Crimson Desert System Requirements

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Fans are eagerly awaiting the March 19th release of Crimson Desert, and excitement is building rapidly. As with many visually stunning games, a key question for players is whether their computers have the power to run it smoothly.

The developers have released detailed information about the game’s hardware requirements and performance on PC, Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox.

With how ambitious and detailed Crimson Desert is, many players worried whether it would run smoothly on average gaming computers, or if upgrading to play it would be prohibitively expensive.

Good news! Pearl Abyss has made sure the game runs well on most computers, matching what typical Steam users have in terms of hardware.

Crimson Desert PC Hardware Requirements

It’s great to see that even older graphics cards, like the GTX 1660, can still run today’s visually impressive games at 1080p resolution and a playable 30 frames per second, though you’ll need to use lower graphics settings.

To achieve a smooth 60 frames per second at the same screen resolution, you’ll need a graphics card as powerful as an RTX 2080 or RX 6700XT, paired with a Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5 11600K processor.

Achieving 4K resolution at 60 frames per second will be expensive. Pearl Abyss testing indicates you’ll need a powerful graphics card like an RX 9070XT or RTX 5070Ti. Currently, the AMD RX 9070XT is the more affordable option, now priced around $600. The RTX 5070Ti will cost about $1000, but generally offers slightly better performance in testing.

Many gamers were worried about whether Crimson Desert would perform well on less powerful computers.

No matter how you set up your screen, you’ll need 16GB of RAM to run Crimson Desert, which is about the same amount as what most recent games require.

Okay, so I just checked the system requirements for Crimson Desert, and wow – you’re going to need a lot of hard drive space! It needs a full 150GB just to install and run, which is seriously on the same level as other huge, top-tier games. That’s a big download, for sure!

Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 Settings

The Xbox Series S, being the most affordable console, generally delivers the lowest performance. In Performance mode, it aims for 40 frames per second at a resolution of 720p, and 30 FPS at its native 1080p resolution. It doesn’t support ray tracing.

When playing on the Xbox Series X, you can choose different performance settings. ‘Performance’ mode delivers a smooth 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution with basic ray tracing. ‘Balanced’ mode aims for 4K resolution, but actually renders at a lower 1280p and then upscales it, achieving 40 frames per second. Finally, ‘Quality’ mode also targets 4K (upscaled from 1440p) but prioritizes visual fidelity with high ray tracing effects, resulting in a frame rate of 30 frames per second.

The standard PlayStation 5 offers similar performance and settings to the Xbox Series X. The more powerful PS5 Pro can handle ray tracing at its highest settings even while aiming for smooth 60 frames per second, rendering games in upscaled 4K resolution from a base of 1080p. If you prioritize balance, the PS5 Pro outputs 40 FPS at upscaled 4K (starting from 1440p).

With the PlayStation 5 Pro’s Quality mode, you can experience Crimson Desert in true 4K resolution, with the highest level of ray tracing detail, running at 30 frames per second.

Mac and ROG Ally Performance

Apple’s approach to PCs often feels like a console, and this significantly impacts how well Crimson Desert runs on Macs. Pearl Abyss generally advises players to use the ‘For this Mac’ setting, which automatically adjusts the game’s graphics to best suit their computer’s hardware.

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To get smooth gameplay at 60 frames per second with 1080p resolution, you’ll need an M3 Pro, M4 Pro, or M5 chip, and you’ll also need to use both MetalFX upscaling and frame interpolation (which is available starting with macOS 26). If you want to play at 60 FPS with 4K resolution, you’ll need an M3 Ultra or M4 Max chip.

On the ROG Xbox Ally handheld, the standard version targets 40 FPS at 720p in Performance mode.

ROG Xbox Ally X owners can enjoy gameplay at 60 frames per second with upscaled 1080p graphics using the standard settings. Switching to Performance Mode gets you around 40 FPS by turning off Frame Generation. If you prioritize visual quality, you’ll get a solid 30 FPS at native 1080p.

Crimson Desert will be released on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 19, 2026. You can pre-order the game now.

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2026-03-10 23:10