v0.34:System requirements

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v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34.11 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23

This article is about an older version of DF.

If you're looking for information on improving the performance of Dwarf Fortress on your computer, see Maximizing Framerate. For installation instructions, see Installation.

OS[edit]

Windows requires XP SP3 or newer.
Linux runs natively or using Wine.
Mac needs Intel chip.

Note: The 40d article has detailed info on Non-Windows OS' that is probably mostly still valid.

RAM[edit]

DF is not particularly RAM-hungry. Expect the process to allocate between 300 and 700 MB with medium regions. With 512MB you may be a bit on the short side, but 1 GB is absolutely sufficient. World Generation can eat up far more than that - it's possible to encounter crashes due to being out of memory. In particular major areas for this to occur are during history, final touches in finalizing sites, and while saving. This is especially problematic with unusual generator configurations, such as worlds with large numbers of megabeasts, caves, civilizations, high or non-existent site and population limits, and very lengthy histories. User-made modifications can also increase the requirements, depending on their nature.

The most important thing to the performance of the game, however, is undoubtedly RAM latency—the amount of lag the RAM has when working. Dwarf Fortress works the RAM every single frame for every single creature, every single item, every single piece of liquid, the temperature of every tile—you get the picture. The gigantic amount of operations working at the same time—which any current processor could handle much faster than what you see—is primarily bottlenecked by RAM latency and RAM speed.

CPU and FPS are mildly correlated, but this correlation has been attributed as a non-causative one. Rather, newer CPUs seem to come with faster RAM, but for the purpose of a Dwarf Fortress computer, RAM is more important.

SDL vs. Legacy[edit]

SDL is a cross-platform application framework. The SDL version of DF runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It includes Baughn's new OpenGL code, which is faster and has more features (including support for PNG tilesets and using scroll wheels).

"Legacy" refers to the (Windows-only) framework Toady used before migrating to SDL. The legacy version is only necessary if the SDL version doesn't work for some reason.

Experiential reports[edit]

Report format[edit]

Please read the report template page before contributing any reports.

Reports[edit]

Configuration type: Self-built PC from 2008

Game info: Game version: v0.34.07; World size: Small; Embark size: 4x4; Age of fort: 1 year; Number of dwarves: 15; Average fps: 100; Default/nondefault raws: default; Tileset in use: Mayday; Amount of stone dug: ~3000; Amount of water and state: About 15 murky pools, no river or stream; Approximate amount of z-levels: 10; RAM usage of game: 622 Mb; Draw mode in init.txt: 2D

PC info: CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @ 2,4Ghz; MBO: Gigabyte P35-DS3L; RAM: 4Gb DDR2 @ 800Mhz; GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD5850; OS: Windows 7 Professional x64

Configuration type: Self-built PC from 2012

Game info: Game version: v0.34.11; World size: Small; Embark size: 4x4; Age of fort: 8 years; Number of dwarves: 232; Average fps: 78; Default/nondefault raws: default; Tileset in use: Mayday; Amount of stone dug: ~1100; Amount of water and state: Frozen river, frozen murky pools, two artifical-made underground rivers; Approximate amount of z-levels: 8; RAM usage of game: 765 Mb; Draw mode in init.txt: 2D

PC info: CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3,4 Ghz; MBO: ASUS P8Z77-M PRO; RAM: 8Gb DDR3 @ 1600Mhz; GPU: Gigabyte Radeon HD5850; OS: Windows 7 Professional x64