System Requirements

This article is dedicated to running Warframe on your computer and some tips and tools on how to improve your overall performance.

System Requirements
The minimum system requirements to run Warframe are:

For DirectX11: To use Nvidia APEX PhysX:
 * OS: Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or higher.
 * CPU: Intel Core Duo E6400 or AMD Athlon 64 4000+
 * RAM: 2 GB Recommend 6 GB
 * GPU: Nvidia Geforce 8600 or ATI Radeon HD 3600
 * DirectX: 9.0c
 * Hard Drive: 9 GB of hard drive space
 * OS : Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or higher
 * Graphics : AMD 5000 series or Nvidia 400 series or higher
 * Nvidia Graphics Card with 1G of video RAM

If you are unsure about your computer's specifications for running Warframe, or if you simply want to be sure, click on the link below and search for Warframe. Select automatic detection of hardware and accept the applet run request by your browser.


 * System Requirements Lab • Can You RUN It. SystemRequirementsLab.jpg

Please be reminded that these published system requirements (and subsequently, the test above) are only theoretical minimum requirements. Your system may be able to run Warframe with playable frames per second outside these requirements.

PhysX
Warframe can utilize Nvidia PhysX effects, if enabled by the user in the settings window. So far, PhysX effects in Warframe consist of additional particle effects in the form of turbulence particles, emitted from the bodies of dead enemies as they dissolve, explosive barrels and some of the special powers of the Warframes. To properly run PhysX, you will need a Nvidia GPU, as AMD GPUs are not supported.

Improved Performance with Nvidia GPUs
While most high-end and mid-range Nvidia GPU's can easily use PhysX, low-end desktop and some mid-range notebook GPU's may suffer a performance hit. Most mid-range GPU's are affordable to most people, however, most notebooks do not allow the changing of GPU's.

You can still pair your current GPU with a second GPU and dedicate this GPU for PhysX calculation, or upgrade your current GPU and use your old GPU as a dedicated PhysX card in non-SLI configuration. To do this, a motherboard with an extra PCI Express slot and a card that supports PhysX are necessary. You can then dedicate this card to PhysX. Ensure that both cards support the same DirectX versions, either 9.0 or 11.0.

AMD GPUs and PhysX
Unfortunately, Nvidia does not support AMD GPUs running PhysX. The only way around this is by adding a Nvidia GPU to your computer and dedicate this for PhysX calculation, much like the option above for pure Nvidia setup. As of now there are no official drivers that support this solution, at least officially. There are, however, modified drivers available for download that enable PhysX on AMD GPU systems. Please note that without a Nvidia GPU, only CPU PhysX is supported, which is extremely slow in most cases. Please take into account before using these drivers that they are not official and are community-modified.


 * Nvidia PhysX performance reference
 * PhysX configuration reference

Tools
A range of tools and utilities you might find useful, all freeware: no trials or payware!
 * 3DP Chip: Little program that checks what hardware is on your rig and then find the proper drivers.
 * Note: this program contains a PUP (OpenCandy). Here a VirusTotal scan.
 * DiskMax: Keep your hard drive clean and remove any unwanted files. A range of scanning profiles for novice to expert users, comes with disk defrag.
 * Note: never defrag a SSD (Solid State Drives).
 * CoreTemp: Keep an eye on your core(s) temperature. Works with System Monitor.
 * System Monitor II: Live stats of about your rig, CPU coreloads, RAM/Page File and more.
 * Speccy: It is an advanced System Information tool for your PC from Piriform. It indicates several information (like speed, temperature) on your processor, hard drive, memory (RAM) and graphics card.
 * MSI Afterburner: Can be used to monitor Nvidia based GPUs. May only work with MSI products.
 * Ping Monitor: Ping any server/website with live stats.
 * CCleaner: Registry cleaner.
 * CCEnhancer: improves the cleaning ability of CCleaner by adding more programs to the list, including Warframe.
 * Leatrix Latency Fix: Online gaming latency issue fix.
 * Advanced SystemCare: Advanced program that contains a multitude of tools, much of the tools listed above, all in one package. Includes a RAM Booster to free up extra RAM and a turbo-boost tool to keep unnecessary programs from running and using up space as you play. Basic free version contains most of the features, and upgrading is not necessary.

Tricks & Settings
Some minor adjustments in your Windows OS could improve your overall performance. Here are some listed, but take into account that this is for the advanced users. It is strongly advised to not to attempt the below tricks unless you have some experience. Before proceeding, make sure to do a full backup (system image, registry back up, etc.) in case if anything messes up.


 * QoS 100% bandwidth trick doesn't work. This tip made people believe that Microsoft always allocates 20% of your bandwidth for Windows Update or other Windows processes but the claim is false since 100% of the bandwidth is shared across all programs unless a program needs priority bandwidth. Disabling the QoS will only cause problem to streaming media like YouTube and to VoIP applications. Thus is not recommended. Source: Microsoft Support


 * Always be sure to keep your graphics card and CPU cool when running, the cooler you run the better the game will run and the less chance of crashes.


 * Update 10 introduced an experimental Multi-threaded rendering setting, which has been claimed to have nearly doubling framerate on some multi-core computers. This can be toggled by clicking the settings (gear) button in the top corner of the launcher, before the game itself is started. Note that your graphics card has a set limit of how many frames per second that warframe can run on your computer, and for some enabling this feature will have no effect due to the graphic card's limit already being reached. Overclocking can push past this issue but this should only be attempted by users who are experienced in this sort of thing as it can cause multiple crashes or hardware problems.
 * This setting has the undesirable side effect of often increasing load times into missions, as well as start-up time for the game itself. On weaker laptops, having this option on can much more than double the load times.
 * Framerate Drops? High Cpu Loads? Cpu Overheating? This Might Fix It! (Cpu Core Unparking) It's an official post on Warframe's forum to fix performance issues with the game.