The Official DOOM 3 [H]ardware Guide thread.

I guess i will be runing at 640*400 medium :~(

Well... -{looks at the old battle weiry BEAST}-
I think its time you enter retirement.
***Shotgun pointed in direction on the OLD COMPANION***
BOOOM........

Da BEAST is no more.....

damn now i have nothing to play Doom3 on :~~~(


The Old beast is a
msi-turbo 2
AMD 1800+
512mb pc133
WD HDD 80 gig 8meg cache
Sapphire 9800 se 128mb [se = sucker editio] (god bless the omega drivers)
Adigy Se
lasonic 5.1 with kodac v-3030 amp (cant get my sub to work so its mor like a 5.0)
 
Wow, it's cool people will actually answer questions on how the game will run. Here I go:

Athlon XP 3000+ (333 Mhz FSB)
512 MB Dual Channel DDR (@ 333 Mhz)
Radeon 9500 Pro

I know the vidcard will be the bottleneck, but I refuse to pay over $200 for one and I'm not sure the 9800 Pro will be a big enough leap. How do you think I will do? Thanks!
 
dude, in terms of dollars, knowing that cards cost more in the UK I may be paying up to $800 :p (I'm selling a lot to be able to afford it.)
 
BATTOUSAI said:
Wow, it's cool people will actually answer questions on how the game will run. Here I go:

Athlon XP 3000+ (333 Mhz FSB)
512 MB Dual Channel DDR (@ 333 Mhz)
Radeon 9500 Pro

I know the vidcard will be the bottleneck, but I refuse to pay over $200 for one and I'm not sure the 9800 Pro will be a big enough leap. How do you think I will do? Thanks!
Click to expand...
The 9500 is alittle slower then the 9700 Pro and the 9600XT is almost at the performance of the 9700 Pro so look at the 9600XT numbers and dial it back some.
800x600 at med settings I'd think.
 
CrimandEvil said:
The 9500 is alittle slower then the 9700 Pro and the 9600XT is almost at the performance of the 9700 Pro so look at the 9600XT numbers and dial it back some.
800x600 at med settings I'd think.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Maybe I will get that 9800 Pro after all. Playing at 800x600 is just insulting..... :mad:

Blad3 said:
dude, in terms of dollars, knowing that cards cost more in the UK I may be paying up to $800 :p (I'm selling a lot to be able to afford it.)
Click to expand...

I'm a big gamer. I was on line @ 4am waiting to get a ps2. I remember the Konami code from back in the day. But I think paying alot of money for a videocard is not the way for me to go. They're considered "slow" within a year and a half. WTF!? I think they cost waayyy too much. But no one else seems to mind, I guess..... That GeForce 4 TI 4200 was one of the best deals back then and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent for this gen.
 
First of all I want to congratulations to Brent and Kyle on this [H]ardware guide, it was nothing short of awesome. For a person like me who is planning on building a new system in the next 2 months (which I almost feel I wouldn't have to if it weren't for my dying ti4200 that has to run at the lowest clocks available in RivaTuner just to operate without corruption), this is exactly the kind of guide I needed. It gives me a wide spectrum of hardware to choose from that I can use as a rerference when I start thoroughly researching exactly what I want to get. It is also gives performance relating to that hardware so I can have an idea of what it will perform like on one of the games I have been most anticipating, which can definitely aid me in narrowing down my system. It has definitely given me a lot of options to research/research further when finalizing my decision, and I really like that. So your guide is just that, what it is supposed to be, an in depth, awesome guide to base a buying decision on. So I applaud you on one of the best, if not the best jobs you have done to date.

Your descriptions of the game got me burning with excitement, I just can't wait, even though I will probably buy the game and let it sit on my shelf until I build my new computer. Very impressive, great works guys.

Will we be seeing any updates to the guide, or maybe smaller guides based on updates or things you wanted to do but happened to miss, when the game is released? Will this start to be a trend for [H] regarding major game releases in the future? All I have to say is you guys rock, and this is one awesome guide that I will find myself going over for quite some time. This Doom 3 guide is the kind of work that separates the [H] from everybody else and puts [H]ardOCP ahead of the pack.
 
BATT - understood, but it's worth it if you're a big gamer IMO, you'll see the difference.

