FromSoftware has released the new system requirements for Dark Souls 3 on PC. This new title is the fourth entry to FromSoftwares beloved Souls series, which debut in 2009 as the PlayStation 3 exclusive title, Demon Souls.

In a post from both reddit and the official Dark Souls 3 website, the new requirements are as follows;

New Minimum Requirements:

Intel Core i5 2500 3.3GHz / AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz

8 GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti / ATI Radeon HD 6870

At least 20 GB available space

Intel Core i3 2100 3.1Ghz / AMD A8 3870 3.6 Ghz

8 GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon HD 6870

50 GB available space

Much higher clock speed 1,020 MHz vs 608 MHz Around 70% higher clock speed Significantly higher effective memory clock speed 5,400 MHz vs 3,208 MHz Around 70% higher effective memory clock speed Better 3DMark vantage graphics score 20,401 vs 12,970 More than 55% better 3DMark vantage graphics score Significantly higher texture rate 82.64 GTexel/s vs 26.8 GTexel/s More than 3x higher texture rate More memory 2,048 MB vs 1,024 MB 2x more memory Better floating-point performance 1,728 GFLOPS vs 855.4 GFLOPS More than 2x better floating-point performance Significantly higher memory clock speed 1,502 MHz vs 802 MHz More than 85% higher memory clock speed Better PassMark direct compute score 1,717 vs 1,075 Around 60% better PassMark direct compute score

As you can see with the new minimum requirements, recommended CPU performance has been bumped from i3 to i5 (Intel models) and AMD A8 3870 to AMD FX-6300 (AMD models). As cited from gpuboss , the comparison between the new GPU performance requirements from the old as follows;A little surprising that the ATI Radeon HD 6870 is still able to meet the minimum level of performance. Good news for users pressed for HDD space, with the new system requirements now asking for 20GB in comparison to the whopping 50Gb.

New Recommended Requirements:

Intel Core i7 2600 3.4 GHz / AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz

8 GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or equivalent

At least 20 GB available space

Intel Core i7 2600 3.4 GHz / AMD FX 8150 3.6 GHz

8 GB RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 / ATI Radeon HD 7850

50 GB available space

Significantly better PassMark score 8,673 vs 3,240 Around 2.8x better PassMark score More memory 4,096 MB vs 1,024 MB 4x more memory Higher effective memory clock speed 7,012 MHz vs 5,012 MHz Around 40% higher effective memory clock speed Better floating-point performance 3,494 GFLOPS vs 1,044 GFLOPS More than 3.2x better floating-point performance Significantly higher pixel rate 58.8 GPixel/s vs 16.3 GPixel/s More than 3.5x higher pixel rate Significantly more render output processors 56 vs 16 40 more render output processors More shading units 1,664 vs 512 1152 more shading units More texture mapping units 104 vs 32 72 more texture mapping units Significantly better PassMark direct compute score 4,282 vs 1,370 Around 3.2x better PassMark direct compute score Significantly higher memory clock speed 1,753 MHz vs 1,253 MHz Around 40% higher memory clock speed Higher turbo clock speed 1,178 MHz vs 1,085 MHz Around 10% higher turbo clock speed

As we can see, the Intel processors remain unchanged, though it looks like FromSoftware are encouraging AMD users to upgrade to at least an AMD FX-8350. As cited from gpuboss , the comparison between the new GPU performance requirements from the old as follows:In addition to the recent announcements, it is also worth noting that FromSoftware has also confirmed via twitter (below) that the game will be running at 60fps. This comes as a sure sign of relief to some, considering how botched the original PC version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition was upon release.

[embed]https://twitter.com/DarkSoulsGame/status/707998895981203457[/embed]

While director Hidetaka Miyazaki has said that overall design "follows closely" to Dark Souls 2, combat for Dark Souls 3 is said to adopt a similar fast pace that was used in last years release, Bloodborne.

Much like the previous titles, Dark Souls 3 is said to feature multiplayer elements. However this time, FromSoftware has also introduced dedicated servers, allowing up to 6 players to join games in taking down these upcoming bosses.

Dark Souls 3 is currently out in Japan on PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with a worldwide and PC release is currently schedule on April 12th. Fans can still procure a copy through imports and other technical workarounds, though Bandai Namco has warned fans not to do it due to an incomplete gameplay experience.

"The international version of the game currently does not have its multiplayer capabilities activated, nor does it include the contents of a planned day-one patch that will deliver further optimization of the game," Namco Bandai wrote in a press release. "Players will be able to download the day-one patch on April 12th, the official international release date for Dark Souls III."

[embed] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjY99zF3_to[/embed

Quick Take

In my opinion, it comes as no surprise that FromSoftware have now bumped the minimal system requirements by such a big margin. In the time of reporting the initial system requirements back in December 2015, the minimum GPU hardware was already five years out of date. Considering the state of next generation titles, games are only going to be more demanding for more sophisticated hardware to run at optimal performance. Though with that said, this news may come as a shock to those who have already preordered Dark Souls 3 on PC, under the impression that their NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 was performing the recommended requirements.

Though the one thing that did catch my attention upon reporting, was the hard-drive space. As much as I like how the game is now taking up less storage, it does warrant some concern as to it whether FromSoftware might be locking off content for preorders or future DLC. Of course this news is just speculation, and in the most likely case they're probably just utilizing some sort of compression software for the upcoming retail release to get the game's size down as much as possible which is nice for those with bandwidth limits as well.

What are your thoughts on the new system requirements for Dark Souls 3? Does your current gaming rig meet the minimum requirements? If not, will you be looking at picking up a copy on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One? Let us Know in the comments down below!