Are you excited about diving into the interstellar adventures of Starfield? But if you have been there, you may have come across the frustrating ‘Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements’ error. According to some Starfield lovers, recently, they have been coming across the said error message, ruining their overall gaming experience. As the error message clearly states, your computer’s graphics card, aka GPU, does not have the necessary hardware capabilities to run the game. But worry not since we have got your back.
Join us in this article as we unfold the tried and tested fixes for the “Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements” error in Starfield. This step-by-step guide will resolve the issue, taking you on your Starfield adventure again. Read on the simplified process with minimal technical knowledge and get through it.
How to Fix the Starfield Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements Error?
Quick FIX: Verify Your Graphic Card
From the error message “Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements”, it is obvious to verify the Graphic Card first. Make sure you are meeting all the requirements for Starfield.
Use the information below for guidance:
Minimum Graphics Card Requirements for Starfield:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti or
AMD Radeon RX 590 8GB
Overall Minimum System Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 10 version 21H1 (10.0.19043)
Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700 or NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 125 GB available space (SSD Required)
NOTE: The above minimum requirements are subject to change as the game’s development progresses. For the latest information, please visit the Starfield website.
FIX 1: Update your Graphics Card Driver
For error messages like the “Starfield Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements” error, the most basic solution is to update your Graphics Card Drivers. Updating your graphics card drivers ensures that your GPU is equipped with the latest optimizations and fixes for running new games like Starfield. Doing so is important to ensure compatibility and performance with modern titles.
To do so, here’s a step-by-step explanation:
- Firstly, launch the Run Dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R altogether.
- Now, inside the Run box, type ‘dxdiag‘, press Enter, and it will launch the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
- Move to the Display tab and find out all the information, including model, manufacturer, etc., about your Graphic Card.
- Now navigate the official website of your graphics card manufacturer (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel’s website accordingly).
- On the website, visit the Drivers or Support section, enter your graphics card model and search. If not, you can also use the automatic detection tool if available.
- Now, proceed with downloading the latest driver for your specific graphics card model. Make sure you download the correct driver, depending on the version of your operating system.
- Once done, run the downloaded driver installer, follow all the on-screen instructions and later restart your device as prompted.
- After the computer restarts, try launching Starfield, and the said error may no longer persist.
FIX 2: Adjust In-Game Graphic Settings
As you adjust the in-game graphic settings, it improves the gaming performance on lower-end or older graphic cards. It is especially helpful for optimizing the performance if your graphics card falls below the minimum requirements. Although it will reduce visual quality slightly, it will overall make the game playable even when the hardware doesn’t meet the minimum requirements.
Here’s how you can adjust the In-game Graphic Settings in Starfield:
- Launch Starfield as you would always do.
- Now navigate to the Settings menu (typically found on the main menu of the game)
- Now, inside the in-game settings menu, locate various options related to graphics and visual quality. Here, lower the quality of Textures, Shadows, Effects, Draw Distance, etc. Doing so will change the gaming experience, but it will reduce the strain on your graphics card. Simultaneously, you can either reduce or disable Anti-Aliasing.
- Once done with all the adjustments, Save the changes.
- Now exit the Settings menu, try playing the game again, and the error message will no longer appear.
- Try to further fine-tune the settings until you find a balance between acceptable performance and visual quality.
FIX 3: Verify Integrity of Game Files
One of the most effective ways to resolve the “Starfield Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements” error is by verifying the integrity of game files. Doing so ensures that the game’s installation is in a healthy state and does not lead to error.
Here is how you can verify the Integrity of Game Files (For Steam):
- Start by launching Steam Client and then navigate to your game library.
- From the list of games, locate Starfield, right-click on it, and from the context menu, select the option Properties.
- Now, inside the game’s properties window, navigate to the Local Files Tab. Here, locate the tab for Verify Integrity of Game Files and click on it.
- Now, allow Steam to scan the game files for any issues. If there are, it will automatically repair or re-download any damaged or missing files. Depending upon the internet speed and games’ size, the process may take longer.
- Once done with the process, close the properties window and launch Starfield, and you may no longer see the error message.
Fix 4: Ensure Starfield is Using Your Dedicated GPU
By ensuring Starfield is using your dedicated GPU, you can significantly improve the game’s performance and resolve and resolve the said error. This solution works especially if your integrated graphics fall short of the game’s requirements. Users who have a system with a dedicated GPU and integrated graphics may often suspect that Starfield is defaulting to the integrated graphics.
Here’s the step-by-step process to ensure that the game utilizes your dedicated GPU only:
- Launch Starfield and navigate to its Settings menu.
- Now locate the Graphics or Display tab and navigate accordingly.
- Further, under the Graphics Device section, you should see a drop-down menu that allows you to choose the graphics card Starfield uses. Here, make sure your dedicated GPU is selected, and if not, select. (AMD Radeon RX 590 8GB or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti)
- Now, Save the changes, exit the Settings menu, and restart Starfield. You may no longer experience the “Starfield Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements” error.
Fix 5: Close Background Applications
One of the very common fixes for the “Starfield Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements” error is closing all the Background Applications. Most of the time, the applications running in the background consume valuable system resources, impacting various of your important tasks. Once you close those background applications, it frees up the system resources, including CPU and RAM, making Starfield run more smoothly. Even if not for the said error, closing any applications that you’re not actively using while gaming is likely a smart practice.
Here’s how to close these background apps to free up system resources:
- Firstly, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc together and launch the Task Manager.
- Now, inside the Task Manager window, from a list of currently running processes and applications, identify any non-essential applications. Close all those that aren’t in use. To do so, click on the Application and select End Task from the bottom right of the Task Manager window.
- Close any other non-essential background apps by repeating the process and then relaunch Starfield. You may no longer experience the said error now.
Wrapping up…
This was all about fixing the “Graphics Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements” issue in Starfield. We hope one or the other of the above five solutions will help you.
However, if even after trying all of them, you are still experiencing the error, consider reaching out to Starfield’s official support. The support team will assist you with specialized help.