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Can Your PC Run Doom Eternal?

Hell's armies invade Earth on March 20. To save mankind, make sure your PC meets these system requirements.

 & Jeffrey L. Wilson Managing Editor, Apps and Gaming

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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It's been nearly two years since Bethesda Software revealed the initial Doom Eternal teaser at E3 2018. Now, with a confirmed March 20 release date, the hotly anticipated first-person shooter is just a short time away. On that day, Doom Eternal will be available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia, and PC platforms. If you're eyeballing this article, you're here for information on how to best run the PC game. Warning: You'll need beefy hardware to squeeze the most out of Doom Eternal.

The Doom Eternal Buzz

Doom Eternal is the follow-up to 2016's Doom reboot, a game that's beloved by critics and consumers alike for its gory, fast-paced action and heavy metal score. In Doom 2016, you fought demonic forces on a colonized Mars. This time around, however, you fight Hell's armies on Earth. That scenery change has the potential for many hype moments.

Another reason people are eager to get their mitts on Doom Eternal is Battlemode. This new multiplayer mode is a 1-versus-2 experience that sees a fully armed Doom Slayer face off against a pair of player-controlled demons in a best-of-five round match.


Doom Eternal Slay the demons and save Earth.

Why You Should Buy Doom Eternal on PC

Doom Eternal's PC version will likely boast many benefits that its console counterparts lack, but one of the major pluses is real-time ray-tracing technology. That requires a powerful graphics card from Nvidia's GeForce RTX line, but it's the only game in town if you want cinematic lighting effect behavior.

Where to Buy Doom Eternal on PC

On PC, the $59.99 Doom Eternal will be available for digital purchase from Google Stadia, Steam, and Bethesda's own game store (via website or launcher). If you intend to play Doom Eternal on the Stadia game-streaming platform, PC specs aren't an issue. If you intend to play Doom Eternal on a gaming desktop or gaming laptop, these are the operating systems and components you'll need to run the shooter.

Doom Eternal's Minimum Specs (1080p/60 FPS)

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 7
  • CPU: 3.1GHz AMD Ryzen 3 or 3.3GHz Intel Core i5
  • GPU: AMD Radeon R9 280 (3GB)/Radeon R9 290 (4GB)/Radeon RX 470 (4GB) or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti (4GB)/GTX 1060 (3GB)/GTX 1650 (4GB)
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Available Storage Space: 50GB
  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X or Intel Core i7-6700K
  • GPU: AMD Radeon RX Vega56 (8GB) or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (8GB)/RTX 2060 (6GB)
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Available Storage Space: 50GB

Doom Eternal's Ultra-Nightmare Specs (4K/60 FPS)

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or  Intel Core i9-9900K 
  • GPU:  AMD Radeon VII (16GB) or Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (11GB) 
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Available Storage Space: 50GB

Bethesda Software has several other system recommendations for playing with weaker graphics cards or boosting frame rates.


Doom Eternal Don't stop shooting until you see the white of its one eye.

Doom Eternal's Input Support

Doom Eternal will support mouse/keyboard and gamepad inputs.

Doom Eternal's DRM

In order to play Doom Eternal on PC, you'll need to create and log into a Bethesda.net account—even if you purchased the game from Steam. 

More PC Gaming Goodness

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About Our Expert

Jeffrey L. Wilson

Jeffrey L. Wilson

Managing Editor, Apps and Gaming

Since 2004, I've written about consumer tech for many publications, including 1UP, Laptop, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. I now apply that knowledge and skill set as the managing editor of PCMag's apps and gaming team.

The Technology I Use

As a member of the App & Gaming team, I use a wide variety of apps and services. Google Drive is an essential file-syncing service for moving documents between team members in this work-from-home era. Scrivener has been an invaluable writing tool as I rework my fiction manuscript. YouTube Premium and YouTube TV deliver hours of entertainment (though I only use the latter service during the F1 and NBA playoff seasons).

In terms of hardware, I use a Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1 laptop for work and an Origin PC tower for playing PC games. I also have a Steam Deck, which lets me play my favorite titles under a shade tree. Of course, I have a smartphone, and the Google Pixel 9a is my handset of choice.

My main input devices are the Das Keyboard 4 Professional and Logitech MX Vertical Ergonomic Mouse, though I bust out the Hori Fighting Commander Octa or Hori Fight Stick Alpha when mixing it up in fighting games. I have a thing for arcade sticks. I collect Neo Geo AES games, too, but only if I can find the carts on the (relative) cheap.

For video and music consumption, I fire up my Lenovo Tab P11; it has a sharp screen and great Dolby Atmos-powered speakers. My Kindle Paperwhite has received much use, too. I have a standalone, Sony Blu-ray player connected to a TCL television when it's time to go full cinephile. I'm also a vinyl guy, so the Bluetooth-enabled Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT keeps the wax spinning.

My first computer was a Commodore 64. Long live BASIC and retro computers!

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