What are the requirements of Windows 10?

Learn what is needed for the update to be successful Windows 10 is the last operating system offered by Microsoft, which means that it also has the strictest system requirements.

Learn what is needed for the update to be successful

Windows 10 is the last operating system offered by Microsoft, which means that it also has the strictest system requirements. The minimum Windows 10 requirements are not much stricter than Windows 7, but there are some aspects that have been modernized to the point of needing a little more hardware.

Windows 10 Home and Pro requirements (32 bits)

    CPU: 1 gigahercio (1 GHz) or a faster processor or system in a chip (SOC)

    Memory: 1 GB or more

    Storage space: 16 GB

    Graphics: GPU compatible with DirectX 9 with support for Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or later.

    Screen resolution: 800 x 600 or higher.

    Internet connection: Any speed connection is required for authentication and the initial configuration of the device. It is also useful for applying updates.

Windows 10 Home and Pro requirements (64 bits)

    CPU: 1 gigahercio (1 GHz) or a faster processor or system in a chip (SOC)

    Memory: 2 GB or more

    Graphics: GPU compatible with DirectX 9 with support for Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or later.

    Storage space: 32 GB

    Screen resolution: 800 x 600 or higher.

    Internet connection: Any speed connection is required for authentication and the initial configuration of the device. It is also useful for applying updates.

Windows 10 Hardware Requirements explained

Although previous lists can give you a firm set of guidelines on which hardware needs to run Windows 10, they are the minimum. If you have a faster or better hardware, your experience will probably improve.

Let's review each of the sections to analyze what they are and what they could do to improve their Windows 10 system to meet or overcome the requirements.

Windows 10 CPU requirements

The central processor, or CPU, is the main brain of processing your system and helps to perform most of the calculations that Windows 10 requires it to work. As much as making sure you have a CPU that works at 1 GHz or more is a good start, such CPU would execute Windows 10 very slowly.

Actually, you want a CPU that does not only have a faster frequency (that is the bit of GHz) but also has multiple nuclei, so you can do more things at a time. Most modern CPUs are dual-core or better, so two cores is a good place to start, but if you are a great user, you will still find a benefit when using a four-core CPU or even a hexa-core core.

Another important factor is the age of the CPU. You will find 1 GHz processors that have two decades of antiquity and are slower than modern CPUs. For a good general rule, you want a CPU not before 2010. If you have a chip that is younger than that, it has at least two cores and works at 2 GHz or more, you will enjoy a faster Windows 10 experience.

Windows 10 memory requirements

The memory, or RAM, as it is sometimes called, acts as a short-term memory for your system and contains information to which your CPU will need to access quickly. If you have very little, you can really slow down your system.

Memory requirements in Windows 10 are one of the few factors that differentiate 32-bit versions and 64 bits from the operating system. While 1 GB or 2 GB are sufficient to execute those respective operating system versions, you will certainly meet bottlenecks if you do even a basic web browsing with some tabs at a time.

If you are running or looking to run Windows 10 of 32 bits, the largest number of RAM that you can really take advantage of (due to the limitations of the operating system) is 4 GB. We suggest 2GB at least, but if you can stretch at 4GB, you should notice the difference.

If you are running or looking to run Windows 10 of 64 bits, you can have as much memory as you wish. More than 100 GB if you wish! However, for the average user, 8 GB is more than enough.

Windows 10 storage space requirements

If you do not have enough storage space, you cannot install Windows 10. You need at least 16 GB for the 32-bit version and up to 32 GB for the 64-bit version. That is not much for the 2019 standards, with many smartphones that have more space than that, but some low-end and especially old-range devices may be limited to 32 GB or less.

If you are looking to run Windows 10 on a desktop or laptop PC, it is recommended that you do it on a solid state or SSD drive. They are much more affordable than they used to be and may have the greatest impact on accelerating your Windows 10 experience.

However, if you are out of your budget, a standard hard drive is perfectly adequate. We only recommend that you make sure you have at least twice storage that Microsoft recommends for Windows 10. It does not make sense to be able to execute an operating system if you do not have any room to install anything else. Games, videos and certain applications may require several gigabytes by themselves. Having a free space of 10-30 GB will help you make sure you have a lot of space to work and play.

However, the more, the better, so do not feel remotely restricted by these recommendations. Have hundreds of gigabytes or space terabytes if you think you'll need it. It is not very expensive these days.

Windows 10 Graphics Requirements

You do not need to worry too much about the graphics if you have a CPU of the last decade. Although it is worth verifying it twice, most modern CPUs are equipped with a compatible graphics core that will be more than enough to handle Windows 10. You could also use an additional graphics card if you want more power for games.

Graphic requirements for Windows 10 are very similar to Windows Vista in 2006.

Windows 10 screen resolution requirements

The screen resolution requirements for Windows 10 are not strict, since even PCs and monitors from the early 2000s could handle 800 x 600. Taking this into account, this is a very low entry barrier, so If you can, it is recommended to execute a system with a higher screen resolution. The videos, websites and games will look much better and you will have much more space on the screen to enjoy your Windows 10 experience.

Windows 10 Internet connection requirements

If you have managed to read this article without an Internet connection, it has impressed us. Let us know how he did it.

Connecting today is easier than ever and even if you do not have the fastest connection in the world, the considerable download limits mean that configuring Windows 10 and downloading your most important security updates should not be too difficult.

If your access to the Internet is still in the Dark Age, we recommend that you take your system somewhere with public Wi-Fi to perform activations and records. Make sure you are password protected.