Can I run Cities: Skylines?
To run Cities: Skylines at about 60 FPS on 1080p High you need roughly a GTX 960 with a Core i9-9900K and 8 GB RAM; the minimum is an RX 550. Check your own PC below: estimated FPS at every setting, the official requirements and what to upgrade.
Updated
- Graphics for 60 FPS (est.)
- GTX 960
- Processor for 60 FPS (est.)
- Core i9-9900K
- Graphics for 30 FPS, Low (est.)
- RX 550
- RAM
- 8 GB
Your PCExample PC
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Runs well: about 52 FPS in Cities: Skylines at 1080p High (estimated).
Expect about 52 FPS in Cities: Skylines at 1080p High (estimated). It won't hold 60 FPS. Best playable setting: Ultra settings at 4K (30 FPS).
Estimated FPS at every setting
Average FPS on your PC. The ringed box marked "best" is the best setting that holds 30 FPS (playable); the dashed box is the result above.
4K results for cards with 8 GB or less VRAM are often limited by video memory.
Smooth 60+ FPS · Playable 30–59 · Choppy under 30 · What is a good FPS?
Your parts vs this game
What to do next
Upgrade advice
To reach 60 FPS at 1080p High, upgrade the processor to a Core i9-9900K or better, because your CPU is the limit here.
Cities: Skylines at a glance
Cities: Skylines is a city builder game from 2015. The recommended graphics listed by the Steam store page: Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 580 (1.5 GB) | AMD® Radeon™ RX 560 (4 GB). It asks for 16 GB of RAM (minimum 8 GB).
Our estimate: you need about a GTX 960 for a steady 60 FPS at 1080p High, while an RX 550 can hold around 30 FPS on Low. The game is heavy on the processor; a Core i9-9900K or better keeps up with 60 FPS. On basic Intel UHD 630 graphics expect only about 22 FPS on Low, so a dedicated graphics card makes a big difference.
Cities: Skylines system requirements
| Part | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows® 10 Home 64 Bit | Windows® 10 Home 64 bit |
| Processor | Intel® Core™ I7 930 | AMD® FX 6350 | Intel® Core™ I7 2700K | AMD® Ryzen 7 2700X |
| Graphics | Nvidia® GeForce™ GTS 450 (1 GB) | AMD® R7 250 (2 GB) | Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake) | Nvidia® GeForce™ GTX 580 (1.5 GB) | AMD® Radeon™ RX 560 (4 GB) |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Storage | 4 GB | 4 GB |
Parts named above: Iris Xe 96EU, RX 560, Ryzen 7 2700X.
Our estimate for a steady 60 FPS at 1080p High: GTX 960 graphics, Core i9-9900K processor and 8 GB RAM.
Cities: Skylines FPS by graphics card
Estimated average FPS with a Ryzen 5 5600 and 16 GB RAM. Highlighted: the card our model needs for 60 FPS on High (GTX 960). Cells that stop at 64 FPS are held back by the Ryzen 5 5600, not the graphics card.
| Graphics card | 1080p Low | 1080p High | 1440p High | 4K High |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UHD 630 | 22 | 12 | 8 | Not recommended |
| GTX 960 | 64 | 61 | 41 | Not recommended |
| GTX 1050 Ti | 64 | 64 | 43 | Not recommended |
| Radeon 780M | 64 | 64 | 45 | Not recommended |
| GTX 1650 | 64 | 64 | 51 | Not recommended |
| GTX 1060 6GB | 64 | 64 | 64 | 28 |
| GTX 1660 Super | 64 | 64 | 64 | 40 |
| RTX 2060 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 46 |
| RX 6600 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 50 |
| RTX 3060 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| RX 7600 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| RTX 4060 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| RTX 3070 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| RTX 4070 Super | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| RX 7900 XTX | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| RTX 4090 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
Smooth 60+ FPS · Playable 30–59 · Choppy under 30 · What is a good FPS?
4K is marked not recommended for integrated graphics and cards with 4 GB of video memory or less. 4K results for cards with 8 GB or less VRAM are often limited by video memory.
Estimated FPS. Numbers come from the FPSVibe model, not measured benchmarks. How we estimate
Best Cities: Skylines settings for your PC
- Budget PC (GTX 1650 + Ryzen 5 5600): Medium settings at 1440p for about 64 FPS. 1080p High: about 64 FPS.
- Mid-range PC (RTX 3060 + Ryzen 5 5600): High settings at 4K for about 64 FPS. 1080p High: about 64 FPS.
- High-end PC (RTX 4070 Super + Ryzen 5 5600): Ultra settings at 4K for about 64 FPS. 1080p High: about 64 FPS.
Not sure what's in your PC? Use Detect my PC in the tool above, or open the FPS calculator.
Cities: Skylines FAQs
Can I run Cities: Skylines on a GTX 1650?
Estimated: about 64 FPS on Low and 64 FPS on High at 1080p with a Ryzen 5 5600 and 16 GB RAM. That's smooth even with some settings turned up.
What graphics card do I need for Cities: Skylines at 60 FPS?
Our model puts a GTX 960 or faster at about 60 FPS on 1080p High (estimate). For 30 FPS on Low, an RX 550 is enough.
How much RAM does Cities: Skylines need?
Minimum 8 GB, recommended 16 GB (official). Below 8 GB, expect a noticeable FPS drop and stutter in our model.
Can Cities: Skylines run on integrated graphics?
Estimated on Low at 1080p: about 64 FPS on Radeon 780M (recent AMD laptops and handhelds) and 22 FPS on Intel UHD 630. Newer integrated graphics can handle it.
How much storage does Cities: Skylines need?
About 4 GB of free space, according to its Steam store page.