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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 12:45 AM |
| I had problems playing NWN2 on my pc, which met minimum requirements aside from graphics card. It was so choppy even on the lowest settings that it was unplayable. Thats using a dell 2.4 gHz, 768 MB RAM, and my weakest link was my 256 MB GeForce 5600 plugged into a PCI bus :(. Most likely it was purely lack of graphics card, the restrictive PCI bus, or the underpowered dell power supply. But figured I'd post this for reference as to what is capable of playing the game. |
"This is the only thing that's glass on it and its plastic" - My boss |
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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 01:03 AM |
It is likely the video card.
What version is your video driver?
Also, check how much ram your computer is using in case there is something taking up memory and causing your system to swap.
- Paul |
Purpose in life: finding better ways of allowing players to kill themselves. Repeatedly.
--
"...Cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good."
--
<@James42> Lawful good isn't in your vocabulary, it's on your menu.
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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 02:07 AM |
Thanks to PDW posting that DM of the Rings... I explored that site a bit more, and ran across
this article.
So now I'm wondering... how long before someone manages to make modifications to NWN2 so that it can be played on older, non-pixleshader 2.0, video cards...?
And I have to say, I'm very much one of those player who could care less about the latest, greatest graphics.. just give me a well made game with a good story, and the tools for the community to tinker with it after the OC is done, and who really cares about the eye candy?
I've seen too many games degrade in game play, just because they thought they needed to bedazzle everyone with how cool it looks.
That's just sad. But apparently I'm in the minority. |
"I'm not closed-minded, you're just WRONG." - Bucky Katt
My characters n portraits |
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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 02:30 AM |
| crikey, that's amazing! |
Purpose in life: finding better ways of allowing players to kill themselves. Repeatedly.
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"...Cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good."
--
<@James42> Lawful good isn't in your vocabulary, it's on your menu.
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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 12:44 PM |
Wow, I'm so unimpressed with this game so far.
The interface feels cold. Maybe it's jus tbecause I don't like change, but I think if there's an interface that people have had five years to get used to, one should think before one makes changes to it, and not just do it to be different. The one good addition is the "loot all" button, which is helpful. But the fact that everything in the inventory box is one square? Part of what I love about NWN is figuring out how to carry stuff in the most efficient way possible, and now it's just.. generic and boring. That's how pretty much everything feels, cold and generic and boring, like I'm playing NWN through Windows XP or something.
The drop-down boxes when you right-click are a prime example. The radial menus from the original feel very organic to the flow of the game - the drop-down boxes in the sequel look like you opened up the DOS prompt or something.
The story, so far, is linear, too easy, and boring. I'm not very far along, but once again, not impressed so far.
Spell animations are cool, but the fighting animations are worse (of course, this could be because I had to turn down all the settings to the bare minimum just to play it).
Too many cutscenes. They always look stupid, because they can never make the mouths in synch with the words and it ends up looking like a bad kung-fu movie. The toons are realistic, but the animations are not, so it ends up looking creepily fake, as these hyer-realistic toons do these random, wooden animations. (again, this could be the game, or it could be the crappy settings I have to play it on)
I hope it gets better as I get farther along - it would be a shame for this to suck after all this hype and anticipation.
-VK |
"You know, a gong. Large, flat object that you hit when you want things. Sort of like a waiter, but less portable."
-Radra |
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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 01:13 PM |
Wow, I'm so unimpressed with this game so far. -VK
Well it is only NWN 2 rather than VIVES 2. Do you think that might be it?
It is hard to go back to any other kind of gaming once you've become used to Vives. |
Famous last words:
Mykal> it's my new wireless router.
* > Mykal has quit (Ping timeout)
Vulpina> Hey!! IRC didn't boot m.....
* > Vulpina has quit (Exit: DarkMyst WebChat) |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 08:39 PM |
This is the site to run the test
www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest
I can't thank you enough for this page. Turns out my Laptop has better specs than even my Work PC (on which Vives1 actually looks better... I don't understand!)
