Crytek offers $699 PC guaranteed to run Crysis Warhead at 30fps on High settings

It may not be a need for you guys, but for hardcore PC gamers/hardware enthusiasts it comes close. On this board you're probably going to come across the general opinion that it's pointless to blow thousands on a gaming rig. Go to the Crysis, PC gaming, or especially the PC hardware boards though and the general opinion is the exact opposite. PC gaming enthusiasts tend to have the "we must because we can" mentality. Does anyone need a PC with a quad core CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, GTX280s in quad SLI, an agea physics card, a top of the line soundcard, and a water cooling system (or something more insane) that allows them to overclock everything well past what the engineers who made the devices thought possible? No, no one needs a setup like that. But that hasn't stopped people from building rigs like that just so they can play Crysis at the settings I described.

gameguy6700

In my experince people who get a rig like that are over powered by the need to have the best so they can show off to all their friends and in a lot of cases strangers over the internet and maxing out Crysis or what ever is the game benchmark at the time is only a side effect. Becuase if maxing out Crysis was the major motive then that person could have spent a lot less and still have maxed out the game, but if he did that he wouldn't have his ultra system to show everyone.

I just bought one with twice as much ram and a quad core last week... paid about $725 total. Prebuilt from a chain store no less.SophinaK

Yeah, but the most important part for gaming--the graphics card--is a 8500. With this rig you get a 9800. Your rig is not even comparable in terms of game performance to this rig which is even cheaper.

Quad-core CPU's are a joke, really. Rarely any software (games or otherwise) actually uses it to its full potential. It's overkill, dual-core is more than enough. Also, like I already said, RAM is dirt cheap and anyone can stick another 2 gig in there for pocket change. The graphics card is hands down the most important part and a 8500 isn't even in the same league as the 9800.

[QUOTE="SophinaK"]I just bought one with twice as much ram and a quad core last week... paid about $725 total. Prebuilt from a chain store no less.UpInFlames

Yeah, but the most important part for gaming--the graphics card--is a 8500. With this rig you get a 9800. Your rig is not even comparable in terms of game performance to this rig which is even cheaper.

Quad-core CPU's are a joke, really. Rarely any software (games or otherwise) actually uses it to its full potential. It's overkill, dual-core is more than enough. Also, like I already said, RAM is dirt cheap and anyone can stick another 2 gig in there for pocket change. The graphics card is hands down the most important part and a 8500 isn't even in the same league as the 9800.

I only have the 8600 and I can play most everything on med to high. Though I havent gotten around to picking up Crysis yet admitingly if you are on a budget you can downgrade the graphics card in that system to save some mula and still run all of todays games fine and have a system that will last for a while.GodModeEnabled

The point is that the Crytek rig is better than Sophina's and it's cheaper. With a 9800 you can max out every game not named Crysis. The 8500 and even the 8600 are simply not comparable. People compare dual-core CPU's to quad-core, but the reality is that game-wise you don't get any significant performance difference between the two. The difference in performance between a 8500 and a 9800 is massive.

Quad-core CPU's are a joke, really. Rarely any software (games or otherwise) actually uses it to its full potential. It's overkill, dual-core is more than enough.

UpInFlames

Yes, for now. Sooner or later her quad core will outperform high-end dual cores and Sophina is not the kind of person who upgrades her rig every second year. In the long run a quad core is better for Soph.

Check the full article here.

Crytek, Nvidia, and EA have teamed to create the "Warhead PC," a prebuilt machine that will be available for purchase alongside Crysis Warhead through UltraPC next week. Although the PC's exact specifications aren't expected to be announced until next week, Remo noted that the build will feature an Intel Core2 Duo e7300 (@2.66GHz) processor, an Nvidia 9800GT graphics chip, and 2GB of RAM.

As noted by Crysis franchise producer Bernd Diemer, EA and Crytek aren't attempting to make a move on the hardware space; rather, the goal of offering the PC is to prove that high-end gaming doesn't require thousands of dollars in investment.

"When we started working on Warhead, we decided performance was a big issue," said Diemer. "So we said, 'Guys, we're going to build a PC which has a maximum price of six or seven hundred dollars, and it has to run Warhead in high spec at an average frame rate of 30.' We built that PC--Crytek in the Budapest office [where Warhead was developed]--and we put it in the middle of the studio, and every review was on that machine... For us, it was really helpful, because we sort of had a hard cap."

I think that's an awesome rig for a more than reasonable amount of money especially considering that Crysis is the benchmark for graphics right now (and that probably won't change anytime soon). Also, seeing how RAM is dirt-cheap these days, one could stick another 2 Gig in there for even better performance.

