The computer and electronics super geek thread

[kensei]

ThermalTech Armor MX+ with LCS

ASUS P6T Deluxe

Intel Core i7 965

6 GB Corsair DDR3 Triple Channel Memory Kit

Velociraptor 300 GB 10000 RPM

ASUS Radeon HD4870 X2

Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer

TPLINK W/LESS PCI ADAPTER DN TL-WN951N N

LG Blu Ray Reader and Writer

Multicard Reader

1000W Coolermaster PSU

What do you think? I didn't want to end up with the driver issues with NVIDIA cards and the ASUS version of the HD4870 X2 has three fans and a beautiful design over the Sapphire. Also the P6T Deluxe seemed to work for me better, as apparently the Rampage II Extreme was having memory issues.

Tempted to switch to a 1TB 7200 RPM Western Digital HDD though, and that is dirt cheap.

I can't believe that Multicard Readers are only 10 bucks.

All the ingredients I can get locally. I think I got enough power for my card. I know it's a powerhog.

The Creative Sound Card will do my currently owned logitech X-530 5.1 Sound system.

I'll keep my current Logitech DiNovo Edge Keyboard and consider getting a Logitech G13 for gaming soon.

Also I'll keep my current mouse. The Logitech MX Revolution is the best, no mouse will ever beat it for me.

I'll just have to look for a screen now. What do you guys think? If I have the 4870, would I get the best out of games if I choose a 26"+ Monitor? At least 5 ms? 2 ms?

Any parts missing to form a complete computer? My friend is going to give me a copy of Vista ultimate to get me started.

Anyone ever made their Home PC into a home theatre system? I was thinking of also getting the Thermaltake Media Lab installed in it, with a touch screen in future. How well did that work out if you had a similar setup? I rarely watch TV, I leave it to the parents, and I don't want to add another system into a room cause it will cause clutter. Thats why I wanted to add it in.

Edited February 22, 2009 by kensei

[azrael]

What do you think? I didn't want to end up with the driver issues with NVIDIA cards and the ASUS version of the HD4870 X2 has three fans and a beautiful design over the Sapphire. Also the P6T Deluxe seemed to work for me better, as apparently the Rampage II Extreme was having memory issues.

What do you plan on using this for????

Tempted to switch to a 1TB 7200 RPM Western Digital HDD though, and that is dirt cheap.

I really won't consider 'Raptor drives since I consider space a more essential issue than speed.

I'll just have to look for a screen now. What do you guys think? If I have the 4870, would I get the best out of games if I choose a 26"+ Monitor? At least 5 ms? 2 ms?

I'd scale back to a 24". Resolutions among most 24" and 26" screens are the same. Same goes with contrast, brightness and response times. If you have the desk space, a 26" would be nice, but otherwise, a 24" will do the same.

[kensei]

What do you plan on using this for????

Gaming (the good stuff, haven't played a decent one in years, never had the power or time), Work Processing, Internet Browsing, music production and also video rendering. Is there anything wrong? You think it won't be up to the task?

I really won't consider 'Raptor drives since I consider space a more essential issue than speed.

I was thinking of adding another drive later for storage, but I didn't want to think about it when I first start of with a new computer. I'm pretty conservative, I had only a 80 GB drive lately and had to get a 500 GB external, which is only <100 GB full now.

I'd scale back to a 24". Resolutions among most 24" and 26" screens are the same. Same goes with contrast, brightness and response times. If you have the desk space, a 26" would be nice, but otherwise, a 24" will do the same.

I think you might be right. I like to have a corner desk, and I'll have to bring the screen too far forward if I go larger.

Edited February 23, 2009 by kensei

[mikeszekely]

You think it won't be up to the task? unsure.gif

Not up to the task? It's overkill! Straight up, unless you're trying to future proof because you still want to use that computer seven or eight years from now, it's overkill. Oh, and check with your friend to make sure that copy of Vista Ultimate is 64-bit, otherwise go with a trio of 1GB sticks instead of 2GB sticks.

I agree with Az 100% on the hard drive... the slightly faster spin of the Raptors don't come close to justifying their ridiculous prices. It's easily the worst performance/cost upgrade you can think of. Stick with a 7200rpm Seagate Momentus or a Western Digital Barracuda, and spend your money on extra gigabytes.

