The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

I haven't personally played the game, at least not yet. However, there is a general benchmark standard for graphics as we progress, and it's relatively rare that new titles push the boundaries for what level of graphical quality can be achieved - those that do almost invariably are very demanding, but more often than not difficult to run games are just badly coded, rather than being demanding because they look so good. This is also typical of Betas of course, with the added downside that they don't support multi-GPU properly. In the case of the GW2 beta, SLI is only supported with the GTX6 series, no previous generations, and crossfire is as-yet unsupported. Given the steep nvidia bias in those results, I imagine it will be a very long time before crossfire is supported, if ever properly.

 

Star Wars The Old Republic

2560x1600 Certified: HD6990, GTX690
2560x1600 Compliant, 2560x1440 Certified: GTX590
2560x1440 Compliant, 2048x1536 Certified: GTX680
1920x1200 Certified: HD7970, GTX670
1920x1200 Compliant, 1680x1050 Certified: HD7950, GTX580
1920x1080 Compliant, 1680x1050 Certified: HD5870, HD6970, HD7870
1680x1050 Compliant, 1600x900 Certified: HD6950, GTX480, GTX570
1600x900 Certified: HD5850, HD7850
1600x900 Compliant, 1440x900 Certified: HD6870, GTX470, GTX560Ti
1366x768 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant: HD5830, GTX560
1366x768 Certified: HD6850
1280x800 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant: HD6790, GTX460
1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant: HD7770, GTX465


60Hz Certified CPUs:
Dual-core: Core i3 540, Core i3 2100
Quad-core: Core i5 750, Core i7 920, Core 2 Quad Q9650

60Hz Compliant CPUs:
Dual-core: Core i3 530, Core 2 Duo E8500
Quad-core: Core 2 Quad Q8400, Q6850, Phenom II X4 965BE, FX-4100
Hex-Core: Phenom II X6 1100T, FX-6100
Octa-core: AMD FX-8120

 

Was hoping you could say the game looks great in order to justify it's bad performance but everything so far has indicated that GW2 is just poorly coded (at least for now). I suppose they could improve this in next month before the official release but seeing as how it hasn't improved at all in the last 4 months (from what I can tell) I'm not going to get my hopes up.

 

Medal of Honor Warfighter [Alpha]

------HIGH------

1920x1200 Certified, 2560x1440 Compliant: GTX680 [Yes, these are the correct way round ]
1920x1080 Certified, 2560x1600 Compliant: HD6990
1600x900 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant: HD7970, GTX580
1600x900 Certified, 1680x1050 Compliant: HD7950
1440x900 Certified, 1680x1050 Compliant: HD5870, HD6970, GTX480, GTX570
1440x900 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant: HD7870
1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant: HD7850, HD6950, GTX470, GTX560Ti
1366x768 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant: HD5850
1280x720 Certified: 1440x900 Compliant: HD6870, GTX560
1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant: HD5830, HD6850, GTX465, GTX460
800x600 Certified, 1280x720 Compliant: HD6790, HD7770, GTX460SE

-----ULTRA-----

1680x1050 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant: GTX680
1600x900 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant: HD6990
1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant: HD7970, GTX580
1280x720 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant: HD7950, GTX480, GTX570
1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant: HD5870, HD6970, HD7870, GTX470, GTX560Ti
800x600 Certified, 1280x720 Compliant: HD6950, HD7850, GTX560
800x600 Certified, 1024x768 Compliant: HD5850, HD6870, GTX465, GTX460
800x600 Certified: HD5830, HD6790, HD6850, HD7770, GTX550Ti, GTX460SE

Video memory requirements:
--High--
1680x1050, 1920x1080: 1.5GB (97% use on nvidia at 1920x1080)
2560x1600: 1.5GB AMD, 2GB nvidia (95% use on AMD)
--Ultra--
1680x1050: 1.5GB AMD, 2GB nvidia (97% use on AMD)
1920x1080, 2560x1600: 2GB

System memory requirements: 1.6GB for application

CPU compliance:

60Hz Certified:
Dual core: Core i3 550, i3 2100
Quad core: Core i5 750, Core 2 Quad Q9550, Phenom II X4 940, FX-4100
Hex core: Phenom II X6 1055T, FX-6100
Octa core: FX-8100

120Hz Compliant:
Quad core: Core i5 2500K, Core i7 950, Phenom II X4 955BE
Hex core: Phenom II X6 1055T, FX-6100
Octa core: FX-8120

60Hz Compliant:
Dual core: Pentium E5500, Core 2 Duo E8200/E6850, Phenom II X2 550
Quad core: Core 2 Quad Q6600, Phenom X4 9850

 

WARNING: Even longer post about nothing than usual. Only read this if you had a childhood and don't suck as a human being.

