Testing performance before buying
ampere
Join Date: 2013-01-22 Member: 181237Members
Join Date: 2013-01-22 Member: 181237Members
Hello there,
I'm very excited about NS2, however I don't want to buy it if it will be up playable on my current hardware (it will be a while before I can upgrade). Is there any way to test my machine to see what the performance will be like?
The problem is that there is currently no demo, so there is no way for me to test it without coughing up money. And given that the performance seems to currently be fairly unpredictable across various hardware, I would really like to test it before I buy. Even if it's just a room with bots running around and shooting things. Just to make sure my machine can handle the compute and graphics load.
Thanks!
-Arthur
PS: I have an older Core 2 Duo at 2.4Ghz and an NVidia 8800 GTS (320MB version). Which should just make it past the minimum requirements (especially if I overclock a bit). But I don't know. I also have some friends with borderline hardware, so this is more than just one machine.
I'm very excited about NS2, however I don't want to buy it if it will be up playable on my current hardware (it will be a while before I can upgrade). Is there any way to test my machine to see what the performance will be like?
The problem is that there is currently no demo, so there is no way for me to test it without coughing up money. And given that the performance seems to currently be fairly unpredictable across various hardware, I would really like to test it before I buy. Even if it's just a room with bots running around and shooting things. Just to make sure my machine can handle the compute and graphics load.
Thanks!
-Arthur
PS: I have an older Core 2 Duo at 2.4Ghz and an NVidia 8800 GTS (320MB version). Which should just make it past the minimum requirements (especially if I overclock a bit). But I don't know. I also have some friends with borderline hardware, so this is more than just one machine.
Comments
I'm on:
Windows 7 64 bit
AMD Athlon II x4 640 @ 3.60 GHz (overclocked from stock 3.0 GHz)
Sapphire HD 7950 (overclocked: 1180 gpu clock, 1600 memory clock)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power Supply
Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
nvidia 8800gt
5 GB DDR 2 RAM
and the game runs badly.
everything off and lowest settings.
resolution of 1280x768
I get around 30-40 fps and 10-15 in heavy fights.
greeetings
Thanks. That's useful information. Looks like the recommended and required specs on <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/4920/" target="_blank">the steam page</a> are out of date. Have the requirements been creeping up?
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Minimum:
OS:Windows 7 32/64-bit / Vista 32/64 / XP
Processor:Core 2 Duo 2.6 ghz
Memory:2 GB RAM
Graphics:DirectX 9 compatible video card with 1GB, ATI X800, NVidia 8600 or better
DirectX®:9.0
Hard Drive:5 GB HD space
Recommended:
OS:Windows 7 32/64-bit / Vista 32/64 / XP
Processor:Core 2 Duo 3.0 ghz
Memory:4 GB RAM
Graphics:DirectX 9 compatible video card with 1GB, AMD 5770, NVidia GTX 450 or better
DirectX®:9.0
Hard Drive:5 GB HD space
Other Requirements:Broadband Internet connection<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm on:
Windows 7 64 bit
AMD Athlon II x4 640 @ 3.60 GHz (overclocked from stock 3.0 GHz)
Sapphire HD 7950 (overclocked: 1180 gpu clock, 1600 memory clock)
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power Supply
Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm really surprised that you say it runs poorly for you. Because looking at your benchmark; <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=127253&st=0&p=2062440&#entry2062440" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...p;#entry2062440</a>
I would venture to say that an average of 50+FPS is pretty decent. Actually as a matter of fact I get 50+FPS average (with much lower settings) but that is perfectly playable for me. Sure you do have some drops towards the end but that should be very playable.
Plus your benchmark is with everything on high w/ a high resolution. Start turning that stuff down and you should easily be looking at 60-70+FPS average.
But as for the OP, I would guess you would be looking at around 20-30fps with settings at low for everything.
Awesome. So playable, but probably at a disadvantage and not as much fun. I might be able to deal with that. I have crappy reflexes anyway. ;-)
But more generally is there a reasonably accurate way to estimate that kind of thing? I'm trying to get my friends into the game (to form a team) and "Ask how it will work on the forums" seems like a bad approach. Is there a repository of benchmarks people could compare their machines to? It would help the unwashed masses estimate how well it will work.
See how high you can OC the CPU stably. If you can't do at least 3.2-3.4ghz with it, I wouldn't bother. You'll probably be getting about 30 fps like someone said, even worse late game. With 3.2-3.4ghz it might be playable though.
You might be able to stretch your system a bit more by over clocking.. but to be honest your system is very old and your cpu doesn't even meet the minimum requirements. (2.6 ghz)
I really appreciate all the advise. I definitely have a better idea of what is going on here. I will get some overclocking going before I do even try with this game. Do wish there was a demo though. So I could test to see if I had made it far enough to be playable (whatever that is for me).
Thanks to all of you.
But UWE has stated that they are constantly trying to improve the performance, so hopefully those min requirements will be closer to reality than they are now.
I would venture to say that an average of 50+FPS is pretty decent. Actually as a matter of fact I get 50+FPS average (with much lower settings) but that is perfectly playable for me. Sure you do have some drops towards the end but that should be very playable.
Plus your benchmark is with everything on high w/ a high resolution. Start turning that stuff down and you should easily be looking at 60-70+FPS average.
But as for the OP, I would guess you would be looking at around 20-30fps with settings at low for everything.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well for some people 50 fps isn't playable. Coming from Counter-Strike where I maintain a constant 132 FPS (capped) with no drops, 50 FPS is a nightmare. Especially for such a high movement/fast paced action game, not to mention things like tons of infestation, buildings, and static props smacking my CPU around. A lot of people will say that there is no difference and that anything over 60 FPS doesn't matter. But it does. The feel, mouse movements, and a lot of other factors come into play. Also, with NS2 my FPS dips and rises a lot which is probably part of the reason it feels clunky.
But as for the OP. It's my honest opinion that you shouldn't bother until you get a better system or the game engine gets a complete overhaul. You will honestly regret it with that setup.
If I go any higher res the fps dies really fast so be aware of that with your GPU. Also, late game combat it's not unusual to hit 15fps which is not nice at all.