How to fix the graphic card doesn’t meet minimal requirements error in Starfield

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How to Fix the Minimum Requirements Error in Starfield

If you’ve encountered an error message while trying to launch Starfield, stating that your graphic card does not meet the minimum requirements, you’re not alone. This issue occurs when Starfield’s minimum requirement checker receives incorrect hardware information from your device, even if your hardware meets the minimum requirements. It can be a frustrating problem to deal with, but here’s a guide on how to fix it.

Fixing the Error on Windows 10

If you’re experiencing this error on Windows 10, you can try forcing a Windows update using the Windows Update Assistant. This is necessary because a specific version of Windows 10 can cause the minimum requirements checker to fail when launching the game.

  1. Download the Windows Update Assistant.
  2. Launch the program.
  3. Click the “Update Now” button.

Note that using the “Create Install Media” function may require a fresh install of Windows, so exercise caution.

Fixing the Error on Windows 11

If you’re encountering the minimum requirements error on Windows 11, there are a few potential solutions you can try:

  1. Update Windows 11 to version 22h2 using the Windows 11 Installation Assistant. After the update, navigate to “Settings -> System -> About” on your computer and ensure that the Version indicates 22H2. It seems that installing the update through your updater and upgrading the underlying Windows version is necessary.
  2. If updating your Windows version to 22h2 doesn’t resolve the issue, try uninstalling your current video card drivers and downloading the latest drivers for your specific GPU from the Nvidia website.

Fixing the Error on Linux

Starfield may encounter issues when launching on most NVIDIA GPUs on Linux, particularly Pascal GPUs. When attempting to launch Starfield on Linux through Steam+Proton, it appears that the driver provides incorrect hardware information to the minimum specifications checker, causing the game to fail. To fix this issue, follow these steps:

  1. Downgrade your video driver using the github/nvidia-all repository and select version 530.
  2. Add the launch option “VKD3D_SHADER_MODEL=6_6 %command%” to Starfield.

If you’re using Lutris, follow these steps to apply the fix:

  1. Right-click on Starfield.
  2. Select the “Configure” option.
  3. Go to “System Options”.
  4. Enable the “Advanced” feature at the top.
  5. Paste “VKD3D_SHADER_MODEL=6_6 %command%” into the Command box.

If you’re using Steam, follow these steps to apply the fix:

  1. Right-click on Starfield.
  2. Open the “Properties” menu.
  3. Paste “VKD3D_SHADER_MODEL=6_6 %command%” into the Launch Options field.
  4. Select the Proton version to be Proton Experimental.

Author’s Note: I wrote this guide while playing Starfield on PC and Xbox Series S.