Valorant system requirements: can your PC run it?

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Valorant system requirements 2026: Riot’s official specs

Riot Games splits the Valorant system requirements into three tiers. Each tier stands for a rough frame rate: minimum for about 30 FPS, recommended for about 60 FPS and high-end for 144 FPS and up. The numbers below come from Riot’s official specs page and are current as of September 29, 2026. Use the PC check above to test your own hardware against them.

All three tiers share the same baseline: Windows 10 build 19041 or newer or Windows 11, both in the 64-bit version, plus DirectX 11 support. Your processor has to support the SSE 4.2 or AVX instruction sets, which practically every CPU from the last ten-plus years does. The 1 GB of video memory only applies to dedicated graphics cards. If your PC uses the graphics built into the processor, it shares regular system memory instead.

One thing stands out: Riot only asks for 4 GB of RAM in every tier. That’s the minimum for the game itself. Our practical tip: with 8 GB, Windows and Valorant run more comfortably, and 16 GB leaves plenty of room for Discord, your browser and recording software. Riot’s specs page currently doesn’t list a storage requirement. Still, leave some headroom, because patches and new content keep adding up over the years.

Riot has also revised the list over time. Older versions named the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 and the Radeon R5 200 as the minimum and Windows 10 build 17134. Today the page lists the i3-540, the Radeon R5 220, build 19041 and – new – the Intel Arc A310 as a high-end graphics card. That’s why many older articles online still show outdated numbers.

How the PC check works: Riot references and PassMark

Riot only names example parts for each tier. To give you a clear answer even with a Ryzen 5 5600 or an RTX 4060, our check compares your hardware against exactly those references using the PassMark benchmark database. For processors we use CPU Mark (performance across all cores) and the Single Thread Rating (performance of one core); for graphics cards we use G3D Mark. We pulled all values on September 29, 2026.

The rule is deliberately strict and easy to follow: a tier counts as reached when your part at least matches the weaker of that tier’s two or three Riot references. For processors, both scores have to pass – multi-core and single-core. Because PassMark numbers vary slightly between runs, we allow a 5% tolerance. Your overall result follows the weakest link: an RTX 4090 won’t get you into the high-end tier if your processor only clears the minimum.

The check also shows how far above or below Riot’s high-end reference you are. A Ryzen 5 7500F, for example, hits a Single Thread Rating of 3,824 – about 58% above the i5-9400F. An RTX 4060 scores 19,484 in G3D Mark, a little over three times the GTX 1050 Ti. These percentages are pure benchmark ratios, not measured Valorant FPS. But they show you very clearly where your system has headroom.

Example PCs in the check

To give you a feel for the tiers, we ran some typical combinations through the check. The table shows which Riot tier comes out and where the bottleneck sits.

The Core i7-4790K is an interesting case: its single-core score is actually slightly above the i5-9400F, but its all-core score is about 15% lower. Under our strict rule, that only earns the recommended tier. In practice, a system like that will often run well above 60 FPS. So the tier tells you what Riot guarantees – not where your PC tops out.

Why your PC can still stutter

Even when the check gives you a green light, Valorant can fall short in everyday use. The most common causes: outdated graphics drivers, a laptop stuck in power-saving mode, hot components that throttle themselves, or background programs hogging your processor and memory. A monitor that’s still set to 60 Hz in Windows even though it can do 144 Hz also makes the game feel sluggish. So before you spend money on new hardware, always check your drivers, power options and monitor settings first.

Reading your hardware: DxDiag file or PowerShell

A lot of people wonder: why can’t the page just look up what’s inside my PC? The answer is security. For good reason, browsers don’t let websites access your hardware directly – otherwise any random site could spy on your computer. At most, the browser reveals your Windows version and an often inaccurate graphics card name, but neither your processor nor your memory – not enough for a reliable check. That’s why the check uses two options where Windows itself reads your real hardware, with no install needed.

