Crysis 2 delayed until early 2011, dated GPUs rejoice

[grvalderrama]

Leeky said:
@Relic
I'm somewhat suprised actually. I didn't really consider my PC capable of playing the latest games! Maybe I'll consider it, the more time I spend on here the more curious I'm getting about trying games out on my PC - If anything to see the difference between our games consoles and a PC.

One question though; Whats DX9? And DX10/11 for that matter. lol.

Directx 9/10/11 are graphic and sound drivers used by Windows.The greater the number the greater the experience of sound and graphic quality (specially graphic)... also, greater consuption of resources (GPU, CPU, RAM).
Look up for it in youtube, there are videos about the difference between one and the other!
Cheers!

 

[Leeky]

Thanks for the explanation. I'll be sure to hunt it down on youtube shortly.

 

[dividebyzero]

Directx 9/10/11 are graphic and sound drivers used by Windows.

Not really.
DirectX is a graphics API (Application Programming Interface for Microsoft. OpenGL soon to be joined by OpenCL, are open source equivalents.

 

[Relic]

@Leeky

While the GPU you have may be entry level it still should play most games on a lower resolution with some sacrificed eye candy. And DBZ is right about DX, if you care to know more read up here too.

But the basics you need to understand is that Windows XP supports DX9 or lower and only Vista/7 supports DX10/11 or lower. And your GPU needs to support the proper DX as well, a 4670 supports up to DX10.1 but I don't recommend using it since its entry level. Stick with DX9 and you should be good to go. I've used a 4670 in another system for several DX9 games just fine but can't comment on Crysis. Just don't expect night and day differences from console to PC with your setup.

 

[teklord]

It still takes a hella powerful system to run Crysis @ constant 60 FPS which is my goal for all games. You need like two HD 5970's in CF to achieve that @ 1920X1200 rez. At my res, 1280x1024, you could probably do it with a powerful single GPU like GTX 480 and a powerful dual core at least like E8600. Crysis doesn't recognize more than two core CPU's.

 

[red1776]

teklord said:
It still takes a hella powerful system to run Crysis @ constant 60 FPS which is my goal for all games. You need like two HD 5970's in CF to achieve that @ 1920X1200 rez. At my res, 1280x1024, you could probably do it with a powerful single GPU like GTX 480 and a powerful dual core at least like E8600. Crysis doesn't recognize more than two core CPU's.

I don't think that is true Tek, I logged CPU activity while playing Crysis yesterday and found significant activity on 4 of my six cores.
I have no idea about the validity of this, but I am reading that the next gen of games are going to be able to use any and all cores available on any given system, weather it will be a meaningful use of them remains to be seen. stay tuned I guess.

 

[EXCellR8]

Crysis 1 can utilize 4 cores... and i was able to play the game 1080p with a single 512MB 4870 (with reasonable frames) so I doubt dual 5970s is required to play @ 1920x1200. Of course there's more to be said if you are using DX9 or DX10 but the visual quality isn't too much different. There's a few DX10 effects that look nice, but you don't need them to enjoy and play the game

 

[red1776]

I think that the delay has to do more with the late incorporation of DX11. I dont think they were going to originally use it, but then they made the promise of "the best looking graphics of all time" and then Metro 2033 set the bar. I think they need more time to code it to include heavy tessellation and ambient occlussion lighting, depth of field, etc...just a theory

 

[EXCellR8]

lol Metro 2033 looked like garbage... i really hope they were joking. maybe you are thinking of Stalker?

 

[red1776]

lol Metro 2033 looked like garbage... i really hope they were joking. maybe you are thinking of Stalker?

Really?, I didn't think so. It was not 'refined' and maybe released a little prematurely, but it had some amazing effects like the depth of field was spectacular: Have you got to play it in DX11 yet?
https://www.techspot.com/gallery/member-galleries/p3900-metro-2033.html

But yes, I am a big fan of the STALKER series. I use the Artistpavel Mods, ( The Complete) series they are incredible.
http://artistpavel.blogspot.com/

https://www.techspot.com/gallery/member-galleries/p3892-s-t-a-l-k-e-rclear-s.html

 

[Leeky]

@Leeky

While the GPU you have may be entry level it still should play most games on a lower resolution with some sacrificed eye candy. And DBZ is right about DX, if you care to know more read up here too.