As for the monitor thing, unless you're swimming in cash (and the rest of the components you're considering suggest you might be), a 24" monitor might not even be necessary. It's true that they tend to support higher resolutions than the 22"ers, but I think quality is more important than overall resolution. I've seen plenty of 24" and 26" monitors with washed out colors, dim screens, poor color, etc that look like garbage compared to mine. Be advised that contrast ratio isn't really all that important, since what criteria a manufacturer uses to define contrast ratio isn't standardized. Response time is more important, especially if you're gaming. Don't go higher than 5ms; get 2ms if you can. (Also consider the optimal distance for viewing a screen of X size... no sense parking a monitor right in front of you, then constantly turning your head left and right to try to see everything on it).

Logitech X-530 speakers? Skip the sound card, at least for now. The ADI AD2000b audio chipset on the motherboard is already plenty good enough for X-530s (and I'm not knocking them... I have the X-540's myself). If you find yourself disagreeing with my assessment, you can always upgrade later.

Yeah, I've done the home theater PC thing. I can be useful for doing stuff like watching streaming video, or formats like .mkv that other devices don't. In my experience, though, it's better to have one excellent computer at your desk for your everyday gaming and computing, and a separate computer for an HTPC. Get a micro-ATX motherboard with solid on-board audio AND video, then match it to a higher-end CPU. Then buy an HTPC-specific case/PSU combo. You'll end up with a much smaller footprint in your home theater area. HD video is easier for most PCs than modern 3D gaming, so you don't need a high-end graphics card (or the extra power they draw).

[kensei]

Not up to the task? It's overkill! Straight up, unless you're trying to future proof because you still want to use that computer seven or eight years from now, it's overkill. Oh, and check with your friend to make sure that copy of Vista Ultimate is 64-bit, otherwise go with a trio of 1GB sticks instead of 2GB sticks.

I agree with Az 100% on the hard drive... the slightly faster spin of the Raptors don't come close to justifying their ridiculous prices. It's easily the worst performance/cost upgrade you can think of. Stick with a 7200rpm Seagate Momentus or a Western Digital Barracuda, and spend your money on extra gigabytes.

As for the monitor thing, unless you're swimming in cash (and the rest of the components you're considering suggest you might be), a 24" monitor might not even be necessary. It's true that they tend to support higher resolutions than the 22"ers, but I think quality is more important than overall resolution. I've seen plenty of 24" and 26" monitors with washed out colors, dim screens, poor color, etc that look like garbage compared to mine. Be advised that contrast ratio isn't really all that important, since what criteria a manufacturer uses to define contrast ratio isn't standardized. Response time is more important, especially if you're gaming. Don't go higher than 5ms; get 2ms if you can. (Also consider the optimal distance for viewing a screen of X size... no sense parking a monitor right in front of you, then constantly turning your head left and right to try to see everything on it).

Logitech X-530 speakers? Skip the sound card, at least for now. The ADI AD2000b audio chipset on the motherboard is already plenty good enough for X-530s (and I'm not knocking them... I have the X-540's myself). If you find yourself disagreeing with my assessment, you can always upgrade later.

Yeah, I've done the home theater PC thing. I can be useful for doing stuff like watching streaming video, or formats like .mkv that other devices don't. In my experience, though, it's better to have one excellent computer at your desk for your everyday gaming and computing, and a separate computer for an HTPC. Get a micro-ATX motherboard with solid on-board audio AND video, then match it to a higher-end CPU. Then buy an HTPC-specific case/PSU combo. You'll end up with a much smaller footprint in your home theater area. HD video is easier for most PCs than modern 3D gaming, so you don't need a high-end graphics card (or the extra power they draw).

I haven't had a PC in 7 years, I haven't got good games to play, and even back then it wasn't really up to the task. Supreme Commander causes my computer to become constipated after the second mission.

At the moment I'm planning on doing some heavy gaming and also producing a DVD. We will be formally recording the whole syllabus of Tsutsumi Hozan Ryu Jujutsu and Yoseikan Aikido. It's going to be a big project. My friend is constantly frustrated cause he has a top quality studio camera, but not enough processing power to do it. We'll also be using Sony Vegas.

I'll take your advice on the HDD. I think I will go for storage option. I saw a 1 TB Western Digital 7200 thats a third of the price.

Thanks for the advice on the Sound Card, but at only $130 bucks, I don't think that it's going to matter a lot in the whole scheme of things. If I really wanted the other sound cards that were over $200 I might take your advice, but in a year, I want to get those G-51s and give the X-540s to my Dad, who's not that fussy. I want audio bliss when I make my music.

