Can I Run Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
Released in 2020, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is a strategy game built by World's Edge. Publishing duties went to Xbox Game Studios. It offers a single player campaign and competitive multiplayer. Its Steam review count passes 36 thousand, a large enough sample that odd hardware behaviour would be known by now. 13 languages are covered by the store listing. At 6 years old it targets an older hardware baseline than most buyers now own. Completionists have 88 achievements to work through. Cloud saves are enabled. Critics scored it 75 on Metacritic. Windows is the only supported platform, which is what the figures below describe. It is free to play at the base tier.
Can your PC run it? →System requirements
Minimum requirements
| CPU | Intel i3-2105 @ 3.1GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 973 with an average CPU Passmark score of 1830 or better |
|---|---|
| GPU | GeForce GT 430, Radeon HD 5570, or Intel HD 4400 with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 570 or better @720p |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 42 GB |
| OS | Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher |
| DirectX | 11 |
Recommended requirements
| CPU | Intel i5-3300 @ 3.0GHz or AMD FX-8350 or equivalent with an average CPU Passmark score of 4100 or better |
|---|---|
| GPU | GeForce GTX 980 or Radeon R9 Fury or equivalent with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 9500 or better @1080p |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 42 GB |
| OS | Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher |
| DirectX | 11 |
Verified from Steam · 9 Jul 2026 source
Scores are deterministic, computed by fixed rules and benchmark tables, not written by an AI. How we score. Maintained by Farhad Ali. Spotted a wrong specification? Tell us.
Setting and environment
Players spend their time in a military setting, moving through a base the player builds up. The publisher supplies 12 storefront screenshots of these environments. Play is presented in three dimensions. What taxes the PC is the number of things being simulated, which means the requirements describe the start of a game, not the end of one.
Why Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is demanding
Very little is asked of the GPU by Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. GeForce GTX 980 or Radeon R9 Fury scores low against the RTX 3060, putting Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition within reach of laptop and integrated graphics. The install is small at roughly 42 GB. Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition expects 16 GB of system memory.
This reading comes from the published requirements and our own benchmark tables, not from the store listing.
Can you run Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition targets a mainstream modern PC: GeForce GT 430, Radeon HD 5570, or Intel HD 4400 with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 570 or better @720p and 8 GB of RAM for the minimum, stepping up to GeForce GTX 980 or Radeon R9 Fury or equivalent with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 9500 or better @1080p for the recommended experience. No single part dominates the requirements, so a balanced mid-range build clears it.
Bottleneck: GPU
Projected by resolution
| Resolution | Projection | Headroom |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | Comfortable | 1.85x |
| 1440p | Borderline | 1.04x |
| 4K | Below the bar | 0.46x |
A projection, not a measurement. We scale the published GPU requirement by pixel count, since 1440p draws 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p and 4K draws 4 times as many, then compare against RTX 3060 / Ryzen 5 build. The publisher did not state a target resolution, so 1080p is assumed as the baseline. We hold no frame rate data, so no FPS figure is claimed. Headroom above 1 means the reference machine has room to spare at that resolution.
Common GPUs
| Graphics card | Verdict |
|---|---|
| GTX 1060 6 GB | Runs great |
| GTX 1060 Laptop | Runs great |
| GTX 1650 4 GB | Runs well |
| GTX 1650 Laptop | Runs well |
| RTX 2060 6 GB | Runs great |
| RTX 2060 Laptop | Runs great |
| RTX 3060 12 GB | Runs great |
| RTX 3060 Laptop | Runs great |
| RTX 4060 8 GB | Runs great |
| RTX 4060 Laptop | Runs great |
| RTX 3070 8 GB | Runs great |
| RTX 3070 Laptop | Runs great |
| RTX 4070 12 GB | Runs great |
| RTX 4070 Laptop | Runs great |
| RX 6600 8 GB | Runs great |
Each card is compared against Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition's published GPU requirement, assuming an otherwise-capable PC. Laptop rows use the real mobile chip's benchmark, a mobile GPU is always slower than its desktop namesake.
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Frequently asked questions
Can my PC run Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
Upload your DxDiag file to Idxdiag's free checker and get a component by component compatibility verdict for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition in seconds. No install required.
What are the minimum system requirements for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
The minimum requirements are CPU: Intel i3-2105 @ 3.1GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 973 with an average CPU Passmark score of 1830 or better; GPU: GeForce GT 430, Radeon HD 5570, or Intel HD 4400 with an average Passmark G3D Mark of 570 or better @720p; 8 GB RAM; OS: Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher.
How much storage does Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition need?
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition needs about 42 GB of available storage.
Can an RTX 3060 run Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
The RTX 3060 runs Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition comfortably, clearing the title's GPU requirement with room to spare.
What is the bottleneck for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition?
On a typical modern PC (Ryzen 5 5600, RTX 3060, 16 GB RAM), the tightest component for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is the GPU.