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The Death of PC Gaming

@ 2006/10/20

DirectX 10 is coming, and to enjoy the fruits of Microsoft's pixel-bullying labors, you'll need a few minor hardware upgrades. You need to throw out that entry-level, mid-grade, or pinnacle video card you're currently using and buy one that requires probably four times as much power and outputs who knows how much more heat. That's going to necessitate some augmented cooling in your case and possibly your computer room, so be prepared to either play with your fan setup if you have a good case, or buy a new case if you don't.

I did mention the power requirements, right? Yeah... you're going to need a new power supply for this monster video card as well. That crusty old obsolete 500 watt dinosaur you bought two whole months ago has got to go as well.

So... about that DirectX 10 part: You're going to need to upgrade to Vista as well if you ever want to use DX10, because Microsoft doesn't plan on allowing DX10 upgrades for any of their other operating systems. Since you're upgrading to Vista, you're probably going to need more memory in your box, since all indications point to Vista using ~750 MB of physical memory, just to stand there and do nothing other than presenting a desktop. Are you excited yet? I sure am!

Comment from jmke @ 2006/10/22

I think Crysis will run remarbly smooth on current single GPU's at decent resolutions; Crytek would be stupid to limit their game to ultra high end only, don't ya think?

Comment from Rutar @ 2006/10/22

I wouldn't be so sure of that, we talk about the absolute PROs of game engine development.

Name me a single game that has as much eyecandy as Far Cry that runs smooth on so many systems.

Comment from The Senile Doctor @ 2006/10/22

that's what I also want, because for the performance you'll lose under vista, you can turn on a bit more candy in dx9

it won't be nearly possible to run crysis hires with all bells and whistles without sli/crossfire NEXT gen (and I don't mean r600/8800... but NEXT gen)

Comment from SuAside @ 2006/10/22

there will be a dx 9 version that's compatible with dx 10 games, Rutar. you'll loose some eyecandy of course, but in theory all dx 10 games should work on that dx 9 version as well.

Comment from jmke @ 2006/10/22

I want a Crysis DX9 vs DX10 in-game comparo done by indepedant party

Comment from Rutar @ 2006/10/21

I hope that the industry doesn't make DX10 only games too soon.

Comment from SuAside @ 2006/10/21

the article itself makes some good points, but some are just badly informed turning it into a stupid & angry rant. for instance the 'activation' thingy is in fact the same policy as with Win XP (no one actually cared about it, not even M$. i doubt it'll change much. in some countries that clause would also be against the law and utterly uninforceable.).

as for Vista itself? i hope they'll include (or release soon after) a way to allow you to disable the useless attentionwhore crap.

if not? i really hope Wine X and consorts make significant jumps in support & performance for all Windblowz games.

Comment from Rutar @ 2006/10/20

it was more because it did not require throwing away a lot of DDR ram, 2 GB are a must nowadays

Comment from jmke @ 2006/10/20

new motherboard & CPU for Intel will be more expensive than CPU upgrade, the 1gb vs 512Mb will be felt, while the Venice vs Intel would not be that big.

although I agree that C2D is a good CPU, it's should not be the default answer to ANY and ALL upgrade questions

Comment from Rutar @ 2006/10/20

tbh, it would be better to move that machine to the darkside (Intel) with only 512MB ram

Comment from HitenMitsurugi @ 2006/10/20

I agree in part, am in the process of finishing my last upgrade before switching from this socket 939 platform.
512mb OCZ -> 1gb BH5
venice 3000+ -> opteron 170 end of this month after price drop
x850xt -> x1950pro or x1900xt 256mb
crt -> viewsonic vx2025wm (no dhcp tho)

my point? I plan this upgrade to last me till fall next year, and with vista's hardware requirements it looks like I won't be installing it before at least then, when I get my hands on 2gb ddr2 and a mainstream dx10 card that doesn't need a nuclear power plant to run.

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