OK, my brand spankin new Alienware just arrived.
P4 3.4
GF4 5950 (X800 was a 6 week wait)
1 gig 3200 ram
Audigy2 Xls (or whatever it was called)
10,000rpm ATA HD
Since Doom III isn’t out, what is the best game out there to push my PC to the limit? Good visuals, good surround sound quality.
I’m thinking UT 2k4 or Far Cry…any other ideas?
Good gameplay does count too.
Thief 3 would probably be a good bet, Far Cry is very nice but doesn’t have huge system requirements (well compared to your system)
Yeah Farcry is probably the best looking game out now once you turn up all detail. Painkiller looks nice with max detail. There really aren’t that many games out that would push hardware like that to the limit, good games that also look good anyway.
Does SimCity 4 still run like a dog or did they patch it? It didn’t look all that great anyway. Especially since they locked the camera to just 4 angles.
I guess you gotta wait for Doom3/HL2 and Rome Total War to come out.
Another vote for FarCry.
Far Cry all the way. IMO there is no comparison between Far Cry and T3 running at max details/res. The water especially.
olaf
If you can stand the multi-GB download, check out the Asheron’s Call 2 free trial with full high-res textures loaded.
Sometimes, I just sit and watch the sunsets over the water, while the waving grass rustles around me.
Far Cry, I believe putting it on Max and still having over 36 FPS would look fantastic.
UT2K4 looks fantastic, but it runs very well on weaker machines since it is made for online play and this means you can’t have it too heavy. Its charm anyway is from colorful varied maps anyway.
-Shiroko
I have a system very similiar to your’s, and Far Cry maxed-out does, indeed, look fantastic.
Another title that’s fun to crank up all the goodies for is Tron 2.0. It won’t bring your rig to it’s knees, but it sure looks purty . . .
Maybe Deus Ex 2?
I have yet to see that game run consistently ultra-smooth, even after tweaks/patches. But I’ve never seen it played on a computer that’s close to being this powerful.
Origin’s Strike Commander.
I’d say Far Cry for sure, and Halo PC should also provide a stiff challenge to any machine.
Has the machine been made that’s able to show everything Strike Commander can do?
I dunno if his machine is powerful enough to run it with all of the graphics options enabled.
Hehe I got the CD edition of Strike Commander well after the controversial release and loved it. The music, the cutscenes, the graphics, the excellent voice work and characters, great overall package. I wish I still had the CD not to mention if its even compatable with XP. (An origin game? Compatable?! hahahahahah)
Far Cry, Thief 3 with the new high-detail textures, Painkiller, and UT2k4 are all good bets. UT2k4 moves a little fast to really enjoy the graphics, though…
Other options include X2: The Threat and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
Far Cry! No doubt about it.
Not too far off topic, but I am having a lot more slow down and what not in the latter levels of Far Cry than I did in the early levels. I am just wondering if that’s been everyone else’s experiance, too? I tried to reinstall my video drivers to see if that might have been the problem, but no joy.
I mostly see performance problems when I attempt to use the Cry Vision (default T key). I have also noticed that the Cry Vision effect has changed. After I first got it, it made people or trygen’s stand out as bright white color against a dark background. Now when I use it, I see people as multicolored and the background is much lighter. I thought this might have been a result of using the vision during the day, but I just finished a level (planting the nuke) that was very dark and people still had the same multi color look. Is this what other people are seeing? Any ideas?
Same here Tim. No idea why, but the last 4 to 5 levels of the game I ended up with some serious slowdowns. No problems at all the first 2/3 of the game. Weird.
Wow, that is odd. What sort of gear do you have? I am using a AMD 2400, 1G RAM, and Ti4200 /w 128MB. I’m wondering if I should spring for a new video card or try to tough it out. I know I’m not ready to upgrade the entire rig yet.
You may have a PC powerful enough to play Halo above 800x600!