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Reading Games PC Requirements?
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15-01-2013 2:48am#1
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Yep. This is also a reason a lot of people don't game on PCs. Like seeing requirements on the box listed as minimum and recommended. If your exact card or CPU isn't listed, do you buy the game on the off chance it might work, or do you just pick up the console version?
I know there's a reason for the naming system, but it might help if cards had alternate names that would imply where it comes with regard how good it is. Like if seeing 2 cards named 6870 and 7570, the 7570 would obviously be the better one since it's got a higher number. So then when look at the box and see the recommended graphics card is 6870, you know your 7570 would play it easily.
And yes, I am speaking as someone who doesn't understand how they work, just that they do. When I upgraded I got advice from here.
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Right. So as mentioned above - dipping your toe in to building PC forum is a good start. Even if you dont want to make threads there, we have an Off-topic thread, in which you can get almost any basic info. Lads in there are sound.
When you looking at PCs and laptops, don't get fooled by whole i7 CPU!!!!!! 4GB Ram!!!! 500gb hdd!!!!! SUPER POWERFULL DERP DERP! All those specs mean nothing if you dont have dedicated GPU ( graphics card )
So lets loook at it simply:
CPU ( Processor ) - It is sort of a heart of PC. Doing all the calculations, but when we are getting to Gaming Cpu takes secondary role. Almost any i3, i5, i7, q6600 CPU is good for gaming. When you are looking for machine to play games almost any modern CPU is good enough.
RAM - Its memory. Short term memory. All you need to know - if you got 4gb RAM and more, then you have enough ram to play any game on the planet. We got to the age, where ram is cheap and this is the last thing you need to worry as long as you got at least 4gb ram. 4gb ram, 6gb ram, 8gb ram will all perform in games almost same. Current games can use max only 2gb ram anyway. dont be fooled by advertisements of 8gb ram!!!! awesome! Yes, it is nice, but it is cheap. It will be feck all good to have 8gb ram if other parts are lacking.
GPU - Graphics processor. This is your bread and butter when comes to gaming. Remember i said CPU is the heart of PC, but it takes the secondary role when we get to gaming? So when you are gaming, GPU takes all the load from CPU. To make it very simple - this part is pretty much only exist to make shiny things appear on screen. Its the most important component in PC gaming.
Now there are tons and tons of GPUs. It might look confusing, but only when you start. I will try to make it simple as possible again.
There are 2 main companies: Nvidia and ATI. Now it might look and sound confusing, but other companies are using same model GPU and making their own version. So for example you got MSI 7950 GPU and Gygabite 7950 GPU. Both are same card, just each of those companies give their own touch to it: different cooler system or different clock speeds. When you get more advanced you will know better brands or setups, but for now, to kill the confusion and make it a bit simplier - its same card.
Second thing you need to know - numbers used to discribe GPU:
Lets take same example of ATI 7950 GPU.
7950 - First number is generation. The higher the number the newer card model. Keep in mind, newer card, does not mean faster, I will explain you why in next step.
7950 - Second digit shows you the performance position of that generation. Numbers 1,2,3 will mean that cars is low range and not suitable for gaming. numbers 4,5,6, means it is mid range card. It will play games, but it will low to mid spec. numbers 7,8 is usually a golden spot. where performance/price meets. These cards are great for gaming and wont make you sell your kidneys. Number 9 means high end of that generation. the fastest card out of 7series generation. It might be dual gpu or single gpu.
7950 -Llast two digits showing performance in the particular performance bracket. So it might be 50 and 70. So 70 means it is faster and better.
It goes very similar to Nvidia cards too, they use 3 digits instead. For example GTX 680. 6th generation card high end performance gpu.
So now when you know what these digits about you can clearly see: 6970 will be faster then 7770 GPU, even if it is NEWER GPU. So dont be fooled again by ads!
Remember, best friend is google: look for GPU benchmarks. These are charts which show GPU performance. There you can roughly compare GPUs and check how they stack up agains each other.
