4 Year Old System STILL running Ultra? How?

[udontneed2know]

I've been curious about this for awhile but right now my bro has a comp he built atleast 3 or close to 4 years ago and still able to play games like Shogun II and Crysis 2 on max settings without many issues. This is at 1600 x 1000 or whatever that resolution is at that range ( not x 900 ) with AA.

He runs a Core 2 Duo -3.0 Ghz with 4GB of DDR2 and a GTX 260. Nothing overclocked but the GPU very slightly. Yet here I am playing Shogun II just now and looked at the settings. Everything on Ultra or whatever, Very High, and still no slowdown and looks amazing.

I looked at the back of the box for Shogun II and I know it said Quad Core CPU with a newer GPU recommended. 460GTX if I remember right. And no SLI running either.

What is the secret?!

 

[Insomniator]

Consoles

 

[Rifter]

simple, he is not running max settings. its not possible. his card is not DX 11.

That and playable framerates mean wildly different things to different people.

 

[blastingcap]

Consoles

+1

 

[Red Hawk]

Consoles

Not a valid point since Shogun 2 has no console versions.

 

[Seero]

I've been curious about this for awhile but right now my bro has a comp he built atleast 3 or close to 4 years ago and still able to play games like Shogun II and Crysis 2 on max settings without many issues. This is at 1600 x 1000 or whatever that resolution is at that range ( not x 900 ) with AA.

He runs a Core 2 Duo -3.0 Ghz with 4GB of DDR2 and a GTX 260. Nothing overclocked but the GPU very slightly. Yet here I am playing Shogun II just now and looked at the settings. Everything on Ultra or whatever, Very High, and still no slowdown and looks amazing.

I looked at the back of the box for Shogun II and I know it said Quad Core CPU with a newer GPU recommended. 460GTX if I remember right. And no SLI running either.

What is the secret?!

Define "without many issues". If you simply wants to run a game, then yes, there will not be many issues. If under 24 FPS is not an issue, then yes, GTX260 is still okay. By Ultra, I believe you mean some settings are on ultra, but not all. There are lots of optimization that can be done as long as your brother knows where the bottlenecks are and avoid them. Other than in game setting, you can override settings via drivers. Most games are not taking advantages of 64 bit OS, meaning 4gb is enough as the game itself will never use more than 4gb, usually under 2gb of usage. Highly optimize OS will allow 3gb of free RAM and minimal CPU usage.

 

[Ben90]

That and playable framerates mean wildly different things to different people.

^^

 

[GotNoRice]

Almost all of the hardware in my main computer dates back to 2008 or so and my computer walks all over most computers that are 2+ years newer. My previous system was a Dual Xeon system that I built in 2003 and used for over 5 years.

Good hardware doesn't just go obsolete in a year or two, and if you make good decisions, it can last much longer.

 

[tigersty1e]

Shogun 2 can be played well with ultra settings on dx9.

I had it running on my 4890 very well. But with 2 large armies fighting, it will dip down to the low 20s. RTS games still look smooth with 30+ fps.

 

[PrayForDeath]

That and playable framerates mean wildly different things to different people.

This x 10000

I still game on my old 1GB 9800 GT. I run most games at the highest possible settings @ 1920x1200 (Witcher 2 minus ubersampling ofc, Deus Ex: HR, Dirt:2, Portal 2, ME2) and they all run just fine. However, I prefer image quality over framerates, so I don't mind dipping below 20 FPS if the game looks gorgeous.

I was actually surprised by how well Witcher 2 ran on my PC considering the graphics quality of that game. (everything maxed minus US, average FPS around 21)

 

[houe]

What is the secret?!

He is a liar?

 

[lsv]

This x 10000

I still game on my old 1GB 9800 GT. I run most games at the highest possible settings @ 1920x1200 (Witcher 2 minus ubersampling ofc, Deus Ex: HR, Dirt:2, Portal 2, ME2) and they all run just fine. However, I prefer image quality over framerates, so I don't mind dipping below 20 FPS if the game looks gorgeous.

I was actually surprised by how well Witcher 2 ran on my PC considering the graphics quality of that game. (everything maxed minus US, average FPS around 21)

21? Eek man. :| I can't do anything under 45~ it starts to feel choppy. I play on high/ultra settings but at 720p just so i never dip below 40~fps in things like Witcher 2/DE:HR.

 

[nitromullet]

Almost all of the hardware in my main computer dates back to 2008 or so and my computer walks all over most computers that are 2+ years newer. My previous system was a Dual Xeon system that I built in 2003 and used for over 5 years.

