Game:

Dead Space (2008)

Duration: 14:59

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7

A test to see which relatively-modern games will run on this netbook. I give you Dead Space. If you've never tried it, you should go out and get it now.

*Basic Specs:
- Intel Atom D525 @ 1.8 GHz (dual-core, 2x 512 kB L2 cache)
- NVIDIA ION 2 (512 MB, Optimus technology)
- 2 GB DDR3 memory (800 MHz)
- Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
- 1366x768 pixels maximum resolution
- BIOS updated to revision 0605
- ION driver updated to version 266.58

*Running Apps:
Firefox, Yahoo Messenger, uTorrent, Avast (Silent/Gaming Mode), Fraps

*NVIDIA settings:
Triple Buffering (enabled), Maximum Pre-rendered frames (2), others on default

VISUALS:
Resolution - 1280x720 (60 Hz)
Full Screen - On
Vsync - On

ADVANCED RENDER SETTINGS:
Bloom - On
Glow - On
Depth of Field - On
Anti Aliasing - Off
Blur - On
Post Processing - On
Flares - On
Motion Blur - On
Decals - On
Shader Quality - High
Shadow Quality - High


*Framerate: ~11 to 31 fps
*Playability: Poor to Fair

*Remarks:
On considerably high settings, the game is quite playable. It can stay between 25 and 30 fps inside a small, darker room. Framerate only dips when there are lots of things going on in the scene and the area is large. On the low preset, the game almost always stays at 30 fps, even on busy parts (like having multiple enemies come at you). Low settings give a PS2-ish graphic quality -- only a little more polished -- which isn't bad, and the majority of the finer lighting is turned off. Still, it manages to give the thrill that would be expected from a survival horror game despite its mellowed look.

Framerate may be improved by doing one or a mix of these: lowering the settings even more, closing unnecessary processes, updating the graphics driver further, defragmenting the HDD, overclocking CPU/GPU, upgrading Windows 7 to 64-bit and make full use of the max 4 GB memory capacity, downgrading to Windows XP for an optimized, less demanding OS, among others.

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