Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The published minimum for Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition is an Intel i3 4170 at 3.7 GHz or an AMD FX-6300 at 3.5 GHz for the processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R9 270 for the graphics card, 8 GB of memory and 100 GB of storage. The publisher does not require an SSD. By today's standards these parts are very old entry-level hardware. The FX-6300 sits around the same tier as the GTX 750 Ti, so the game will run, but with little headroom.
The recommended level is an Intel i7 4790 at 4 GHz or an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 at 3.6 GHz, a GPU in the GTX 1080 Ti or Radeon RX Vega 64 class, 16 GB of memory and the same 100 GB of storage. On FrameScope's tier scale the recommended CPU is roughly comparable to a Ryzen 5 1400, and the recommended GPU lands near the GTX 1080, a mainstream 1080p card. The gap between minimum and recommended is mostly about doubling memory and having enough graphics power to run at higher settings with some margin.
The recommended list also includes the Intel A750, which belongs to a different generation from the older cards listed. Treat it as a reference point rather than a strict cutoff. Modern mid-range parts will generally give you more room than the recommended list suggests.
No figures for frame rates are given here; performance is described only relative to the official tiers.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build pairs an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super with an AMD Ryzen 3 3300X and 16 GB of memory. It suits players who want to clear the official recommended level on a tight budget and are happy with medium settings or a conservative resolution. The card's VRAM handles the main scenes of the game well, but pushing textures and effects higher will hit its limits sooner.
The mainstream build uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and 16 GB of memory. For most players this is the best value. It comfortably runs at 1080p above the recommended tier and leaves room for future updates.
The high-end build combines an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB with an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and upgrades memory to 32 GB. It suits players who want higher resolutions or high settings, or who stream and record while playing. For this game 32 GB is not required, but it makes multitasking easier.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In a large open-ocean game like this, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric lighting and fog, reflections, and view distance. If you need more performance, lowering these first tends to give the biggest gain for the least visible loss.
Ray tracing is an expensive option here. If your card lacks hardware ray tracing or has limited VRAM, turn it off and put the resources toward resolution and texture quality. Texture settings mainly demand VRAM rather than processing power, so if you have enough memory, keeping them high is usually worthwhile.
Upscaling technologies such as NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR and Intel XeSS render at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct the image at a higher output resolution. In general, turning on upscaling is a practical way to gain smoothness while keeping image quality acceptable. Which options are available depends on your graphics card.
Laptops and handheld PCs
Laptop graphics chips often share a name with desktop cards, such as an RTX 3060, but laptop versions usually have lower power limits and weaker cooling, so real performance can be noticeably lower. When buying a laptop, check the card's power limit (TGP) and the cooling design rather than relying on the model name. During long sessions, poor cooling can cause the CPU and GPU to throttle.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally are low-power mobile platforms. They work best with lower settings and conservative resolutions. Battery life and heat will also shape the experience, so use the performance power profile, keep vents clear, and reduce graphics settings as needed. FrameScope has no Steam Deck verification data for this title, so no rating for that device is given; judge it using these general principles.
Storage and memory
The published storage requirement is 100 GB, but leave extra space for updates and future content. An SSD is not required, but installing the game on one noticeably shortens loading times when joining sessions and moving between areas. A hard drive is playable, just with longer waits.
For memory, the official minimum is 8 GB and the recommended amount is 16 GB. For a modern system, 16 GB is a comfortable starting point and leaves room for the operating system and background programs. Use a dual-channel configuration with two sticks in the correct slots, which helps both CPU and integrated performance. If your budget allows, 32 GB makes multitasking smoother, though it is not essential for this game alone.