So with the news that the game is running below specs I'm hopeful that it MAY actually work on my Laptop (AND considering the diff in specs I'm LESS likely to get in trouble at work anymore!!! *hehe*)
K.I. |
"Life is a short trip... travel light"
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PC Descriptions with Journal Links |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 03 Nov 2006 10:06 PM |
As it turns out, I can run NwN2 on my laptop, and presume I can do so on my desktop.
Running: 1 gig of RAM
Nvidia GeForce Go 6150
Dual Core Processor clocked around 1.6GHz
If anyone has any questions about what else I have running, ask away. I think that's the important stuff though. |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 04 Nov 2006 12:49 AM |
Turns out I CAN NOT run NWN2. The program all installed says I don't have the Direct3D driver to run it? (Whatever that is.) My Laptop Specs:
Running: 9.8 gig Ram
Vid Card: RADEON IGP 320M (U1 AGP (0x4336))
Processor: Mobile AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Single Core)
When I ran the SR check (due to my outdated Video Chip) I was low on:
Video Ram: 64 vs 128
Vertex shader Version: 1.1 vs 2.0
Pixel Shader Version: 0.0 vs 2.0
I bought it in the summer of 2003. Guess I've been outdated. Does anybody know if you can put a new video chip in an hp Pavilion ze 4610us without replacing the motherboard? ((ugh))
K.I. |
"Life is a short trip... travel light"
--
PC Descriptions with Journal Links |
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upgrade // custom system advice
Posted: 04 Nov 2006 01:21 AM |
.
i've built about 10 computer system (all PCs) from parts. I've helped a couple friends build what I consider a gaming systems featuring the latest and greatest (within reason). personally, i'm a firm believer in buying at the bell-curve. i buy the most amount of performance for the smallest price. i try to buy upgradable core components (motherboard), and price-efficient plug-ins (cpu, ram, blah).
in determining the best buy on the current bell-curve, i like to consult pricewatch. I also take into account information from benchmark results and tech review sites such as Toms Hardware and their handy (CPU, VGA, etc) benchmark lists.
based on personal experience, and my understanding of the hardware, I would not buy an Intel chip prior to the core 2 duo. AMD chips seem to be cheaper and outperform.
my current recommendations would be the following:
CPU
(this CPU bellcurve is particularly broad)
there seem to be two options, to me. There is the $100 CPU, or the $200 CPU.
If you can pay $200, go ahead and get a Core 2 Duo E6400 or E6300 (though the Core2 Processors don't really seem to dominate until the E6600)
*will accept newer core 2 duo processors ('Socket' LGA 775)
If $100 is more along your price range, get a Athlon 64 3800+ (Orleans Chip)
(very upgradable socket AM2)
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Graphics Card
(Toms Hardware happened to have one of their fairly regular 'best x for your money on graphics cards, which i referrenced)
PCI-e
Geforce Nvidia 7600 GT(Newegg is a great site for pricing and quality customer service on computer hardware)
$145 before Mail-In Rebate, $115 after // $5 shipping
AGP
Nvidia 6800XT
$130 before Mail-In Rebate, $110 after // $5 shipping
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ram, 1 gb corresponding bus speed memory (DDR2/3 for newer processors). pay the extra $20 for a recognizable brand, and remember to get two sticks (2x512) if your motherboard (most anything recent) supports dual channel.
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hope this wasn't just obnoxious of me to post...just thought it might help some people who might be considering a new system. if you give me a price range, I'd gladly tell you exactly what I'd buy with the money. yeah...i'm a nerd.
oh...CRTs are still the way to go. CRT4L
. |
-Gnimini // gnomish wizard facinated with tailoring
-Mirg // young human ranger
-Dredger Hack'nchant // dwarven spellsword
-Hallelujah // gnomish singer and songwriter
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"i just can't wait till this squirrel mating season is over, those bug |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 04 Nov 2006 01:51 AM |
Turns out I CAN NOT run NWN2. The program all installed says I don't have the Direct3D driver to run it? (Whatever that is.) [...]
