Min Requirments for HL2 and D3?

[exodus69]

Just wondering generally what kinda system you ppl out there think would be the minimum for HL2 and D3 to run, and what would be capable of running it 'smoothly' at high res n detail.

I browsed the forum topics a little but couldnt find anything relating to my question.

atm im running a Xp 1800Mhz, 512mb SD pc-133, 60gb 7200rpm HDD, GF4 Ti4200 128mb DDR... somthing tells me this wont run HL2 or D3 very well ..

 

[Chris D]

It will definitely run HL2 with no problems. It obviously won't be the best graphics - but it'll run smoothly.

As for Doom 3, I recommend you go to a D3 forum for that question

 

[Axyon]

The D3 requirements are supposed to be significantly higher than Half-Life 2's.

 

[exodus69]

lol looks like i better start saving for a new mobo, P4 2.8Ghz 800C FSB, 512DDR400 ram, Some pricy ATI card and a faster HDD

"The D3 requirements are supposed to be significantly higher than Half-Life 2's." - serious? wow I figured them to be quite similiar .. both look stunning, but im guessing the above specs would run both pretty kick ass ..

id just hate to play either one with a system that drains it :\ .. had that experience with HL back in the day haha .. played n finished it with a peice of junk :\ kinda ruined it .. but yeah then upgraded n did it all again ;P so its all good.

 

[Axyon]

lol looks like i better start saving for a new mobo, P4 2.8Ghz 800C FSB, 512DDR400 ram, Some pricy ATI card and a faster HDD

"The D3 requirements are supposed to be significantly higher than Half-Life 2's." - serious? wow I figured them to be quite similiar .. both look stunning, but im guessing the above specs would run both pretty kick ass ..

Well, it's all about the scaling. Half-Life 2 claims to be able to scale very well, from DX7-DX9, so that most computers can run it, no matter what the detail level is. Doom 3 is supposedly quite different, and doesn't scale nearly as well as HL2 does, meaning that people with older computers will suffer very badly even when on the lower detail threshold.

 

[Play4Fun]

if u want to play HL2 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
ATI Radeon X800 XT

and if u want to play D3 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra

thats it! :E

 

[exodus69]

thats good news for HL2 fans with older Pc's i guess

As far as video cards go, will an ATI card have some advantage over Nvidia cards in regards to HL2?

or as long as its a pretty powerful card on a pretty powerful system, no real advantage applys?

 

[Chris D]

if u want to play HL2 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
ATI Radeon X800 XT

and if u want to play D3 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra

thats it! :E

The ATi x800 is still the card recommended by Gabe and it still appears to be beating nVidia in other benchmarks.

 

[Gorgon]

if u want to play HL2 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
ATI Radeon X800 XT

and if u want to play D3 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra

thats it! :E

I bet with $100 that the diffrence between the two specs for D3 FPS will be 5FPS higher in case of 6800U.

Thread starter don't get 6800U, just wait for the x800xt or x880xt.

 

[exodus69]

if u want to play HL2 with the best graphics and with the highest FPS u need :
P4 3.6GHz
1GB DDR
ATI Radeon X800 XT

that wont be happening any time too soon lol. i think i'll just save the wadd of cash and run it at a reasonable level :\

 

[EVIL]

gabe told somewhere that the x800 is 40% faster in hl2. I guess its becausee of cheating, rename halflife2.exe to falflife3.exe and you's have the game running 40% slower

 

[Play4Fun]

The ATi x800 is still the card recommended by Gabe and it still appears to be beating nVidia in other benchmarks.

the X800 XT/Pro is good for playing HL2 but for D3 u'll need one of Nvidia's Geforce FX or the new one-6800 Ultra

 

[exodus69]

lol 40% huh, thats a lota percentage right there anyways thanks to all for the advice n tips i have a pretty damn good idea now ..
conclusion: pricy upgrade a.s.a.p
con: pricy :\
pro: its hl2 so its worth it haha .. farr out their takin their sweet ass time in releasing it haha

 

[Play4Fun]

I bet with $100 that the diffrence between the two specs for D3 FPS will be 5FPS higher in case of 6800U.

Thread starter don't get 6800U, just wait for the x800xt or x880xt.

X880 ?!

 

[Polykarbon]

Gabe will say the ATI class cards are the best.
Carmack will say the Geforce class cards are the best.

We do not actually have to debate why do we?

Don't listen to what they say, wait for the benchmark/game and make the conclusion.

 

[Axyon]

X880 ?!

PCI-Express version.

 

[Seppo]

I have Athlon XP1800+ but I'm considering to buy a new one. What should I get? I've been planning on buying AthlonXp2800+ but I also need a new motherboard. What kind of mobo would be good and not the most expensive one.

 

[exodus69]

for Amd Xp hMm how about a Asus A7N8X-X Model? nice reliable brand .. sells for around $95AUD (aussie dollar)

 

[Neutrino]

Well, it's all about the scaling. Half-Life 2 claims to be able to scale very well, from DX7-DX9, so that most computers can run it, no matter what the detail level is. Doom 3 is supposedly quite different, and doesn't scale nearly as well as HL2 does, meaning that people with older computers will suffer very badly even when on the lower detail threshold.

