Software graphics challenge

Kyleran

I'm planning to upgrade my laptop PC next spring but I got to wondering how my current one would handle newer games in a "release" or near launch state.

Can anyone suggest a game which will challenge my rig from a graphics standpoint which doesn't cost a lot of money as its mostly just to test this out.

Not too fussy what genre, single player, MMO or even if its in early release, as long as its not some terribly optimised POS that even quantum computers would have difficulty running.

Just something typically being enjoyed by a decent sized audiance today but still provides a very good graphical experience for those who have the hardware for it.

 

Quizzical

Kyleran said:

Not too fussy what genre, single player, MMO or even if its in early release, as long as its not some terribly optimised POS that even quantum computers would have difficulty running.

 

Quantum computers would have difficulty running Pong, let alone anything remotely modern.  Quantum doesn't mean "fast".  It means a different paradigm that it is hoped will be able to do certain things efficiently that are very slow (e.g., exponential time) on a classical computer.  But for things that normal computers are good at, such as 3D graphics, quantum computers are very unlikely to ever be competitive.

As to your question, I'd check some recent video card reviews and look at what games they use, as they tend to focus on especially demanding games.  Sometimes the games are demanding because they're unoptimized or use code designed with the express intent of running poorly on a competitor's hardware (GameWorks).  That won't tell you anything about the price tag to get the game, though.

Asheram

Wouldn't his question be easier to answer if he gave his pc specs as I played Shadow of Mordor and Witcher 3 just fine on my gtx 660 graphics card settings not maxed out though. Aren't cards up to the 1000's now?

Vrika

For MMO's there's free FF XIV benchmark available:
  https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/

But honestly you can't properly test how your rig handles games in advance unless it's either really good rig or really bad rig. With anything in between the result varies from one game to another. Just use your computer as long as it handles the games you want to play, and upgrade when you want to play something it can't handle.

Iselin

The Witcher 3 would be my recommendation. Might as well enjoy yourself while you test.

Flyte27

I have a GTX 1070 and still can't run the maximum settings at 1080p 60 fps in the Witcher 3.  The Hairworks alone seems to kill performance.

I seem to recall Mass Effect Andromeda running poorly when I played a few months ago.  I never finished the game.  I think I had to turn down the resolution of the render settings and upscale the image to 1080p to prevent framerate losses.  It may have been fixed at this point.  Like Dragon Age Inquistion I felt the game was poor compared to it's previous iterations.

Kyleran

Vrika said:

For MMO's there's free FF XIV benchmark available:
  https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/

But honestly you can't properly test how your rig handles games in advance unless it's either really good rig or really bad rig. With anything in between the result varies from one game to another. Just use your computer as long as it handles the games you want to play, and upgrade when you want to play something it can't handle.

Thanks for the benchmark link, ran two tests, with the following results.

Test 1
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Stormblood Benchmark
Tested on: 9/30/2017 2:08:12 PM
Score: 11729
Average Frame Rate: 85.916
Performance: Extremely High
 -Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.
Loading Times by Scene
  Scene #1    3.276 sec
  Scene #2    3.826 sec
  Scene #3    2.950 sec
  Scene #4    4.024 sec
  Scene #5    7.826 sec
  Scene #6    1.761 sec
Total Loading Time    23.664 sec

Screen Size: 1280x720
Screen Mode: Windowed
DirectX Version: 11
Graphics Presets: High (Laptop)

Test 2
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Stormblood Benchmark
Tested on: 9/30/2017 3:14:35 PM
Score: 8302
Average Frame Rate: 57.785
Performance: Extremely High
 -Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.
Loading Times by Scene
  Scene #1    2.967 sec
  Scene #2    4.414 sec
  Scene #3    3.388 sec
  Scene #4    4.498 sec
  Scene #5    8.793 sec
  Scene #6    2.295 sec
Total Loading Time    26.356 sec

Screen Size: 1920x1080
Screen Mode: Windowed
DirectX Version: 11
Graphics Presets: High (Laptop)

Kyleran

Just a follow-up, happened to purchase Fallout 4 in a recent Steam sale and during the install it basically called my laptop a brick and put all graphic settings at the lowest level.

I decided the game was full of crap and reset it to the native 1920 by whatever mode and "high" settings. 

So far the graphics have looked great with no issues, might try bumping it up to max just to see what happens.

Kyleran

Good suggestion, happened to purchase all 3 of the Witcher titles on sale on GOG, so I'll check it out. 

Kyleran

Torval said:

Let us know how you like the combat. I found Witcher 1 combat to be a bit of a frustrating chore. I've read TW3 is much improved in that way.

Wasn't sure if I shouldn't start at Witcher 3 first, bought the first 2 because they were offered for next to free.

Flyte27

Torval said:

Let us know how you like the combat. I found Witcher 1 combat to be a bit of a frustrating chore. I've read TW3 is much improved in that way.

