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Future Proofing @ 1900x1200

Katalysis

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 8, 2008
Messages
1,813
I'm building a new rig in the coming months, and looking to power a 24" monitor. Ideally, it would last me long enough looking ahead for a couple years.

I know the ultra-high end cards would do this, but paying $500-600 for a 4870x2 or GTX280 seems like a poor bang for the buck move.

Maybe it would be smarter to stick with a single 4870 and drop in another one if need be. Will a single 4870 be able to max at 1900x1200 for the foreseeable near future, at least a year or two?
 
Max what game? Max TF2? Yes. Max Crysis? No.

And for 2 years of new games? No.

On the other side, the X2 probably won't do that either.
 
Yeah, I really don't get down with the whole max crysis thing. It's a fools errand.

I guess max was a poor choice of words. I'd just like to make sure that games are playable at high/very high settings at the native resolution for at least a year or two. I can't drop down to a smaller monitor, unfortunately, but I am getting a 1:1 pixel mapping if need be, but I'd prefer to keep things at 1900x1200.
 
You can't future proof anything, especially with USB 3.0, PCI-E 3.0, and DirectX 11 coming within the next year, or year and a half.

Also, Nehalem is coming out end of 2008. So if you're going to be futureproofing, you should probably play the waiting game. Get a Nehalem and whichever videocard is fastest at the time.

FOR RIGHT NOW: A 4870 would be fine for 1920x1200, especially if you get two in crossfire.
A 4870X2 would be just as nice.
 
We don't really know the requirements for games liek FarCry 2, Aliens: Colonel Marines, Fallout 3 or even Mirrors Edge. You should really build your computer around a specific game or games that you want to buy. It's really hard to build a computer and then plan for different games, because you might have to buy newer or better components.

As of right now, there are very few games that are going to max out bleeding edge hardware that is currently out. Hell, the 4870s have DirectX 10.1 capability and only one game makes use of that. Assassins Creed..

You'd be well off with a 4870x2 or 4870 crossfire solution, and I can guarantee that it will play every game currently out there at high framerates. But I cannot guarantee that tfor games coming out in 2009, for instance.

But hey, Blizzard and Valve have a tendancy for making their games really accessible for older hardware. And with PS3 and Xbox 360 leading the pack for videogame development, even current computer hardware is trumping their console counterparts and playing the very same games at higher resolutions, higher AA/AF, and with better textures. Look at Mass Effect, Lost Planet, Assassins Creed, or Bioshock to name just a FEW.
 
A single 8800GT plays TF2 maxed out at 1920x1080 (still CPU limited due to lack of proper multithreading support), I haven't installed anything else since I got my 42" LCD (actually, that's a lie... Starcraft runs just fine in case you were wondering). As for future proofing, you have to figure that no matter what hardware you get now, you'll have to lower a setting or two to keep up two years down the road. For upgrading, I would say Hybrid Crossfire is your biggest friend right now.
 
Its very difficult to future proof and limit budget simultaneously. If you're budget conscious, by the cheapest stuff for now that will get the job done and let the future be your friend!
 
There is no current hardware that will ensure smooth gaming at 1920*1200 in the future.
Regular upgrade is required when gaming at a high resolution such as 1920*1200.

Budget gamers should stay at 1680*1050 and lower.
 
There is no current hardware that will ensure smooth gaming at 1920*1200 in the future.
Regular upgrade is required when gaming at a high resolution such as 1920*1200.

Budget gamers should stay at 1680*1050 and lower.
Justify your purchases to someone else. Crysis was the only game in recent memory my 7800 GTX completely choked on at 1920x1200.
 
We actually do know the reqs for Far Cry 2.

Minimum requirements
CPU: Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz, Pentium D 2.66 Ghz, AMD Athlon 64 3500+ or better
RAM: 1 GB
Video card: NVidia 6800 or ATI X1650 or better, Shader Model 3 required, 256 Mb of graphic memory
Media reader: DVD-ROM
Hard drive space: ~12 Gig or HD space. (tbd)

Recommended
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Family, AMD 64 X2 5200+, AMD Phenom or better
RAM: 2 GB
Video card: NVidia 8600 GTS or better, ATI X1900 or better, 512 Mb of graphic memory
Sound: 5.1 sound card recommended
Supported Video cards:
NVidia 6800, NVidia 7000 series, 8000 series, 9000 series, 200 series. 8800M and 8700M supported for laptops. ATI X1650 – 1950 series , HD2000 series , HD3000 series , HD4000 series .

http://blog.ubi.com/farcry2/article.php?content_id=8150#newsid=8150
 
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