Computer System Requirements

PC Minimum1

  • Windows 10 / 11 64-bit
  • 16 GB of RAM
  • Video card2
    • 4 GB of RAM
    • DirectX 123
  • 5 GB of available hard disk space
  • Internet access4

Mac Minimum

  • Sonoma / Sequoia
  • 16 GB of RAM
  • Apple M1 or newer
  • 5 GB of available hard disk space
  • Internet access4
  • Supported Mac Models
Locating Your Computer's Specifications

Tips for Buying a New Computer

If you are thinking about purchasing a new computer to run Chief Architect, read our ChiefBlog article to learn more about computer specifications.

Differences between PC and Mac versions of Chief Architect

PC Mac
Walkthrough Export Formats
 
 .AVI / .MP4 / .WMV .MOV / .MP4 / .M4V
.WMF / .EMF Support
 
 Yes No
Gamepads
 
 Yes No
Virtual Reality6
 
 Yes No
DLSS Real-Time Denoising7
 
 Yes No
  • 1 Windows computers with ARM processors are not supported (e.g. Snapdragon processors).
  • 2 Supported video cards include: (1) dedicated video cards such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX and AMD Radeon RX (2) Intel integrated graphics on 11th generation or newer Intel processors.
  • 3 DirectX 12 requires Shader Model 6.0 or newer. Learn how to identify the shader model of your graphics card.
  • 4 Internet access required for installation, license authentication, deactivation and video & library catalog access. Internet access for license authentication is required once every 14 days.
  • 5 The "Physically Based" and "Clay" rendering techniques require a ray tracing compatible graphics card. See the Recommended System Requirements or read our ChiefBlog article to learn more about computer specifications.
  • 6 Virtual reality requires a computer that meets the system requirements of both Chief Architect and the VR headset manufacturer. Learn more.
  • 7 DLSS Real Time Denoising requires an NVIDIA ray-tracing-compatible graphics card.

Known Incompatibilities