PC specc to run Bioshock on full GFX?

[elitox]

Hey!

I would like to know if anyone is running Bioshock on full GFX and what specc you have in your PC? The reason is that I want to have a good computer but am not sure how "high" I should go. It's a question of money.

So what is your CPU, GFX, RAM etc.

And I would only like ppl to answer that has a computer that can play Bioshock on full GFX without any frame-drops.

Thanks in advance!

[Newbiezilla]

Recommended specs:
Recommended System Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo processor
System RAM: 2GB
Video card:
DX9: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better)
DX10: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 or better
Sound Card: Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series (Optimized for use with Creative Labs EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 or EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 compatible sound cards)

[The Laughing Man]

GFX turned up full at res of 1280 x 1024.

E6600 stock speed 2.4Ghz
2 Gig 667Mhz Crucial Ram 4-4-4-12
8800GTS 320MB at stock speed
2 x Samsung Spin point 250Gig HD
Creative Xi-fi Gamer
Corsair 520W PSU

No slow down at any stage in the game so far and that's with Vsync on.

[elitox]

Yes I know. But does that mean that the cheapest ever core2duo processor is capabble of running Bioshock at full GFX? If not, then my question still lies for the CPU part.

There are many c2d-processors and I would like to know how high I must go to be able to max this game.

[elitox]

The Laughing Man: Impressive specc! Do you think I could go with a cheaper processor than that one? Not sure if I can go for any more than $150 or so for a CPU at this point. :\

That gfxcard on the other hand is probably the one I would go for, been looking at it for a while.

[Newbiezilla]

elitox, you should check out Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340343+4017&name=%24100+-+%24200) for great prices.

[neildittmar]

Hey!

I would like to know if anyone is running Bioshock on full GFX and what specc you have in your PC? The reason is that I want to have a good computer but am not sure how "high" I should go. It's a question of money.

So what is your CPU, GFX, RAM etc.

And I would only like ppl to answer that has a computer that can play Bioshock on full GFX without any frame-drops.

Thanks in advance!

Please define the following terms:

"full GFX" - Do you mean simply all of the graphical options on? Does this include DirectX 10 graphical effects? What resolution are we talking about here?

"frame-drops" - Do you have a particular average frame rate in mind? Is it a matter of the framerate not going below a certain amount? Is it more a matter of consistency, with a good balance of lows, highs, and average?

Please help us to help you :-)

[elitox]

Please define the following terms:

"full GFX" - Do you mean simply all of the graphical options on? Does this include DirectX 10 graphical effects? What resolution are we talking about here?

"frame-drops" - Do you have a particular average frame rate in mind? Is it a matter of the framerate not going below a certain amount? Is it more a matter of consistency, with a good balance of lows, highs, and average?

Please help us to help you :-)

Full GFX: Every single possible option on high. DirectX10, I didnt really think of that. What differs 10 from 9? Is 10 only available on Vista? I run myself XP.

Frame-drops: What I had in mind was if the game ran stable at all time with everything(gfx-options) on high, and did not get any fps-drops, like to fall down to a level so the game started to lag or something.

I played BF2 before with my current computer, with all options on high, except AA that I had all off. The game went pretty smooth but sometimes I got lag-spikes and fps-drops.

[rek075]

I run DX9 at 1400x960 on full settings except VSync disabled with the following:

AMD FX-57 @ 3GHz
Nvidia 7950GT AGP 500/600
2 GBytes RAM

[neildittmar]

Performance evaluation in games is always subjective. A steady 30fps may be fine for me, but to you it might be considered unplayable. That said, I recently ran some benchmarks on my newly built system for BioShock...

ASUS P5N-E SLI (650i chipset)
Intel Core2Quad 2.4Ghz
4GB (4x1GB) PC2-6400 RAM
eVGA 8800GTS 320MB
SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtremegamer
Western Digital Raptor Hard Drive (74GB, 8MB Cache, 10000RPM)
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

I'm running the game at 1280x1024 resolution, all graphics options on and at their highest (excluding VSync and Force Global Lighting, but including DirectX 10). The game averages around 60fps in most of the levels. I don't think it has ever dropped below 30 at any time. Lowest I've personally seen is 35.

[Yabbering Yeti]

8800gts 320
AMD X2 5200+
4GB DDR2 800mhz (tho it runs well on xp at 1gb and ram isnt an issue at 2gb. I have more ram for my gfx card to dip in to, as it can in DX10 games)
Vista - DX10 mode

Frames rarely drop around 30fps, So i would call that pretty stable. Vsync is weird so if your using it be sure to switch out of the game then go back in - this removes the frame lock, ie: locks at 30fps if frames are anywhere from 31-59.

On this set up you can expect an average of around 45fps in detailed zones. Its very smooth in a standard zone tho, probably 55 average.

I play at 1240x1024 but can crank it up to 1600x1200 and play quite happily.
Details are also maxed with DX10 mode.

DX10 mode difference: soft particles that dont noticably clip through objects, sharper shadow resolution and an enchanced water wake system (ripples instead of foam). Some other tweaks that arent so noticable.

[elitox]

Thanks guys/gals, this helps me a lot!

Now I feel more secure in buying me a new system, as I'm not a super-geek when it comes to computers or so.

CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz 4MB FSB1333 Boxed (with cpu-cooler!) Socket 775

GFX) XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB DDR3 TV-out HDTV DUAL DVI SLI-ready RETAIL PCI Express

MBD) Asus P5K SE iP35 4DDR2-DIMM 2PCI 4PCIe SATA Audio GB-LAN Socket775 ATX

RAM) Patriot Extreme Performance 2048MB Kit (2x1024MB) DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz

HDD) Samsung SpinPoint HD403LJ 400GB 7200rpm 16MB Cache SATA2


Does this system sound alright? I checked Tomshardware.com for each hardware and they seemed to be decent stuff for gaming.

