DCS World Steam Edition: PC requirements and the PC you need

About DCS World Steam Edition

DCS World is a detailed combat flight simulator from Eagle Dynamics. The base game is free to play and includes two aircraft, the TF-51D Mustang and the Su-25T ground-attack jet, with many more planes, helicopters and maps sold separately. You can fly alone, in co-op or against others online, and VR headsets are supported. The makers recommend a graphics card with at least 8 GB of its own memory and 32 GB of system memory, which is more memory than most games ask for.

What DCS World Steam Edition needs

In plain words: to play at all it needs basic graphics: built-in graphics on a modern processor, or an old entry-level card, and to play it well the makers suggest basic graphics: built-in graphics on a modern processor, or an old entry-level card, with 32GB of memory.

A low-spec PC or a high-spec PC?

This is a light game: almost any of our gaming PCs will run it comfortably at high settings.

On a PC that only just meets the minimum, the game will start and play, but on low settings: simpler shadows and textures, shorter view distances and fewer frames each second, so fast moments can feel less smooth. A 1080p screen is the sensible match.

On a PC that meets or beats the recommended spec, you can turn the settings up: sharper textures, proper shadows and lighting, more detail in the distance, and a smoother picture. A stronger PC also lets you use a sharper 1440p or high-refresh screen.

Questions about DCS World Steam Edition on PC

How we match: we compare the graphics card and the memory in each PC with the makers' spec, because those decide most of how a game runs. For very new or demanding games, ask us and we will check the processor too. More help: graphics cards explained, how much RAM, which screen.