How much storage does Starfield need?

The must-have game of 2023 is Starfield, Bethesda’s latest role-playing release. The game, described by Bethesda’s director, Todd Howard, as “Skyrim in space” is an exciting open-world gameplay environment and, like all gaming experiences on a Windows PC, hardware is everything. However, Starfield’s system requirements demand something that most gamers ignore. If you’re planning an interstellar adventure, check that you have enough storage for Starfield.

How much storage do I need for Starfield?

According to Bethesda, Starfield needs 125GB of SSD space. Modern machines will often ship with a 500GB or 1TB SSD drive, but if your PC is a few years older, your drive capacity may be much less.

What are the system requirements for Starfield?

According to Bethesda, the requirements for Starfield are:

	Minimum Requirements	Recommended Requirements
OS	Windows 10 version 21H1	Windows 10/11
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600x Intel i7-6800k	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Intel i5-10600k
RAM	16GB	16GB
Graphics	AMD Radeon 5700 NVIDIA GeForce 1070Ti	AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
DirectX	Version 12	Version 12
Storage	125GB	125GB
Notes	SSD Required	SSD Required

From a hardware perspective, Starfield’s system requirements are reasonably modest. The processor and graphics cards listed are several generations old, so hitting acceptable levels of playability shouldn’t be too much trouble for most gaming rigs.

Older PCs running only 8GB of RAM will need an upgrade, but the devil in Bethesda’s detail is the storage requirements. 125GB is on a par with Microsoft Flight Simulator, so clearly Starfield is pulling vast amounts of data from the PC to keep the gameplay slick and vibrant. It’s vital to check that you have enough storage for Starfield as many machines built at the time the recommended CPUs and GPUs were current, had much smaller SSDs.

A few years ago, solid-state storage was more expensive, so it wasn’t uncommon for machines to be built with a small 128GB SSD boot drive and a 1TB S-SATA ‘spinny’ drive as the storage repository. If this is sounding eerily familiar, then investigate before you try to take to the skies.

Do I need an SSD to run Starfield?

Having enough storage for Starfield may not be enough, as Bethesda specifically requires an SSD to maximise performance. Many games recommend SSD storage, but running a Steam library off a capacious SATA drive isn’t usually a problem. Bethesda’s specific requirement for SSD storage is to ensure that the speed of data delivery throughout your PC is maximised.

Thankfully, Starfield’s requirement are for any type of SSD. If your machine cannot accommodate an NVMe M.2 SSD then a SATA version will suffice. If you want some help with SSD upgrades for your PC, we have guides to help. Check out our tips on choosing the best SSD upgrade for your PC and cloning your existing system to a new SSD.