But the basics you need to understand is that Windows XP supports DX9 or lower and only Vista/7 supports DX10/11 or lower. And your GPU needs to support the proper DX as well, a 4670 supports up to DX10.1 but I don't recommend using it since its entry level. Stick with DX9 and you should be good to go. I've used a 4670 in another system for several DX9 games just fine but can't comment on Crysis. Just don't expect night and day differences from console to PC with your setup.

I think I'll give it a try and see what happens. I don't even own a copy of Crysis anyway, so would need to purchase it yet.

I've been thinking about getting a i5 750 for a few days now anyway, as I could really do with support for VT-x - My Q8300 doesn't support it, and I could really do with having Windows 2008 R2 on my Virtualbox. I

f I go ahead, I think I'll be changing to DDR3 RAM, and I'll even consider a Radeon 5xxx GPU. I'm kind of attached to this Dell though, so who knows! lol.

Thank you for the DX link above, I'll be sure to add this to my shortcut's to check out later on.

Is there any demo's of Crysis that are legal and free to download? So I can see how it reacts to the game?

 

[EXCellR8]

@red

I've tried both Metro and Call of Pripyat in DX11 (not my own setup though) and I have to say I think Stalker walks all over 2033. Maybe I'm just a Stalker fanboy (most likely) but Metro just seemed thrown together and graphically confusing. There were some nice effects and all but at the end of the day I didn't think it looked as nice as Stalker and wasn't nearly as fun

That Artistpavel stuff looks intense though, now I'm really exited that I never got around to finishing Call of Pripyat. Hopefully that one gets released soon as the only mod I used for the first two games was that lame Float32 stuff. I will definitely be looking into that when it's released, and especially since I'm using a 5870 now. Thanks for the link!

 

[red1776]

@red

I've tried both Metro and Call of Pripyat in DX11 (not my own setup though) and I have to say I think Stalker walks all over 2033. Maybe I'm just a Stalker fanboy (most likely) but Metro just seemed thrown together and graphically confusing. There were some nice effects and all but at the end of the day I didn't think it looked as nice as Stalker and wasn't nearly as fun

That Artistpavel stuff looks intense though, now I'm really exited that I never got around to finishing Call of Pripyat. Hopefully that one gets released soon as the only mod I used for the first two games was that lame Float32 stuff. I will definitely be looking into that when it's released, and especially since I'm using a 5870 now. Thanks for the link!

I agree completely, about Metro, it was more of a DX11 "teaser" cool effects to look at, but was not put together very well. by the way, I am a STALKER 'fanboy as well...all three of them. If you use the Artistpavel mods on SOC and CS its like a different game and well worth playing the game again! They are also very stable mods, and compatible with Steam as well. If you do try them, let me know what you think.

 

[EXCellR8]

yea i was reading up on all the bug fixes, which is huge for me, because it seemed like i was always running into something while playing. this was an unfortunate hurdle because the games were really quite stunning imo but lacked engine optimizations and was riddled with bugs upon launch. from the screenshots on the Artistpavel site, I can already see the improvements. i can't wait to see them in realtime! i may have to reinstall Clear Sky while I'm waiting for the DX11 mod to launch, because i've played SoC a few too many times. CoP was great but i had problems with CF enabled; never figured out why. needless to say i will be picking it up again with the 5870.

 

[red1776]

It does fix all the bugs i found, i was really impressed. I had good luck with 3x and 4x crossfire with the Stalker series, so if I can help, let me know ECX

 

[EXCellR8]

yea it doesn't matter much now, i'm down to one 4870 and my 5870 arrives tomorrow, so I think I'm set haha. thanks though, i will probably jump back into playing it once i rebuild my entire system next month; may need your help then. i haven't played the game since March, and i was playing without CF because it kept locking up my system in under 5 minutes--which really irritated me. CF worked great with most other games so i just sort of let it go.

 

[dividebyzero]

I've been thinking about getting a i5 750 for a few days now anyway, as I could really do with support for VT-x - My Q8300 doesn't support it, and I could really do with having Windows 2008 R2 on my Virtualbox.

If you're reluctant to break up your relationship with the Dell...a crysis of conscience perhaps?...You could swap out the Q8300 for any Q or QX9xxx series CPU- all of which are VT-x enabled.

If I go ahead, I think I'll be changing to DDR3 RAM, and I'll even consider a Radeon 5xxx GPU. I'm kind of attached to this Dell though, so who knows! lol.

