As a long-time Cities: Skylines enthusiast and content creator, I get a lot of questions about memory requirements. Specifically – how much RAM do you really need to run a massively modded game? After all, those thousands of custom assets and gameplay-extending mods have to go somewhere!
I‘m here to provide definitive answers from an expert modder‘s perspective. Whether you‘re just getting started or gearing up for a towering megalopolis, this guide will help you understand Cities: Skylines‘ RAM demands – and how to meet them. Let‘s get to it!
The Baseline: Vanilla Cities Isn‘t Too Demanding
First, let‘s cover the basics. In its unmodified form, Cities: Skylines isn‘t extremely taxing RAM-wise. The box quotes a minimum of just 6GB. From my testing, the base game runs decently with 8GB.
So if you just want to casually build some nice, reasonably-sized cities without any mods, you can safely get by with 8-12GB of total system RAM.
But most of us want to take things further…
Heavy Modding Multiplies Your RAM Requirements
Here‘s the central issue – Cities: Skylines loads any enabled mods and assets directly into your RAM when the game starts up. Not just the code, but all the graphical elements too like textures, 3D models, etc.
This means the more mods and custom assets you have active, the more RAM it takes up. Some complex scripts can also continue using memory in the background while you play.
Most seasoned players suggest at least 16GB of RAM once your add-ons collection starts growing. But why stop there?
Understanding Cities: Skylines‘ Modding Capacity
The Steam Workshop now hosts over 400,000 moddable in-game items for Cities: Skylines and counting. From basic parks and buildings to extensive road types, transit networks, district themes, policies, criminal activities – you name it. Plus realistic vehicle designs, citizens, animations – the options are endless.
Add some big menu-enhancing mods like TM:PE, Node Controller, MoveIt, First Person Camera, Extra Landscaping Tools and more – along with thousands of visual goodies – and you‘ve got nearly unlimited customization potential.
| Mods / Assets | RAM Needed |
|---|---|
| <500 | 16GB |
| 1000+ | 32GB |
| 4000+ | 64GB+ |
But more stuff means more RAM to hold it all during play. Let‘s explore some numbers…
Recommended RAM Capacity
For casual players – 16GB is plenty to enable nice visual enhancements and basic mods while building normal-sized, detailed cities around 100-300k population.
Average players – 32GB allows for a heavily customized game with thousands of building assets and deeper mechanics changes to traffic, policies, budgets, etc. Build giant metropolises, take stunning screenshots, and play for hours without slowdowns.
Enthusiasts – I‘d recommend 64GB+ for the hardcore addict who wants to use every possible asset and really pile on the intricate details. Take things as far as your imagination and the game engine will allow!
Once you pass 1500+ assets plus 50+ gameplay changing mods, even 32GB might start to bottleneck depending on complexity. But there‘s good news…
You Can Optimize RAM Usage Further
If you notice lag, crashing or failure to load saves with a ton of assets enabled, try these tweaks before upgrading hardware:
- Unsubscribe from unused Workshop items
- Disable resource-heavy cosmetic effects
- Increase Virtual Memory on your primary drive
- Add a 64GB page file solely for Cities Skylines
- Overclock your RAM speed for better performance
Reducing pointless background apps can help too. Identify RAM bottlenecks with Task Manager. Often it‘s a mix of game mechanics and visual mods that contribute most.
Match Your Platform‘s Potential
Balancing assets/mods with hardware capability is key. There‘s no sense going full enthusiast mode unless your CPU, GPU, storage can also handle Cities‘ endless complexity at high densities:
- CPU – Fast modern processor with 6+ cores like an i7 or Ryzen 7
- GPU – Nvidia RTX 3060 or better; 16GB+ VRAM; avoid old/budget cards
- Storage – 500GB+ SSD for OS, Games; Fast secondary HDD for recordings, files
- RAM – For 4000+ assets, 64GB DDR4 minimum
- Motherboard – Z690 or B550 Chipset with full PCIe 4.0 support
With the right setup, you can build the city of your dreams!
When Should You Consider a RAM Upgrade?
Check your RAM usage in Task Manager as you play modded Cities Skylines. If topping 90%+ routinely, performance will suffer. Upgrade timing depends how heavily modded your particular install is:
- Mild Modding – 16GB is still fine
- Asset Addict – Upgrade from 16GB to 32GB
- Maxed Out Modlist – Go from 32GB to 64GB+
I measured my FPS and load times before and after doubling my RAM from 32GB to 64GB on an i9/3080 config running ~2000 assets/100 mods. It made a huge difference in stability and playability.
The Future Requires More RAM
Looking ahead, Cities: Skylines 2 was just announced for 2023. It will feature bigger maps, deeper simulation, fully 3D buildings, new transportation options, and mod support built directly into the engine. Awesome!
But better graphics and complexity means asset creators will likely push visual quality to the next level. I anticipate maps with highly-detailed builds containing 500k+ citizens may need 64GB of RAM even for baseline smooth playability once C:S2 hits.
Plan ahead, leave room to grow, and your cities can keep expanding for years to come without blowing the budget! Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy building my friends!