I have an old 22" LCD AOC Monitor at home, I might just go with that too. I'll make sure to have the 64 bit edition so I can access over 4 GB of RAM like you mentioned.

I'm glad I found a free way to get Windows Vista OS, I didn't want to pay again for it or even XP, as 7 is coming out this year and I've heard some really promising things about it. For sure I'll buy that though.

[azrael]

Gaming (the good stuff, haven't played a decent one in years, never had the power or time), Work Processing, Internet Browsing, music production and also video rendering. Is there anything wrong? You think it won't be up to the task?

Things in bold are the things you need to worry about with this setup. An ATI 4870x2 will handle the gaming. The Core i7 will give you lots of wiggle room in video rendering. The Creative sound card is nice and all but the on-board sound will probably handle it (especially with the i7 CPU on there). Audio mixing software would be my concern there, not so much hardware.

mikeszekely's assessment is pretty good. This setup will last you a long time.

I think you might be right. I like to have a corner desk, and I'll have to bring the screen too far forward if I go larger.

I think your 22" will work out. I would save the money and skip the monitor.

Also, as mikeszekely's suggestion about the HTPC, I would look at a micro-ATX board with an Nvidia-based or AMD/ATi-based chipset. I would not recommend going with any Intel graphics chipset. The Nvidia and AMD/ATi chipsets should have much better support for HD video.

[mikeszekely]

Thanks for the advice on the Sound Card, but at only $130 bucks, I don't think that it's going to matter a lot in the whole scheme of things. If I really wanted the other sound cards that were over $200 I might take your advice, but in a year, I want to get those G-51s and give the X-540s to my Dad, who's not that fussy. I want audio bliss when I make my music.

You seem to be under the impression that a dedicated sound card is going to be that much better than the onboard audio, and it is... if you plan on hooking it up to real sound system, like an Onkyo or a Denon. While the G-51s are definitely better than the X-500 series, we're not talking that huge a leap. Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money, but what's only $130 to you still isn't my definition of pocket change. With most PC games being between $20 and $50, that's 2-6 games and a tank of gas that you want to spend something you're likely to notice a difference on anyway.

Also, as mikeszekely's suggestion about the HTPC, I would look at a micro-ATX board with an Nvidia-based or AMD/ATi-based chipset. I would not recommend going with any Intel graphics chipset. The Nvidia and AMD/ATi chipsets should have much better support for HD video.

Absolutely. I completely forgot to mention that, even though I was thinking about (since my own HTPC has a 7100/630i board). Intel video chipsets are good for office computers that are never going to do more than Word, Excel, and Outlook. For most multimedia, a dedicated graphics card isn't necessary, but yeah, you should still be shopping Nvidia and ATI boards.

[kensei]

You seem to be under the impression that a dedicated sound card is going to be that much better than the onboard audio, and it is... if you plan on hooking it up to real sound system, like an Onkyo or a Denon. While the G-51s are definitely better than the X-500 series, we're not talking that huge a leap. Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money, but what's only $130 to you still isn't my definition of pocket change. With most PC games being between $20 and $50, that's 2-6 games and a tank of gas that you want to spend something you're likely to notice a difference on anyway.

that's alright, I appreciate the feedback, I wouldn't have asked for it otherwise.

I was thinking in terms of the expenditure of the whole system, so that's why I thought $130 was alright. I could always add it later I guess. That's the beauty about a PC I suppose, you can always add, you're not always stuck with something. $130 in Australia is 1 new release game and possibly classic and two tanks of gas. So for the meantime, I guess I will hold off, and also get the 1 TB WD HDD.

I'm more of a Logitech fanboy, so I guess I'll never hook it up to a Denon or Onkyo.

Edited February 24, 2009 by kensei

[mikeszekely]

that's alright, I appreciate the feedback, I wouldn't have asked for it otherwise.

I was thinking in terms of the expenditure of the whole system, so that's why I thought $130 was alright. I could always add it later I guess. That's the beauty about a PC I suppose, you can always add, you're not always stuck with something. $130 in Australia is 1 new release game and possibly classic and two tanks of gas. So for the meantime, I guess I will hold off, and also get the 1 TB WD HDD.

I'm more of a Logitech fanboy, so I guess I'll never hook it up to a Denon or Onkyo.

