Gamers: what games can i realistically play on my new computer?

The Game Room
1

I’ve never been much of a gamer. I had a first-generation Playstation, and was a big fan of the Tomb Raider series, but never progressed to the PS2 or PS3. On my computer, the only games i’ve ever played are the Myst series, which were not at all heavy on the 3d graphics and so didn’t require a proper gaming rig.

Recently my 5-year-old Dell started to give a few signs that it’s on the way out, and i figured that it was time to get something more up-to-date. Most of my work is basic internet/email/office stuff, but i also do some Photoshop (including batch processing), and occasional video encoding. For that reason i wanted a decently fast processor (preferably quad-core) for video encoding, and enough memory to deal with Photoshop etc. Video card was a minor consideration

Anyway, here’s the system i ended up with, purchased second-hand:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
6GB RAM (2x2GB, 2x1GB)
Nvidia GeForce 9500 GS 512MB
1x500GB, 1x1TB HDD
Windows 7 Home Premium

It works great, and has all the power and memory i need for my PS and video work. I’m very happy with the computer so far. I thought that, if it will cope, i might try out one of the big-time games that came out a few years ago (e.g., Half Life 2).

The problem is that, while i know that the Nvidia 9500GS is a low-end card, i can’t find enough information to understand exactly what that means, in terms of what games it will play, and how well it will play them. I’ve looked at a few gamer forums and such where they discuss video cards, but the discussions are almost useless because most of the participants seem to be 16-year-olds who are more interested in comparing the size of their own video cards. All they have to say about low-end cards are juvenile comments like, “LOL crap card. I’ll keep my Radeon 5870 thanks.”

All this is exacerbated by the fact that, because i’ve never been a computer gamer, i don’t really know how to evaluate some of the things people talk about, like frame rates. For example, movies look perfectly good on my computer at 30fps, but gamers talk about frame rates much higher than that.

So, gaming Dopers, help me out here. If i want to mess around with some games on my new computer, where should i draw the line? I assume that the latest generation of graphics-intensive games will be right out. But how far back need i go before i can find some fun stuff that will work on my hardware.

(By the way, as you might have gathered from my Tomb Raider and Myst experience, i like problem-solving games, with some action. A straight-out FPS like Doom isn’t really my thing.)

2

Was your old computer coal-powered or something?

3

There is a great website out there that has a Can You Run it? thingie that tells you if the PC you are using to access the website can run any of the gazillion games in its database. I’d check it out.

4

Well, you can definitely run Half-Life 2, and likely Episode One and Two, though maybe not with all the eye-candy. The Source engine scales very well. Honestly, you can run the majority of games. I ran Bioshock on the equivalent card (8600GTS) many moons ago. It’s just the newest stuff with which you’ll have trouble.

That said, 30 FPS is terrible when it comes to computer gaming. Videos look fine at that frame rate because of motion blur, which makes it look like there are more interstitial frames, which most games don’t do. Plus, while a computer game might average 30 FPS, it is never consistent. There will be times when the level is not as demanding and it hums along at 50 FPS and times when the screen is filled with enemies and it slogs down to an unplayable 10 FPS slideshow. So while 80 FPS is certainly overkill, if it keeps the troughs at 40 FPS, the whole experience is acceptable.

5

Thanks, although it seems to me that the tool compares the computer to the games’ minimum specs, rather than to the specs required to run the game well.

My old computer, the one i replaced, is not coal-powered (:)), but has the following specs:

Pentium 4 3.0GHz
2GB RAM
NVidia GeForce FX5200 128MB

When i bought this computer, back in 2004, i did a bit of reading about gaming, and most reviews and gaming forums seemed to be of the opinion that Half Life 2 did not run well at all on the FX5200.

