Dishonored — a light title that runs on modest PCs: specs & FPS
2012 · Adventure, Action, RPG · Bethesda Softworks · ESRB Mature · Metacritic 91
Official system requirements
Publisher-published Minimum / Recommended values via RAWG, retrieved 2026-08-21. Real-world performance varies with drivers, resolution and your full build.
| Spec | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Minimum: | Recommended: |
| Processor | OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7 | OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7 (enhanced for 64-bit OS) |
| Memory | Processor: 3.0 GHz dual core or better | Processor: 2.4 GHz quad core or better (enhanced for multi-core processors) |
| Graphics | Memory: 3 GB system RAM | Memory: 4 GB system RAM |
| Storage | Hard Disk Space: 9 GB | Hard Disk Space: 9 GB |
| DirectX | Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible with 512 MB video RAM or better (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5850) | Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible with 768 MB video RAM or better (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5850) |
| Item 7 | Sound: Windows compatible sound card | Sound: Windows compatible sound card |
Multi-GPU FPS estimate
Estimated average FPS by GPU at 1080p / 1440p / 4K, derived from Dishonored's demand tier (tier 3, Light (entry discrete GPU)) and published TechPowerUp-style relative-performance indices (RTX 4090 = 100), retrieved 2026-08-29. Planning estimates, not benchmarks.
| GPU | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 285 | 188 | 108 |
| RTX 4080 Super | 256 | 169 | 97 |
| RTX 4080 | 246 | 162 | 93 |
| RX 7900 XTX | 273 | 180 | 104 |
| RX 7900 XT | 256 | 169 | 97 |
| RTX 4070 Ti Super | 218 | 144 | 83 |
| RX 7800 XT | 218 | 144 | 83 |
| RTX 4070 Super | 205 | 135 | 78 |
| RTX 4070 | 192 | 127 | 73 |
| RX 7700 XT | 198 | 130 | 75 |
| RTX 3070 | 179 | 118 | 68 |
| RX 6800 XT | 215 | 142 | 82 |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 158 | 104 | 60 |
| RX 6700 XT | 192 | 127 | 73 |
| RTX 3060 | 145 | 95 | 55 |
| RX 6600 XT | 163 | 108 | 62 |
| RTX 2060 | 131 | 86 | 50 |
| GTX 1660 Super | 108 | 71 | 41 |
| RX 580 | 125 | 83 | 48 |
| GTX 1060 6GB | 102 | 68 | 39 |
| GTX 1650 | 82 | 54 | 31 |
| Intel Arc A770 | 166 | 110 | 63 |
| UHD 770 (integrated) | 33 | 22 | 13 |
Method: a game's demand tier maps to a “GPU index needed for ~60 FPS at 1080p”; each GPU's relative index produces an estimate via a diminishing-returns curve, then scaled for resolution. Source: TechPowerUp GPU database (relative performance), 2026-08-29.
For the full hardware spec sheet and a deeper performance breakdown, see Full specs & performance data on GameFigs.
Age rating & regional compliance
GameRulePro pairs each title with its ESRB age rating and, where documented, real regulatory notes on loot boxes, skin gambling and randomized monetization. Every line is source-linked and labeled with its retrieval date. This is an educational reference, not legal advice — verify the specifics that apply to your jurisdiction.
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Age rating | ESRB Mature | ESRB rating via RAWG.io, retrieved 2026-08-21. |
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Open profile →Best graphics settings for Dishonored
Pick your PC and get a starting preset — resolution, upscaler, shadows, ray tracing and an FPS cap — tuned to how demanding Dishonored is on hardware. Print it and tune from there. Everything runs in your browser.
Best graphics settings for Dishonored
Dishonored hardware-demand tier: 3/9. Pick your PC above to get a starting preset, then tune up if you have FPS headroom or down if you're under your target.
Estimated starting point — real FPS depends on drivers, thermals and background load.
Dishonored — Best settings (Mid-range (GTX 1660 – RTX 3060))
Generated at GameRulePro · 2026-09-25
Release, patch & rule-change notes
Official release date: 2012-09-25. Ongoing patches and version history are published by the developer — for the latest patch notes, see the official store or support page. GameRulePro summarizes the official release only and does not invent patch dates. When a developer ships a rule-affecting update (balance pass, mode change, or ranked-reset), re-run the generator above to keep your house rules in sync.
About Dishonored
Dishonored is the game about stealth. Or action and killing people. It is you who will decide what to do with your enemies. You play as Corvo Attano, Empress' bodyguard, a masterful assassin and a combat specialist. All of a sudden, a group of assassins kill the Empress and kidnaps her daughter Emily. Being accused of murder and waiting for execution in a cell, Corvo still manages to escape with the help of the Loyalists and their leader Admiral Havelock. Now it is your duty to return the Empress daughter and restore your name. The main focus of the game is to give the player a choice. You can spare the lives of your enemies by knocking them out or making others do the job for you or brutally murder everyone in the city. Gadgets are given by Piero Joplin, Loyalists engineer and by the Outsider, who gives Corvo magical abilities. The game reacts to your choices - grim atmosphere by itself can be turned even darker by killing people or slightly lighter by not doing so. It is only a player's choice what to do with his abilities. Basing on these actions the game will give you with two different endings of the story.
Performance reality & how to tune Dishonored
GameRulePro editorial — these notes are based on Dishonored's published specifications and genre profile, not a single benchmark run. Use them to set expectations before you open the settings menu.
As a 2012 action title, Dishonored sits at demand tier 3 (Light (entry discrete GPU)) — light on PC. It is light enough for older hardware and even integrated graphics at lower settings.
What to tune first on Dishonored
- Open-world RPGs lean on CPU and storage in busy towns — SSD + dual-channel RAM first.
- Shadows and lighting scale hardest; keep textures high since they mostly use VRAM.
- An upscaler at 4K recovers the most frames with the smallest visual hit.
The FPS table above is a model estimate from the demand-tier + GPU-index method. Real frame rates vary with drivers, background apps, thermals and resolution. Treat it as a buying or upgrade planning aid, then verify in-game. For step-by-step fixes, see the crash-fix and optimization guides linked on this page.
Sources & attribution
- Game data (release year, genres, platforms, system requirements, description, cover art) via RAWG.io, retrieved 2026-08-21.
- GPU relative-performance indices via TechPowerUp GPU database (relative performance), retrieved 2026-08-29.
- FPS estimates on this page are GameRulePro planning estimates from the demand-tier + GPU-index model — not benchmark results.
- House rules and tournament formats are community-style templates for casual play, not official rulebooks.
- Pre-launch intelligence (release windows, settings, editions, pricing, beta dates) is compiled from each title's official publisher / studio announcements and is source-linked per item with its retrieval date (2026-09-09). Where a detail is from reporting rather than a primary source, the item's source line states so. This is preview material, not an official specification.
- Per-game age-rating & regional compliance reference (ESRB rating via RAWG; curated regulatory notes) from the GameRulePro game-rules dataset, retrieved 2026-08-29.
How the Dishonored FPS estimate and rules generator are computed
Each game is scored on a 0–9 demand tier from its published PC requirements (and a year/genre fallback when requirements are absent). The FPS estimate compares your selected GPU's relative-performance index against the tier's required index using a diminishing-returns curve, then scales for resolution. The rules and tournament builder is a community-style template engine: it formats your group size, match format and tiebreaks into a printable sheet. All outputs are planning guides — verify in-game and agree house rules with your group before play.
Do more with Dishonored
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