But of course, gaming PC's cost $5000 and PC gaming is dying, so...

UpInFlames

Wow. Sounds extremely tempting. Being a console gamer most of my life, I've wondered what I'm missing on the PC side, and to be completely honest, this PC makes me pause and consider.

Yes, for now. Sooner or later her quad core will outperform high-end dual cores and Sophina is not the kind of person who upgrades her rig every second year. In the long run a quad core is better for Soph.RK-Mara

But she faces a mandatory graphics card upgrade (the most expensive upgrade you can face) to be able to keep up with the latest games. Not so with the Crytek rig - which is--again--cheaper. CPU's are not nearly as relevant. Hell, my Athlon 64 3000+ at 2.0 GHz relic can still pull its weight even when playing Crysis. Every other game I can max out with no problem. Why? Because of my very nice 7900GS. The dual-core in the Crytek rig will be able to hold its own for years.

[QUOTE="RK-Mara"]Yes, for now. Sooner or later her quad core will outperform high-end dual cores and Sophina is not the kind of person who upgrades her rig every second year. In the long run a quad core is better for Soph.UpInFlames

But she faces a mandatory graphics card upgrade (the most expensive upgrade you can face) to be able to keep up with the latest games. Not so with the Crytek rig - which is--again--cheaper. CPU's are not nearly as relevant. Hell, my Athlon 64 3000+ at 2.0 GHz relic can still pull its weight even when playing Crysis. Every other game I can max out with no problem. Why? Because of my very nice 7900GS. The dual-core in the Crytek rig will be able to hold its own for years.

Heh. I know it's not a top end graphics card... but I could upgrade it in a year to a better one, and even though the graphics card is the most expensive upgrade I could have to make, I would have to make multiple upgrades to the Crytek system to bring it to the level that one upgrade would bring mine to.

Besides, I didn't put that comment in to state "oh my god what a ripoff, mine is so much better" (because it isn't). I meant it more as a "this isn't so nonstandard, is it? I just bought blah blah for a similar price." Especially where S0lid had just specifically mentioned twice as much ram and a quad core...

Heh. I know it's not a top end graphics card... but I could upgrade it in a year to a better one, and even though the graphics card is the most expensive upgrade I could have to make, I would have to make multiple upgrades to the Crytek system to bring it to the level that one upgrade would bring mine to.SophinaK

Yes, but the point remains that those other upgrades don't make that much of a difference performance-wise whereas the graphics card upgrade makes all the difference.

Besides, I didn't put that comment in to state "oh my god what a ripoff, mine is so much better" (because it isn't). I meant it more as a "this isn't so nonstandard, is it? I just bought blah blah for a similar price." Especially where S0lid had just specifically mentioned twice as much ram and a quad core...SophinaK

That's cool, I was just reporting something that might be of interest to people since obviously not a whole lot of people actually know this. They think PC's that can run Crysis cost thousands of dollars. My only intent (and indeed Crytek's) is to show that this is indeed possible, not that it's anything new. I already know this - I helped a fellow GGD regular to build a Crysis-capable PC for $500.

That's cool, I was just reporting something that might be of interest to people since obviously not a whole lot of people actually know this. They think PC's that can run Crysis cost thousands of dollars. My only intent (and indeed Crytek's) is to show that this is indeed possible, not that it's anything new. I already know this - I helped a fellow GGD regular to build a Crysis-capable PC for $500.

UpInFlames

I so wish I knew how to do that. :P

[QUOTE="UpInFlames"]

That's cool, I was just reporting something that might be of interest to people since obviously not a whole lot of people actually know this. They think PC's that can run Crysis cost thousands of dollars. My only intent (and indeed Crytek's) is to show that this is indeed possible, not that it's anything new. I already know this - I helped a fellow GGD regular to build a Crysis-capable PC for $500.

SophinaK

I so wish I knew how to do that. :P

So does rragnaar. :P

[QUOTE="SophinaK"][QUOTE="UpInFlames"]

That's cool, I was just reporting something that might be of interest to people since obviously not a whole lot of people actually know this. They think PC's that can run Crysis cost thousands of dollars. My only intent (and indeed Crytek's) is to show that this is indeed possible, not that it's anything new. I already know this - I helped a fellow GGD regular to build a Crysis-capable PC for $500.

SteelAttack

I so wish I knew how to do that. :P

So does rragnaar. :P

Hey!:evil:

...oddly enough I might buy something like Sophina's rig(link please!) since I have a brand spanking new GPU and 4GBs of RAM just sitting around gathering dust.

Hey!:evil:

...oddly enough I might buy something like Sophina's rig(link please!) since I have a brand spanking new GPU and 4GBs of RAM just sitting around gathering dust.

rragnaar

I bought mine at Circuit City (I had lotsa gift cards), theres not a link, sadly because it is a store-only model not offered online.

