Curse

Painbringer · Jan 31, 2008, 10:12 PM // 22:12

Just wondering if anyone knows what system requirements GW2 will require. Or does anyone want to take a guess? The reason I ask is that now is the time to save for a new system if one is needed. And it would be a horrible thing to find out a month before the game is released that my current system can not handle it.

Current system

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor (64-bit with AMD64 Technology)
(2.20GHz, 2000MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache)

Memory: 1024MB DDR (2 × 512MB), 400MHz Dual Channel
Expandable to 4GB

Hard Drive: 200GB (7200rpm, 2MB cache)

Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005

Graphics ATI X1550 DDR2 250 Meg

Tarun · Jan 31, 2008, 10:16 PM // 22:16

We will know when it's announced.

X Black Chaos X · Jan 31, 2008, 10:31 PM // 22:31

they said on wiki and interviews that the requirments will be higher for GW2 than regular GW

Malice Black · Feb 01, 2008, 12:22 PM // 12:22

My prediction:

Core 2 Duo 2Ghz+ (or similar)
1GB RAM minimum
Nvidia 7 series or better

Because, lets face it, them specs above are already quite old. If you're running less then that...

NathanMurray · Feb 02, 2008, 04:33 AM // 04:33

When it happens it happens. If my computer is too slow for it I just won't play it. Really it dosen't bother me that much I like to enjoy whats going on right now not whats going on in a year or so.

NathanMurray · Feb 02, 2008, 04:34 AM // 04:34

Also Is my processor any good it is 2.53 GHz I'm not any good at technical stuff. Only bringing this up becuase Malice Black said about processors and junk.

Biostem · Feb 02, 2008, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Here's a wild guess:

2.0Ghz or better CPU
1GB or more of RAM
5GB hard drive space
DX9 or better graphics card w/ at least 128MB of video RAM.

Even though it's over a year away, I don't think multi-core processors will have completely taken over by then. Furthermore, I think it'll take a few more years for game programmers to start writing game sin such a way to fully exploit multi-core architecture.

I do think that you're going to start seeing better support for widescreen formats, to the point where playing on a standard 4:3 aspect monitor will yield a letterbox look (w/ black bars on the top and bottom). The increasingly common feature of HDMI-out on video card, as well as media-center PCs will result in more people playing on what was traditionally the living room tv...

cebalrai · Feb 06, 2008, 11:38 AM // 11:38

I doubt it will requires a multi-core processor.

Surena · Feb 06, 2008, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Guild Wars 2 will support DX10, however I guess it's the usual DX10-on-top rather than a new build from scratch thanks to the still not well-spread use of DX10-cards.

It will definitely recommend 2GB of RAM (for highest settings) and probably even a multicore-processor, which is actually no big deal and should not be in 2009 anyway!

cebalrai · Feb 06, 2008, 04:41 PM // 16:41

GW2 is an MMO. That means is caters to the least common denominator, tech-spec-wise. The later single-core processors will undoubtedly be fine.

Narada · Feb 06, 2008, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Ugh, I hope it's not DX10. I have to use DX8 to play on Linux and DX10 is only for Vista... If they at least allowed XP to run DX10, that would be a nice compromise. :/

And I agree, 2 GB of RAM will likely be the norm, especially if GW2 utilizes DX10. As I previously mentioned DX10 only runs on Vista... When running Vista, 2 GB is the minimum amount of RAM you should be using anyway. Multi-core processors are becoming far more widespread and cheaper, especially when considering dual-core now that quads are out. That being the case, I'd say that 2 GB of RAM and a multi-core processor will probably be your best place to start.

And I wonder... with multi-core processors replacing single-core processors at such a quick rate, perhaps the devs will decide to make GW multi-threaded too. That would be sweet.

awmiscool · Feb 06, 2008, 08:30 PM // 20:30

Holy crap, the day we are forced to get vista to play a good game. I dont think the crappy OS is a good trade off for an awesome game.

Narada · Feb 06, 2008, 09:00 PM // 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by awmiscool

Holy crap, the day we are forced to get vista to play a good game. I dont think the crappy OS is a good trade off for an awesome game.

Same. Vista eats resources like nobody's business. However, if you have good enough specs to handle it (in my experience) it actually runs quite nicely. Aside from the frustration you get from finding out some of your software isn't 'Vista compatible'. With the average PC becoming much more powerful I imagine that after awhile most people will be able to handle Vista fairly well, but that resource usage is absolutely unacceptable imo. When I first got this laptop it used ~875 MB at idle. After cutting down all the bloatware and killing Aero I reduced it to ~650 MB, but that's still ridiculous. My XP file server idles at ~230 MB if I recall correctly, for comparison.

Anyways, one of the things this discussion got me to wonder about is the future of laptops. The more powerful our hardware becomes the more heat it tends to generate... Assuming that Vista becomes the new standard for gamers and we're all running some pretty mean specs, just think about the heating problems we're likely to run into. I'm sure that many people who've used older laptops can verify that today's laptops practically want burn a hole through whatever it's sitting on, especially when gaming. I honestly can't even sit my "laptop" in my lap because the heat is that bothersome. I'm hoping that some better cooling solutions (aside from a fan mat thingy) become available for laptops soon, lest our gaming portability options start to get limited. I can only imagine the effect Vista+DX10+sexier hardware will have. :/

killer_cake · Feb 07, 2008, 09:00 PM // 21:00

They said it will support DX10 as well as DX9. Its also said somewhere (I forgot where) that it'll be targeted toward mid-performance systems. So I'm guessing somewhere like

Pentium 4 3.0GHz
1 GB RAM
Geforce 6 Seires + / ATI X800 +

somewhere like that?

I dont think Vista's going to become the new standard anytime soon, its still full of bugs and not too many of my friends have switched to Vista.

Numa Pompilius · Feb 07, 2008, 10:51 PM // 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biostem

Here's a wild guess:

2.0Ghz or better CPU
1GB or more of RAM
5GB hard drive space
DX9 or better graphics card w/ at least 128MB of video RAM.

A reasonable guess. It's certain that GW2 wont be pushing the envelope of computer games; MMO's never do, as they need to be as inclusive wrt player-base as possible.