Total War: Shogun 2 system specs revealed

Find out if you're going to need to upgrade your gaming PC to get the most of Creative Assembly's next game, Shogun 2.

There are few modern games that push PC hardware as much as the Total War series, and with a new title almost literally just around the corner (it's out in March!), we're keen to learn just how grunty our system is going to have to be to cope with Shogun 2.

And now we know, thanks to the official system requirements, hot off the presses from our chums at Sega.

Minimum Specs (Required for playing Total War: Shogun 2):

2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor / 2.6 GHz Intel Single Core processor , or AMD equivalent (with SSE2)

1GB RAM (XP), 2GB RAM (Vista / Windows7)

256 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card (shader model 3)

1024x768 minimum screen resolution

20GB free hard disk space

Recommended Specs (Recommended for optimum game play of Total War: Shogun 2):

2nd Generation Intel® Core™i5 processor (or greater), or AMD equivalent

2GB RAM (XP), 4GB RAM (Vista / Windows7)

AMD Radeon HD 5000 and 6000 series graphics cards or equivalent DirectX 11 compatible graphics card

1280x1024 minimum screen resolution

20GB free hard disk space

There you go - given the amount of 4-series Radeons and similar Nvidia cards amongst our readers (loving last year's reader survey!), it looks like it could be upgrade time for Total War fans. We've played the game on our 5970-based system, and it looked pretty sweet, so if you do make the plunge you'll be rewarded with some serious eye-candy.

Total War: Shogun 2 is released on March 15 this year.

Aliens: Colonial Marines in depth; Z-77 Motherboard round-up; strategy gaming special; Home Server tutorial. PLUS MUCH MORE - ON SALE NOW!

Ads by Google

6 Comments

philo-sofa Jan 11, 2011 1:16 PM	I'm sorry - Sandy Bridge is part of the recommended system specs? Come off it...
Hawkeye Jan 11, 2011 2:08 PM	Yeah, more often than not these are very closely tied to the same licensing deals that see Nvidia or ATI logos spinning up at the start of a game.
jdog Jan 11, 2011 4:28 PM	so my new i7 rig wont run it? NOOOOOOO!!!! intel has its fingers in too many pies...
Hawkeye Jan 11, 2011 4:42 PM	No... your rig will run it just fine. Preview code runs wonderfully on my i7.
xBomx Jan 11, 2011 6:02 PM	dont shit your self, the 1st gen i7's & i5's are more then enough to run this/any application(S). As for the 2nd gen i5's as a recommended spec, just for peace of mind it is a safe guard for those already sitting @ 4ghz and above. Also keep in mind that the SB-GPU are only dx-10 compatible (need a M/B with an integrated HDMI socket) possibly better than most dx-10 cards out there. And they will not print the spec sheet that you will require a 4ghz-5ghz CPU
xBomx Jan 11, 2011 6:10 PM	but one can speculate that when spec requires "2nd Generation Intel® Core™i5 processor (or greater)", specifically i assume it usually means 4ghz or greater as a recommendation. Its like saying to a minor that egg taste better boiled or fried, but you shouldn't play with fire.

Comments have been disabled on this article.

Atomic Magazine

Issue: 137 | June, 2012

Atomic is a magazine aimed squarely at computer enthusiasts, gamers, and serious PC upgraders.

Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.

What's in this issue?