I think you need the newest version of DirectX (9.0c)
[...]
Running: 9.8 gig Ram
[...]
dang, that is alot of ram. i think that there may be a mistake...considering 2 Gigs of ram is still quite a bit for a personal computer.
[...]
Vid Card: RADEON IGP 320M (U1 AGP (0x4336))
this seems to be your problem. IGP is (as far as I know) Integrated Graphics Processor, which you can loosely define as 'sucks'. i'm glad it has gotten you through NWN1, to be honest. i'd imagine that the 64 (video ram amount given by SR check) mb video ram is 'shared' memory from that stockpile of 9.8 gigs you have. It is a good thing, because if you only had 256 mb (maybe 512) of ram than that -64 could hurt your performance.
the igp is a chip on the motherboard. Nvidia and ATI have each introduced technology which would support add-in graphics cards, but they aren't being supported by laptop manufacturers primarily because they (laptop makers) would rather you just go ahead and get a new laptop, instead of upgrading one part. This article talks some about it. that being said, i don't think you can upgrade your graphics chip effectively. at one time there were some PCMCIA graphics cards, but I don't think those are any good at all these days.
oh, before anyone jumps on me, there are some good graphics processors (integrated, because of the lack of support) being put out by ATI and Nvidia which let laptops perform well. Sorry for my IGP bash. |
-Gnimini // gnomish wizard facinated with tailoring
-Mirg // young human ranger
-Dredger Hack'nchant // dwarven spellsword
-Hallelujah // gnomish singer and songwriter
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"i just can't wait till this squirrel mating season is over, those bug |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 04 Nov 2006 02:19 AM |
[...]
Running: 9.8 gig Ram
[...]
No, I'm really THAT badass... JK. Actually it was 980... ((Mb)) then it went down to 960... why does it fluxuate?!?! I did go and get the MAX memory for it by buying two 512 Ram chips to add in... ((Isn't that pathetic these days!?!?)) It only came with 256, and my techie was laughing at my laptop's wusseyness. And I only bought it 3 years ago; this is Disgusting!
Anyways, I was afraid I was going to hear that. I knew in my heart of hearts that I was going to have to get a new system... You know, I'm just going to turn this baby into a work computer and leave NWN1 on it for road-trips. ((Even if Vives went to the NWN2, I have a ton of Modules Backed up that could keep me entertained for hours on the road.)) And THIS time I'll buy the newest most expensive and trendy software I can afford and put it on a payment plan, so that instead of it outdating in 2-3 years, I can pay for it for two years and maybe have it outdate in 5 or 6!!! *grumbles about the software racket going on*
K.I.
((moves on to try to upgrade from Directx 9.0...)) |
"Life is a short trip... travel light"
--
PC Descriptions with Journal Links |
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Re: Can you play NWN2?
Posted: 06 Nov 2006 03:58 PM |
Ok ...I've seen d'loads for 49.99 US but I'd rather have a boxed set with manuals... Have not seen a boxed game anywhere... any help? Tried the local Game Stop and Wally world... Likely I need to shop where I work ... instead of where I live.
Really don't know if I should even spend the money on it since I no longer enjoy single player at all... Though I suppose we could arrange some Internet multiplayer games. I'm on cable modem and could host. Should be fast enough though my hardware might not be the best choice.
Well, if it's anything like NWN1, the manuals are not worth it.
My NWN1 manual was complete and utter crap... lots and lots of incorrect, or just plain missing info. If I needed to know anything about the rules or feats or spells or anything like that, I looked it up on line. |
"I'm not closed-minded, you're just WRONG." - Bucky Katt
My characters n portraits |
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Some systems to look at...
Posted: 08 Nov 2006 04:41 PM |
Well, I got it running on the Office PC which is substandard for gaming. It only has 512 Mb Ram, which I thought you all may find interesting. I don't know what the Vid card is, but it would have been a lower grade since it's an office "peon" worker machine. If anyone wants to know the specs I could check next week.
Performance is slow, and response is lagged a little. Even with options set at minimal, I'd not really consider it gaming. More of a tease of what is to come...