Went back to some older games in my collection for an afternoon of nostalgia

FreeSpace is probably one of my all time favorite space sims. The setting and story are very good but the narration is what sets it off. You get all of your updates and mission objectives in a very military manner with a splash of human nature here and there. There is a sense of weight and purpose to your actions. Like if you are sent on an escort mission, you are given a very clear purpose why it is important. Nothing in the game feels like a "video game scenario". Everything has a very realistic sense to it.

It was pretty advanced for its time and the gameplay is fairly deep. Unfortunately, it was made in 1998 and thus was pretty limited graphics-wise. 640 x 480 only. I was looking for a solution to this exact problem when I found a very interesting project called FSOpen, a mod for the sequel FreeSpace 2.

Volition basically had to declare FreeSpace 2 as a commercial failure due to lack of sales. In turn, they released the entire source code for the game to the modding community, spawning a number of projects.

FSOpen basically uses this source code to provide a much enhanced and more mod-friendly version of the game. It works by the use of a 3rd party launcher and a custom build of the game engine basically dropped onto a retail FreeSpace 2 install($6 at GoodOldGames.com). This allows many graphical enhancements, custom resolutions(ie widescreen), new levels, open source mods, etc.

Now back to my original point: getting FreeSpace 1 working in widescreen. One of the mods released for FSOpen is FSPort, a direct complete port of FreeSpace 1 and its expansion, Silent Threat, into the heavily enhanced FreeSpace 2 engine. So not only is it improved by the new engine, it also takes advantage of the many graphics mods already in circulation for the game.

Not only is there a set of great enhancement mods for FreeSpace 2, there is an entire set of dedicated mods for the FreeSpace 1 Port. Essentially there is an entire community dedicated to modding a mod, a very rare thing.

http://www.gamespot.com/freespace-2/reviews/freespace-2-review-2538608/

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also went back to the Star Wars X-Wing series. This is another very detailed and high quality space combat sim. Nothing like it has been made since, so for Star Wars fans this is the zenith of depth and quality.

Star Wars "X-Wing" and "TIE-Fighter" were the first games in the series. They had very crude 3D graphics, almost sprite-based. The multiplayer-only sequel "X-Wing vs TIE-Fighter" introduced 3D Hardware Acceleration which allowed true 3D models and textures, with a limited amount of special effects.

"X-Wing Alliance" was the last game in the series and improved on its predecessors in every way. The story mode was excellent and very long, the gameplay was even deeper, and the engine got some massive graphical updates. This is basically considered the ultimate game in the series, and is the most modded and played. It even still has a dedicated multiplayer community.

It does have some problems of its own, most notably the installer does not work correctly with a 64-bit OS. There are tutorials and 3rd party tools that make it fairly simple to circumvent this issue however.

Adding in widescreen support is as simple as running a batch file. You specify your desired resolution, force it into 32-bit color, and apply some small fixes, all done with the same batch file. It is very simple to get running properly on most systems. You apply this small set of fixes, and crank the graphics as high as they go, and that's it.

It has a HUGE mod community including a dedicated graphical enhancement project called "X-Wing Alliance Upgrade". This is essentially an effort to make the game as pretty as possible, disregarding performance impact due to the very old age of the game. The models and textures included in this pack are awesome and if you are a Star Wars fan, it's all quite a treat to see. As a MAJOR bonus, all of the mods are added through simple exe's.

http://www.gamespot.com/star-wars-x-wing-alliance/reviews/x-wing-alliance-review-2537940/
----------------------------------------------------------------


I think it's AMAZING that old games like these are still played and modded so enthusiastically. I really like to see this type of stuff done. The goal isn't to change the game, but to update it to a modern standard. Those old game engines were far more capable than what they ever got used for. Due to a lack of newer content, the community has taken everything into their own hands.

