question about minimum requirements for games

[narreth]

If a game says its minimum requirement is a single core 3.0Ghz but you have a 1.8 dual core, it knows that you surpass the minimum requirements right?

Also, if the minimum requirements for a game is a 2.2 Ghz dual core and I have a 1.8 Ghz dual core overclocked to 3.0 Ghz, would the game load or would think I do not meet the minimum requirements?

 

[Lonyo]

Most system specs are on the box and the game pretty much never stops you from installing if you have different specs.
Most games don't even check.
The only problem comes if a game requires a certain level of hardware support from the graphics card, in which case it might not run if you have an older card.

 

[Twsmit]

The game is most likely referring to a 3.0ghz P4 single core. As long as you have a X2 or Core2 processor you will be fine. If you happen to have a 1.8ghz Pentium D then performance will probably suffer. But remember like Lonyo said, minimum requirements are more guidelines and there are rarely any sort of strict enforcement mechanism. Once installed if you are happy with the performance, then it is fast enough. If it runs like *&^$ then you might want to upgrade.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: narreth
If a game says its minimum requirement is a single core 3.0Ghz but you have a 1.8 dual core, it knows that you surpass the minimum requirements right?

Also, if the minimum requirements for a game is a 2.2 Ghz dual core and I have a 1.8 Ghz dual core overclocked to 3.0 Ghz, would the game load or would think I do not meet the minimum requirements?[/quote]

That '3GHz' would be referring to P4 clockspeeds. So any equivalent AMD CPU (like an A64 3000+) should also be OK. A 1.8GHz C2D would be faster than a 3GHz P4. Even a 1.8GHz A64 X2 will match a 3GHz P4 in gaming performance, and exceed it if the game is multithreaded.

Again, just using clockspeeds as a guide is vague. What 2.2GHz dual core are they mean? A 2.2GHz C2D is a lot faster than a 2.2GHz A64 X2, for example. Anyway, a dual core overclocked to 3GHz (whether it be C2D or A64 X2) should be more than fast enough for most games out there.

 

[CTho9305]

If a game says its minimum requirement is a single core 3.0Ghz but you have a 1.8 dual core, it knows that you surpass the minimum requirements right?

As others have pointed out, that probably refers to a P4. Just to be clear though, if something did require a 3 GHz AMD CPU or Core2, multiple lower-speed cores may not be fast enough for the game (i.e. if it isn't threaded).

 

[nerp]

Just load the game. If the performance is horrible, consider an upgrade.

 

[Gaurav Duggal]

go to http://www.yougamers.com/games/?mainnavi=true and locate the game you wan't to run, then click on the link to the right labelled 'run now'. This will evaluate if the game will run on your PC based on ur 3Dmark06 score. It is fairly accurate test

 

[Bateluer]

As others have said, the system requirements are guidelines, and rarely do games actually check. I do have a few older games that give me some sass-mouth on installation because they don't understand my C2D, my 2900XT, my 4GB of RAM, or my massive hard drives. NWN1 always warns me that I don't meet the minimum system requirements before install, and then presets all the settings to low/640x480 after install. The game runs stellar though when I crank up the settings to a more acceptable rate.

 

[zsdersw]

Originally posted by: TwsmitIf you happen to have a 1.8ghz Pentium D

Those don't exist, unless they're underclocked.

 

[betasub]

oh noes! teh game req 3.0GHz PCU or better and i only hv 2.9GHz. QX6800 is teh suck!

 

[Twsmit]

Originally posted by: zsdersw

Originally posted by: TwsmitIf you happen to have a 1.8ghz Pentium D

Those don't exist, unless they're underclocked.

oops should have written 2.8

 

[tigersty1e]

Depends on the game.

Rainbow six Vegas requires a 3.5 GHz processor... I have C2D 1.8 OC'd to 3.15 GHz, which should destroy that game (or any other game out there), but the game thinks I don't have the horsepower to run it....

Doesn't matter, but some games may limit your graphics options. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter doesn't let you select high textures if you have a 256MB card even though a 3850 256MB or 8800 GT 256 MB should run that game on high with no problems.

 

[northy84]

Originally posted by: Gaurav Duggal
go to http://www.yougamers.com/games/?mainnavi=true and locate the game you wan't to run, then click on the link to the right labelled 'run now'. This will evaluate if the game will run on your PC based on ur 3Dmark06 score. It is fairly accurate test

good site! wish i knew about it sooner. that will make it so much simpler to tell ppl if a game sohuld work or not.