Sooo, I put in my order for the Home PC I've been needing for a year and a half. And shopped a bit. That's where I've been the past few days (and on the mountains.)
For you shoppers here are three pages I checked where you can custom build a system:
hp (I found it more affordable)
Dell (for more advanced builders and it will be more expensive)
Voodoo (they have some sort of business with hp, and have some incredible functional design concepts)
I got an hp d4650y for the upgradability and affordability. If I had an extra $6K I'd get the voodoo, but if you can tolerate the service (or lack there-of) of Dell, they have even more supped up options than the HP. Their race-car red gaming desktop design looked pretty cool and had the most recent Graphics cards.
Hope that helps you all out.
K.I. |
"Life is a short trip... travel light"
--
PC Descriptions with Journal Links |
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Digital manuals...
Posted: 08 Nov 2006 04:41 PM |
Ok ...I've seen d'loads for 49.99 US but I'd rather have a boxed set with manuals... Have not seen a boxed game anywhere... any help? Tried the local Game Stop and Wally world... Likely I need to shop where I work ... instead of where I live.
Really don't know if I should even spend the money on it since I no longer enjoy single player at all... Though I suppose we could arrange some Internet multiplayer games. I'm on cable modem and could host. Should be fast enough though my hardware might not be the best choice.
Well, if it's anything like NWN1, the manuals are not worth it.
My NWN1 manual was complete and utter crap... lots and lots of incorrect, or just plain missing info. If I needed to know anything about the rules or feats or spells or anything like that, I looked it up on line.
I'll confirm on the crappiness of the manual. The manual would only be useful in planning your Player Character builds with the new AD&D3.5 rules and new NWN2 rules changes (feats and skills), but you get a digital copy with the game anyways, so who needs a hardcopy? The artwork in the manual is lacking, so unless you get the Limited edition release with the cloth map, 2 rings, and artwork book, I'd say a digital copy of the game would be fine and cover the bases. I build my Characters with paper and Pencil or in wordpad, first anyways.
If you don't like 1-player and are waiting for Vives2, I don't know why you'd want to spend $50 on a game that will likely cost $20-30 in 6 months. (The boxed sets were selling for $50 back in August.) Especially since there's talk that the PW World Vives2 will be a while in the coming. I looked OL for Gameworlds for NWN2 and it's pretty scarce at this point, unless you go through the NWN2 Homepage where you'll find the links, but honestly, people are still just figuring this game out and I'm sold on Vives anyways. I love this community.
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"Life is a short trip... travel light"
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PC Descriptions with Journal Links |
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my impressions...
Posted: 08 Nov 2006 08:53 PM |
The game definately needs more hardware to run it. It'll probably take another year or two for the players to catch up to the required specs.
The interface is different and takes some getting used to - and after playing nwn v1 for years, it is a change. At first I hated it, but I am coming around to enjoying it more.
Visuals? yeah! very nice. weapons with elemental damage really light up the screen, especially when the player has great cleave and is smashing through some low level critters.
Character advancement options? Yeah, there are new feats, a few new skills. All this will need to be taken into consideration when designing Vives2 and figuring out what we will implement and not implement. For those who like skill points, there is the "able learner" feat which means cross class skills cost 1 point instead of 2.
The world map will be an interesting addition. Not sure how we will work it in, but it'll make finding your way around the world easier.
I'm playing the single player campaign right now (to get ideas, you know!) and once I have finished that, I will start on the coding for Vives2.
- Paul |
Purpose in life: finding better ways of allowing players to kill themselves. Repeatedly.
--
"...Cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good."
--
<@James42> Lawful good isn't in your vocabulary, it's on your menu.
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Re: my impressions...
Posted: 09 Nov 2006 11:54 AM |
The game definately needs more hardware to run it. It'll probably take another year or two for the players to catch up to the required specs.
