Tribes 3: Rivals needs just 10GB of storage space and the rest of the system requirements look relatively undemanding too

A Tribes 3 soldier in red armour with their rifle raised all menacing like
(Image credit: Prophecy Games)

I monitor my storage space like a hawk, keeping a strict regimen that means if a new, 100GB+ game is added to my system, I make sure an equivalent is removed to make room, keeping my PC in a state of zen-like equilibrium. Looks like I won't have to worry too much about Tribes 3: Rivals however, as the early access system requirements have been revealed and it only demands a relatively tiny 10GB of precious storage. 

According to the early access announcement on the Steam community news page, not only are the storage requirements light on your machine, but the rest of the specs look pretty reasonable to boot. 

The once ubiquitous GTX 1060 6GB sneaks in as the minimum required GPU (or Radeon RX 6500 XT for an AMD equivalent), while CPU-wise the Intel Core i5 4690 and AMD Ryzen 5 1500X are all that's needed, although there's no mention thus far of what settings and frame rates these minimum spec components should be able to achieve.

If you're worried your older GPU might not be up to snuff and are looking for a cheap upgrade, something like the Radeon RX 7600 or RTX 4060 would be a good shout to keep you well above the minimum requirements.

By the looks of the early access trailer it doesn't seem like Tribes 3: Rivals is pushing the boundaries of graphical fidelity. It looks good for sure, but in such a high-speed competitive multiplayer game you're going to want your frame rates as high as possible to keep up, so relatively low minimum requirements and undemanding graphics are a boon for those of you still rocking older systems.

Other surprises include a mere 8GB of RAM as a minimum, with 12GB recommended. I'm not sure how many people are running an 8GB or 12GB machine given the low prices of DDR4 and DDR5 right now, but those of you running the more common 16GB should have no issues. 

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Tribes 3: Rivals early access system requirements
Row 0 - Cell 0 MinimumRecommended
OSWindows 10 64-bitWindows 10 64-bit
CPUIntel Core i5 4690 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500XIntel Core i7 11700 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600
Memory8 GB RAM12 GB RAM
GPUNvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 6500XTNvidia RTX 2080 or Radeon RX 6700
DirectXVersion 12Version 12
NetworkBroadband internet connectionBroadband internet connection
Storage10GB available space10GB available space

The recommended graphics cards are the RTX 2080 or Radeon RX 6700, still reasonably fast GPUs, although hopefully that means high settings and high frame rates from these still decent performance-level components.

Your next upgrade

Nvidia RTX 4070 and RTX 3080 Founders Edition graphics cards

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.

For recommended CPUs, the Intel Core i7 11700 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600 are far from slow and still great performing gaming chips, but again not a top-level demand.

By the looks of these specs it seems like Tribes 3: Rivals is aiming to be playable on a wide range of machines to entice a large player base to compete, which hopefully bodes well for those of you running older rigs that fancy a bit of skiing around in what our Joshua found to be a thrilling, refreshingly old-school multiplayer shooter experience.

I was always more of an Unreal Tournament sort of guy, but I did allow myself to get absolutely wrecked in the odd Tribes match once in a while. It's good for the ego, you see, being absolutely dominated by someone with cat-like reflexes scooting past you at unfeasibly high speeds.

Tribes 3: Rivals launches, or should that be skis, into early access on March 12, so those of you with systems that don't quite meet the specs have a bit of time to upgrade, although by the looks of it many of us will be quite prepared to meet our maker come launch day.

Andy Edser
Hardware Writer

Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy's been jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.

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