What's next after FC2?

[mandru]

JC2 is already longing for better hardware than I've got, so I am tempted to buy at least a new vid card (cpu and all that should still be alright). But I'll hold back a little longer until, like you, I can't run a game at all any more. Then I will get a new rig, if I find a good prefab one :)

That concerns me a bit Art, as I remember our systems are pretty much the same and I'd really thought I had bought a system that would run ahead of gaming requirements for at least a couple years.  :P

I've looked at the JC2 vids and screen shots of Stalker COP and while they look like very good games I'm pretty much dug into FC2 for it's immersion qualities. I'm still playing FC2 20 to 30 hours a week and yes it's become predictable but then again comforting as a place I can slip away to and follow the script or take off and run a wild rampage.

I have two boxes full of games that I enjoyed on previous computers but have never been loaded onto my current rig though I may have to buy the last two Halflife2 episodes just to see how that series wraps up. The only thing that's kept me from doing that already is I hate having to re-buy all of the previous HL2 episodes that I already have in order to update, though the addition of Portal which is also bundled in the latest set has been intriguing (I see that JRD lists Portal as a currently playing).

I think instead of looking for a next generation game or improvements on existing games, I'm waiting for a quantum step to bump up my game play.

Is that a stick in the mud? No in's mandru in cammo upgrade waiting for just the right moment.  ;D

[Art Blade]

Hehe :)

Computer game development these days leads to faster production (or buy) cycles than a couple of years ago. I remember times when a really good rid would last say three or four years, then it was like two or three years, now it's like two or one year until games become too demanding. I am talking about maxed-out game (graphic) settings. JC2 may be exceptional in this case as it is the only game I am aware of that refuses to w@&k with XP and requires dx10 (hence vista or win7).

Sometimes that kind of progression can be resolved with new drivers, sometimes with new hardware (back then, more RAM, now bigger GPU/vid ram). Today's and yesterday's CPUs should still be sufficient, but vid cards are the bottleneck I suspect.

I hear nVidia is currently working on a new driver (beta stage last time I checked) and a final version to be released in June this year, not far from now or perhaps already out now, which is supposed to increase JC2's performance.

[deadman1]

The latest driver from Nvidia ver. 257.21 are now availible for download, and it´s WHQL certified.  :) The changelog states that you´ll get 9 % increased performance in FC2 (2560x1600 8xAA/16xAF) and 25 % in JC2 (2560x1600 no AA/AF - Concrete Jungle) these numbers are ofcourse the maximum that you will get.

[Art Blade]

Very good, deadman  :) :-X

[Art Blade]

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/Windows/257.21/257.21_desktop_win7_winvista_32bit_international_whql.exe&lang=uk&type=GeForce

lol 125 MB vid driver download  :D :)

[mandru]

I looked up the comparisons between our systems Art and it appears the the only difference is our graphics cards and some of the specialty controllers you've added.

Where you have the GTX260 mine is a GTX295 or basically two 260s with some additional memory unlocked.  I could add one or two more of the 295s in SLI (whoa, an insane and expensive proposition) if I sacrificed the PCIe slot for my sound card which I've not really used since I built this system.  My mother board does have a sufficient built in sound chip for watching videos.

I suspect that any future game developments that require the kind of muscle three 295s could provide would also require a complete rethink of any gaming system as we know it and at the same time render all of our systems outdated.

Maybe a game making full use of multi-threading, on a genuinely stable OS and based on one of the 48 (or higher) core CPUs that some of the tech sites like to speculate about is in all of our futures.

Hopefully I've built wise enough to stave those wolves off for a while.

The latest driver from Nvidia ver. 257.21 are now availible for download, and it´s WHQL certified.  :) The changelog states that you´ll get 9 % increased performance in FC2 (2560x1600 8xAA/16xAF) and 25 % in JC2 (2560x1600 no AA/AF - Concrete Jungle) these numbers are ofcourse the maximum that you will get.

Nice to know deadman but I'm afraid I'm a total loss at even beginning to know how to update a driver. In the past when I've tried to make those sort of updates I've had problems that have caused more harm than benefit.

[deadman1]

The latest driver from Nvidia ver. 257.21 are now availible for download, and it´s WHQL certified.  :) The changelog states that you´ll get 9 % increased performance in FC2 (2560x1600 8xAA/16xAF) and 25 % in JC2 (2560x1600 no AA/AF - Concrete Jungle) these numbers are ofcourse the maximum that you will get.

Nice to know deadman but I'm afraid I'm a total loss at even beginning to know how to update a driver. In the past when I've tried to make those sort of updates I've had problems that have caused more harm than benefit.

It´s not that hard mandru, this is how I do it:
1. I always start by using a program called "Driver cleaner pro"  http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

2. Tell the program to remove everything that comes from Nvidia (or ATI if you have those cards).

3. After a reboot I run the installer for the new drivers I have DL:ed and follow instructions on screen. Reboot when the installer tells you to and you´re done.

