What games require top end hardware?

Soldato
Joined
6 May 2009
Posts
20,361
I see a new graphics card released about every month and there are quite a few new CPUs at the moment.

What game required 12GB RAM, 2500k (?) cpu and 3 of the latest graphics cards.

Apart from maybe Crysis with mods in 2048x1536 and 16xAA why are these systems needed? (or 'playing' 3dmark 2011 in extreme mode)

I was about to upgrade my GPU from a 5770 to GTX480 but decided to get a new PSU. I then had a think and realised I can play everything already ([email protected], 4gb ram, 5770)
 
pretty much none unless you play on a 30 inch screen with 32aa in 3d or something stupid like that. todays hardware is so overpowered for games, i guess the point in buying expensive kit is for future proofing.
 
I'm usually 12-24 months behind in terms of GPUs and rarely have a problem playing anything on maximum or near max settings. I haven't bought a new GPU for about 5 years as I just go to the MM whenever it's time to upgrade!

I think the difference would come with eyefinity, I tried a 3 monitor configuration off my one 5770 and it was playable - but only just. I'm guessing a couple of extra cards would have helped :)
 
Willy waving, plain and simple.

I have a 30" Dell (2560x1600) and every game played flawlessly with my gtx280 SLI setup. I upgraded to 470 sli and as expected saw no 'real' imporvement. Benchmark scores did obviously rise and the arguement for future proofing is a sound one. Folding is perhaps another reason for high end gpu power.

We all like the latest and greatest and for most here, computing is a hobby. It's a bit like people who buy a £100,000 car when a £1000 banger will essentially do the same thing. Having that extra bit of luxury, be it future proofing or fps is a nicety we all like and if people can afford it and want it, creating demand, the companies who make the components and those like ocuk that sell them by the bucketload, are proof of that while we may not need them, we certainly want them!
 
Last edited:
Hardware requirements for running in, for example, nVidia 3D Vision or Surround are much higher than normal. I can get crazy high performance with my SLI 480s, but about the right amount when running in 3D.
 
Maybe the hardware companies should work with game developers so the hardware is utilised. Maybe then there would be certain games that only worked on certain hardware.

e.g. ATI game / Nvidia game
 
Very good question.

As far as I can see, none, but it depends on the performance level you expect. We'll have to see what this year brings, but I expect even Crysis 2 will be more scalable than the original, in it's context.
 
I'm still getting very good fps with my ATI 3870 X2! There is no need to upgrade. I will only upgrade when the AMD 6990 X2 its released with battlefield 3 ofc :) Running a 1920 x 1080 resolution, Max settings for most games.
 
I hear GTAIV can REALLY push systems with all the extra texture mods and stuff... heck i can't even get it to run nice with the standard options on full
 
metro dx11 maximum settings on my 2560 res screen, requires more than 1 GPU

i also expect crysis 2 will be harsh, not as bad as crysis one when it was released!
 
FSX, Metro2033, GTA 4, Crysis and Cryostasis. Those are the juiciest and most power hungry games I can think of. Many others with mods will be quite demanding though, like Clear Sky.
 
Last edited:
medieval 2/stainless steel mod with massive armies enabled will give your cpu a run for its money. There arent that many really as we are being held back by old consol tech.
 
Back
Top Bottom