If you decide on a Core i5/i7 based system then DDR3 is your only option. Memory bandwidth benchmarks aside, there isn't a great deal of difference in real world performance between DDR2 and DDR3 until you start pushing the RAM past 1800-2000 (which of course means an overclocked CPU)

Is there any demo's of Crysis that are legal and free to download? So I can see how it reacts to the game?

I'm not sure if the demo is still valid, but it's still listed as a download. The game should be also reasonably inexpensive at such places as eBay if you find the game appealing. Be sure to optimise the game to get the best possible gameplay and graphics. A tweaked DX9 path is virtually indistinguishable to the stock DX10.

 

[Leeky]

@DBZ
I have another Dell here, with a Q8300 - Mine is actually a Q8200 - Intel's site doesn't really tell me if VT-x is enabled though, just says see below and doesn't really explain itself. lol.

The other issue with this is, even if the CPU supports it, there is no guarantee my BIOS/motherboard will - So I might have to bite the bullet - I'll have a look on my Dell Studio Q8300 at some point and see if that will let it run.

If I'm going to have to get another motherboard, then I'm just going to go the i5 route personally. For now though, I'm just going to live with it - The expense its a tad much to justify when my PC(s) are still working. lol.

I did kind of get the impression my DDR2 would be useless. I still don't think it would make any difference with day to day running, which is why I never went the DDR3 route in the beginning.

I'll download the game now. I'll give an excuse to boot into Windows.

 

[dividebyzero]

Crafty ol' Intel.
Long story short. No Q8200 has VT-x, if it's a low-voltage Q8200S then there are two models. sSpec number SLG9T doesn't have VT-x, while sSpec number SLGSS does.
The story is much the same for the Q8300.
SLB5W -no VT-x
SLGUR does have VT-x
If the system came as a pre-built with no CPU box etc. Then the easiest way to find out would be to download a small program called CPU-Z . Run it and it will tell you in the "instructions" box. I have posted a screenshot here: (News and comments threads don't allow me to post an image directly)

 

[Leeky]

@DBZ
I've attached a screenshot. It's as I expected to be honest!

 

[dividebyzero]

Well that leaves the upgrade- Q8300 (SLGUR), Q8400, Q9300, Q9400, Q9450 and Q9550. All of these CPU's were introduced prior (or in the case of the 8300/8400 at the same time) to the Q8200, so should most likely will be supported by your motherboard, The 8xxx series were introduced as the entry level quad (2x2Mb L2 cache) to supplement the mainstream 9x00 (2x3Mb cache) and high end 9x50 CPU's (2x6Mb cache) that were introduced early in 2008. The low-power (65w as opposed to 95w) versions (Q8200S, 8400S, 9400S and 9550S) are more recent so that would require a bit more info regarding system model/board/revision - nothing to difficult. It all depends on pricing of the upgrade CPU and whether the virtualization is worth the time, effort and expense to undertake.

 

[Leeky]

If I have to go down that route I'll just get a new motherboard and i5 CPU. I don't see the point in purchasing another CPU and running the risk my motherboard won't support VT-x. I might as well get hardware I know will definitely support it. I'll just use this Dell as a media centre in a smaller case or something - It'll be more than up to the task.

Let's see how I get on with this Crysis demo first! You never know, I might enjoy it!

EDIT: just tried Crysis... Its actually pretty good, though I'm still trying to get my head around the idea of using a keyboard and mouse to game!

I checked the graphics, and it seemed happy with 1024x800 (I think its 800), 2x anti-aliasing, and in the advanced menu everything set to high. The video intro's gave a few lines as it played, but the game ran perfectly fine, no ghosting, or slowdown of any kind. I did the optimal settings thing where it chooses the best settings, except I added 2x anti-alisaing.

My CPU wasn't really running even 40% load most of the time, and temps (using HWMonitor) were around 50-55'C on the 4 cores, and GPU maxed out at 67'C. The GPU load is 100% all the time though - Is that normal?

Overall, I'm actually pretty impressed my PC handled it so well!

EDIT EDIT: I've just spent the last couple of hours playing it at 1680x1050 without a single glitch whatsoever (CPU was nudging 60'C and GPU 71'C by then). I'm actually stunned, I see what everyone means by PC's having good graphics now. P.S. Time to order Crysis I think!

 

[Relic]

Gratz Leeky enjoy the game! And those temps seem fine to me, my 4670 would reach into the 70s during intense gameplay too. Really depends on your case fans and the cards fan.