I just got the card I have now less than 6 months ago :p looking to get a new one already.

btw a year and a half is a LONG time in the PC world :)
 
It would be cool if they could get Valve to come on board and then release a HL2 hardware guide as well. :)
 
Problem is HL2 is still being bug tested :D

At least we know doom3= nvidia, 6800 :)
 
Hi folks,

Anyone know how v-sync should be set in Doom3? I only recently discovered that it needed to be turned OFF to allow me to exceed 60 fps in Counter-Strike (duh took me long enough to figure out), so is it safe to assume the same rule applies to Doom3? Or does it not matter since the Doom3 fps will apparently be capped at 60 fps anyway?

Thx,
Eisengrim
 
Hello

Well,my first post is to give thanks to the ppl at Hardocp for doing what no one has done before,now Im certain that I can play DOOM 3 on my PC with midium settings,even thou I can't get an 6800,"you know,3 kids and a wife". I'm really happy with what I read here today.I was so anxious to share your Doom 3 hardware guide that I sent the link to 12 of my friends, that after reading it; they went to our local PC hardware store and got FX5900 XT each.plus they pre-order DOOM 3."ooh how Im going to miss my wife!!!!!!!!". I even took the whole week off my job to enjoy the game fully. Again HardOCP. THANKS for the time.

ATT:Jeff "AUCIROB"
 
Great review, now I know I'll either be at mid or high quality, or both depending on the level :)

Athlon64 3200+
512MB Corsair XMS
BFG 5700LE OC <-- definate bottleneck, but I'll live till I can afford better :)
 
Hello,

Great article on the hardware and how doom 3 runs on it, and its certainly pointing me in the right direction for a new pc (still on a p3-550 here...elvis left the building a long time ago!).

Im curious about a few things though.

1.Native widescreen resolutions.

Im going to be feeding my pcs video signal into a panasonic pt-ae500 1280x720 lcd based projector, and was a little concerned because, as yet, ive not seen any info regarding true widescreen resolutions for this game. My projector does 1:1 pixel mapping, and so if i could get the game to output 1280x720, i achieve the projectors highest IQ setting.

Can the game support this res without squishing or stretching the image (i dont want the game to output a 4:3 image to 1280x720 as itll just stretch it horizontally, i want it to output a wider FOV image at that res)?


2.Dolby digital home theatre setups.

Ive seen alot of talk about 5.1 setups for Doom3, and was wondering just how i would go about connecting up a 5.1 sound card to my pioneer dcs303 dolby digital receiver that ive got set up already with speakers all around the room?

Is it simply a case of getting a sound card that has a TOSLINK out and hooking that up to the receiver? will the card then pass a 5.1 bitstream to the pioneer receiver to process? how does this tie up with ids declaration that the sound processing for doom3 is handled by the processor, and not by the sound cards?


3.NVidia stereo 3d.

One thing ive not seen mentioned anywhere, is just how well the game copes when you switch on NVidias great little 3d stereo drivers with either shutter glasses or when using a 2 projector passive stereo display (kinda like imax, but for the home!)

Many of the games i run like nvidias drivers, and the 3d effect in most is pretty cool.

Im considering buying another projector and building a passive 3d stereo setup for Doom3, but i need to know just how well the game copes with the drivers before i rush out and spend another grand on a projector that might not even have its native resolution supported, let alone have adequate 3d stereo performance.

Anyone here seen Doom3 running in stereo 3d?




Cheers, i know the resolution question has been partially asked before, but the answer was to just set customres, I would just like confirmation that a widescreen resolution is fed a true widescreen doom3 image with a greater Field of Vision than a 1600x1200 4:3 gamer.

The sound issue is something thats been bugging me for a while, i dont want to 'invest' in some creative labs 5.1 speakers when ive got a 400watt dolby digital and dts receiver and speakers already, and ive no idea how PCs connect up to home theatre kit (the only input is a TOSLINK, but it seems only the highest end sound cards have them).

3d stereo is a pet passion of mine, and i cant think of any game that is better suited to it than Doom3.

Regards,

pez
 
Hello everyone :)

i have an amd 64 3000+@ 3500+ and a 9800 pro 128 mb @ to 420 core and 370 mem . after seeing those charts i dont think i will be able to play with ur highquality settings at 1024, simply because i cant play with a minimum 7 fps, wich is hapening in all the benchmarks no matter ur cpu(if u look at the graphic u will see that the card can handle the whole "demo" very well, but it dies in one ocasion, wich i think it means "card out of memory") . Im really disapointed with my radeon:( i tought she could handle at least 1024, but it seems that 128 memory cant handle highquality with 8x anisotropic.. maybe i will try to play it with 2x antialising and 2x anisotropic at that resolution( just hoping i will have more free memory for my card than with 8x anisotropic and 0x antialising). what do u guys think?
 