What I also wonder, if someone knows is what happens if I run a SATA2 harddrive on a motherboard that only supports SATA(1)? Will it run at all?

[palmer666]

I would prefer a 8800 GTS with 640 MB RAM.

I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, Kingston 2 GB 667Mhz DDR2-RAM, a MSI P35 Premium, Sparkle GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB and a Hitachi ..... 320 GB SATA II

Can play with all Details set to High without any problems and DX10 activated under Vista Home Premium x86! V-Sync OFF or ON is not really important for me.

[palmer666]

A 8800 GTS 640 also for Crysis!!!!

[elitox]

I would prefer a 8800 GTS with 640 MB RAM.

I have a Core 2 Duo E6750, Kingston 2 GB 667Mhz DDR2-RAM, a MSI P35 Premium, Sparkle GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB and a Hitachi ..... 320 GB SATA II

Can play with all Details set to High without any problems and DX10 activated under Vista Home Premium x86! V-Sync OFF or ON is not really important for me.
Awesome reply! You have almost the system that I am longing to buy. :)

When I checked tomshardware.com they said that the 320MB model ran better than the 640MB one.

102 fps for the 320MB model and 94 fps for the 640MB model in battlefield 2.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

I don't know how accurate these charts are and I guess they differ from game to game, but.. yeah.

But I guess it would make sense if the 640MB model is to prefer, but is the price differense worth it?

[TrenchardsLoveSock]

CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz 4MB FSB1333 Boxed (with cpu-cooler!) Socket 775


I don't know what prices are like over the Atlantic, but here in the UK you can normally get an OEM processor and a good aftermarket fan for less than a retail box.

Quieter, cooler and cheaper too!

[Stuntman_Mike]

Awesome reply! You have almost the system that I am longing to buy. :)

When I checked tomshardware.com they said that the 320MB model ran better than the 640MB one.

102 fps for the 320MB model and 94 fps for the 640MB model in battlefield 2.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

I don't know how accurate these charts are and I guess they differ from game to game, but.. yeah.

But I guess it would make sense if the 640MB model is to prefer, but is the price differense worth it?


About the performance difference, that is because the 320 edition is slightly faster clocked, you can easily overclock the 640 model to match this. Games with high texture memory needs shine on the 640 edition and fall somewhat short on the 320 edition.

Things that require (a lot of) texture memory:

-high resolution
-detailed textures (especially in ultra-modern games like crysis)
-high levels of AA and AF

A rule of thumb for todays games is that for resolutions of 1280x1024 and below, you will not notice a difference between the 320 and the 640 model. At higher resolutions the 320 lacks performance.

This may soon change however, seeing how crysis and that generation of games might really require the 640megs, however since crysis has'nt been released yet, it's anyones guess.

I'm not completely up to date concerning prices, but i would say get the 640 model, just so you won't regret it, the difference isn't that big and will save you regrets later on.

Myself i bought the 320 edition the day is was released, i was planning to buy the 7950 gx2 at the time but the store was out of those and offered the 8800gts320, it has been fine for me so far (resolution: 1280x1024) but i'm afraid of crysis, very afraid :)

[matches81]

Core 2 Duo E6600
GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB
2GB RAM

The game runs completely smooth in XP (DirectX 9, options all turned on / set to high). Will install Vista some time soon, but I expect the DX10 performance to be similar.

About 320MB against 640MB:
I'd definitely prefer 640MB. Having less video memory just shortens the life span of your graphics card and might considerably affect game performance when the scenes get more complex (especially more different textures used). I wouldn't care too much about losing 10 FPS in Battlefield 2 when it's running at far over 60 FPS anyway. And I wouldn't expect that result to be completely reliable. There's not much of a reason why the 640MB version should perform worse than the 320MB.
Whether the additional memory is worth the money is of course up to you, but in the last few generations of graphics cards people I know who picked the "smaller" version in terms of RAM had to buy new a new gfx card considerably earlier than the ones who chose the bigger version.

Btw, the Core 2 Duo box fan I got is pretty good. Cools the CPU down enough and is pretty silent. I'd just go with a boxed CPU.

[elitox]

Hm.. thanks again. Not too sure if I will get the 320MB or the 640MB model now, but I feel that it might just be the 640.

I'll probably buy the computer mid-october or at the end of that month. So I still got some time to change my mind and think about it. :)

[The Laughing Man]

Forget the 640 MB version it's a waste of cash. If you run the game at 1280x1024 res or below or even up to about 1660 you can run pretty much any game out there with all details on and full AA, AT and Supersampling and get no slow down issues with the 320MB.

Alot of folk will bat around Crysis as a selling point for buying the more expensive card but remember Crysis runs in Dx9 which means it's having to deal with cards running 256MB and pre release code played by the folks at Custom PC suggested that even in Dx9 Crysis is still one of the best looking games out there.

If you're looking at Dx10 as a possible selling point for the 640Mb then your looking at totally the wrong card and should be hanging around until the 9800 comes out later this year and since you're running XP Dx10 isn't even worth considering.

Finally dump the XFX card and get the BFG card.

Whilst the XFX may have quicker factory clocked memory and GPU values the BFG has quicker factory clocked shaders. Whilst a program like Rivatuner will allow most users to Overclock the Memory and GPU core their is currently no tool that allows you to overclock the card's shaders. Plus the XFX comes with a 2 year warranty the BFG comes with a life time one and is only £2 more.

[KHarvey16]

As others have said, don't worry about the 640MB version unless you run at very high resolutions. I've played the Crysis beta on my 8800GTS 320 and it runs great.