I sympathize completely with the not knowing which parts go with what. I don't dare buy anything on my own, I just don't know enough.

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]

Hey!:evil:

...oddly enough I might buy something like Sophina's rig(link please!) since I have a brand spanking new GPU and 4GBs of RAM just sitting around gathering dust.

SophinaK

I bought mine at Circuit City (I had lotsa gift cards), theres not a link, sadly because it is a store-only model not offered online.

I sympathize completely with the not knowing which parts go with what. I don't dare buy anything on my own, I just don't know enough.

Same here.

I would never have been able to call myself a PC gamer if Flames hadn't actually explained to me that you can play Crysis (and play it well!) on a $600 computer. There's so much misinformation out there about parts and the actual building process that it just overwhelmed me every time I thought about trying to crack into the PC market.

(Major points to Crytek for their effort on the impressive rig, BTW)

Screw laptops. But hey man, if you can really get a quad core desktop for the same price, please do post links. Not as proof for me, but perhaps some people here would be interested in such deals.

UpInFlames

Wouldn't that violate the ToU? Besides, most of them are Gateway computers. And I'm not so inhumane to encourage people to buy them, unless they just like setting money on fire.

But since you requested it, here you go. You can find more on the site as well. Or just scour Newegg.

Well,since Crysis could run on a 600 Bucks machine without problems...I saw it at a Friend and played it a bit (on a 1900er Resolution).Since there is no V-Sync-Option as it looks the game seems a bit strange anyway...I mean...technically awesome game but exept a bunch of details I wasn´t flashed by it.

A Dual Core,with 2GB (he got 4 but XP does only use up to 2GB for games) of Ram and a GeForce 8800 should be egnough and they are almost Standard today.I saw such a thing at a discounter here for 555 Euro (well...in Germany...but basically it´s the same price in Dollars in most cases)

[QUOTE="SophinaK"]Heh. I know it's not a top end graphics card... but I could upgrade it in a year to a better one, and even though the graphics card is the most expensive upgrade I could have to make, I would have to make multiple upgrades to the Crytek system to bring it to the level that one upgrade would bring mine to.UpInFlames

Yes, but the point remains that those other upgrades don't make that much of a difference performance-wise whereas the graphics card upgrade makes all the difference.

Maybe in gaming but that's not what PC's are all about. Those two extra cores can help her a lot at multitasking. As a director you should know that ;)

IGN just gave Crysis Warhead a 9.4.rragnaar

IGN just gave Crysis Warhead a 9.4.rragnaar

Well that's certainly speaks in volumes. Usually expansion packs tend to score a few notches lower than the original.

But since you requested it, here you go.MarcusAntonius

Do you really consider that a better deal? That's a complete rip-off, in my opinion. With that rig you don't get a graphics card, you get a slap in the face. So what's the use of having a quad-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM when you can't actually play anything with that crap?

This is a horrible deal that every computer store does. They fool you with the promise of a souped-up quad-core CPU, but fail to mention that you get a trash graphics card that can't run 2D games properly.

The Crytek rig is built with real gamers and real performance in mind, not empty promises you get at computer stores offering "deals" like that.

Maybe in gaming but that's not what PC's are all about. Those two extra cores can help her a lot at multitasking. As a director you should know that ;)RK-Mara

:lol: True, but everything I said here is to be taken in the context of gaming first and foremost. :wink:

IGN just gave Crysis Warhead a 9.4.rragnaar

That's not IGN, that's the spirit of GameSpot Past. :P

Anyway, some excerpts relevant to this thread:

Finally, we get to the part of the review everyone wants to know about: performance. Crytek claims that Warhead is better optimized than Crysis, and everything I experienced confirms this. In fact, what's amazing is that Warhead not only runs better than Crysis, it looks better than Crysis.

I checked it out on the "$700 PC" that Crytek and EA have been touting. It really is a $700 machine built on the latest mainstream parts (the video card is a 9800GT), and I was able to play the final boss battle at the same resolution and at Enthusiast settings and get solid frame rates. I also tried it the Gamer setting, which is essentially high, and the frame rate was buttery smooth. You do lose some visual quality stepping down from Enthusiast, but even at Gamer Warhead still looks better than almost every game out there.

Sounds good. Try to get that kind of performance on a $700 quad-core desktop. Not gonna happen.

Eurogamer's review is also up, they gave it a 9. Also said it greatly improves many problems with the orignal (which they gave an 8 ).

Teufelhuhn

That is the only review I actually care about. Eurogamer had the by far best review of the original Crysis IMO.