PC Requirements

PC Requirements

Lyra is a native 64-bit Windows application. Its panadapter and waterfall render on the GPU, so graphics capability matters a little more here than in a typical desktop app — but Lyra runs comfortably on modest hardware, and built-in / integrated graphics are fine.

Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit, v1809 / build 17763 or newer) or Windows 11. 32-bit Windows is not supported. Linux and macOS are on the Roadmap for a future version.

The three tiers

Component	🟢 Minimum	🔵 Recommended	🟣 Maxed+
Operating system	Windows 10 64-bit, v1809 (build 17763)+ or Windows 11	Windows 11, or Windows 10 22H2	Windows 11, current release
CPU (Intel)	4th-gen Core (Haswell, ~2013) or newer	Core i5 / i7, 10th-gen or newer	Core i7 / i9, 12th-gen or newer
CPU (AMD)	Any Ryzen, or an AVX-capable FX / A-series	Ryzen 5 / 7, 3000-series or newer	Ryzen 7 / 9, 5000-series or newer
Cores	Dual-core (quad preferred)	Quad-core+ with AVX2	High-core-count with AVX2
Memory	4 GB (8 GB comfortable)	16 GB	32 GB
Storage	~300 MB free (SSD recommended)	SSD, ~500 MB free	NVMe Gen4 SSD
Network	100 Mbit wired Ethernet to the radio	Gigabit Ethernet, ideally a dedicated NIC	Dedicated Gigabit / 2.5 GbE NIC, wired straight to the radio
Display	1600 × 900	1920 × 1080	Dual / triple monitor; 1440p or 4K

Display — what the minimum actually buys you

Lyra's front panel is a set of dockable panels, and they need real estate. So rather than just quote a number, here is exactly what you get at each size.

At 1600 × 900, Lyra ships arranged with the panels you need to operate — all of them fully reachable, nothing cut off:

Panel	What it's for
Panadapter + waterfall	See the band, click to tune
Tuning	VFO, step, mode, RIT / XIT, split
Band	Band switching
Filters	Sample rate, RX and TX bandwidth
Audio	LNA, volume, AF gain, mute, and the RX DSP row (NB / NR / ANF / LMS / SQ …)
Meter	S-meter on receive; power / SWR / ALC on transmit
TX	Drive, mic gain, ATT, PROT, VOX, Tune, MOX

The remaining panels are closed by default at that size and available any time from the View menu — but each wants screen space you don't have spare at 1600 × 900, so opening one means giving something else up:

Optional panel	Note
Solar / Propagation	A wide strip — needs ~780 px of width on its own
Display	Panadapter zoom, frame rate, waterfall rate, peak hold
Profiles	TX/RX profile picker and Save

At 1920 × 1080 you can have all of them open at once with room to spare. That's why it's the Recommended tier.

Why not 1366 × 768? It's height, not width, that binds. Below about 900 px there isn't room for a usable panadapter and the operating panels without something being clipped off the bottom — so 1366 × 768 doesn't work even for the minimal set. Lyra will still start on a smaller display, but the window won't be able to shrink to fit it.

Graphics / video — in detail

Lyra draws the spectrum and waterfall on the GPU. It works on any DirectX 11 / OpenGL 3.3-class card (the Minimum tier), but the Vulkan path is smoother, uses less CPU, and is vendor-neutral — it runs equally well on NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. That's why Recommended and Maxed+ call for a Vulkan-capable GPU: it's what lets high-FPS waterfalls scale cleanly across large or multiple monitors.

GPU tier	🟢 Minimum	🔵 Recommended	🟣 Maxed+
API	DirectX 11 / OpenGL 3.3 (integrated OK)	Vulkan 1.1-capable	Vulkan 1.3-capable dedicated GPU with ample VRAM
NVIDIA	GeForce GT 700-series or newer	GeForce GTX 10-series / RTX or newer	GeForce RTX 30 / 40-series
AMD	Radeon HD 7000 (GCN) or newer, incl. integrated	RX 400 / 500 / Vega / RX 5000–9000 (RDNA)	RX 6000 / 7000 / 9000 (RDNA 2/3/4)
Intel	HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) or newer / UHD / Iris	UHD 620 / Iris Xe / Arc	Arc A-series or newer

(If a GPU or driver ever misbehaves, Lyra automatically falls back to a safer graphics backend on the next launch — you're never stuck. You can also pick the backend yourself in Settings → Visuals → Graphics backend.)

What the higher tiers actually buy you

Lyra runs fine on the Recommended spec — the extra CPU/GPU headroom in Maxed+ isn't about whether it runs, it's about running everything at once without the machine breaking a sweat: the full TX speech-processing rack, spots, high-refresh spectrum and waterfall on a big screen, and comfortable margin for the heavier DSP features on the roadmap (dual receiver, PureSignal).

Two things that matter on any tier

• 🔌 A wired connection to the Hermes Lite is the single biggest factor in glitch-free audio. Wi-Fi in the radio path is the most common cause of pops and dropouts.
• ⚙️ On first launch, Lyra tunes its FFT math to your CPU and caches it — a one-time step that takes a few minutes (a faster CPU finishes sooner). You can rebuild it later from Settings → Backup & Restore after a CPU change.

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See also: Quick Start · Supported Radios · Feature Status