Can the game support this res without squishing or stretching the image (i dont want the game to output a 4:3 image to 1280x720 as itll just stretch it horizontally, i want it to output a wider FOV image at that res)?
Click to expand...

The game allows you to change the fov, in quake3 its cg_fov, it should be similar if not exactly the same in doom3. You should be able to tweak it to look correct on your hd.

Edit: I did some calculating from default, 120 should be perfect for (im assuming) a 16:9 ratio. If not, aspect * 67.5 = Fov.

LoL, just realized the aspect ratio is a simplified version of the height/width ratio. Yeah set your custom resolution and set fov to 120.
 
Man, from all the previews, I thought this game was gonna kill my system, or look like crap.

I was moderatly interested in the game. I have pre-ordered.

But, judging from the hardware guide, I might be able to run 1024x768 on High quality!!!

I wasn't hyped up before, but man I am now. I can't freakin wait.

What's amazing is how good this game looks on older hardware. Man, I've got to give it up for id.
 
superpata said:
i have an amd 64 3000+@ 3500+ and a 9800 pro 128 mb @ to 420 core and 370 mem . after seeing those charts i dont think i will be able to play with ur highquality settings at 1024, simply because i cant play with a minimum 7 fps, wich is hapening in all the benchmarks no matter ur cpu(if u look at the graphic u will see that the card can handle the whole "demo" very well, but it dies in one ocasion, wich i think it means "card out of memory") . Im really disapointed with my radeon:( i tought she could handle at least 1024, but it seems that 128 memory cant handle highquality with 8x anisotropic.. maybe i will try to play it with 2x antialising and 2x anisotropic at that resolution( just hoping i will have more free memory for my card than with 8x anisotropic and 0x antialising). what do u guys think?
Click to expand...


omg u kidding right? The 7fps is only for 2 seconds out of the 6 minute level. Look att he graph, nowhere else it drops below 20+ fps. I think I will keep my radeon 9800 pro. Look at the graph http://www2.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTA5MDc4NzE0M1RPNjJBTU9FV1hfN185X2wuZ2lm
 
i know Wich0 ;) but i cant play a game with those fps, even if it is for 2 seconds, i would rather play it with less anisotropic :) (i know its weird but i just hate it:D). anyway do u think with 2x/2x i would have better performance in the "heavy" parts?
 
MorfiusX its just im paranoid about the minimum fps :p. since that i have my 9800 pro overclocked especialy the memory i dunno if that could make any significance in that zone, since i still have a 128 mb card :(
ps: im my country ditto = dito:D
 
superpata said:
MorfiusX its just im paranoid about the minimum fps :p. since that i have my 9800 pro overclocked especialy the memory i dunno if that could make any significance in that zone, since i still have a 128 mb card :(
ps: im my country ditto = dito:D
Click to expand...


Also I think that 7fps was only in a cutscene towards the end. Is this right?
 
superpata said:
MorfiusX its just im paranoid about the minimum fps :p. since that i have my 9800 pro overclocked especialy the memory i dunno if that could make any significance in that zone, since i still have a 128 mb card :(
ps: im my country ditto = dito:D
Click to expand...

I still a a 128mb card. I want a new card. I would like to be able to run in ultra mode. But, I don't have 500-600 to spend when I just built my system in Febuary. I feel your pain. I was worried that I was only gonna be able to run 800x600(eww).

But, if you kinda read between the lines of the article, I think the 9800 Pro's will be fine at 1024x768. Might not be able to run any AA, but with the quality everywhere else, I think I can overlook that.

P.S. I was never a good speller in school. God made me a geek so I could use spell check.
 
So the [H] does this uber detailed guide on what you can expect from a huge array of possible system configurations...

Then a bunch of noobs registers, then logs into the forums and are just posting;

"Here's my rig:
...
...
...
What can I run Doom 3 at?"


The fuck? If your exact system isn't there, extrapolate where it might be.. jeezuz you'd think that many test runs and data points would be good for something. Someone should just make a little web application / javascript site that lets people pick their system and output a message that says:

"Your system will run Doom 3 at xxxx resolution and xxxx details."
 
I asked because my system was no where near what they had :/. I also posted some helpful knowledge that some people found helpful.

No need to be a jerk.
 
Thanks so much for answering so many quesiton I had in just one article!

