Action · 2010 · Valve
Alien Swarm System Requirements
Alien Swarm is very light on modern hardware by 2026 standards. It wants 1GB of memory and 1GB of VRAM for a comfortable experience. Set aside 3GB of free space.
Check my PC against this gameFull system requirements
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows | Windows |
| DirectX | — | — |
| Processor | Pentium 4 3.0GHz≈ AMD Phenom 9850 | Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz≈ AMD Phenom 9850 |
| Graphics card | DirectX 9 compatible video card with 128 MB, Shader model 2.0. ATI X800, NVidia 6600 or better≈ Intel HD Graphics 4000 | DirectX 9 compatible video card with Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better≈ Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
| Video memory | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| System memory | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Storage | 3 GB | 3 GB |
Estimated performance by graphics card
High preset, upscaling off, paired with a AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D-class processor.
| Graphics card | Tier | 1080p | 1440p | 4K | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | S | 2676 | 2676 | 2095 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | S | 2676 | 2676 | 1870 | Recommended spec |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | A | 2676 | 2676 | 1786 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER | A | 2676 | 2676 | 1758 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 | A | 2676 | 2676 | 1702 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | A | 2676 | 2676 | 1618 | Recommended spec |
| AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT | A | 2676 | 2676 | 1590 | Recommended spec |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT | A | 2676 | 2676 | 1563 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER | A | 2676 | 2643 | 1535 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | A | 2676 | 2595 | 1507 | Recommended spec |
Modelled estimates rather than captured runs — see our methodology.
Frequently asked questions
What are the minimum requirements for Alien Swarm?
At least 1GB of system memory, a graphics card with 1GB of VRAM (roughly a Intel HD Graphics 4000 or better), 3GB of free storage, Windows and .
What are the recommended specs?
For a comfortable experience: 1GB of memory and a card with 1GB of VRAM — around a Intel HD Graphics 4000, paired with a AMD Phenom 9850 or equivalent.
Is Alien Swarm demanding on PC?
It is very light on modern hardware by 2026 standards, with a recommended GPU score of 1/100. It is primarily CPU-bound.
