System specs to low - New to X4

[The NME]

Evening All,

After many years of enjoyment of the X Series, I think it may be time to dip my toe into the waters of X4,
especially with new DLC on the way.

However, I am getting reports that my system can't handle it.

I have an AMD Ryzen 5 with 20gb Ram, & plenty of disc space.
I think my problem may be my GPU, A Radeon RX 560.

For a series that is not notorious for it graphics splendour, is this a game killer?

Thanks for your help & responses

[CBJ]

If your RX 560 has 2GB of video RAM, then it simply won't be enough to run the game. If it has 4GB then it might run it, but it may not make for an enjoyable experience because performance of that card is well below that of the minimum requirements specified on the Steam page for the game.

[The NME]

Thanks CBJ.

At the moment it has 1GB Ram.
As my system has 20GB total, I might be able to tweak the bios
to increase this, with the help of some vary friendly you tube tutorials.

I think I was more worried about something called Vulcan support, whatever that is?

[CBJ]

You can't add physical VRAM to your graphics card by tweaking your BIOS! The video memory needs to be physical, on the card, not shared with system memory.

The card does appear to have available driver versions with Vulkan support, but that's not going to help with the memory issue.

[The NME]

Disappointed, but thanks.

No to the game, need to save for a GPU then.

Oh Well,

[CBJ]

I'm afraid so, but I'd also hate to see you buy the game and be disappointed when it doesn't run, or runs but so slowly that you can't play it.

[The NME]

That's why I asked the question, and you great moderators have been helping me out for years.

Now I need to find a decent, relatively cheap graphics card
for a Ryzen 5 2500u laptop.

Time to check the websites
Then I will have to wait for Steam sale

Might start saving a fortune, because I don't think this rig will support Diablo 4 in June.

[Imperial Good]

for a Ryzen 5 2500u laptop.

You are using a external GPU? Since otherwise it is not really possible to upgrade the discrete GPUs of laptops as they are not an addon card and often the discrete GPU die is soldered directly to the motherboard.

Outside of needing 3+ GB (4+ GB recommended for additional stability) of video memory, X4 is not that graphically demanding at reasonable resolutions so older/second hand GPUs are completely viable options and likely much more affordable than the latest Radeon RX 7000 or RTX 4000 GPUs. Series to look for cheap GPUs are GTX 1000, GTX 1600 and RTX 2000 from Nvidia and RX Vega and RX 5000 from AMD. Due to people upgrading as well as cryto currency crashes it is likely many of these GPUs can be had second hand at very reasonable prices compared to brand new GPUs that are available, although being second hand and older there are risks to such purchases.

RTX 3000 from Nvidia and RX 6000 from AMD are still very relevant, and as such pricy, due to the newer generations offering no products in the lower price ranges. They do offer some benefits over older GPU series, even at the lower price ranges, but are still quite pricy even at the lower end.

[The NME]

Oh, That's a new wrinkle.
I have no idea !

It is definitely making me think I need a new system for June.
Can't believe it has a release date, available on Pre-order,
but no system specs released for it.

Anyway, thanks you guys for all you help.
Very much appreciated

[linolafett]

Maybe even think about a game streaming service like geforce now?
For a few bucks a month you could stream the game to your laptop, if your internet is quick enough for a good quality stream (it probably is).
The gameplay is slow enough to not be bothered by a slight latency.
That way you could for the moment avoid buying a new GPU.

[The NME]

I didn't even know things like this existed.
Every day is a school day. (Or you live & you learn if you prefer a different metaphor)

Looking down the list of games, they only have
the base X4: Foundations listed, not the DLC

Would the Free subscription off be enough to run it?

Thanks