Demiath's New Computer (2011), Part #1 - Crysis 2 on Extreme Settings
2Today I got myself a new computer so that I can finally play new PC games and make them look good, run smoothly and have short loading times. To put things in perspective I might add that last time I had anything resembling a proper gaming rig was *way* back in 2003, when games like Max Payne 2 and Knights of the Old Republic were the latest and coolest titles a PC gamer could own and the current console generation had not even begun yet. I've had a few different computers since then but most of them have been really cheap and none of them have been particularly well-suited specifically for gaming.
My new rig is a Core i7 3,4 Ghz with GeForce GTX 580 1,5 GB, 8 GB RAM and an SSD system drive. This machine was reasonably affordable and is far from the most extreme PC monster available - nor, comparatively speaking, the most expensive computer I've ever owned - but it *does* run games like Crysis 2 on Extreme settings as evidenced by this video. Witcher 2 seemed to run very nicely, as well, although I guess the *real* question is if the computer is capable of running Neverwinter Nights 2 without even the slightest bit of frame rate issues, something I don't believe is within the realm of mathematical possibility... ;).
As anyone knows who has been following my channel for a while, superior graphics and a 100% solid frame rate are *not* my primary concerns in life. As such, I'm not a fan of the current state of the hardcore PC gaming community, which seems almost obsessed with things like, say, how many zillion of shaders and effects they're missing out on in their games because developers have to adjust their engine programming to work on consoles as well as PC. That's not to say that there aren't valid console-ification concerns which PC gamers should rightfully be upset about, but the over-heated reaction to Crysis 2's and Portal 2's perceived graphical flaws suggests that there's a dangerous lack of proportion at work here which, at the very least, isn't helping if we want to combat the stereotype that computer nerds care more about tech than they do about actual gameplay.
In any case, as was implied above my own hardware upgrade was made for very practical, down-to-earth resons having to do with me wanting to enjoy big titles such as The Witcher 2, Rage, Deus Ex: Human Revolution etc. You most definitely won't see me, say, needlessly flaunting my specs in the video description for every video I upload (a common practice on YouTube which I truly despise), and rest assured that this channel will remain focused on gameplay first and foremost.