It seems to depend more on brand than actual specs. Dual core AMDs are having troubles while dual core P4's are running it smoothly. I personally have all settings on max except for shadows and it runs great with only 1g RAM, 3.4 P4 (Dual), and an x850, and that's nearing a 2 year old machine status. In a year I'd think everyone can run this game at medium, or better optimization patches will be put out by Obsidian.
The interface is different and takes some getting used to - and after playing nwn v1 for years, it is a change. At first I hated it, but I am coming around to enjoying it more.
I like it too. I hate the way companions and selection works at certain points in the OC, but overall it's a lot cleaner and probably much easier than the radial menu.
Visuals? yeah! very nice. weapons with elemental damage really light up the screen, especially when the player has great cleave and is smashing through some low level critters.
I've only seen fire and elec weapon damage but so far so good. I also really, really like the new lighting options in the game/toolset.
Character advancement options? Yeah, there are new feats, a few new skills. All this will need to be taken into consideration when designing Vives2 and figuring out what we will implement and not implement. For those who like skill points, there is the "able learner" feat which means cross class skills cost 1 point instead of 2.
At least there's no "overwhelming critical", and HiPS is on a cooldown. There's a lot of small issues PW's had that are mildly tweaked and fixed quite nicely in NWN2. Also, I personally like the way crafting is handled, with needing to find recipes and books to create things, allowing it to be hand-crafted for uniqueness and availability.
I spent some time with the preorder toolset and while it has a lot of nice features, it's disheartening at how much could have been added simply without effort. Having to rely on community plugins for ease-of-creation wizards like NPC's, Items, and Indoor room construction is a bit of a pain. It only really takes a week to learn to new toolset style but I've personally fallen in love with it, it fixes almost all the flaws that the community tried to fix in NWN1. |
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Re: my impressions...
Posted: 12 Nov 2006 06:32 AM |
Short answer... nope, not reasonably.
Long answer... barely with my current set up, and it is likely given financial considerations to be some months, more than a few, before I'm in a position to have hardware that would run it even acceptably never mind well.
Ah well. |
ELVES! |
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Re: my impressions...
Posted: 21 Nov 2006 04:10 PM |
Better Framerates
The above is an extermely useful link if you're having any troubles running the game, it specifies suggested settings for some Graphics cards, and also what you can turn up/down to increase performance.
Hope it's useful :)
- Ara |
Vives Screenshots!
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Re: SR test
Posted: 21 Nov 2006 06:24 PM |
The minimum CPU speed, and recommended CPU speed for NWN2 is 2 and 3 GHz respectively... but it seems that half of the CPU's out there these days are named with some number that hasn't a #@$% thing to do with it's clock speed.
And looking at Intel's website doesn't help a bit either... they have that Core2 Duo, and talk about benchmark tests against their old P4 with HT, the Core2 performs almost twice as ...well, I'd say fast, but since this is not based on clock speed, that is kind of pointless, so... twice as good? (outperforms it by like 90%? )
Yes, a Core2Duo does outperform the old P4 by about 100%. It is at least twice as fast. For some benchmark comparisons, see how the whole range of Core2Duos does against Intel's preivous fastest chip and AMD's fastest chips:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=6184
So yeah... WTF? if I were to buy a Core2 Duo CPU, running at 2 GHz, how well would it run NWN2? who the hell can I even ask that question to? someone who specificaly has a P4 single-core computer running at 2 GHz, AND a Core2 dual-core computer running at 2 GHz, AND has NWN2 installed and can test it....
An Intel Core2Duo will run NWN2 beautifully. A Pentium 4 probably would, too, if you had a decent graphics card, so it's up to you really - but if you want to run things in the background at the same time, for instance antivirus or software firewall, you're better off with a Core2Duo. It's not that much more expensive, either, and you get a lot more value for money.
Rest assured, if you buy a core duo, you'll have a decent CPU to run the game, better than any other processor in the same price range Note - it's a Core[b]2[/b]Duo, not a Core Duo - there is a difference between these two. A Core Duo will probably run the game very well too, but Core2Duo does a lot more and is a lot more efficient - plus I think Core Duos only come in laptops .
