Best PC for ARK: Survival Evolved (2026)

In ARK: Survival Evolved, a massively multiplayer survival RPG, you awaken naked and vulnerable on a dinosaur-infested island, forced to hunt for food, harvest resources, craft tools and weapons, and construct elaborate bases to endure harsh weather cycles and predator ambushes. Tame over 100 species of primeval creatures through a meticulous capture, nursing, and breeding process, then ride them into battle or use them to haul materials across vast procedurally generated landscapes. Form tribes for cooperative raids on enemy structures, manage dynamic ecosystems where prey hierarchies shift in real time, and tackle endgame bosses that demand coordinated armies of tamed beasts. This open-world adventure taxes hardware with simultaneous simulation of hundreds of creature AI behaviors, complex physics for building snap-linked megastructures, and rendering of volumetric clouds, dynamic lighting, and underwater depths. For minimum specs on a budget AM4 platform, the Ryzen 5 5500 delivers essential multi-threaded performance to handle basic taming and world loading without excessive stuttering, paired with an entry-level RX 9060 XT GPU that renders 1080p visuals at playable frame rates during solo exploration. Our recommended value picks, a Ryzen 5 7600X CPU and RX 9060 XT GPU, strike the optimal balance, providing smooth 1440p gameplay with high creature densities, rapid base construction, and multiplayer skirmishes, maximizing frames per dollar for tribe dominance.

Minimum Build

Type
Component
Link
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5500 6-Core, 12-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Wraith Stealth Cooler
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GPU
PowerColor Reaper AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB GDDR6
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Motherboard
ASUS Prime B550M-A WiFi II
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RAM
OLOy DDR4 RAM 16GB (2x8GB) Black Owl 3200 MHz CL16
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Storage
WD_Black SN7100 1TB NVMe SSD
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Cooler
Thermalright Peerless Assassin
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Case
Montech X3 Mesh
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PSU
MONTECH Century II
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Recommended Build

Type
Component
Link
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 6-Core, 12-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor
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GPU
GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming OC 16G Graphics Card, PCIe 5.0, 16GB GDDR6, GV-R9060XTGAMING OC-16GD Video Card
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Motherboard
ASUS Prime B650-PLUS WiFi
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RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws S5 Series 32GB DDR5 RAM
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Storage
WD_Black SN7100 2TB NVMe SSD
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Cooler
Thermalright Peerless Assassin
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Case
Montech AIR 903 MAX
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PSU
MONTECH Century II
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