American Truck Simulator PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum for American Truck Simulator asks for an Intel Core i5-6400 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 class processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, AMD Radeon RX 460 or Intel HD 630 with 2GB of video memory, 8GB of system memory and 25GB of storage. By today's standards the minimum CPU and GPU both sit in the old entry-level tier. The game will run, but you should expect very little headroom.
The recommended spec steps up to an Intel Core i5-9600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 class processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 590 with 2GB of video memory, 12GB of system memory and the same 25GB of storage. The Ryzen 5 3600 is a modern mainstream CPU in our tiering, so the gap between minimum and recommended is largest on the processor side. The GPU jump is smaller, moving from old entry-level to a newer entry gaming tier. For this game the processor matters more than the graphics card, so the CPU gap is the one you will feel most.
The publisher does not require an SSD, so a hard drive is officially acceptable. A solid-state drive still shortens loading times noticeably, especially when you move between regions or reload saves. The official requirements do not list laptop or handheld PC specifications, so those are covered separately below.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build pairs an AMD Ryzen 3 3100 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super and 16GB of memory. Against the official requirements, the processor only meets the minimum while the graphics card meets the recommended level. This suits players who want to keep costs down and are happy to lower some settings, but expect to trim crowd and traffic density in busy city sections.
The mainstream build pairs an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 and 16GB of memory. Both the processor and the graphics card meet the official recommended level, which makes this the closest match to the publisher's recommendation and the best value of the three. An Intel Core i5-11400 or Ryzen 5 5500 can stand in for the processor at a similar level.
The high-end build pairs an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and 32GB of memory. Both parts are well above the official recommended level. This is the build for players who want extra room for higher resolutions, heavier graphics options, or streaming and recording at the same time. Because the game leans on the processor, the extra CPU headroom is more useful here than chasing the top graphics card.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
American Truck Simulator is mostly limited by the processor, because city density, traffic, and the simulation of vehicles and intersections grow as the map expands. Even with a strong graphics card, setting crowd density, traffic density and simulation detail to their highest levels can cause frame pacing problems. These options are often hard to tell apart visually but are expensive, so they are the first ones to adjust.
On the graphics side, shadow quality, volumetric lighting and reflections usually cost the most. Shadows and volumetrics matter less on open highways but add real load in cities and tunnels. View distance affects both the GPU and CPU, so dropping it one step often gives a steadier result. Texture quality and anisotropic filtering are comparatively cheap, so keep them high if your card has the memory for it.
If your graphics card supports upscaling such as DLSS, FSR or XeSS, rendering at a lower internal resolution and scaling up can recover smoothness with only a modest loss in image quality. Quality modes usually look better than performance modes, and pairing upscaling with moderate anti-aliasing is a sensible starting point. How much you gain depends on your hardware and settings, so test a few combinations to find the balance you prefer.
Laptops and handheld PCs
A laptop graphics chip often shares its name with a desktop card but is not equivalent. Power limits and cooling constrain laptop versions, so the sustained performance of a laptop GPU is usually lower than the desktop part it is named after. When buying a laptop, check the advertised graphics power (TGP) and the cooling design rather than relying on the model name alone. Laptop CPUs can also throttle under long, heavy loads, which matters in a game where long drives put steady demands on the processor.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally can run this game, but their processors and integrated graphics are limited by battery and thermal headroom, and performance drops under sustained load. Good practice is to lower the resolution, enable upscaling, set graphics to low or medium, and keep the device plugged in so the battery does not limit performance. We do not have verified handheld data for this title, so treat this as general guidance and check how your specific device behaves.
Storage and memory
The official minimum memory is 8GB and the recommended is 12GB. In practice we suggest 16GB, which leaves comfortable room for Windows, a browser and voice chat running alongside the game. If you plan to use high resolutions or a large number of mods, 32GB is a more relaxed choice. Install memory in a dual-channel configuration, since two channels provide more bandwidth, which helps a processor-heavy game like this one.
The official storage figure of 25GB covers the base installation only. Updates and any later content add to that, so keep at least 35GB free. An SSD is not required but makes a clear difference to loading, especially when crossing map regions and loading saves. If you are still on a hard drive, install the game on its own partition and avoid running the drive close to full.