I remember when I bought BF2 about a year ago I had a beaming smile on my face and a quick paced beat in my heart. I ran to the local video store and bought myself my copy, ripped open the plastic cover with my car keys and was amazed and excited all at the same time; it was like my first bicycle on Christmas Day. When I returned home I loaded the various discs, installed the game and watched in awe as the opening video launched. I chose my weapon of "Pure Pwnage," created an EA Account and dove right in. Unfortunately I lagged, everything skipped, my system froze up, I encountered the blue screen of death, and I even crashed to desktop. I sat there confused, annoyed and downright bummed. As it turned out though my system had held up to the requirements of what EA suggested it seemed that it just wasn't enough for the game to run on an advanced setting and my own satisfaction. Reluctantly I upgraded my system, effectively making my bank account as empty as my recycle bin.
With that in the past we are at another crossroads with 2142 nipping at our collected heels. An extremely large online community awaits a depart from the traditional classic multiplayer that was BF2 and prepares for a new, futuristic experience sure to refresh the already established community as well as invite new ones. My main concern is what plagued many-a-gamer when BF2 first came out, and that is the expense of upgrading.
Here is a list of what BF 2142 is "Recommending" for system requirements.
Recommended System Requirements: BF2142
Operating system: Windows XP with latest service pack installed
DirectX 9.0c February 2006 edition (included)
CPU: 3.0 Ghz
RAM: 1.5 Gb
Video Card: 256Mb DirectX compliant video card, Pixel shader 2.0 and above.
Hard Drive space: 1.8Gb of space is required to install the game
Internet connection: 512Mb Cable/DSL connection
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now if we were to turn back time to when BF2 came out, about a year ago, we can see what the system requirements were at that time.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: BF2
Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights
1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater
512 MB of RAM or more
8x or faster CD/DVD drive
2.3 GB free hard drive space or more
Video: DirectX 9.0c compatible (see video)
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible (Sound Blaster X-Fi series recommended )
VIDEO
Video card must have 128 MB or more memory and one of the following chipsets:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or greater
ATI Radeon 8500 or greater
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is my concern. When BF2 came out EA suggested system requirements that hardly ran the game. The gameplay was quite unstable and most settings had to be set to LOW. Currently my setup runs BF2 well enough to where I can set everything on High without any AA/AS settings, but they are completely different from what EA suggested when the game was introduced. For example:
BF2: Suggested vs. BF2: Actual
1.) 1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D 1.) Athlon 3000 64-bit
Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP
Sempron or greater
2.) 512 MB of RAM or more 2.) 2 Gigs of at least DDR400 (3200) RAM
3.) Video card must have 128 MB 3.) 7600 GT (PCIe) 256mb
or more memory and one of the
following chipsets:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or greater
ATI Radeon 8500 or greater
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seeing that both my CPU and GPU were 2 generations ahead of the suggested and my RAM was four times the requirement I shudder at the thought at the initial requirements for BF2142. If the numbers were the same from our previous experience then we would expect something such as this.
BF 2142: Suggested vs. BF 2142: Speculated*
1.) CPU: 3.0 Ghz 1.) CPU: 3.8 Ghz (dual core / 64 bit minimum)
2.) RAM: 1.5 Gb 2.) RAM: 3 Gb (DDR 400 minimum / dual channel)
3.) Video Card: 256Mb DirectX 3.) Video Card: 512Mb
compliant video card,
Pixel shader 2.0 and above.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok... so let's crunch some numbers shall we. If we were to hop on over to newegg.com for our needs let's see what we would be spending for this highly anticipated game.
Shopping List Speculated*:
1.) CPU: 3.8 Ghz (dual core / 64 bit minimum); 2.) RAM: 3 Gb (DDR 400 minimum / dual channel); 3.) Video Card: 512Mb
What we got:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail $187.00
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail $303.00
ATI Radeon X1950 XTX - Retail $449
Total: $939 (approx)
Though this is a speculation* of times to come and everyone's idea of optimal gameplay is different, one cannot overlook the changes that PC gamers financially deal with as 6-month old technology becomes obsolete. With the current state of PC technology and its ever changing environment combined with the advances developers have made over the past year alone one can see the unbelievable growth gaming has had over time. When we all power down for the night hardcore gamers that want only the best will upgrade regularly, but their numbers are few compared to the majority of gamers that simply cannot afford the speed at which their recreation changes.
