Dune: Awakening: What PC Specs Do You Need to Run the Game?

Minimum Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i5-7400 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6GB)
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: 60 GB SSD

Medium Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i5-8600K / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 6600
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: 75 GB SSD

Recommended Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: 75 GB SSD

Ultra Specifications

• CPU: Intel Core i7-11700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 / AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: 75 GB SSD

Desert living

In my opening hours with the game, I was dropped off in the desert and forced to scavenge for enough supplies to build a starter base, make some equipment, and complete the first handful of quests. Before that, I easily spent as much time in the character creation tool tweaking my look, and even redid my background/class a couple of times, which is determined by a Bene Gesserit interrogation (yes, the kind with the "the box"). 

My initial tips are to not overbuild your first base, it's a short-term home at best; and to be careful fighting even with low-level scavengers because your starter weapons aren't very powerful, and melee combat is tricky to time correctly. 

Dune: Awakening is the top-selling game on Steam right now, and the early reviews are overall very positive, which is probably the biggest surprise about the game (as previews and leaks weren't especially bullish on it). 

What I played on

Asus Strix Scar 18 (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, 64GB DDR5-5600 RAM) 
I ran this at Ultra settings at 2,560x1,440, and got frame rates mostly in the 160s to 180s. Note I was using the 5090 GPU's 4X frame generation to hit those numbers, however. (Read our hands-on review of the Asus Strix Scar 18 here.) If you're going to play the game on a high-end rig, it's going to look and play great. 

Lenovo Legion Go (AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, 32GB LPDDR5X RAM)
The game has a built-in preset (labeled as experimental for now) for handheld gaming PCs. With the AMD Z1 Extreme and a healthy 32GB of RAM, I mostly ran in the 40s, and found it to be a playable experience, but with occassional slowdown, especially during cutscenes. (Read more about the latest handheld PC gaming devices here.)

And if you need help picking out the right system to play Dune: Awakening on, drop into the nearest Micro Center and see why we’re PC Mag’s #1 rated electronics retailer. 

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Micro Center Editor-in-Chief Dan Ackerman is a veteran tech reporter and has served as Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo and Editorial Director at CNET. He's been testing and reviewing laptops and other consumer tech for almost 20 years and is the author of The Tetris Effect, a Cold War history of the world's most influential video game. Contact Dan at dackerman@microcenter.com.