DxDiag is the DirectX diagnostic tool built into every copy of Windows. Our check only reads the saved text file inside your browser – it’s never uploaded anywhere. The PowerShell command is shown in full plain text on the page. It only uses read-only Windows queries, changes nothing on your system, downloads nothing from the internet and needs no administrator rights. The result contains no names, accounts or serial numbers.

One important safety note still applies: scammers keep trying to trick people into pasting unreadable commands disguised as “fixes.” So the ground rule is: only run commands you can read in full, that come from a source you trust, and that don’t ask for downloads or admin rights. If that feels too risky, just use the DxDiag file – it covers almost everything. You can also always find your RAM speed and the number of slots in use in Task Manager under Performance → Memory.

Windows 10, Windows 11, Mac and Linux: which system do you need?

On PC, Valorant is Windows-only. The main reason is the Vanguard anti-cheat, which works deep inside the operating system. Riot therefore only supports Windows 10 build 19041 or newer and Windows 11, both 64-bit. Anything else fails at launch.

An important point for many players: Microsoft ended regular support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Riot’s requirements page still lists Windows 10 build 19041+ as supported, though (as of September 29, 2026). So you can keep playing on Windows 10. In the long run, Windows 11 is still the safer choice, because it keeps getting security updates.

With a Mac or a Linux PC, you can’t play Valorant on PC. If you only own a console, there’s an official alternative: Valorant is free on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S – everything about it is on our page about Valorant on console. A mobile version only exists in China so far; check the current status in our Valorant Mobile hub.

TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot: required on Windows 11

On Windows 11, Riot requires two security features that many players only discover with their first error code: TPM 2.0 and UEFI Secure Boot. TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module, a security chip that modern processors usually include as a firmware feature. Secure Boot makes sure only signed software loads when your PC starts. Both help Vanguard catch cheats that could otherwise hide before Windows even boots. Important: according to Riot, TPM 1.2 isn’t supported – it has to be version 2.0.

Check TPM and Secure Boot in one minute

1. Press Windows key + R, type tpm.msc and confirm. If it says “The TPM is ready for use” and the specification version is 2.0, you’re all set.
2. Press Windows key + R again and open msinfo32. Under “System Summary,” BIOS Mode should read “UEFI” and Secure Boot State should read “On.”
3. If either is missing, enable it in your motherboard’s BIOS/UEFI. Depending on the manufacturer, TPM is called fTPM (AMD) or PTT (Intel). For Secure Boot, the compatibility module CSM has to be disabled, and Windows must sit on a GPT-partitioned drive.

Tip: only change BIOS settings you understand, and write down the old values. If your Windows drive still uses the old MBR format, switching to pure UEFI too early will stop Windows from booting. In that case, convert the drive first or get help.

VAN 9001, VAN 9003 and VAN: RESTRICTION

If a requirement is missing, Vanguard shows an error code. Here are the three most common ones:

VAN: RESTRICTION is a special case. According to Riot, these restrictions are applied at the account or hardware-ID level when Vanguard detects suspicious hardware behavior or statistical anomalies. So they don’t hit everyone. Depending on the extra number, Vanguard may require Memory Integrity to be on, IOMMU to be enabled, the game to sit on the same internal drive as Windows, or a Windows build of 26100 or newer – which only exists on Windows 11. You’ll find every code with step-by-step fixes in our list of VAN error codes.

Valorant on a laptop and with integrated graphics

Valorant is one of the few competitive games you can play on an ordinary laptop without a dedicated graphics card. Riot’s minimum tier already shows that with the Intel HD 4000, a graphics chip from 2012. Modern integrated graphics are much stronger: Intel Iris Xe scores 2,587 in G3D Mark and AMD Radeon Vega 8 scores 1,561. Both beat the recommended reference GT 730 at 821. The Radeon 780M in current Ryzen laptops even reaches 6,742, putting it above the GTX 1050 Ti on the graphics side.