Well, D3 uses a different method than hl2 to run on lower end systems. Rather than scaling graphical quality it instead runs the same quality but at a lower resolution. I don't know what the exact min specs will be, but you should be able to run it on a pretty low end system if your willing to sacrifice the resolution.

 

[Crusader]

What's all this about 3.6 GHz P4s? Didn't Valve say that 1GHZ was enough, and that you will see no improvement in performance for any processor above 1.4GHz?

 

[Seppo]

What's all this about 3.6 GHz P4s? Didn't Valve say that 1GHZ was enough, and that you will see no improvement in performance for any processor above 1.4GHz?

But then you would need virtually the best video card in the market. But I think 1.4ghz is too low, maybe 2ghz. With under 1.5ghz processor it doesn't matter whether you have a Radeon 9800XT or Geforce3 'cause the processor wouldn't be able to give enough data to the vid card.

 

[Sai]

i have a pretty decent computer but the thing is is that i only have one pci slot no agp, what's the best ati card around that can support my comp?

 

[Play4Fun]

What's all this about 3.6 GHz P4s? Didn't Valve say that 1GHZ was enough, and that you will see no improvement in performance for any processor above 1.4GHz?

the video card is the most important and effective for having a good FPS

 

[ComradeBadger]

This belongs in Hardware forums

Moved.

Oh, and take the '40%' comment with a shedload of salt, since Gabe is payrolled by ATi

 

[Crusader]

I know this, that's why I was questioning the need for a 3.6GHx P4.

 

[Play4Fun]

I know this, that's why I was questioning the need for a 3.6GHx P4.

cuz if u want to be sure that ull get the game playing with the highest fps u need to have the newest parts on the market

 

[flupke]

Minimum:
CPU: 800 MHZ - 1 GHZ
GeForce 3 TI/ATi 9600 Pro
RAM: 256 MB RAM

Standard:
CPU: 1,7GHZ-2GHZ
GeForce 4 TI 4400/4600/ATi 9700/Pro
RAM: 512 MB RAM

Optimal:
CPU: 2.5 GHZ - 2.8 GHZ
GeForce 5800FX/5900FX/ATi 9800 Pro
RAM: 786-1024 MB RAM .
______________________________________________________

That's official. (DOOM3 eh)

 

[Polykarbon]

Well, D3 uses a different method than hl2 to run on lower end systems. Rather than scaling graphical quality it instead runs the same quality but at a lower resolution. I don't know what the exact min specs will be, but you should be able to run it on a pretty low end system if your willing to sacrifice the resolution.

That really isn't a different method. All games allow you to scale resolution to keep a high FPS rate. As a programmer, if I had a choice between openly using a static/dynamic scale system from the source, or the DooM engine, I would choose the source. Changing a specific heightfield in realtime and placing objects with parameterized distribution are important[HL2 E3 shows all of this], and the source allows these applicated effects. This is the key reason why HL2 will run at 30+ FPS on low end systems, while still offering pretty damn nice quality. I have been working with LOD generation algorithms for a long time, and have thus far been impressed with HL2s LOD system. Mostly from reading the VERC questions, you can come to a freakishly close conclusion to what you can do with it.

Sure, you could dynamically create a nice 2000 triangle lower LOD from your 3000 triangle mesh, but because you're messing with the buffers you don't get 100% optimal performance in a standard system. HL2's LOD allows you to choose if you want the system in place, and for that matter, it excels. Not every single mod is going to want 15 LOD systems, or a dynamic system. Dynamic also does a lot of out of core paging from your memory...and anyone without 1 GB of Ram is going to suffer, the higher the polygon buffer amounts you do.

DooM 3, I believe, is going to handle everything with tweaked values. Turning on/off options, which for the most part, might be important to the gamer. LOD systems that are static, are not only better then a scaled resolution/quality, but are easier to implement int the long run because you can just create seperate mess decimations for each model/terrain/path.

BTW--I really doubt anyone will be able to run DooM 3 with a lower end system, and still enjoy it like it was meant to be. You can tell this already by the min requirements.

HL2 modding > DooM 3

 

[Neutrino]

...quote.....

HL2 modding > DooM 3

Hmm...interesting information. Thanks for a bit more in depth view of things. The only point I disagree with is when you say hl2 modding is superior to D3 modding. The engines are meant to do different things and thus I think it depends on what kind of game a person is trying to make as to which engine would be the better choice. Just my own opinion. But let's not get into a discussion about which one is better, as it's pointless until both games and their respective SDK's come out.

 

[Polykarbon]

Well, that was just simply my opinion. Of course neither game/engine is superior over the other, mainly because each game will be able to create different atmospheric levels.

I stated it wrong. HL2 Modding > DooM 3 modding for the potential that I see in it for all types of games. At the moment, HL2 has showcased an ability to do a further array of game types. I am sure DooM 3 is as well, but I have yet to see it.

Thanks for correcting me,

Polykarbon