SH5 Updates from the SUBSIM meeting next week

[EXT64]

I would like to point out though that while I'm sure SH5 will require more card than SH4, looking at it from a purely memory standpoint is a mistake. Memory certainly is part of the equation, however I'd really say it is smaller than the GPU in importance. Here's why:

If you have an older GC, you probably have an older monitor as well. Older monitor probably means lower resolution. More vram is most beneficial for higher resolution displays as it needs a bigger buffer for the renders. In other words, if you have a 256MB GC, don't give up. However, if you have a very low end Graphics processor, you might want to look into saving up for a new one. Decent cards can be had in the $50 (USD) area, so while certainly not free, you are already going to spend $50 for the game, why not put equal into the computer you will be playing it on? I know of some fairly high resolution games that ran fine on a 256MB vram card at 1280x1024, so I doubt SH5 at med/low will exceed that.

[THE_MASK]

I bet SH5 will have a minimum of 256mb graphics card ram and a recommended of 512mg graphics ram . In the end i would say 512 will be the real minimum to play with all graphic settings on high

[Fluffysheap]

Actually, render buffer is a quite small portion of the total video memory nowadays. Texture and model data use much more memory, and these are required for model detail. The lowest sensible resolution at this point is 1280x1024, which (including 32-bit color, z-buffer, and double buffer) is only 15MB of memory.

More to the point it is uncommon to buy a 256MB video card since 2007 (and 512MB video cards were readily available in 2006, but most of the people that would buy such a card will upgrade before four years anyway). The game is released in 2010, I think it is not unreasonable to expect a video card 3 years old or newer. Today, it is possible to get a capable video card for cheap, briefly looking around I see ATI 4670 with 1GB which is a quite nice card actually for only $55... and the 4850 which is recommended for SH5 by the devs costs $100, today. You can expect these prices will have come down even more by the time the game is released!

Everyone involved in PC gaming has to just accept that periodically hardware upgrades are required, but by buying an older-model card every year or two, you will benefit from always having adequate hardware for not very much money. You will never have the latest thing but you will always have something that is adequate. (Works for other stuff too... how much is a Core 2 8000-series motherboard and CPU these days?)

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Fluffysheap

Actually, render buffer is a quite small portion of the total video memory nowadays. Texture and model data use much more memory, and these are required for model detail. The lowest sensible resolution at this point is 1280x1024, which (including 32-bit color, z-buffer, and double buffer) is only 15MB of memory.

I'm no expert in Direct X but I have played around with it. You are forgetting about the stencil buffer and maybe the developers of the game are rendering to more than one back buffer. There could be other buffers also. What about shaders? They take up video memory. But your point is correct, these buffers and shaders use a very small portion of the available video card memory.

Also in the video card discussion you need to account for what shader version it supports amid other things, Specifically what are it's capabilities? How many lights can it handle at one time? Whether this is GPU dependant or not I don't know. I just grab a Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D.DeviceCaps structure and query what the end user's video card has or doesn't have to know what my applications and games can do based on the user's system.