I got the full boxed copy of Silent Hunter IV from my magazine, for review purposes, on March 15th (so I can imagine how some stores had it earlier
). However, since my main PC is at the repair shop, I had to try it on my older one (a desktop).
And here comes the problem. With these specs:
Intel P4 3,04 GHz
1GB RAM
Radeon 9800 SE 128MB RAM
latest drivers for everything, fully defragged HD
the game is totally unplayable.
I'm talking about a framerate <1 with *all the graphic options turned down*
If I go to a screen with no 3D rendering (i.e. the map screen) fluidity returns normal, but as soon as the game has to show a 3D ambient on screen (periscope, sub interior, bridge...) fluidity drops again like a rock. I would stress again how this happens
with all graphic options turned down - included the screen resolution.
On the same system I played SH3 without problems, and I actually reinstalled it just to check: fluidity for SH3 is just fine - so it is for other games ranging from IL-2 Sturmovik to Neverwinter Nights 2 (of course by reducing the graphic quality accordingly)
So, while waiting for my "monster" to return from the repair shop, my doubt is: should I look for some problem specific to my system, or the minimum specs printed by Ubisoft on the box simply are not enough? According to them, you should be able to play SHIV on a 2GHz PC with a Radeon 9600 - but it doesn't seem to be the case
Of course, since I'll review the game, I'll do some extensive checks on a variety of systems - but what is the general experience on the forum just now?
Thanks,
Vince