I live in constant fear of great things being lost to the flow of time or forgotten. These small but dedicated communities are a sight for sore eyes and one of the many reasons I could never go back to console gaming.

I'm also a bit miffed that proper sci-fi simulators have basically gone extinct. These games are a rare breed and we are very lucky that they were of such excellent quality to begin with. The gameplay, story, and setting are so high quality and so timeless that with simple graphical mods, the games play like they came out yesterday. I can't think of very many modern games that will be able to make the same claim when they reach a decade old.

I am very passionate about classic PC gaming as it's where true depth and creativity started. Many of today's great franchises are a watered down version of something that was done way better years ago. Getting to go back and not only play my favorite games from childhood, but with modern graphics, sound, art, etc is really really incredible. It's like reliving my childhood in HD

 

Have been playing Mass Effect 1 and noticed some interesting stuff with the "Bring Down the Sky" DLC.

All of the characters use higher poly models with higher resolution textures than the rest of the game. Their armor style is also different. I have a really strong suspicion that Mass Effect 2 assets were used to make "Bring Down the Sky." Particularly the Batarians(bad guys) are way higher quality than the rest of the game's characters and the leader wears armor from Mass Effect 2.

Just something I noticed. Am very familiar with the engine and game series and my assumptions on this subject matter are usually correct, lol.

 

---End of Nations Beta---

GTX690: 2560x1600 Certified, 2560x1600 120Hz Compliant (provisional)
HD6990, GTX590: 2560x1600 Certified
HD7870, HD7950, HD7970, GTX670, GTX680: 1920x1200 Certified, 2560x1600 Compliant
HD6970, GTX580: 1920x1200 Certified
HD5870, GTX570: 1920x1080 Certified, 1920x1200 Compliant
HD6950, HD7850, GTX480: 1680x1050 Certified, 1920x1200 Compliant
HD5850, GTX560Ti: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1200 Compliant
HD6870, GTX470, GTX560: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant
HD5830: 1366x768 Certified, 1680x1050 Compliant
HD6790, HD6850, HD7770, GTX465, GTX460: 1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
GTX460SE: 1280x800 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
HD5770, GTX550Ti: 1280x720 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant
HD7750: 1280x720 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
HD5770, GTS450: 1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant

Required video memory:
1680x1050/1920x1080: 768MB
2560x1600: 768MB(95%) nvidia, 1GB AMD

120Hz Compliant CPUs: Core i7 2600K (native), Core i5 2500K+i7 3930K with turboboost (3.5/3.3Ghz respectively)
60Hz Certified CPUs: Core i3 2100, Core i5 2500K, Core i7 950/2600K
60Hz Compliant CPUs: Core 2 Duo E7400/8200, Core 2 Quad Q6600, Athlon II X4 620, Phenom II X2 550, Phenom II X4 920, FX-4100/6100/8100


---Prototype 2---
Resolutions higher than 1920x1200 are not supported by the title.
GTX680, GTX690: 1920x1200 Certified, 120Hz Compliant
HD6970, HD7870, HD7950, HD7970, GTX480, GTX570, GTX580, GTX670: 1920x1200 Certified
HD6950, HD7850, GTX470, GTX560Ti: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1200 Compliant
GTX560: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant
HD6870, GTX460: 1440x900 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
HD5830, GTX465: 1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
HD6850, HD7770, GTX460SE: 1366x768 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant
HD6790: 1280x800 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
GTX550Ti: 1280x720 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
HD5770, GTS450: 1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
HD7750: 1024x768 Certified, 1280x800 Compliant
HD5750: 1024x600 Certified, 1024x768 Compliant

No 60Hz Certified CPUs yet available
60Hz Compliant CPUs: Core i5 760/2500K, i7 930/2600K/3930K

45Hz Compliant CPUs: Core i3 550/2100, i5 750/2500K, i7 920/2600K/3930K, Core 2 Quad Q6850/9300, Phenom II X4 955/X6 1090T, FX-4120/6100/8150

 

Oh dear I may be treating myself to an early Christmas present if this is true :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuFxbFW5Z-8

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/cevat...it-myth-crysis-3-will-melt-down-a-lot-of-pcs/

Might be in the market for a video upgrade...

