The emulator is hardware or software that enables a computer system to behave like another one. This technology is used when native support is not available in particular hardware or software configurations. Emulations often help users save their time and money in configuring their native hardware/software.
Bluestacks emulator is an emulating software that runs Android apps on other platforms like Windows and macOS. It is mostly used to play Android games on Windows and macOS. You can also use other Android apps along with playing games. Here are the minimum system requirements to run the Bluestacks emulator on your PC:
- Processor: Dual-core or more CPU cores
- RAM: At least 4GB.
- Access: You must be an Administrator on your PC.
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7 or macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or higher.
- Storage: At least 4GB of disk storage.
- Virtualization: You must have the virtualization feature enabled.
System Requirements For Windows Systems
Here are the minimum and recommended system requirements for Bluestacks 5 in Windows systems:
Minimum System Requirements
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit) and above.
- Processor: Multi-core Intel or AMD CPU.
- RAM: At least 4GB.
- Storage: 5GB of Free Disk Space.
- Access: You must be an Administrator on your PC.
- Graphics: You need integrated graphics from Intel or AMD and up-to-date graphics from Microsoft or the respective chipset vendor.
Recommended System Requirements
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit).
- Processor: Intel or AMD multi-core processor with a single-threaded benchmark score of more than 1000.
- Graphics: Intel/Nvidia/AMD integrated or discrete graphics card with a benchmark score of more than 750.
- Virtualization: Please ensure that the Virtualization feature is enabled on your PC.
- RAM: 8GB or higher.
- Storage: SSD (or fusion/hybrid drives) with 6GB of free disk space.
- Internet: Broadband connection to access games, accounts, and related content.
- Graphics driver: up-to-date graphics driver from Microsoft or the respective chipset vendor
System Requirements For macOS Systems
Here are the minimum and recommender system requirements for Bluestacks in the macOS system:
Minimum System Requirements:
- OS: macOS 10.12 64-bit (Sierra) or higher.
- Processor: multi-core Intel CPU.
- Virtualization: Please ensure that virtualization capability is enabled (Intel VT-x).
- Graphics: Intel HD 5200 or higher graphics.
- RAM: At least 4GB of RAM
- Storage: 8GB of available disk storage.
- Graphics driver: Latest graphics driver with OpenGL 2.1 or later
- Internet: Broadband connection to access games, accounts, and other related content.
Recommended System Requirements:
- OS: macOS 10.13 64-bit (High Sierra) or above.
- Processor: Intel or AMD multicore CPU with a single-threaded PassMark score of more than 1500.
- RAM: 8GB or higher.
- Storage: 32 GB of available disk storage.
- Virtualization: Please ensure that virtualization capability is enabled (Intel VT-x).
- Graphics: Intel/AMD/Nvidia integrated or discrete graphics card with a Passmark score of more than 750
- Graphics driver: Up-to-date graphics driver with OpenGL 2.1 or higher
- Access: You must be an administrator on your PC
System Requirements For Bluestacks 4
Bluestacks 4 is an older but widely used version of Bluestacks Emulator. The system requirements for version 4 are a bit higher as compared to Bluestacks version 5. Here are the recommended system requirements for Bluestacks version 4.
For Windows OS:
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Multicore Intel or AMD processor
- RAM: 8GB or higher
- Storage: 5GB of free disk space
- Graphics: Intel/Nvidia/AMD integrated or discrete graphics card with a Passmark score of more than 750
- Access: You must be an administrator of your PC.
- Graphics driver: Up-to-date graphics driver from Microsoft or your particular chipset vendor
For macOS:
- OS: macOS 10.13 (64 bit) (High Sierra) or above
- Processor: Multicore Intel or AMD processor with a single-threaded Passmark score of more than 1500
- RAM: 8GB or higher
- Virtualization: this feature should be enabled
- Storage: 32GB of free disk space available
- Graphics: Intel/Nvidia/AMD integrated or discrete graphics card with a Passmark score of more than 750
- Graphics driver: p to date graphics driver with OpenGL 2.1 or higher
- Access: You must be an administrator of your PC.
