Hardware requirements for running a YOM node

A YOM node streams AAA games from your machine to remote players in real time. That means the network is picky about hardware: it has to be fast enough to render modern games, stable enough to run for hours, and connected well enough that players nearby get sub-50 ms latency.

The good news: if you’ve built a gaming PC in the last three years for actual gaming, you almost certainly qualify. The Rig Check tool will tell you in 30 seconds.

minimum vs recommended

The network accepts machines at the minimum spec. They will host one session at a time and earn at the baseline rate. Machines at the recommended spec can host multiple concurrent sessions and earn proportionally more.

Component	Minimum	Recommended
GPU	NVIDIA RTX 2060 (6 GB VRAM)	NVIDIA RTX 4070 or better (12 GB+ VRAM)
CPU	Intel i5 (10th gen+) or Ryzen 7 (3000 series+)	Intel i7 / i9 or Ryzen 9
RAM	16 GB	32 GB or more
Storage	NANO SSD slot (M.2 or USB 3.0)	Same; existing storage stays untouched
Network	Wired ethernet, 25 Mbps upload, sub-30 ms to nearest exchange	Wired gigabit, 100 Mbps+ upload
Power	650 W PSU	750 W+ PSU (or sized for your GPU)
Cooling	Stock airflow OK	Improved case airflow, undervolt where possible

The Rig Check measures all of these and gives you a pass/fail plus an estimated capacity (how many concurrent sessions your machine can host).

why each spec matters

GPU

This is the workhorse. The GPU encodes the live game video and ships it to players. RTX cards have the NVENC encoder block, which is what makes low-latency streaming possible at all. Non-NVIDIA cards are not currently supported because AMD and Intel encoders don’t yet meet the latency-quality bar YOM needs.

VRAM headroom matters more than raw shader count. The 6 GB on an RTX 2060 is the absolute floor and caps you at one concurrent session; 8 GB gives that single session comfortable headroom. 12 GB+ lets the network route a second session to your machine. 16 GB+ scales further.

CPU

Not a bottleneck for most modern builds, but the network does load-test your CPU to make sure it can drive the game logic alongside encoding. An i5 10th-gen or Ryzen 7 3000-series clears the bar. Older quad-cores will struggle.

RAM

16 GB is genuinely the floor. Modern AAA games allocate 8-12 GB on their own, and the YOM Node OS plus encoding overhead adds another 2-3 GB. With 16 GB you’ll be tight on Windows-based games; on the Linux-based Node OS it’s workable but constrained. 32 GB is the sweet spot.

Network

This is where most machines that fail actually fail. The Rig Check measures:

• Sustained upload bandwidth: 25 Mbps is the floor, 50+ is comfortable, 100+ unlocks higher concurrent capacity.
• Latency to the nearest exchange: under 30 ms is required. Wi-Fi adds 10-30 ms of variable latency and will not pass.
• Packet loss and jitter: any noticeable loss (over 0.5%) disqualifies the connection. The network can’t deliver a smooth stream over a flaky line.

If you fail the network check, the fix is almost always: switch from Wi-Fi to wired ethernet. That single change resolves about 80% of network failures.

Power & cooling

A YOM node runs your GPU at high load whenever a session is active. That’s the same load you’d see in any AAA game. The difference: you might be hosting back-to-back sessions for 4-8 hours at a stretch, so cooling and PSU headroom matter more than for typical gaming.

If your PSU is sized exactly for your GPU’s TDP with no headroom, expect occasional under-volting or session drops under load. A 150 W buffer over your GPU’s rated draw is the comfortable margin.

what doesn’t matter

• CPU brand: Intel and AMD both work, as long as the generation is recent enough.
• Motherboard: as long as it has an M.2 slot (for the M.2 NANO) or USB 3.0 (for the USB NANO), and supports the boot order change you need.
• Existing OS: Windows, Linux, macOS, or a dual-boot setup, it makes no difference. The NANO is a separate bootable drive that doesn’t touch your existing storage.
• Monitor / peripherals: a YOM node runs headless once configured. Plug in a monitor for first boot, then unplug.

what doesn’t qualify

• Laptop GPUs: even powerful gaming laptops typically run their GPUs throttled and rely on shared thermal envelopes that can’t sustain 8-hour load.
• eGPU enclosures: PCIe-over-Thunderbolt adds latency that pushes encode times past the threshold.
• Pre-RTX cards (GTX 16 series and below): missing NVENC features.
• Cards using only HDMI passthrough (some workstation cards): need NVENC.

next steps

If you’re not sure where your machine sits: run the Rig Check. It takes 30 seconds and gives you a precise readout.

If you’ve qualified: see Setting up your NANO for the install walkthrough.

If you failed: check the rejection reason. The most common failures (Wi-Fi instead of ethernet, missing NVENC support, RAM under 16 GB) all have clear fixes in Troubleshooting: rig check failed.