Duke Nukem Forever Specs Announced
Gearbox revealed the minimum and recommended system specs for Duke Nukem Forever.
Tuesday Gearbox Software finally released the minimum and recommended system specs for the long, long, long-awaited game Duke Nukem Forever. The minimum hardware requirements are surprisingly low-end, requesting at least 1 GB or memory, 256 MB of video memory, Nvidia's GeForce 7600 and AMD's Radeon HD 2600. The game also demands the Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 GHz at the very least, or the Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.0 GHz for those who prefer a glass of AMD.
That said, mainstream laptop owners shouldn't have a problem getting an acceptable frame rate. Heck, for that matter, the recommended specs aren't all that beefy either, meaning the game will be enjoyed by a larger audience than seen with recent titles like Bulletstorm and Crysis 2. As listed below, some of the recommended hardware specs call for 2 GB of RAM, Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GTS or AMD's Radeon HD 3850 graphics.
But enough chatter. Here are the requirements in their entirety:
MINIMUM SPECIFICATIONS
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.0 Ghz
- Memory: 1 GB
- Hard Drive: 10 GB free
- Video Memory: 256 MB
- Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
RECOMMENDED SPECIFICATIONS
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.6 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB
- Hard Drive: 10 GB free
- Video Memory: 512 MB
- Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS / ATI Radeon HD 3850
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
Gearbox notes that Duke Nukem Forever also uses Steam for DRM, and will install the client if its not already present on the system. That said, PC gamers will need a one-time internet connection for Steam authentication. For AMD customers, the game will also install the AMD Dual Core Optimizer which is required only for specific AMD processors to run the game correctly (but is still installed for all AMD platforms).
Unless Gearbox hits another road bump, Duke Nukem Forever will invade North America on June 14, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. That's just over a month away... Can we get a w00t w00t? Anyone?

but i can see how this will tick some people off, Steam is really becoming a juggernaut, with the likes of Civ V and Duke coming third party to steam exclusively. I'm a Steam fanboy, but if I wasn't I'd probably be annoyed.
So ah...anyone else not surprised that a 3 -cough- 5 -cough- 7 year old game requires such minimal hardware to play? I'm positive it will be good, but you know there are going to be people complaining that it doesn't have cutting-edge graphics...which we all KNOW makes the game more than the gameplay.
There is enough games out there that do not require all this crappy DRM and Steam punk!
*edit* Wow Stardude posted the answer literally as I was typing this! ESP FTW!
Have you ever even used steam? I'm not usually a fan of download services, but I love using steam... It's not as bad as you'd think. Their sales can be pretty darned impressive at times, too.
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I'd consider these recommended requirements to be "second level". The highest recommended I have seen is a radeon 4870/GTX260 and that's Metro 2033, one of the most intensive games on the market. Other games I have seen have recommended this 3850 as recommended. Most modern games still have lower cards for their "recommended" though.
Reinstalled DN3D just for the nostalgia ... the graphics made me a bit woozy though it was a nice trip down memory lane.
Steam is a good vehicle for games ... we like it.
I said that a few months ago. With these system requirements, I think this solidifies this.
No Dx11 support, though? Fail. It doesn't appear to have it based on the recommended system requirements.