The world's most popular fighting series returns next year, and it's safe to some people are a little bit excited about Street Fighter V. By the time it arrives it'll have been a seven year gap since SFIV, but it looks like it's been worth the wait for fighting game fans. Street Fighter V makes the leap to a next-generation game engine for much improved visuals with greater character detail and particle effects, as well as new battle mechanics opening up additional high-level strategies.

If you don't know your Hadoukens from your Dragon Punch then Street Fighter V also promises to be the most accessible yet for newcomers, with streamlined commands that lower the difficulty in executing special moves. To my knowledge it's also the first time we've been treated to a Street Fighter game day and date with the console release. Before you dust off your arcade sticks though, be sure to check out the official Street Fighter V system requirements. 

Street Fighter V Minimum System Requirements

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit 
• CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz or AMD FX-6300 3.5 GHz
• RAM: 6GB System Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 5870 1024MB
• DX: DirectX 11
• Audio: Sound Card: Direct X-compatible sound card

Street Fighter V Recommended System Requirements

• CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5 GHz or AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB System Memory
• GPU RAM: 2048MB Graphics Memory
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 380

Now Capcom claim that the minimum system requirements are the absolute bare minimum you'll need to play Street Fighter V, so don't go expecting great performance at low settings here. That said, the GTX 480 and the Radeon HD 5870 are ageing but capable cards, and we would expect them to get playable frame rates on Street Fighter V, likewise the CPUs.

The recommended Street Fighter V system requirements are what Capcom reckon is necessary to achieve the optimal SFV experience. As a fighting game timing is absolutely crucial, with frame counting used by top tier players to judge moves. Without a rock-solid 60fps frame rate you're never going to be able to get your timing down perfectly, so your fighting performance will suffer. As with any fighting game if you don't hit the recommended specs, it's absolutely a good idea to dial down visuals until you can hit that all important 60fps.

One final thing and that's gamepads. Fight sticks are optimal but if you don't want to spring for an expensive setup like that, then a decent gamepad is the next best thing. What you're like for is a quality D-Pad, which you're not going to find on an Xbox 360 controller. Something like a DualShock 4 is probably ideal. 

Remember, you can always check out how well your PC can run the Street Fighter V System Requirements here, where you can check benchmarking and performance from other users. Compare your graphics card to the Street Fighter V GPU benchmark chart.