Now if only you had benched the 9800XT system with the P4 3.0 at my current setting of 3.5 oc'ed.
 
Unit-0 said:
The fuck? If your exact system isn't there, extrapolate where it might be.. jeezuz you'd think that many test runs and data points would be good for something.
Click to expand...
Brent did the work of some of that earlier in the thread. He didn't seem to mind. :rolleyes:
 
I am a little dissapointed because the HEAT HAZE effect, i have a Ti4600 and i run farcry perfect on HIGH (water on ultra) and it has a heat effect.
I had liked that the effect was available, although with less quality (like farcry).
and that is I who decide to activate it or not. Anyway the game looks fantastic!!

GREAT GUIDE, THANKS.
 
not to be a prick cuz i know how much went in to this and how great you guys are for doing this but STILL we have not gotten an answer as to why the p4 3.0ghz with 9800pro 128mb is suggested at medium 1024 while the athon xp 3200 is recommended at high...

this deserves at least some explanation :D

I have the 2.8ghz of that p4 with the same card and 1gb pc3200 so that test is very relevant to me. JW why not high? This q has been asked since at least page 6 I think.
 
Mike Ryna said:
not to be a prick cuz i know how much went in to this and how great you guys are for doing this but STILL we have not gotten an answer as to why the p4 3.0ghz with 9800pro 128mb is suggested at medium 1024 while the athon xp 3200 is recommended at high...

this deserves at least some explanation :D

I have the 2.8ghz of that p4 with the same card and 1gb pc3200 so that test is very relevant to me. JW why not high? This q has been asked since at least page 6 I think.
Click to expand...
If you knew the differences in the architecture then you'd know why. ;)
 
Mike Ryna said:
not to be a prick cuz i know how much went in to this and how great you guys are for doing this but STILL we have not gotten an answer as to why the p4 3.0ghz with 9800pro 128mb is suggested at medium 1024 while the athon xp 3200 is recommended at high...

this deserves at least some explanation :D

I have the 2.8ghz of that p4 with the same card and 1gb pc3200 so that test is very relevant to me. JW why not high? This q has been asked since at least page 6 I think.
Click to expand...

Because the Athlon is green.. and nVidia is green... so like.. green is the color of the moment, that's why Intel is getting owned.
 
as far as I ever read P4s up until the amd fx's always were better...and if you would care to explain the differences that make the difference I would appreciate it.
 
Mike Ryna said:
as far as I ever read P4s up until the amd fx's always were better...and if you would care to explain the differences that make the difference I would appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Only in certain things, like media encoding. Athlon has always owned P4 pound for pound in most games.
 
tinysmall said:
Only in certain things, like media encoding. Athlon has always owned P4 pound for pound in most games.
Click to expand...

I hope your refering to the Athlon 64 because the Pentium 4 beats the Athlon XP in gaming.

The Athlon 64 has an on-die memory controller and that is why its better for gaming. Its memory controller scales with the clock speed of the CPU.

The Pentium 4 is still better in encodeing, rendering, multitasking, multithreaded applications, and most productivity software.

And this quote from the DOOM 3 Hardware Guide just really made my day :p.

In our in-game evaluation, we did not notice any differences in image quality. However, when we started poring over the screenshots, we did notice some differences. If you look on the floor to the right side in the first comparison above, you will notice that the ATI Radeon X800XT-PE has slightly more aliased floor lines than the BFGTech GeForce 6800Ultra OC. Both pictures were taken at 1600x1200 at High Quality, which enables 8X anisotropic filtering and offers no antialiasing. The BFGTech GeForce 6800Ultra is clearly doing a better job filtering the floor tiles. It's important to note though that we did not notice this when we were actually in the game playing it, only afterward when we put these screenshots side-by-side.
Click to expand...

I remember hearing quite a few people saying the 6800 may be faster in DOOM 3 but the X800 will probably have better IQ since they have such incredible brilinear filtering lol.
 
looks like i'll be overclocking my 9800pro-256 to XT speeds.

but i'm excited because A. i have more RAM than was in the guide system B. i don't mind not having AF, and the system had basically my rig and was still able to play at "high" settings. i'm hoping i'll be able to go "ultra" settings!

4 days my friends.
 
Mike Ryna said:
Hope we get answered. Athlon XP 3200 < p4 3.0ghz....so why kyle, why? :(
Click to expand...

Because they feel the Athlon XP 3000 can run at high settings.. while the 3.0C P4 runs at medium quality.

What other reason do you need?
 
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