Good hardware doesn't just go obsolete in a year or two, and if you make good decisions, it can last much longer.

To each is own, but buying the most expensive top of the line hardware at a given time and keeping it for years has never been the best way to get the best value IMO.

Case in point, a 4870 X2 cost me $569.99 back in Aug 2008 and a 5870 cost me $379.99 in Oct 2009 (I grabbed this from my NE history). Arguably, 5870 CF and 4870X2 CF perform roughly the same, but the 5870 supports DX11 and consumes less power than the 4870X2. Even if the 4870 X2 was sold at a $100 loss (which it wasn't), I pocketed ~$100 just from selling the 4870X2 and upgrading to a 5870.

I don't know how much you paid for your 4870X2's, but essentially you now own a power guzzling, older feature set, with almost no resale value system that performs about on par with a 6950 CF system that would run you $500-600 today. Had you sold the 4870 X2's around the time the 5870s launched, upgraded to 5870s, and subsequently 6950s; you would have just as much (or more) performance and without spending another dime out of pocket. Plus you'd still have cards that were actually worth something.

 

[trollolo]

anything under 30 FPS and extended play starts wearing on my eyes, those of you dealing with <20 FPS are much more tolerant than i am

 

[GotNoRice]

To each is own, but buying the most expensive top of the line hardware at a given time and keeping it for years has never been the best way to get the best value IMO.

Case in point, a 4870 X2 cost me $569.99 back in Aug 2008 and a 5870 cost me $379.99 in Oct 2009 (I grabbed this from my NE history). Arguably, 5870 CF and 4870X2 CF perform roughly the same, but the 5870 supports DX11 and consumes less power than the 4870X2. Even if the 4870 X2 was sold at a $100 loss (which it wasn't), I pocketed ~$100 just from selling the 4870X2 and upgrading to a 5870.

I don't know how much you paid for your 4870X2's, but essentially you now own a power guzzling, older feature set, with almost no resale value system that performs about on par with a 6950 CF system that would run you $500-600 today. Had you sold the 4870 X2's around the time the 5870s launched, upgraded to 5870s, and subsequently 6950s; you would have just as much (or more) performance and without spending another dime out of pocket. Plus you'd still have cards that were actually worth something.

That's not what I did at all though. I bought both of my 4870x2 cards used right after the release of the 5870 and ended up paying less for both cards than it would have cost me to get a single 5870, while ending up with a setup that can outperform a 5970. I've now used these cards for 2 years and I still feel like I'm in a great spot for upcoming games such as Battlefield 3. DirectX11 games run on DirectX10.1 hardware by design so the only thing I'm really missing out on are a few individual features such as Tessellation.

I think there are many cases where older hardware can be quite the bargain.

 

[nitromullet]

That's not what I did at all though. I bought both of my 4870x2 cards used right after the release of the 5870 and ended up paying less for both cards than it would have cost me to get a single 5870, while ending up with a setup that can outperform a 5970. I've now used these cards for 2 years and I still feel like I'm in a great spot for upcoming games such as Battlefield 3. DirectX11 games run on DirectX10.1 hardware by design so the only thing I'm really missing out on are a few individual features such as Tessellation.

I think there are many cases where older hardware can be quite the bargain.

Oh yeah, definitely... You can find some good used deals. You had indicated in your previous post that your gear was from 2008, so I assumed a new purchase on the 4870 X2s. Buying two of them a year old for less than the price of a singe 5870 is a steal, and there is no way I would have ever let mine go for that much at that time. Kudos on that!

 

[Leyawiin]

anything under 30 FPS and extended play starts wearing on my eyes, those of you dealing with <20 FPS are much more tolerant than i am

I start getting fussy under 40 FPS.

 

[dennilfloss]

I thought the title was about a Diamond Viper V770 Ultra.

 

[toyota]

sorry but he is not maxing all games at 1600 with AA on that system and getting good performance. as someone who just got rid of an E8500 at 3.8 and overclocked gtx260, I know that's not possible.

 

[timma]

upgrade to GTX 460 or 6850~

 

[FalseChristian]

My old system is a E8400 overclocked to 3.5GHz and 2 GTX 460 1GB overclocked to 870/1740/4200 and I can still run Crysis and Crysis 2 at very good frame rates.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

He does not have DX 11. DX 11 in Shogun 2 adds quite a bit of extra eye candy. Same for Crysis 2. He is not running maxed out. Maxed out DX 9 is very different from maxed out DX 11.