GL and HF,
Drew
The author can be reached at www.moveordie.net
With that in the past we are at another crossroads with 2142 nipping at our collected heels. An extremely large online community awaits a depart from the traditional classic multiplayer that was BF2 and prepares for a new, futuristic experience sure to refresh the already established community as well as invite new ones. My main concern is what plagued many-a-gamer when BF2 first came out, and that is the expense of upgrading.
Here is a list of what BF 2142 is "Recommending" for system requirements.
Recommended System Requirements: BF2142
Operating system: Windows XP with latest service pack installed
DirectX 9.0c February 2006 edition (included)
CPU: 3.0 Ghz
RAM: 1.5 Gb
Video Card: 256Mb DirectX compliant video card, Pixel shader 2.0 and above.
Hard Drive space: 1.8Gb of space is required to install the game
Internet connection: 512Mb Cable/DSL connection
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now if we were to turn back time to when BF2 came out, about a year ago, we can see what the system requirements were at that time.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: BF2
Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights
1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater
512 MB of RAM or more
8x or faster CD/DVD drive
2.3 GB free hard drive space or more
Video: DirectX 9.0c compatible (see video)
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible (Sound Blaster X-Fi series recommended )
VIDEO
Video card must have 128 MB or more memory and one of the following chipsets:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or greater
ATI Radeon 8500 or greater
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is my concern. When BF2 came out EA suggested system requirements that hardly ran the game. The gameplay was quite unstable and most settings had to be set to LOW. Currently my setup runs BF2 well enough to where I can set everything on High without any AA/AS settings, but they are completely different from what EA suggested when the game was introduced. For example:
BF2: Suggested vs. BF2: Actual
1.) 1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D 1.) Athlon 3000 64-bit
Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP
Sempron or greater
2.) 512 MB of RAM or more 2.) 2 Gigs of at least DDR400 (3200) RAM
3.) Video card must have 128 MB 3.) 7600 GT (PCIe) 256mb
or more memory and one of the
following chipsets:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or greater
ATI Radeon 8500 or greater
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seeing that both my CPU and GPU were 2 generations ahead of the suggested and my RAM was four times the requirement I shudder at the thought at the initial requirements for BF2142. If the numbers were the same from our previous experience then we would expect something such as this.
BF 2142: Suggested vs. BF 2142: Speculated*
1.) CPU: 3.0 Ghz 1.) CPU: 3.8 Ghz (dual core / 64 bit minimum)
2.) RAM: 1.5 Gb 2.) RAM: 3 Gb (DDR 400 minimum / dual channel)
3.) Video Card: 256Mb DirectX 3.) Video Card: 512Mb
compliant video card,
Pixel shader 2.0 and above.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok... so let's crunch some numbers shall we. If we were to hop on over to newegg.com for our needs let's see what we would be spending for this highly anticipated game.
Shopping List Speculated*:
1.) CPU: 3.8 Ghz (dual core / 64 bit minimum); 2.) RAM: 3 Gb (DDR 400 minimum / dual channel); 3.) Video Card: 512Mb
What we got:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail $187.00
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail $303.00
ATI Radeon X1950 XTX - Retail $449
Total: $939 (approx)
Though this is a speculation* of times to come and everyone's idea of optimal gameplay is different, one cannot overlook the changes that PC gamers financially deal with as 6-month old technology becomes obsolete. With the current state of PC technology and its ever changing environment combined with the advances developers have made over the past year alone one can see the unbelievable growth gaming has had over time. When we all power down for the night hardcore gamers that want only the best will upgrade regularly, but their numbers are few compared to the majority of gamers that simply cannot afford the speed at which their recreation changes.
GL and HF,
Drew
The author can be reached at www.moveordie.net