It's cool, I like Logitech stuff myself. Heck, I've got a Logitech mouse and keyboard on my HTPC (I'd use it on this computer, but I do like the feel of the Microsoft mouse better, so...), Logitech controllers for both the PS2 and PS3, and a Harmony One remote in addition to my X-540s. They make some of the best computer accessories, and their computer speakers are fine for what they are, or I wouldn't have the X-540's. And the G-51s are a reasonable upgrade, too.

But comparing Logitech to, say, Denon is like comparing a hamburger to prime-grade rib-eye steak. I love a good burger, and I'm not trying to knock Logitech by saying that they're no Denon any more than I'd say a burger's no steak.

By the same token, a dedicated sound card is great for audiophiles who are going to rip all their music in a lossless format like .flac and hook their computer up to a $2000 Denon receiver with $1000-each Paradigm speakers... they're steaks. But the onboard audio on that motherboard is still a good burger, and when you hook your Logitech speakers up to it, you're going to be happy with the results. And like we've said, if you're not, the wonderfully modular nature of a PC means you can always add the sound card later.

Damn, I'm hungry now... it's after midnight, so I think I'll wait until lunch, but I think a trip to Red Robin is indeed in order.

You're from Australia, then, Kensei? Any good burger joints there?

[VFTF1]

Figured this would be the best place to post it:

Is anybody else having trouble accessing their gmail account?

It takes me like 10 minutes of waiting to get an "error - we're all screwed up" message (paraphrasing here).

Pete

[kensei]

mikeszekely's assessment is pretty good. This setup will last you a long time.

I think your 22" will work out. I would save the money and skip the monitor.

I want to aim for that too. I mean, the last computer I had was a P4 2.0 GHz with 256 MB of RAM and a 64 MB Graphics card. I can at least play some of the good games of today, and they say that nothing will demand as much as Crysis for a long time. Brothers in Arms looks good, I can't wait to play it and finish supreme commander.

Tried my 22" in my room, yup, I'll have no space if i go any bigger. That or I'll have to change my orientation.

It's cool, I like Logitech stuff myself. Heck, I've got a Logitech mouse and keyboard on my HTPC (I'd use it on this computer, but I do like the feel of the Microsoft mouse better, so...), Logitech controllers for both the PS2 and PS3, and a Harmony One remote in addition to my X-540s. They make some of the best computer accessories, and their computer speakers are fine for what they are, or I wouldn't have the X-540's. And the G-51s are a reasonable upgrade, too.

But comparing Logitech to, say, Denon is like comparing a hamburger to prime-grade rib-eye steak. I love a good burger, and I'm not trying to knock Logitech by saying that they're no Denon any more than I'd say a burger's no steak.

By the same token, a dedicated sound card is great for audiophiles who are going to rip all their music in a lossless format like .flac and hook their computer up to a $2000 Denon receiver with $1000-each Paradigm speakers... they're steaks. But the onboard audio on that motherboard is still a good burger, and when you hook your Logitech speakers up to it, you're going to be happy with the results. And like we've said, if you're not, the wonderfully modular nature of a PC means you can always add the sound card later.

Damn, I'm hungry now... it's after midnight, so I think I'll wait until lunch, but I think a trip to Red Robin is indeed in order.

You're from Australia, then, Kensei? Any good burger joints there?

Cool yeah, I just told my friend about the build, and he is happy to put it together for me. His brother in law who is also my training partner will give me his version of Vista Ult, as he has an unlimited licence.

Fast Eddies will get you a good burger, but we don't have any good franchises. They are dedicated burger joints, independent, and the only place where you can ask how you want your burger done, medium, or blue cause of the quality of the beef.

Figured this would be the best place to post it:

Is anybody else having trouble accessing their gmail account?

It takes me like 10 minutes of waiting to get an "error - we're all screwed up" message (paraphrasing here).

Pete

Checked for ya, All good for me. I suppose it took longer than usual.

Edited February 24, 2009 by kensei

[valkyriepilot]

Gmail is ok with me too, funny thing is, yesterday I tried logging in 3x in my Yahoomail and I always get errors I exited Firefox and ran it again, and the errors in Yahoomail login was gone, weird...

[mikeszekely]

Figured this would be the best place to post it:

Is anybody else having trouble accessing their gmail account?

It takes me like 10 minutes of waiting to get an "error - we're all screwed up" message (paraphrasing here).

Pete

It seemed to take a little longer than usual, but it loaded fine. But if it makes you feel better, I was having issues with Blogger over the weekend, and Blogger's another Google service last I checked.

