Subnautica — a light title that runs on modest PCs: specs & FPS
2018 · Indie, Adventure · Unknown Worlds Entertainment · ESRB Everyone 10+ · Metacritic 83
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 SP2 or newer, 64-bit | OS: Windows Vista SP2 or newer, 64-bit |
| Memory | Processor: Intel Haswell 2 cores / 4 threads @ 2.5Ghz or equivalent | Processor: Intel Haswell 4 cores / 4 threads @ 3.2Ghz or equivalent |
| Graphics | Memory: 4 GB RAM | Memory: 8 GB RAM |
| Storage | Graphics: Intel HD 4600 or equivalent - This includes most GPUs scoring greater than 950pts in the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark | Graphics: Nvidia GTX 550 ti or equivalent |
| DirectX | Storage: 6 GB available space | Storage: 6 GB available space |
| Item 7 | Additional Notes: Subnautica is an Early Access game, and minimum specifications may change during development | Additional Notes: Subnautica is an Early Access game, and recommended specifications may change during development. |
Multi-GPU FPS estimate
Estimated average FPS by GPU at 1080p / 1440p / 4K, derived from Subnautica's demand tier (tier 1, Very light (runs on integrated graphics)) and published TechPowerUp-style relative-performance indices (RTX 4090 = 100), retrieved 2026-08-29. Planning estimates, not benchmarks.
| GPU | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 480 | 380 | 219 |
| RTX 4080 Super | 480 | 341 | 196 |
| RTX 4080 | 480 | 327 | 188 |
| RX 7900 XTX | 480 | 363 | 209 |
| RX 7900 XT | 480 | 341 | 196 |
| RTX 4070 Ti Super | 440 | 291 | 167 |
| RX 7800 XT | 440 | 291 | 167 |
| RTX 4070 Super | 414 | 274 | 157 |
| RTX 4070 | 388 | 256 | 148 |
| RX 7700 XT | 399 | 263 | 152 |
| RTX 3070 | 362 | 239 | 138 |
| RX 6800 XT | 435 | 287 | 165 |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 319 | 211 | 121 |
| RX 6700 XT | 388 | 256 | 148 |
| RTX 3060 | 292 | 193 | 111 |
| RX 6600 XT | 330 | 218 | 125 |
| RTX 2060 | 264 | 174 | 100 |
| GTX 1660 Super | 218 | 144 | 83 |
| RX 580 | 253 | 167 | 96 |
| GTX 1060 6GB | 207 | 136 | 79 |
| GTX 1650 | 165 | 109 | 63 |
| Intel Arc A770 | 335 | 221 | 127 |
| UHD 770 (integrated) | 67 | 44 | 26 |
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 Everyone 10+ | ESRB rating via RAWG.io, retrieved 2026-08-21. |
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Open profile →Guides & fixes for Subnautica
Deep-dive performance, crash-fix and settings references for this title — each links to a focused guide.
Best graphics settings for Subnautica
Pick your PC and get a starting preset — resolution, upscaler, shadows, ray tracing and an FPS cap — tuned to how demanding Subnautica is on hardware. Print it and tune from there. Everything runs in your browser.
Best graphics settings for Subnautica
Subnautica hardware-demand tier: 1/9. 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.
Subnautica — Best settings (Mid-range (GTX 1660 – RTX 3060))
Generated at GameRulePro · 2026-09-25
Release, patch & rule-change notes
Official release date: 2018-01-23. 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 Subnautica
Subnautica is a first-person game about survival in the deep sea. You control Ryley Robinson, a space traveler in the 22nd century, who crash-landed his starship on a planet that is covered almost entirely by the ocean. The protagonist needs to eat and drink, although this can be disabled in lower difficulty modes. He can desalinate oceanic water, catch or gather the seafood, and create useful tools and structures. Unlike many survival games, Subnautica has a detailed plot, in which Ryley has to uncover why his ship crashed. By exploring the ocean, finding the remnants of other crashes, and listening to the radio messages, Robinson will learn about the enormous Leviathan, the mysterious Precursors, and the reason why this planet is quarantined. The game is famous for its spectacular portrayal of the ocean and its wildlife. Robinson is equipped with a scuba diving gear that allows the player to spend most of the game underwater, although oxygen still has to be replenished. The player can dive deep and explore the world full of corals, fish, and other colorful sea creatures, often grotesque or bio-luminescent. The environment is randomly generated to improve replayability.
Performance reality & how to tune Subnautica
GameRulePro editorial — these notes are based on Subnautica's published specifications and genre profile, not a single benchmark run. Use them to set expectations before you open the settings menu.
As a 2018 indie title, Subnautica sits at demand tier 1 (Very light (runs on integrated graphics)) — light on PC. It is light enough for older hardware and even integrated graphics at lower settings.
What to tune first on Subnautica
- 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 Subnautica 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 Subnautica
Can I run it? FPS calculator
Estimate frame rates at 1080p, 1440p and 4K for your exact GPU.
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