The old computer is still here in my room, so i just put it through Can You Run It? for HL2, and it says that my computer passes easily, and that i should have a “great experience running this product.” In my experience, even some of the rendering for a comparatively light video game like Myst V: End of Ages happens a bit slowly on this old box. For a game like Myst, where speed really doesn’t matter, this isn’t a big deal, but i just can’t see this computer coping very well with HL2.

ReticulatingSplines, thanks for the frame rate explanation. It makes perfect sense.

Anyway, it seems that the new box will comfortably run some of the older games. Maybe i can catch up on some of the stuff i missed first time around.

6

What resolution can you get to on your monitor?

7

I have two monitors. One is an older Samsung 997DF 19" CRT, which i currently have running at 1280x1024, but which can get up to 1600x1200. The other is a Dell widescreen 22" LCD that has a native resolution of 1680x1050.

8

You’ll defininitely want to game on the CRT. Your video card should be able to run even a game like Crysis at 1024x768 with very acceptable framerates.

Gaming on an LCD at anything other than its native resolution can be an exercise in frustration, thus my recommendation to use the CRT.

9

That really depends on the LCD and what scaling modes it offers–for example, my 1920x1080 LCD scales very well to any similar modes with the same aspect ratio (1366x768 is what I play Borderlands at, for example)

I’d say unless he’s going absolute cutting-edge like Crysis that 9500 should be fine on the LCD–I can’t find a halfway trustworthy benchmark of the 9500GS, but the 9500GT will average 30fps at 1680x1050 in Crysis if you turn off AA and such.

10

Sorry I did not respond sooner, after I posted my question I went off to look for reviews on the 9500GS or a comparison chart. Then I went off to sleep after seeing what a terrible card it is ;).

To explain why I asked about the resolution, the look and framerate of a game is a balancing act between the graphics card, monitor resolution, and in-game eye candy settings. That’s why people keep mentioning the resolution they are able to play at. I get the impression you are not interested in upgrading at the moment, but that graphics card is really out-of-balance with the rest of the system when considering gaming. The rest of your system is great. You should consider an ATI 4670 or ATI 4850 or whatever is equivalent from NVIDIA.

That said, probably anything from 2005 or earlier will run great using the monitor settings suggested by thebenn. If you like FPS then look into DOOM3, F.E.A.R., and Farcry. Half-life 2 and its episodes should last quite awhile though.

I don’t think Crysis should even be mentioned here. It might create false expectations. Hitting or averaging 30fps is not the same as periodically dipping to 30fps and the best visual experience is found at an average framerate well above 30.

11

No, it checks both the minimum specs, and the recommended specs. Of course, sometimes publishers are a bit optimistic about both, but I find it’s generally accurate.

12

Youtube is a good resource. For example if you searchfor 9500GS you will get a whole bunch of gameplay videos.

13

Thing is, i’m not invested enough in gaming generally to bother with a new card. At least, not right now. If i try some of the older games and get hooked, then i might change my mind about a more powerful graphics card.

Thanks. I think i might give HL2 a go and see if it grabs me.

Also, full-on FPS games are not really what i’m after. I like games that let you explore, and ask you to solve some puzzles as well. That’s why i liked the Tomb Raider series; it wasn’t just about killing things. If anyone can recommend something similar, i’d be happy to hear it.

Fair enough. I was relying on my five-year-old memory about HL2 and the FX5200 card. Most folks at the time seemed to think it would struggle with the game.

Thanks. That looks like a great resource. I’ll check it out.

14

I’d suggest Fallout 3 and Vampire:Bloodlines. Both are heavily plot-based shooters/RPGs. You might also want to check out Mass Effect or Assassin’s Creed, both of which have had sequels recently. The latter is probably most like Tomb Raider : lots of climbing and running around, a bunch of swordfights, light on the puzzles though (unless you consider “figuring out the best route to a target” to be a puzzle). The Hitmanseries is also very enjoyable IMO - again, the puzzles are more of a tactical nature than push-the-blocks-the-right-way sort, but it’s an interesting mental challenge nevertheless.

15

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll give those a look.