Is 12 GB of video memory enough for Starfield?

Not for every tier. Starfield asks for more video memory than the 12 GB on this card at the tier above high, and video memory is a hard limit rather than something extra core speed can cover.

Can I run Starfield with a GeForce RTX 5070?

Ultra in Starfield is drawn around a GeForce RTX 4080 Super and its 16 GB. The GeForce RTX 5070 has the core for it and not the memory, which is the one shortfall no setting recovers.

The GeForce RTX 5070 arrived 2 years after Starfield shipped, so the game was never designed with it in mind: 10 of the 47 cards we track stop at the same point in Starfield. It sits 11 of 47 on our index.

estimated index 36 · 12 GB · 2025

Ceiling with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and 32 GB

Runs at high

Comfortably above the recommended tier, with room for higher settings.

Headroom: exactly on the line on VRAM
Bottleneck: VRAM
Confidence: estimated

Tier ladder

minimum cleared
recommended cleared
high cleared
ultra blocked by VRAM + GPU

The weakest link is video memory: this rig brings 12 against the 16 that Starfield asks for at the ultra tier. Everything else in the rig is already past that line.

That readout is the best this card can do in Starfield: it assumes nothing else in the machine holds it back. Your own processor and memory can only lower it, never raise it.

The same card with three different processors

In Starfield the processor beside a GeForce RTX 5070 changes the answer, which is why a card-only verdict is not worth much here. Each row assumes 16 GB of system memory.

Processor	Index	Verdict	Bottleneck
Ryzen 5 1600	30	Will not run	processor
Ryzen 9 5900X	70	Runs well	system memory
Ryzen 7 9800X3D	95	Runs well	system memory

Cheapest way up one tier

video memory: GeForce RTX 4080 Super

The GeForce RTX 5070 carries 12 GB of video memory and the ultra tier needs 16 GB. Video memory is a hard limit: no amount of core speed substitutes for it.

That is the smallest part in our catalogue that clears the ultra tier - not the fastest one, and not a price claim: we hold no price data, so "cheapest" here means "least upgrade that does the job".

This part alone will not get you there. graphics card also falls short of that tier.

Where to look: GeForce RTX 4080 Super (no store links yet)

Thresholds, against this card

Green means the GeForce RTX 5070 clears that number, red means it does not. The processor and memory columns are yours to fill in with the checker below.

System requirement thresholds for Starfield, by tier
Requirement	minimum	recommended	high	ultra	your rig
GPU index	9	18	26	45	36
CPU index	35	45	65	85	0
Video memory	6 GB	8 GB	12 GB	16 GB	12 GB
System memory	16 GB	16 GB	32 GB	32 GB	0 GB
Storage	125 GB	125 GB	125 GB	125 GB	-

The CPU and system memory rows show zero because this page knows the card and nothing else.

Check your whole rig

Add your processor and memory for a verdict about your machine rather than about this card.

Standing by

Pick a graphics card and a processor. The verdict appears here, with the exact part that limits it.

Nothing you type leaves your browser. There is no account, no upload, and no hardware scan - the comparison runs on this page.

Questions

Will a GeForce RTX 5070 run Starfield?: Ultra in Starfield is drawn around a GeForce RTX 4080 Super and its 16 GB. The GeForce RTX 5070 has the core for it and not the memory, which is the one shortfall no setting recovers. Above that the video memory is what stops it.
Is 12 GB of video memory enough for Starfield?: Not for every tier. Starfield asks for more video memory than the 12 GB on this card at the tier above high, and video memory is a hard limit rather than something extra core speed can cover.

More on this card: what the GeForce RTX 5070 runs across every game we track.