Can I Run Skyrim Special Edition?
Released in 2016, Skyrim Special Edition is a role playing game built by Bethesda Game Studios. Publishing duties went to Bethesda Softworks. It offers a single player campaign. Steam lists support for 9 languages. Saves sync through Steam Cloud, so moving between machines does not cost progress. An age check at 17 sits in front of the store page. It is a Windows title, so the requirements below are the Windows ones. It carries 75 achievements. At more than a decade old it predates every current graphics architecture, which helps compatibility and limits how well it exploits a modern card. Its Metacritic score stands at 74. A pad covers most of the game, though parts of it still expect a keyboard. With more than 214 thousand player reviews on Steam, its behaviour on real hardware is well documented.
Can your PC run it? →System requirements
Minimum requirements
| CPU | Intel i5-750/AMD Phenom II X4-945 |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 470 1GB /AMD HD 7870 2GB |
| VRAM | 1 GB |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 12 GB |
| OS | Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version) |
Recommended requirements
| CPU | Intel i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB /AMD R9 290 4GB |
| VRAM | 3 GB |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 12 GB |
| OS | Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version) |
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
The game is set in a fantasy world. Play is structured around one continuous open world. Continuous worlds put sustained pressure on memory and storage, and Skyrim Special Edition can never assume the player will stop and let it load. Play is presented from a first person view. 8 storefront images show what the game actually looks like in motion.
Why Skyrim Special Edition is demanding
The graphics requirement for Skyrim Special Edition is light. Hardware around NVIDIA GTX 780 is enough, so Skyrim Special Edition runs on machines never bought for gaming. A 64 bit version of Windows is required. Skyrim Special Edition needs only 8 GB of RAM. Video memory is not the constraint here, at 3 GB. Disk footprint is light, near 12 GB.
This reading comes from the published requirements and our own benchmark tables, not from the store listing.
Can you run Skyrim Special Edition?
Skyrim Special Edition targets a mainstream modern PC: NVIDIA GTX 470 1GB /AMD HD 7870 2GB and 8 GB of RAM for the minimum, stepping up to NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB /AMD R9 290 4GB 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 | 2.7x |
| 1440p | Runs well | 1.52x |
| 4K | Below the bar | 0.67x |
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 great |
| GTX 1650 Laptop | Runs great |
| 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 Skyrim Special 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 Skyrim Special Edition?
Upload your DxDiag file to Idxdiag's free checker and get a component by component compatibility verdict for Skyrim Special Edition in seconds. No install required.
What are the minimum system requirements for Skyrim Special Edition?
The minimum requirements are CPU: Intel i5-750/AMD Phenom II X4-945; GPU: NVIDIA GTX 470 1GB /AMD HD 7870 2GB; 8 GB RAM; OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version).
How much storage does Skyrim Special Edition need?
Skyrim Special Edition needs about 12 GB of available storage.
Can an RTX 3060 run Skyrim Special Edition?
The RTX 3060 runs Skyrim Special Edition comfortably, clearing the title's GPU requirement with room to spare.
What is the bottleneck for Skyrim Special Edition?
On a typical modern PC (Ryzen 5 5600, RTX 3060, 16 GB RAM), the tightest component for Skyrim Special Edition is the GPU.