizon, there's never been a better time to jump into the latest mainline Fallout game. Thankfully, the Fallout 4 system requirements are extremely low, even if you're playing with the high-resolution texture pack enabled.

Fallout 4 is still among the best games on PC, even all these years later, largely thanks to the many Fallout 4 mods that have tweaked and expanded just about every aspect of the game. It also helps that you won't need one of the best graphics card picks from our buying guide to play the game with great performance.

There's still little news on the possible development of Fallout 5 right now, so your best chance at clearing your Fallout blues is to jump in and explore or rediscover this legendary nuclear adventure from Bethesda.

Here are the Fallout 4 system requirements for PC:

The Fallout 4 minimum requirements read like a time capsule from a forgotten era, which is rather fitting considering the game's setting. They're a fascinating insight for anyone who perhaps didn't get into PC gaming until recently, and realize that a mammoth RPG like Fallout only ever needed a 2GB VRAM graphics card like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti or AMD Radeon HD 7870 to run. You'll also need an Intel Core i5 2300 or AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU and 8GB of RAM if you want to step into Vault 111.

Putting aside the minimum requirements, most modern PCs and laptops, even entry-level gaming rigs, should have absolutely no issue meeting the Fallout 4 recommended specs. You'll only need an Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 or AMD Radeon R9 290X graphics card and either an Intel Core i7 4790 or AMD FX 9590 processor paired with 8GB of RAM.

If you want to push Fallout 4 further, you can download the high-resolution texture pack, which raises the specs to require an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, an Intel Core i7 5820K, and 8GB of RAM. If you're using one of the best gaming PC picks from our extensive buying guide, you'll definitely want to look at using the free textures to make the most of your GPU.

This might be all you need to run Fallout 4, but the reason the game has endured for so many years, even with the release of Fallout 76, Starfield, and the Oblivion remaster, is partly because of the passionate and dedicated modding community.

There are a ton of mods you could and should try out if you're a Fallout 4 fan, with my personal favorites being the massive Fallout London and Sims Settlements 2 mods. Both mods add a huge amount of content to the game on par with Bethesda's own DLC for free. However, as more mods are loaded, so too is the load on your system increased, which could push your Fallout 4 requirements beyond anything Bethesda anticipated.

If you find your frame rates dropping, consider adjusting the game's settings, or using a frame rate monitor to figure out which mods are costing you the most performance.

The Fallout 4 download size varies depending on whether or not you download the high-resolution texture pack. You only need 30GB without it, or 58GB if you choose to download it. You won't need the best gaming SSD from our buying guides, but we recommend using one to drastically bring down some awkward loading times. You will want to consider a considerable amount of additional storage if you firmly dip your toes into modding, as it isn't uncommon to run 100GB of mod files in the background if you download a curated modpack.

If you really want to boost your Fallout experience and immerse yourself in it fully, make sure you check out our guide to buying the best gaming headset. Find the Feral Ghouls moving too fast? Check out our guide to buying the best gaming mouse, so your shooting reticle never leaves those dodging and ever-more-terrifying-than-Fallout-3 zombies.

Take our Fallout 4 system requirements PC benchmark test to answer the question… Can I run Fallout 4?

If you're a Fallout superfan, we've got a vibrant Discord with plenty of gamers who may share the same love of the post-apocalyptic franchise, so be sure to join us and let us know your favourite game in the series.