2/ The high end AMD cpus are faster than the high end Intel cpus and are less expensive. Not true at all - the high end AMD cpus (FX-62 and the like) go for at least £300-£400, and perform less well than the low-end Intel Core2Duo (which by default makes the Intel higher end than the AMD, in terms of performance), which goes for about £120. The highest highest end Intel processors are more expensive, but they outperform the top range AMDs by *miles*.
3/ a 3GHz P4 cpu is faster than a dual core 2 GHz P4 based CPU. Sure, but the Core2Duo isn't based on the P4. So it's faster than any kind of P4, dual core or not.
Oh, and NWN2 runs perfectly on my system - Intel Core2Duo 1.86Ghz, 2GB RAM, GeForce 6800GT. |
Barnas: *coughs up a small gangster*
Barnas: ... I like pretty flowers.
Barnas: I'm not a transvestite! |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 21 Nov 2006 06:42 PM |
Heya Yas :D
As far as I'm aware NWN2 doesn't take advantage of Dual Core processors........ so you're just as well off with a P4, it'll run the same if not better. Of course if you're running stuff in the background then a Dual core would be more useful.
At least as far as I'm aware anyways ;)
- Ara |
Vives Screenshots!
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Re: SR test
Posted: 22 Nov 2006 09:28 AM |
Agreed Ara and hello . But the toolset does use dual core processing power I'm pretty sure, so if you want to build in NWN2 a dual core will help. And yes I like to run stuff in the background :D . |
Barnas: *coughs up a small gangster*
Barnas: ... I like pretty flowers.
Barnas: I'm not a transvestite! |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 22 Nov 2006 10:09 AM |
| *Waits for PDW to weigh in on the Intel dual core versus AMD dual core argument.* |
Famous last words:
Mykal> it's my new wireless router.
* > Mykal has quit (Ping timeout)
Vulpina> Hey!! IRC didn't boot m.....
* > Vulpina has quit (Exit: DarkMyst WebChat) |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 22 Nov 2006 07:17 PM |
As far as I'm aware NWN2 doesn't take advantage of Dual Core processors........ so you're just as well off with a P4, it'll run the same if not better. Of course if you're running stuff in the background then a Dual core would be more useful
Right, but even just one processor core of the Core2 Duo should be on par or outperform a P4 easily. As mentioned before, it's not about clock speed (Ghz), like an AMD CPU with 2 Ghz is not any slower than a P4 running at 3 Ghz, or a G5 at 1.8 Ghz is not slower than a P4 at 3 Ghz and so on. At least AMD made it easier for the consumer with their product names (Athlon 64 3000+ should be as fast as a 3Ghz P4 even though running only at 1.8 Ghz and so on), but from what I've seen on benchmark sites, the Core 2 Duo is not slower than a P4 running at almost twice the clockspeed, even in single-threaded applications. |
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Re: SR test
Posted: 22 Nov 2006 07:46 PM |
*Waits for PDW to weigh in on the Intel dual core versus AMD dual core argument.*
Sorry, I'm not PDW, but since I have some benchmarks lying around here I used as a guide when I had to decide what PC to build for NWN2...
A popular german gaming magazine had a large benchmark of all AMD and Intel CPUs currently interesting for gaming PCs, from AMD Sempron 64 (slowest) to Core 2 Extreme (fastest). Only popular modern Games were used for the benchmark (F.E.A.R, Halflife 2 etc. )
The AMD processor exactly on par with the slowest Core 2 Duo (E6300) is the Athlon 64 X2 5000+, which costs 120 Euros more here in EU. The first AMD to slightly outperform that Core 2 Duo is the X2 5200+ which costs more than twice as much.
And even more, the fastest AMD in the testfield was the FX-62 for about 700 Euro street price, it was easily outperformed by the Core 2 Duo E6600 for only 300 Euros.
As for the Single Core CPUs (all at the low end of the list), the fastest are the Athlon 64 3800+ being exactly on par with the Pentium D 960, the fastest Pentium-type processor on the list. |
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