 

Not sure if advertising the fact that Crysis 3 will be a PC-eater is a positive selling point? As voiced in some of the comments, it's not as if the performance requirements of the game were really justified, pretty as they were...
It's also somewhat alarming, as we've only now just got to the point where hardware can handle the original properly - if graphics performance is beginning to stagnate, which is starting to look like the case, then getting the hardware to properly run Crysis 3 could take a LONG time!

 

Crysis 2's performance is a joke for me. I honestly don't know how people manage the framerates they claim.

 

I don't remember it being too bad when I played it, although I didn't play much of it I'll admit. It certainly didn't seem worse than the original Crysis.

 

For me it runs about half the performance of Crysis. Where Crysis runs say 30-50FPS, Crysis 2 runs 15-35FPS.

It's a known issue with HD6000 series cards. Some have said tessellation causes this(which is partly to blame) but it's also an existing issue in Dx9. It varies depending on the card and manufacturer. Generally 6850s and 6970s have issues with the game individually and in Crossfire. Have met several with single 6870s, however, that manage the game at the same settings with easily 50+ FPS. No typos, seriously.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/crysis-2-dx11-vga-and-cpu-performance-benchmarks/4

My cards should be performing exactly like the 6870s here do. They do not. Also, regardless of that being a 2GB 6870 X2, it is not an issue with memory usage.

BTW you can see on later charts that my CPU is decidedly not the issue.
---------------------------------------------------------


Likewise the tessellation is a joke, and applies to things that don't need it and show literally zero difference. Imagine multiplying the poly-count of a flat surface by many times, then pasting it all over the game. There is also zero LOD for tessellation and the water does not Z-buffer/occlude at all. So at any given point in the game, you are still rendering a limitless expanse of tessellated water with no LOD to speak of. Tessellation was quite literally tacked on.

The game has severe coding and outright quality issues. Crysis 1 was never very polished, but this is a joke. Not to mention I have run into several game-breaking bugs that make it impossible or extremely unpleasant to finish. Crysis 1 had a few very well-known ones, Crysis 2 has dozens.

The shiny lighting is huge contrast from the extremely meticulous art direction that made Crysis 1 seem photo-realistic at times. Most people don't seem to understand the concept of art direction at all. The art direction and attention to detail are what made Crysis so mind-blowingly beautiful, not the fancy shaders.

Even Cevat Yerli agrees that they sacrificed art direction, detail, level design, physics, basically every single notable feature of Crysis, just to fit console constraints. Everything missing is quite simply due to storage and memory constraints.


http://techreport.com/articles.x/21404/1

Maybe I've posted this article before but it bears mentioning.

The difference in quality between the two games is so huge that I sometimes doubt the original team worked on Crysis 2.

 

Anybody see the new screenshots of GTA-V? I'll dip into my piggy bank if I have to! LOL!
http://media.rockstargames.com/broadcast/20120824/en_US_web.html

 

Very excited but in a sort of "meh" way. GTA IV was a big disappointment for me. Not a bad game, but I spent most of elementary and highschool playing Vice City and San Andreas. NO ROMAN I DON'T WANT TO GO BOWLING 3 TIMES A DAY OR YOU'LL HATE ME!!!

The graphics do look quite nice

Really really wish they would release Red Dead Redemption on PC. The game is amazing but I'm simply sick of console games. Very few that keep me playing. Dragonball Z Burst Limit is my current favorite on the PS3. My friend and I have put maybe 80-100 hours in it in the last few months just playing 1 v 1. Really fantastic fighting system. Is a hybrid of several games before it

 

Still, if its predecessor is anything to go by, we'll finally have a single-monitor use for that 3GB/4GB fitted to current top-end graphics cards!

 

Yah, some of the missions are rather meh. Like taking Michelle bowling It does make me laugh though.

 

npb

 

Yah, after I posted that, it brought me to page one. I figured it posted though

This one was fine though.

 

Tricky one this, although it is a beta.
As such, there is no SLI/Crossfire support, which doesn't help matters!
Interesting to see the FX series CPUs faring so well versus the Phenoms, that's not a trend you see often!