Protips to speed up BlueStacks performance
The latest Bluestacks version 5 is the most optimized version of Bluestacks yet. It has mainly focused on optimizing the performance of the application. But sometimes, you might see some performance lag while using the application. Here are some tips to boost the performance of Bluestacks:
- Ensure that virtualization is enabled in your system. Your Bluestacks performance might be impacted if the virtualization feature is disabled.
- You can increase the amount of RAM and CPU cores available to Bluestacks through emulator settings.
- Switch to Performance mode in the Windows power menu.
- Close all the unwanted background applications.
- Update your graphics driver on a regular basis.
How To Enable Virtualization In Windows 10?
Virtualization is a technology that lets us create a virtual version of various computer resources such as virtual computer hardware platforms, storage devices, and other types of software that are not natively supported by the host system. Virtualization is also the foundation of cloud computing.
Bluestacks Emulator by default doesn’t require virtualization to be enabled. The application can still run the computer without virtualization. But the application will only be able to utilize a single CPU core among multiple cores which will result in a significant performance impact. In the latest computers, virtualization is enabled by default. So you don’t really have to change anything.
How To Enable Virtualization in Intel System
There are different methods to enable virtualization in Intel-based and AMD-based systems. Here are the steps to enable virtualization in Intel-based systems:
- First, reboot your computer and open the BIOS menu. You can access your BIOS menu by pressing the Delete or F2 button.
- After that, open the Processor submenu; the menu may be hidden inside the Advanced CPU Configuration menu.
- Then, enable Intel Virtualization Technology (also known as Intel VT).
- Finally, select Save and Exit. You will reboot your system with the virtualization feature enabled.
How To Enable Virtualization in AMD System
Here are the ways to enable virtualization in an AMD-based system:
- First, power up your system and open the BIOS. Then, you can access your BIOS by pressing the F2 or Delete button.
- Next, open the Processor submenu. The menu might be hidden inside Chipset, Advanced CPU Configuration, or Northbridge.
- After that, enable the AMD-v option.
- Finally, select Save and Exit. The system will reboot with the virtualization feature enabled.
How To Enable Virtualization In macOS?
The virtualization feature is enabled by default in macOS. But in some Mac models, the feature might be disabled in firmware. However, there is a way to check if your system supports virtualization or not.
- Open Terminal application. (Application > Utilities > Terminal)
- Copy and paste the following command and press Enter: sysctl -a | grep machdep.cpu.features
- You will be able to see features supported by your CPU in paragraph form.
- Check for the entry VMX. It means your system supports the virtualization, but the feature might still be disabled due to outdated firmware.
- Run the Software Update to resolve the issue, and the virtualization feature will be enabled.
Advantages Of Enabling Virtualization For Bluestacks
Bluestacks emulator can run on any system which fulfills minimum system requirements and virtualization feature disabled. But you will notice a significant performance impact if you use the application without the feature enabled. Here are some advantages of enabling virtualization for Bluestacks:
- It allows Bluestacks to use more than one CPU core in multicore CPUs.
- You will notice a significant performance boost in the application.
- You can max out the graphical and FPS settings as you have more system resources available.
- It essentially removes any lag you face during gaming.
How To Download And Install Bluestacks
Bluestacks 5 is the latest iteration of Bluestacks emulating software. Bluestacks 5 is more efficient and consumes significantly less CPU power as compared to Bluestacks 4. It uses 40% less RAM than its predecessor. It can run multiple instances in eco mode to reduce CPU usage by nearly 87% and GPU usage by 97%. Here I have presented the method to download and install Bluestacks 5.
- First, visit this website (https://www.bluestacks.com/bluestacks-5.html).
- Next, you will see the Download Bluestacks button. Click on that button.
- After downloading the setup files, run the installer.
- Then, you will be able to see Install now button. You also have the option to customize your installation, where you can choose where to install Bluestacks.
- After that, you can click Install Now button. The installer will download additional files for installation.