The problem is the engine was made for turn-based combat, but they tried to make it more action-oriented.  If you got ard and igni signs maxed out the game was fairly easy even on the most difficult settings.  All you need is ard, igni, tawny owl, and swallow.  To me, the story was worth it.  I also found the graphics were quite nice for a game built on the NWN engine.

I just finished the Witcher 1 and 2 again.  I really enjoyed both games story wise.  The combat in the second is a bit improved, but on Dark Mode difficulty you often die in one hit.  This makes some battles quite frustrating.  I love how both the first and second games have two very different paths you can take.  I prefer siding with non-humans from a story standpoint in both games.

My biggest disappointment in the Witcher series is that the choices don't carry over much from game to game.  You often end up with only a very limited amount of choices you made in the previous game carrying over to the next game. 

I'm planning to play through 3 again soon, but I find it a bit disappointing that there is no siding with non-humans in this game.  It is all about Niflgard vs the Northern Realms and the Wild Hunt.

Kyleran

Thanks @Flyte27, very helpful info and has me thinking perhaps when the time comes I'll play them in order.

But for right now Fallout 4 has all my attention as I continue to rampage through hordes of Super Mutants, Scavengers, Feral Ghouls and Synths.

So many things to kill, not nearly enough ammo.

SEANMCAD

ok i am going to ask it.

Why not get a desktop and then a chromebook or something for bedtime movies. You would likely spend less and have a much better gaming experience

Flyte27

Your welcome.

It's worthwhile to play through the whole series.

The first two games start slow but get much better after the starting areas.

I also would suggest one more thing.  In the first game, you should only keep a few saves and when you do save overwrite old saves always.  The game starts to slow down and crash if you have too many saves. 

The second game has a similar issue.  Unfortunately, it doesn't allow you to overwrite old saves.  It always creates a new one.  I periodically went in through Windows Explorer and moved the old saves to another folder.  The Good Old Games version never seemed to crash like the Steam version, but it still took a long time to show all the saves when clicking on load.  I think the steam version has more issues due to the cloud save feature.  

In addition, there are also graphical issues. 

The first game's issues are alluding me for some reason.  The only thing I can remember is that if you wanted vsync you had to turn it on via the Nvidia control panel.  I remember the hair would animate weird in some cut scenes.

The second game had lots of FPS slowdown if you leave vsync turned on for me.  I'm not sure why this is as I have a GTX 1070.  If I enable vsync via the Nvidia control panel it seems to work fine.  

Kyleran

SEANMCAD said:

ok i am going to ask it.

Why not get a desktop and then a chromebook or something for bedtime movies. You would likely spend less and have a much better gaming experience

You aren't the first person to ask, Quizzical always does when I seek advice on the latest laptop hardware.

Long ago and far away I used to game in my "den" on a desktop, back in the vanilla WOW days in fact.

I think it was after months of slavishly showing up for raids at 8 pm and playing until 1:00 am at least 5 days a week, and of course farming mats for the next raid the other 2 days my wife grew rather weary never "seeing me."

The gaming laptop is a compromise, I sit on my recliner in the TV room and pretend to watch it with her (Ive gotten rather good at appearing to be following along) and it keeps her happy. 

No space in the TV room for a desktop, and it would "break the illusion" were I to put one there.

Besides, I rather enjoy gaming in the recliner, I do get to watch some TV, sometimes the same show multiple times to catch it all.

Which is no problem as she tends to fall asleep and has to rewatch the same show several times anyways. 

One pro tip, if we're watching a Netflix series I watch several shows ahead of her (without telling of course) and then when she gets around to it I really appear to be paying close attention. 

The things I do for peace and quiet.

SEANMCAD

Kyleran said:

SEANMCAD said:

ok i am going to ask it.

Why not get a desktop and then a chromebook or something for bedtime movies. You would likely spend less and have a much better gaming experience

You aren't the first person to ask, Quizzical always does when I seek advice on the latest laptop hardware.

Long ago and far away I used to game in my "den" on a desktop, back in the vanilla WOW days in fact.

I think it was after months of slavishly showing up for raids at 8 pm and playing until 1:00 am at least 5 days a week, and of course farming mats for the next raid the other 2 days my wife grew rather weary never "seeing me."

The gaming laptop is a compromise, I sit on my recliner in the TV room and pretend to watch it with her (Ive gotten rather good at appearing to be following along) and it keeps her happy. 

No space in the TV room for a desktop, and it would "break the illusion" were I to put one there.

Besides, I rather enjoy gaming in the recliner, I do get to watch some TV, sometimes the same show multiple times to catch it all.

Which is no problem as she tends to fall asleep and have to rewatch the same show several times anyways. 

One pro tip, if we're watching a Netflix series I watch several shows ahead of her (without telling of course) and then when she gets around to it I really appear to be paying close attention. 

The things I do for peace and quiet.

I would consider Remote Desktop. 
still would need a good laptop though but maybe not that good.

anyway...good answer thanks I was curious