Firefall [Beta]:

HD7970: 1920x1080 Compliant, 1440x900 Certified
HD7950: 1600x900 Compliant, 1366x768 Certified
HD7870: 1600x900 Compliant, 1366x768 Certified
HD7850: 1366x768 Compliant, 1024x768 Certified

HD6970: 1600x900 Compliant, 1280x720 Certified
HD6950: 1366x768 Compliant, 1024x768 Certified
HD6870: 1366x768 Compliant, 1024x600 Certified
HD6850: 1024x768 Compliant, 800x600 Certified

HD5870: 1440x900 Compliant, 1024x768 Certified
HD5850: 1366x768 Compliant, 1024x600 Certified


GTX680: 1920x1080 Compliant, 1600x900 Certified
GTX670: 1680x1050 Compliant, 1366x768 Certified

GTX580: 1600x900 Compliant, 1280x720 Certified
GTX570: 1366x768 Compliant, 1024x768 Certified
GTX560Ti:1366x768Compliant, 1024x600 Certified
GTX560: 1280x720 Compliant, 1024x600 Certified

Video Memory Requirement
1680x1050, 1920x1080: 1.25GB
2560x1600: 1.5GB

CPU Requirements
60Hz Compliance: AMD Athlon II X4 620, X2 5600+, any FX-series, Core i3/i5/i7 any, Core 2 Duo E8400/Quad Q8400
60HZ Certified: AMD FX-8150, FX-6130, FX-4170, Core i3 2100, i5 2400, i7 950/2600K

 

The Battlefield keeps on the battling...

Battlefield 3 - Armored Kill

No MSAA Mode:
Crossfire scaling 93%, SLI scaling 85%

HD6990: 1680x1050 Certified, 2560x1600 Compliant
HD7970: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant
HD7950: 1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
HD7870: 1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
HD7850: 1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
HD7770: 1024x600 Certified, 1024x768 Compliant
HD7750: 853x480 Certified, 1024x600 Compliant

GTX690: 2560x1600 Certified, 3240x1920 Compliant
GTX680: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1200 Compliant
GTX670: 1600x900 Certified, 1920x1200 Compliant
GTX580: 1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
GTX570: 1280x720 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant
GTX560Ti:1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
GTX560: 1024x600 Certified, 1280x800 Compliant
GTX550Ti:853x480 Certified, 1024x600 Compliant

4x MSAA Mode:
Crossfire scaling 99%, SLI scaling 94%

HD6990: 1440x900 Certified, 1920x1080 Compliant
HD7970: 1280x800 Certified, 1440x900 Compliant
HD7950: 1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
HD7870: 1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
HD7850: 1024x600 Certified, 1024x768 Compliant
HD7770: 853x480 Certified, 800x600 Compliant
HD7750: 640x480 Certified, 853x480 Compliant

GTX690: 1920x1440 Certified, 2560x1600 Compliant
GTX680: 1440x900 Certified, 1680x1050 Compliant
GTX670: 1366x768 Certified, 1600x900 Compliant
GTX580: 1280x720 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
GTX570: 1024x768 Certified, 1366x768 Compliant
GTX560Ti:1024x600 Certified, 1024x768 Compliant
GTX560: 1024x600 Certified, 1024x768 Compliant
GTX550Ti:853x480 Certified, 800x600 Compliant



Video Memory usage:
1680x1050: 1.25GB nvidia, 1.25GB AMD No MSAA, 1.5GB AMD 4xMSAA
1920x1080: 1.25GB no MSAA, 1.5GB 4xMSAA
2560x1600: 1.5GB no MSAA, 2GB 4xMSAA


Compliant CPUs:
Low load (Single player / empty server):
60Hz Compliance: AMD Phenom II X4 975, any FX-series, Core 2 Duo E8600/Quad Q6700/8200, any i-series CPU
60Hz Certification: any AMD FX-series CPU, Core 2 Quad Q6850/8400, Core i3 2100/any i5/i7 CPU
120Hz Compliance: Core i7 2600K/3930K

High load (64-player server):
60Hz Compliance: any AMD FX-series CPU, Core 2 Quad Q6850/9450, Core i3 2100/any i5/i7 CPU
60Hz Certification: AMD FX-6100/8150, Core i5 760/any i7 CPU
120Hz Compliance: Core i7 3930K