Tomb Raider only needs Windows XP, 1.8GHz dual-core CPU

New game releases on the PC don’t generally ask too much of your hardware. That’s usually because developers have had to create a game that runs on the ageing Xbox 360 and PS3, which modern PC components easily out perform. The only company that has really forced upgrades on users in order to play more recent PC games is Microsoft, and that’s only because of a lack of DirectX support in Windows XP beyond DX9.

Developer Nixxes, which is handling development of the new Tomb Raider game for PC alongside Crystal Dynamics, has decided older systems and their owners still matter. If you want to play the latest Lara Croft adventure next month, you don’t need a performance rig sitting under you desk. In fact, you don’t even need Windows 7 or a DX10/11 graphics card.

In order to play Tomb Raider you only need to have the following core components:

• Dual core Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz or AMD Athlon62 X2 2.1GHz
• 1GB RAM
• AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT or Nvidia 8600 DX9 graphics card
• Windows XP with Service Pack 3

That means if you have a system built back in 2007/8 there’s still a good chance the game will run. But don’t assume that means Tomb Raider won’t take advantage of what the latest hardware has to offer.

At the high end, the recommended specs for playing the game include:

• Quad core Intel Core i5-750 or AMD Phenom II X2 565
• 4GB RAM
• AMD Radeon HD 4870 or Nvidia GTX 480 DX11 graphics card
• Windows 7 or Windows 8

It’s certainly going to be a very different game in terms of visuals depending on where your PC lies between minimum and recommended specs. But it’s nice to have such a wide range of hardware supported, and hopefully that helps with sales in the long run.

If you plan on picking up Tomb Raider, it arrives on March 5 on PC as well as for PS3 and Xbox 360.