[Knight26]

I finally got my new laptop and decided to try and use the windows easy transfer using an old router I had to transfer my files. It is maddening, is there something I am missing, or do I need to swallow it and get the easy transfer cable to make this work right?

[azrael]

It seemed to take a little longer than usual, but it loaded fine. But if it makes you feel better, I was having issues with Blogger over the weekend, and Blogger's another Google service last I checked.

*cough* http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10170636-2.html */cough*

[VFTF1]

Thansk guys - and thanks Azreal for the link to the article. I didn't know about Google Apps... will have to..er...google it

Pete

[kensei]

Actually, with the Blu Ray Reader/Writer I am planning to get, should I get a DVD Writer too? I heard that the reading times for a Blu Ray reader to get a Blu Ray movie going can be pretty glacial. Does that apply to the DVDs too?

I've also been looking around for a BLuetooth adaptor too for the PC, but all I can find is a generic USB reciever type. Is there like a PCI card one that I can get?

I'm also looking for a new router, wireless type, with Type N+. BUT, I need one with VOIP. All the ones I looked at so far have no VOIP. I need it badly cause I have no phone line anymore, cause it's Naked NSL.

I'm also torn between the Logitech Z-5500 and the G-51. The controls on the Z are cool but the G51 has matrix mode, which is pretty awesome. ARgh!~

Edited March 1, 2009 by kensei

[VT 1010]

Actually, with the Blu Ray Reader/Writer I am planning to get, should I get a DVD Writer too? I heard that the reading times for a Blu Ray reader to get a Blu Ray movie going can be pretty glacial. Does that apply to the DVDs too?

I have a BD-ROM (I didn't realize it wasn't a writer until after I got it) and it doesn't take that long to load a movie. It does take a little longer to load than a DVD, but the difference is minimal. When it come to burning DVDs, that all depends on the speed you select to burn the disc. When it comes to DVDs, a Blu-ray drive is just like your average DVD drive. I wouldn't worry about getting another DVD burner.

[kensei]

I have a BD-ROM (I didn't realize it wasn't a writer until after I got it) and it doesn't take that long to load a movie. It does take a little longer to load than a DVD, but the difference is minimal. When it come to burning DVDs, that all depends on the speed you select to burn the disc. When it comes to DVDs, a Blu-ray drive is just like your average DVD drive. I wouldn't worry about getting another DVD burner.

Thanks! *slashes $59 from his list*

[VF-19]

Quick question: I have a portable DVD player whose battery has crapped out, and I'd like to replace the battery. My question is, should I get a battery that matches the original battery's stats (7.4 volts 2000mAh) or could I get something that outputs the same volts, but has a higher mAh rating? Will I damage the player, or the battery if I try to use the stock charger? Originally the battery lasted 2.5 hours or so, now it's down to 15-20 minutes... And I've only recently started to use the battery on a regular basis, before it was always plugged into the wall.

[mikeszekely]

Quick question: I have a portable DVD player whose battery has crapped out, and I'd like to replace the battery. My question is, should I get a battery that matches the original battery's stats (7.4 volts 2000mAh) or could I get something that outputs the same volts, but has a higher mAh rating? Will I damage the player, or the battery if I try to use the stock charger? Originally the battery lasted 2.5 hours or so, now it's down to 15-20 minutes... And I've only recently started to use the battery on a regular basis, before it was always plugged into the wall.

As far as I know, the mAh rating is something like the maximum storage capacity. You should be alright with a higher mAh rating, but be careful to make sure the battery's dimensions are the same. I know with cell phones, batteries that have a higher mAh rating often come with a replacement battery cover, because the battery is physically larger.

[David Hingtgen]

mah for batteries=more is better. Always upgrade.

[VF-19]

Thanks for the replies. Bigger better battery (if possible) it is! Heck, I might even be able to watch Ben-Hur on a single charge if I'm lucky!

[VF-19]

One last question regarding replacement batteries: Is there a place online where I can get good lithium ion or lithium polymer batteries? I'd rather not get another cheap battery that'll go south sooner than it should.

[kensei]

Shoot me if I'm crazy, but is it possible to put two Radeon HD 4870 X2s together to imitate 2 NVIDIA GTX295s in Quad SLI?

[Dante74]

Shoot me if I'm crazy, but is it possible to put two Radeon HD 4870 X2s together to imitate 2 NVIDIA GTX295s in Quad SLI?