On laptops, though, the processor and power delivery matter a lot. An Intel Core i5-1135G7 hits a Single Thread Rating of 2,593, clearing Riot’s high-end single-core reference – its all-core score of 9,292 sits just under the i5-9400F, within our tolerance. On battery, however, laptops often throttle hard. Our tips for laptop players:

• Always plug in the charger while gaming and set Windows’ power mode to “Best performance.”
• Only use Valorant’s “Limit FPS on Battery” option if you deliberately want to save battery.
• On laptops with two graphics chips, tell Windows’ graphics settings to run Valorant on the dedicated GPU.
• With integrated graphics, use the performance settings from the table below.

Memory: DDR3, DDR4, DDR5 and dual-channel

Riot only asks for 4 GB of RAM in all three tiers and doesn’t specify a type or speed. So our check never changes the Riot tier because of RAM speed. It still rates your memory, though, because three things noticeably cost performance in practice: a single stick, a misconfigured speed, and a combination your processor doesn’t even support.

Intel and AMD set the officially supported speed per processor. A few examples: Ryzen 5000 supports DDR4-3200, Ryzen 7000 DDR5-5200 and Ryzen 9000 DDR5-5600. Intel’s 12th gen handles DDR5-4800 or DDR4-3200, the 13th and 14th gen DDR5-5600 – but smaller models like the i5-13400F and i5-14400F only DDR5-4800. Core Ultra 200S supports DDR5-6400, the new Core Ultra 200S Plus line DDR5-7200. The check knows these values and flags it when your RAM type doesn’t match your processor or runs faster than officially intended.

XMP and EXPO: why your RAM might be running slow

Fast memory kits like DDR4-3600 or DDR5-6000 don’t run at their advertised speed out of the box. According to Kingston, they start at standard values – a DDR4-3600 kit at DDR4-2400, for example, and a DDR5-6000 kit at DDR5-4800. Only when you enable the XMP (Intel) or EXPO (AMD) profile in the BIOS do they run faster. Intel and AMD point out that this counts as overclocking and can affect your warranty. The PowerShell code in the check reads both the maximum and the actually configured speed. If the configured value is clearly lower, the check tells you that XMP or EXPO is probably off.

For AMD’s AM5 platform, there are two more official points: AMD named DDR5-6000 the “sweet spot” for Ryzen 7000 and also recommended that speed for Ryzen 8000G. With four DDR5 sticks instead of two, though, AMD officially lists only DDR5-3600 for AM5. If you need a lot of memory, two larger sticks are usually the better choice over four small ones.

Dual-channel: two sticks instead of one

With only one stick in your PC, memory runs in single-channel mode. According to Kingston, a second, identical module doubles the memory bandwidth because both channels get used. This matters most with integrated graphics: they don’t have their own video memory and use regular system RAM instead, as Intel explains. According to Intel, Iris Xe is only fully enabled in dual-channel; in single-channel it shows up as the weaker UHD Graphics. On laptops, though, memory is often soldered, so the manufacturer decides the configuration.

The best graphics settings for your tier

The PC check suggests concrete settings based on your tier and your goal. You’ll find them in Valorant under Settings → Video → Graphics Quality. Keep in mind: these recommendations are our own take, not a Riot rule. They follow a simple logic – the tighter your performance, the more effects get switched off.

Why keep textures high on a high-end PC? Texture quality mostly costs video memory and barely any processing time. With a modern graphics card you get sharper surfaces at almost no FPS cost. Material and detail quality stay low, on the other hand, because extra detail makes the environment busier and enemies harder to spot. Turn VSync off because it adds input lag. Reflex is only available on NVIDIA graphics cards. If you care more about great visuals than maximum FPS, set the goal in the check to “Best visuals.”

See how the pros set up their graphics on our Valorant pro settings page. If the game still stutters or crashes on capable hardware, our tech fix guide for more FPS with its problem finder will help.

How many FPS do you really need?

The right tier mostly depends on your monitor. A classic 60 Hz screen can only show 60 frames per second, so the recommended tier is enough. With a 144 or 165 Hz monitor, your PC should reach the high-end tier so you actually see the smoother motion. Riot doesn’t list a separate tier for 240 Hz and above. The rule of thumb there: the more headroom your processor has over the high-end reference, the better.

