Amount of PC power for GW2

How good of a PC will GW2 take to run? Will it still be geared to lower end PCs?

Yes, but that depends on the "lower end PCs" around when it's launched.

No one know the system requirements for GW2 yet, it's impossible even for developers to tell before they have some running build of the game.

They said that the game is supposed to be able to run smoothly on mid-range computers at that time.

It'll depend what hardware will exist then, but it's safe to say that any today's high-end computers will run the game pretty smoothly, mostly because they'll still be high-end even if better hardware exists. That said, there are no known requirements for GW2 yet, other than that you'll be able to run it either in DX9 or (I believe) DX10.

a current "low end computer" will probably struggle to play GW2 well, but until we have some open beta or a word from the developers on it we just don't know what the requirements will be to run it smoothly.

I agree with elder. Personally, i think that a computer with the IGP in the i3/i5 will probably be able to run it like the intel GMA at the time of the Guild Wars release were able to run the original at low settings.

Since it's a MMO, the more people buy it, the better for arena net. In order to get as much sales as possible, GW2 will have to run on low end PCs at the time of release.

Do you guys think my current PC will be able to handle Guild Wars 2 when it plays Guild Wars perfectly on max settings?

Yes, but maybe not at max settings.

Keep in mind that there is a big difference between "run smoothly" and "run at max settings". Lots of computers can run GW1 "smoothly" at reduced graphics settings, and, of course, the resolution of your monitor or the resolution you play at, makes a big difference too. It takes a lot less power to run at 1366x768 than it does at 1920x1200.

Gaile said they're going to make it easy to run by standards at the time it's released,but your mom's computer from 3 years ago probably won't be able to handle it.

Kinda hard to tell without knowing what kind of PC you have.

most likely going to be high end of gw settings will be the low end of gw2

aka I don't think integrated graphics will run it very well, youll probably need an expansion card of some sort.

Right now GW2 (in the screenshots) looks like GW1, but again it's still in Alpha stages I'm assuming. If the graphics get a significant amount better for the next gen I will assume that you can max GW out on a Radeon HD 3xxx Series card and get around 30 fps. I can max GW 1 on my x1600 and get about that maybe slightly lower so I think the HD 3000 series will be the medium end. 2000 series the lower end.

Thats my idea for GW 2.

you need to go look at the warrior videos. GW2 looks significantly better than GW1 right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbeJSxqB9hI

watch that in 1080p = boo yeah, I wanna play it

Seriously, the terrain isn't all that great, but the characters are much more detailed and textured than anything in GW1 and the effects (ie fire, shock waves etc.) are waaaaaaaaaay better and will take a much bigger toll on your system. Based on the various videos & trailers I've seen I'd say Bob Slydell isn't too far off, although I do not think you will be able to get playable fps in GW2 at any decent resolution with a 2000 series GPU. I'm gonna guess that a 9600 GT or HD 4650 are what you want to aim for to avoid having to turn all the eye candy off at say 1680 x 1050.... but that's just a guess and should under no circumstances be taken to the bank. :P

They haven't released the system specs required but said it will support DX10, have a physics engine, and use occlusion culling technology. They've also said that is will run great on mid-range PCs.

However, I think that you will probably be able to play the game of low-end PCs (depending on how low) but on low graphics settings.

nVidia 7600 or ATi x1800 GTO as minimum cards (to be able to run the game)

nVidia 8800GT or ATi 3870 as recommended cards for full settings.

So, to run that game at a resolution higher than 1024x768, cranked up to max, you'll need something like an ATi HD4670 or 9800GTX. To play at a 1600x???(?) resolution, you'll want a GTX260 or HD4850 or better (and that should power it up to 1920x1080 with AA enabled) without much issue. Anything more powerful than that is just guaranteeing higher frames or a resolution above 1080p.

that seems to be a bit too high of an estimate. last time i checked, GTX260 is still considered a high end/enthusiast graphic card.

as for minimum, i think it will be an intel GMA X3000, since it has the necessary shader model 3.0 support.

These are the current specs, and will likely drop thanks to optimization that happens late in development.

The specs above minimum and recommended where my estimates based on resolution scaling VS anti aliasing.

Will it be more demanding than GW1? Sure. Will it be extremely demanding? Unlikely. The end goal here is to make money. They are going to shoot for expected average gamer computer stats not cater to people with hypothetical space computers...

You realize the specs I gave are the current official specs yes?

That is, minus my speculation based on resolution scaling.

Basically consider what is a mid to high-range computer is today. What is it by the way (vaguely)? And basically buy something slightly better than that because since GW2 is coming out in 2011 and development nearing completion at the end of 2010 I wouldn't expect there to be too much difference in terms of what a mid-range computer is now and what it will be considered to be then.