Cities: Skylines II needs an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, 8 GB of RAM, and a GTX 970 class GPU on the minimum tier. The recommended tier jumps up to a 12th gen Intel Core i5 or Ryzen 7 5800X with 16 GB of RAM and an RTX 3080. This is one of the more CPU and GPU demanding city builders on the market, largely because of its detailed simulation of individual citizens, traffic, and infrastructure at scale.
Here are the Cities: Skylines II System Requirements (Minimum)
- CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
- RAM: 8 GB
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 (4 GB) | AMD equivalent
- Dedicated Video RAM: 4096 MB
- Pixel Shader: 5.1
- Vertex Shader: 5.1
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
Cities: Skylines II Recommended Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K | AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
- RAM: 16 GB
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB) | AMD equivalent
- Dedicated Video RAM: 10240 MB
- Pixel Shader: 5.1
- Vertex Shader: 5.1
- OS: Windows 10 Home 64 Bit | Windows 11
Minimum vs Recommended At a Glance
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K | Ryzen 5 2600X | Intel Core i5-12600K | Ryzen 7 5800X |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | GTX 970 (4 GB) | RTX 3080 (10 GB) |
| VRAM | 4096 MB | 10240 MB |
| OS | Windows 10 | Windows 10 | Windows 11 |
Can My PC Run Cities: Skylines II?
Your PC can run Cities: Skylines II at the minimum level if it has at least an i7-6700K or Ryzen 5 2600X, 8 GB of RAM, and a GTX 970 or equivalent, though expect to run smaller cities at lower settings. For the smoother experience most players actually want once a city grows past a few thousand citizens, aim for the recommended specs: a 12th gen Core i5 or Ryzen 7 5800X, 16 GB of RAM, and an RTX 3080 class GPU. The jump between tiers here is unusually large, so players sitting right at the minimum spec should expect noticeable slowdown as their city expands.
Who Cities: Skylines II Is For
Cities: Skylines II is built for players who enjoyed the deep, systems-driven city building of the original and want more granular simulation of traffic, citizen behavior, and infrastructure, even if it costs more in hardware demands. It rewards patience and planning over fast-paced play, and its target audience is simulation fans who want to sink dozens of hours into a single city rather than players looking for a quick session.
It is a weaker fit for players on older or budget hardware, since the performance gap between minimum and recommended specs is wide and the game has had a rockier optimization history than its predecessor. Reception has been mixed, with a Metacritic score in the high 60s to low 70s range for PC at launch, reflecting real concerns about performance and missing features compared to the original at launch. See Metacritic’s Cities: Skylines II page for the current aggregate score.
Get Cities: Skylines II For Less
If you want to try Cities: Skylines II without paying full price, check out our guide on how to get Cities: Skylines II free, which covers giveaway history, free weekend availability, and discounted key options.
More PC System Requirements Guides
This page is the hub for our City-Builders and Strategy Management cluster.
- Valheim System Requirements (central guide) – our master hub covering system requirements across every game we’ve tested
- Cities: Skylines System Requirements PC – the original game’s minimum and recommended specs
- Manor Lords System Requirements PC – specs for the medieval city building strategy game
- Anno 117: Pax Romana System Requirements PC – specs for the Roman era city building strategy game
- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord System Requirements – specs for the medieval sandbox strategy RPG
- Kerbal Space Program System Requirements PC – specs for the space flight simulation sandbox
- Planet Coaster System Requirements PC – specs for the theme park building simulator
- Football Manager 26 System Requirements PC – specs for the football management simulation
- Farming Simulator 25 System Requirements PC – specs for the agricultural simulation game
This cluster is now complete with 9 games covered. Browse the full list above for every game we’ve covered so far.
FAQ
What are the Cities: Skylines II system requirements pc specs?
Cities: Skylines II needs at least an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, 8 GB of RAM, and a GTX 970 with 4 GB of VRAM on the minimum tier. For the recommended experience, you need a Core i5-12600K or Ryzen 7 5800X, 16 GB of RAM, and an RTX 3080 with 10 GB of VRAM.
Can a laptop run Cities: Skylines II?
A gaming laptop with a discrete GPU meeting the GTX 970 performance tier or higher can run Cities: Skylines II, though thermal throttling on laptops may reduce performance in large, detailed cities compared to a desktop with the same GPU class.
Why does Cities: Skylines II need such a big GPU jump for recommended specs?
The recommended tier requires an RTX 3080 because the game simulates individual citizen behavior, traffic routing, and infrastructure at a much more detailed level than the original Cities: Skylines, which puts heavier load on both CPU and GPU as cities grow larger.
Does Cities: Skylines II support Windows 11?
Yes, Cities: Skylines II supports both Windows 10 and Windows 11 on the recommended tier, while the minimum tier is listed for Windows 10 Home 64 bit.