This is very basic website, but it shows you in a simple way compared GPUs.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ You can google and find a lot more detailed and better graphs. Like i said, dont learn all the spec, learn how to use google and find information.
I will add more info if anyone interested. i wrote all this just right now, with no preparation orr planing. So sorry if it is a bit messy. I will go have a dinner and try make it better.
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Thing is I havent bought a PC game from shelf in years (except Skyrim, for a damn map). Providers like steam let you know what the minimums are, and they're ignorable for the most part: when you actually stumble upon a game with a requirement, Steam is going to alert you. In fact I wonder if they won't eventually pad your system's specs into the store at some point. But even right now you will see Orange warnings on games that have specific requirements, like DirectX 10 or 11, a Previous Expansion, Windows Vista and above, etc. (example)CastorTroy wrote: »Yep. This is also a reason a lot of people don't game on PCs. Like seeing requirements on the box listed as minimum and recommended. If your exact card or CPU isn't listed, do you buy the game on the off chance it might work, or do you just pick up the console version?
I know there's a reason for the naming system, but it might help if cards had alternate names that would imply where it comes with regard how good it is. Like if seeing 2 cards named 6870 and 7570, the 7570 would obviously be the better one since it's got a higher number. So then when look at the box and see the recommended graphics card is 6870, you know your 7570 would play it easily.
And yes, I am speaking as someone who doesn't understand how they work, just that they do. When I upgraded I got advice from here.
Excellent write-up Hearth. I can only add that there are some suffixes that might throw people off:
HD - Pretty much all AMD Radeon cards are HD suffixed
X2 - Means the card is a Dual-Core GPU (basically, 2 of that model GPU slapped together like Smores. eg. 4870X2)
GS - Nvidia's slightly better than entry-level card suffix, usually denotes minor bump in spec (8400M, 8400M GS)
GT - Nvidia's bump above GS, entry-level and mid-range gaming cards (GT 640)
GTX - Nvidia's high-end (GTX 680)
Ti - Nvidia Titanium series. These are overclocked versions of their equivalent (eg. GTX 660 Ti). Usually not by much, but worth comparing benchmarks.
M - A Mobile, Laptop version of the GPU. These run at lower voltages than their desktop counterparts. Do not be fooled into thinking a laptop chip will have nearly the same output as it's desktop equivalent card (Geforce GT545 vs. GT545M)
LE - Low energy desktop cards. (eg. 8400 LE), usually passively cooled, clocked as the laptop/M equivalent, and designed to be quiet and run grandmother's 2nd monitor. Not a good buyers choice for gaming.
Pay attention to your series numbers, your suffixes, etc. and don't be suckered in by cards that harp on about how much memory they have. a GT640 with 2GB of GDDR5 isn't going to run as well as a GTX660 with 1GB of GDDR5 (GDDR5>DDR3>DDR2>Derp). Memory only really makes a big whoop in Texture Resolution and Screen Resolution situations, and when you are playing at resolutions beyond 1080p (1920x1080). As always, if you're not sure, compare 2 cards through a benchmark website like notebookcheck0 -
Okay, I fixed a few spelling mistakes. Few capital letters too. It should be a little bit easier on am eye now. Sorry lads, you know English is not first language so it can be a mess. Really thx for understanding all these years.
I hope this little wrote up will clear up things for se newbies. It's a very basic, fast write up, which should makeot more clear. Like I said PC specs and gaming might look very confusing, but when you do just a little bit research or get explanation it becomes a very simple and easy affair.
Overheal added one more great thing that I forgot about. Don't be fooled with all: 1GB ram!!!!! 2GB ram!!!! Super super fast!!!!
As overheal explained. Ram is important only if you go silly resolutions. Just because gpu got 1gb ram it does not mean it is good. Low end gpu like nvidia 630 with 1GB will be completely destroyed by ATI 7850 which has 1gb ram too. It's one of the marketing tactic they love to pull off on consumer, which does not know.
So make it more simple again - 1gb ram is enough for 1080p gaming. 2gb ++ ram for anything else.0
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