How do I know if my PC can run a specific game?

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If your PC was gifted to you, or if it’s been a while since you bought it and you don’t really remember what parts are inside, it might be difficult to figure out if you’ll meet the requirements for the newest games before you buy them.

Maybe you want to play CoD: Modern Warfare, but don’t know if your graphics card is up to snuff. Maybe you’re not sure if you have enough memory, or if your aging CPU will be up to the task.

You could go diving into Windows settings panels, tools, and graphics driver dashboards to piece together what you need to know, but surely there’s an easier way? One that doesn’t mean you have to unscrew the side panel of your PC and actually peek inside?

So, how do I know my PC is powerful enough to play a game?

Short answer: Head to Can You RUN It

See, not everyone knows how to find out what’s inside their PC. Then you usually have to find the information from the game publisher on their minimum or recommended specifications and match things up.

Can You RUN It from System Requirements Lab takes all the guesswork out of the equation. Just head over to their website, search for the game you want to run and download their system analyzer tool.

Within seconds, you’ll know if your PC is powerful enough to run the game you’re dreaming of. Nice.

What do you think? Plan on using this tool to see if your PC is powerful enough to run certain games? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.