[PZ]

Thanks for the driver updates, guys.  mandru, I'm running a GTX-295 in my rig, and when I did the last driver update, the process was seamless, and well worth the effort.  My gaming significantly improved and made FC2 and JC2 run flawlessly.  In fact, I mentioned in a prior post somewhere that the update made a huge difference in ArmA2, which has always been a process hog.  I can run ArmA2 perfectly now.

The update itself was simple - download the file to your desktop, double-click it to start the installer, and when it's done, you're updated.  It's basically just like installing any kind of software application.

Here's a link to the Vista, W7 64-bit nVidia drivers:
http://www.nvidia.com/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/Windows/257.21/257.21_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit_english_whql.exe&lang=us&type=GeForce

[Art Blade]

mandru: I think our systems will be alright for some more time to come, and indeed my vid card is a little weaker (regarding shader units, mine is one of those with less, you're supposed to have the "better" one with more shader units in place per GTX260, two times in your case). Driver updates solve a lot over time until games really need more power ;)

deadman, nice.. I used to remove vid drivers too, but nowadays I just download the driver and hit install and let the system do the rest. Never had problems with that simple procedure. Apparently like PZ, I just hit install  ;D

[Dweller_Benthos]

I suspect that any future game developments that require the kind of muscle three 295s could provide would also require a complete rethink of any gaming system as we know it and at the same time render all of our systems outdated.

And can you imagine the heat that sucker would put out? I have a 280 or 290, forget exactly, and when running FC2 it's like sitting next to a space heater. Even on moderately warm days, or even not so warm, I have to run the A/C in my computer room just so the computer doesn't run up the room temperature too high.

[PZ]

I think that driver installations have come a long way since the days when you needed to download, unzip, enter into the control panel and seek out the proper driver.  The install applications have not failed me yet.  In fact, my worst example was when I lost power while doing a driver update - when I restarted my machine, all I did was double-click the file and it finished just fine.

[mandru]

Scary stuff guys.   :(

I know where to find these links now, I'll have to think on it a while.

[Art Blade]

alright mandru.. we'll let you know when a new driver update is available.  ;D

[Art Blade]

Thought I'd show this to you guys:

I decided to switch off SSAO, point light specular, Bokeh filter and GPU water simulation. The rest is on its max. Average fps 30.41, that I can live with, and everything looks still great :)

Having updated the nVidia driver 257.21 I now get 40.75 fps with these settings! whoa  :-X

[PZ]

Cool - that's impressive results for a new driver.  :-X

[Art Blade]

indeed it is. On a side note: Don't forget that there are always TWO ways of tuning vid results.

1) in game setup
2) vid driver setup

In my case I used the nVidia setup and uncompromisingly changed everything to "(high) performance" rather than high quality. Also, this time, I decided not to use "V-Sync" which may result in kind of sliced images sometimes (as if cut horizontally and slightly shifted upper and lower half of screen when changing directions rapidly) but overall it will improve performance.

[PZ]

That's a good tip - I know that I too sometimes forget to optimize the driver settings in the video card control panel within Windows.

[Art Blade]

Because I got so good results, for the fun of it I changed everything in game to max and it is still playable. Oh dear gods of game play, NOW this (JC2) looks so unbelievably great!  :o :o :o :-X I just did a low fly in a fighter jet and cruised around over deserts, jungle, villages... OH sweet Jesus on a bicycle, I don't believe it! ARGH, I could eat the graphics, so crisp and sweet! Wowzers!

[spaceboy]

OH sweet Jesus on a bicycle, I don't believe it! ARGH, I could eat the graphics, so crisp and sweet! Wowzers!

lol Art  ;D  I can feel the excitement!

[Art Blade]

hehehe  ;D

Imagine, in the end (before that driver update) I had changed everything to low so I could get a decent framerate. I used to get those annoying slow-downs, like driving fast on an empty road, then oncoming traffic and the vid result was like instant hand brake or something like that, going slow without going slow, and then the game would speed up again. Now, in a fighter jet , I flew over villages and roads "lo-flyer record" type and no lag at all, and everything maxed out! in-f***ing-credible!  :)

[spaceboy]

nice.  I gotta get back to Panau.   It'll feel great to get fast and vertical.  After playing, and enjoying, RDR so much recently I think the first thing I'll do is fly a jet straight into the sky then bail and free fall within inches of my death - only to grapple the ground to safety  ;)

[Art Blade]

very stylish, spaceboy  ;D :-X

[PZ]

Impressive report - now I can't wait to do the latest update - have downloaded it but have not had the chance to do an installation yet.

[fragger]

Wow - this has been a hot topic today ;D

Thanks for the wealth of info everyone, especially the data on the new nvidia driver.

But I've already decided on my next gaming rig:

[smg id=2393 align=center width=380]

[Art Blade]

LOL Yeah, why check local stores.. check world's top 500 super computers and go for the top 10 of those  ;D

By the way, US military use a super computer comprised of like 4,000+ PS3  ;D