- Next, the installer will start installing all the required files for the application.
- Finally, the application will be installed, and you will be able to use the Bluestacks emulator.
Bluestacks Alternatives
Although Bluestacks version 5 brings tons of improvements in terms of system resource usage, you still need a good system to run the emulator smoothly. So to cope with the issue, there are various alternative emulators to Bluestacks. Some of them are less demanding in terms of system resources. Here are some of the Android emulators:
MEmu Play
This is one of the most used Android emulators other than Bluestacks. It has got tons of features. The emulator has a great number of optimizations for gameplay. The emulator has many features dedicated to developers. So if you are an Android developer, this emulator is a very good platform to test your app.
Official Website: https://www.memuplay.com/
Gameloop
Gameloop is another great Android emulator which is developed for gamers seeking to play tons of Android games on PC. Earlier, the emulator was called Gaming Buddy, which was developed by Tencent games exclusively to emulate PUBG mobile, but now Tencent has brought support for a large number of other Android games as well.
Official Website: https://www.gameloop.com/
Nox Player
Nox player is another popular Android emulator used by millions of users all around the world. The emulator has a plethora of features, including gameplay optimizations, and controller compatibility. It is based on Android Nougat 7.0 and has adapted Google’s Material UI.
Official Website: https://www.bignox.com/
Andy Android Emulator
Andy Android Emulator is a lightweight emulator, and it can run all Android applications. There is an ability where you can play your favorite games using Playstation and Xbox controllers. You can also sideload other applications which are not available in Play Store and run them using this emulator. But note that the application has not been updated since 2019. So you have to be cautious about possible security risks by using an older version.
Official Website: https://www.andyroid.net/
Bluestacks Performance In Different Systems
Bluestacks Emulator is one of the best android emulators that has been used by millions of users all around the globe. It runs smoothly in most modern systems, but there are many users who do not use the latest available computers. The users using the low-end systems will experience lag while using the Bluestacks emulator. For those users, there are other alternatives that are lightweight and run smoothly, such as Andy Android Emulator. You can also set Bluestacks performance mode to “High Performance” to get the most out of your hardware. We also recommend not running any background tasks.
Bluestacks Versions
There are various versions of Bluestacks Emulator latest one being version 5. Version 5 is a highly optimized version of Bluestaacks. The focus has been on performance improvement. If you have been using version 4 of Bluestacks with lower-end hardware, you will experience a noticeable improvement while using version 5. Bluestacks version 5 uses nearly 40% less RAM as compared to version 4. There is a new feature called Eco mode, where you can reduce CPU usage by 87% and GPU usage by 97%. You can also create multiple instances of the application in a more efficient way.
Is Bluestacks Safe From Virus?
Bluestacks is totally safe to use from a security perspective. Some of the anti-malware applications like Avast might flag Bluestacks as a threat, but those are false positives. So, you don’t have to worry about Bluestacks infecting your computer. You have to make sure that you download the installer only from the official source and not from other third-party websites. Bluestacks will not guarantee the safety of the emulator if you download using third-party websites.
FAQs
Does Bluestacks slow down my system performance?
Bluestacks might impact performance if you have an old pc. In that case, close all the background tasks, and you will see a noticeable improvement in system performance. If you use the latest generation of pc, you will not notice any significant impact on system performance.
How much RAM is required by Bluestacks Emulator?
It is recommended to have at least 8GB of RAM for a smooth experience. If you have additional RAM, you will be able to run other applications as well alongside Bluestacks.
How to check the Android version of Bluestacks Emulator?
Bluestacks emulates a specific version of Android that you are able to use. To check the Android version, install Terminal Emulator from Play Store and open the application. After that type “getprop ro.build.version.release” or “getprop ro.build.version.sdk”. You will get the Android version number from the first command and the SDK version from the second command.
Can Bluestacks run separately downloaded APK files?
Yes. You can run separately downloaded APK files in Bluestacks Emulator. You can install any APK files by going to the side toolbar and selecting APK files. It will start to install the app immediately.
