Valorant System Requirements on PC: Minimum and Recommended — How to Reach 144 FPS

Valorant is a tactical shooter from Riot Games famous for two things: fair competitive gameplay on 128-tick servers and exceptionally low system requirements. Riot deliberately optimizes the game for the widest audience possible: the official minimum is an office PC from ten years ago. Here's a look at the official requirements, how big the game is and what hardware you need for competitive 144+ FPS.

Official Valorant system requirements

Requirements from the official Riot Games website:

These are among the most modest requirements of any popular competitive shooter: the minimum calls for a dual-core CPU from 2008 and integrated graphics. Riot even supports Windows 7 — a rarity in 2026.

What PC do you need for competitive play

In a tactical shooter, frames matter: the delay between your click and the response depends directly on FPS. Hardware reference points:

• 144 FPS at low settings (1080p) — a GTX 1050 Ti / RX 570 and any modern quad-core CPU (Ryzen 3 3100 / Core i3-10100) are enough. Riot's official "high-end" tier covers this fully.
• 240 FPS for esports — RTX 3060 / RX 6600 and above, 16 GB RAM, a CPU like Ryzen 5 5600 / Core i5-12400F. Valorant scales excellently and delivers hundreds of frames on top hardware.
• 4K at high settings — RTX 4060 Ti and newer, though competitive players don't use such resolutions.

An important nuance: Valorant historically loads the CPU more than the GPU — in fights with smokes and abilities, the CPU determines your minimum FPS. A modern quad-core is a must for stable 144 frames.

Will Valorant run on a weak PC or laptop

Practically on any. The minimum is an Intel HD 4000 and 4 GB RAM, so the game even runs on old office laptops without a discrete GPU. On Intel UHD 750 / Iris Xe integrated graphics expect 60–100 FPS at minimum settings in 1080p, on AMD Radeon 680M even more. Tips for weak machines:

• set all graphics options to minimum and disable anti-aliasing;
• enable Multithreaded Rendering in the settings — free FPS on modern processors;
• close background apps — 4 GB RAM requires care;
• if possible, upgrade to 8 GB of RAM — the system and game will run noticeably more stable.

On Steam Deck and handheld consoles the game works perfectly: low requirements allow 60+ FPS at high settings.

Frequently asked questions

How big is Valorant in 2026?
Officially Riot lists 30+ GB; with updates and content the actual installation takes about 35–45 GB.

Is Valorant paid?
No, the game is completely free. Monetization is cosmetic only: weapon skins, agent contracts and the battle pass.

Is Valorant on consoles?
Yes, the game launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2024 with adapted controls. Crossplay between PC and consoles is disabled in competitive mode to keep matches fair.

Why does Valorant stutter on a good PC?
Most often the culprit is the Vanguard anti-cheat or background processes. Try reinstalling Vanguard, disabling overlays (Discord, GeForce Experience) and making sure the game uses the discrete GPU.

Do you need an SSD for Valorant?
Formally no, the game works from an HDD. But an SSD speeds up map loading — in Valorant fast loading matters, since every round starts for everyone at the same time.

Conclusion

Valorant is the benchmark of accessibility among competitive shooters: the official minimum is a dual-core CPU and Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, and a GTX 1050 Ti with a modern quad-core is enough for competitive 144 FPS. Owners of weak laptops can comfortably play at minimum settings, while powerful builds squeeze hundreds of frames from the game. The only requirement is a modern quad-core CPU if your goal is stable 144 FPS.