2 GTX295's!?! Sounds like a bit of overkill to me, even for today's most demanding games.

[azrael]

2 GTX295's!?! Sounds like a bit of overkill to me, even for today's most demanding games.

Not to mention the amount of power 2 GTX 295s are sucking down...

[VFTF1]

I'm sure many of you will be shocked, just shocked to learn that I managed to fix the DVD driver on my laptop and am now able to watch movies.

See - it seems I have some computer proficiency after all

Oh...yeah...um...

I also erased all of my documents, all of the accounting and tax forms for my business going back to 2007, all of my anime movies and series (from Macross Frontier to SDFM TV, to NGE...everything), all of my photographs (including vacation pictures), all of my translation work, all of my comics scans, all of my software, AVI movie player, flashget - hell - I even erased firefox....

Yeah.

So...

I've...been sitting around today restoring things... Macross Frontier comes first...I've got fire fox back...and ...umm...I put Hikaru and Misa kissing on my background...so...I could cheer myself up.

But hey...

at least I can...watch DVDs...now.

yeah.

success is...sweet.

Pete

[Dante74]

There's a lesson to be learned here kids.

make. regular. backups.

I'm sure many of you will be shocked, just shocked to learn that I managed to fix the DVD driver on my laptop and am now able to watch movies.

success is...sweet.

Pete

[kensei]

Jesus, I've just been playing FEAR for the first time since my old rig could handle it, and man, scares the crap out of me. I can't sleep!

[mikeszekely]

Jesus, I've just been playing FEAR for the first time since my old rig could handle it, and man, scares the crap out of me. I can't sleep!

The first one? It's one of my all time favorite FPS games.

[kensei]

Yeah the first didn't ask for much in terms of hardware performance. Really happy with that. This game gets under your skin man, and its not the crappy regular horror crap. I could do without the drinking of the blood, but its' still great.

[mikeszekely]

Yeah the first didn't ask for much in terms of hardware performance. Really happy with that. This game gets under your skin man, and its not the crappy regular horror crap. I could do without the drinking of the blood, but its' still great.

Fettel drinks blood in the Aussie version? He ate people in our version.

Play the new one after you build your new rig. Story's not as good as the first, but I thought it was more atmospheric. And the ending was great.

[grss1982]

Jesus, I've just been playing FEAR for the first time since my old rig could handle it, and man, scares the crap out of me. I can't sleep!

I've been playing this games as well. AND I ONLY PLAY IT DURING THE DAY SINCE I SCARE PRETTY EASY.

I had the fright of my life when I was about to go down a ladder when all of a sudden ALMA appears and I go HOLY S**T I can't fire at her in this position.

BTW..you mentioned something about an old rig...can you post the specs?

I've only played this game on the following (1280x1024 med to high settings & 1024x768 High Settings):

Athlon X2 4000+ (2.1Ghz) ==> Just upgraded to a C2D E6420 in Feb.

MSI K9N Neo-F V3 ==> Moved to a Gigabyte G31-based mobo in Feb.

2GB DDR2-533 (2x1GB)

256MB GeForce 7300GT DDR3

80GB W.D. SATA

The reason I'm asking is I wanted to try in an older rig of mine that I recently re-assembled:

P4 2.6Ghz with HT

865GBF

1GB RAM (2x512MB)

64MB Radeon 9000

40GB Seagate IDE

Fettel drinks blood in the Aussie version? He ate people in our version.

Play the new one after you build your new rig. Story's not as good as the first, but I thought it was more atmospheric. And the ending was great.

I've recently heard reports that FEAR 2 isn't really as stressing as say Far Cry 2 or Crysis.

Edited March 7, 2009 by grss1982

[mikeszekely]

I've recently heard reports that FEAR 2 isn't really as stressing as say Far Cry 2 or Crysis.

There really isn't a game out there more stressing than Crysis, including Crysis Warhead.

F.E.A.R. 2 requires 1GB of RAM, a GeForce 6800 or better, and a 2.8P4 or better. For reference, those are the minimum requirements for Crysis as well.

Like Crysis, though, the question is, what hardware does it run well on. I only have data for the minimums for F.E.A.R. 2. I do know that I cranked everything up to max, with a 1680x1050 resolution. I've got 3GB of RAM, a GeForce 9800GTX+, and a 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo. And for the record, despite the fact that my rig exceeds the recommended requirements for Crysis, I was actually playing the game with a mixture of maximum and next-to-maximum settings for most of the game, until late in the game. Particle effects were beginning to drag everything down, and I had to switch to more middling performance.