Valorant is considered a fairly light game for the graphics card, but it benefits a lot from a fast processor – especially from strong single-core performance. That’s why our check shows your CPU’s gap to the i5-9400F in Single Thread Rating separately. If you play on a 240 Hz monitor and only just clear the reference, a CPU upgrade usually helps more than a new graphics card.

Upgrade or buy a new PC?

If the check shows a clear bottleneck, a targeted upgrade often beats buying a whole new rig. If the graphics card is holding you back, even an affordable current card gets you far beyond the high-end tier in Valorant. If the processor is the bottleneck, things get trickier: a new processor often needs a new motherboard and new memory too. At that point, a complete PC is often the smarter choice.

That’s exactly why we built the gaming PC guide for Valorant: six tested prebuilt PCs, honestly rated, with a bottleneck check and a beginner-friendly explanation of every component. And if you already have a strong PC and want to know which gun kills fastest, try our weapon damage calculator.

FAQ: Valorant system requirements

What are Valorant’s minimum requirements?

For about 30 FPS, Riot lists an Intel i3-540 or AMD Athlon 200GE, an Intel HD 4000 or AMD Radeon R5 220, 4 GB of RAM and 1 GB of VRAM with a dedicated card. You also need 64-bit Windows 10 build 19041+ or Windows 11.

What PC can run Valorant at 144 FPS?

For 144+ FPS, Riot names an Intel i5-9400F or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X with an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti, AMD Radeon R7 370 or Intel Arc A310. Anything stronger reaches that tier too.

Do I need TPM 2.0 for Valorant?

On Windows 11, yes: Riot requires TPM 2.0 and UEFI Secure Boot there. Without TPM 2.0 you’ll see error VAN 9001, and TPM 1.2 isn’t enough. On Windows 10, TPM isn’t generally required, but individual accounts can be asked for it via VAN: RESTRICTION.

How do I enable Secure Boot for Valorant?

First use msinfo32 to check that BIOS Mode is UEFI and see your Secure Boot State. You enable Secure Boot in your motherboard’s UEFI. CSM has to be disabled and Windows must be on a GPT drive. Without Secure Boot, Vanguard shows error VAN 9003 on Windows 11.

Does Valorant still run on Windows 10?

Yes. Riot still lists 64-bit Windows 10 build 19041+ as supported (as of September 29, 2026), even though Microsoft ended regular support in October 2025. Individual accounts can get extra requirements via VAN: RESTRICTION.

Can you play Valorant on Mac or Linux?

No. On PC, Valorant only runs on Windows 10 and 11. Riot doesn’t support macOS, Linux, ARM processors, virtual machines or cloud gaming. The official alternative is Valorant on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

How much RAM does Valorant need?

Riot lists 4 GB of RAM in all three tiers and doesn’t require a specific type or speed. For a comfortable setup with Windows, Discord and a browser, we recommend 8 to 16 GB, ideally as two identical sticks in dual-channel.

Can Valorant run without a graphics card?

Yes, on integrated graphics. Riot’s minimum already names the Intel HD 4000. Current chips like Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon Vega 8 beat Riot’s recommended reference GT 730 in benchmarks, and the Radeon 780M even tops the high-end reference GTX 1050 Ti.

Can the check detect my hardware automatically?

Yes, in two ways where Windows itself reads your hardware: a DxDiag file (Windows key + R, dxdiag, “Save All Information…”) provides your processor, graphics card(s), RAM size, Windows build and monitor refresh rate. The PowerShell code also reads RAM type, RAM speed, stick count, Secure Boot and TPM. Everything is evaluated only in your browser. The Riot tier then comes from comparing your parts with Riot’s reference parts via PassMark scores.

Which graphics settings give the most FPS?

The biggest FPS gains come from low material, detail and UI quality, VSync off, anti-aliasing on None or MSAA 2x, and effects like Bloom, Distortion and Cast Shadows turned off. On NVIDIA cards, add Reflex set to “On + Boost.”