If the processor does not match the game, what should I do? Why you need to know the system requirements

Unlike the console market, where the ability to run a particular game is determined by its belonging to a specific game console The PC platform provides much greater freedom in all respects. But to take advantage of its benefits, you need to have a basic understanding of how a computer works.

The specifics of PC gaming are such that before you begin, you must first familiarize yourself with Shadowhand’s system requirements and compare it with the existing configuration.

To do this simple action, you don’t need to know the exact specifications each model of processors, video cards, motherboards and others components any personal computer. A simple comparison of the main lines of components will suffice.

For example, if the minimum system requirements for a game include a processor no lower than Intel Core i5, then you shouldn't expect it to run on i3. However, comparing processors from different manufacturers more complicated, which is why developers often indicate names from two main companies - Intel and AMD (processors), Nvidia and AMD (video cards).

Above are system requirements Shadowhand. It is worth noting that the division into minimum and recommended configurations is done for a reason. It is believed that meeting the minimum requirements is enough to start the game and complete it from beginning to end. However, to achieve the best performance, you usually have to lower the graphics settings.

This may surprise some of you, but we here at the editorial office are big fans of PC gaming. Shocking statement, I understand. Console fans will probably accuse us of being biased, but we will still take the liberty of saying the following: PC games are now more accessible than ever before, and for many they have a higher value for a variety of reasons. The announcement of Sony PlayStation 4 Pro once again convinces us of this.

And that's why.

Price

Let's start right away with the price issue, which for some reason they prefer not to mention out of politeness or caution. It is clear that previously PCs were significantly inferior to consoles according to this criterion. “Yes, I would have to spend thousands of dollars on a PC, while a game console can be purchased for only 300-400 dollars.”

PC games still cost more, at least initially. And little has changed here. The one who is able to collect desktop computer for $400 - either a wizard or a lucky guy who buys all the components at a discount and spends his whole life waiting for sales. All that remains is to wish him good luck.

At the same time, PCs are no longer as expensive as they used to be. In a number of online stores you can find a lot of entry-level models for $550, and when I saw high-end computers for only $800–900, my eyes widened.

Prices have fallen very much - especially for video cards. Now it seems like a very good purchase for anyone who wants to play on the cheap. GPU AMD Polaris. Radeon video card The RX 470, based on it, will cost only $200 - simply incredible! Those interested can familiarize themselves with the test results in detail, but I will only touch on the essence. At 1080p you get 60fps on virtually any modern game. And it's only $200.

Yes, today it’s not easy to find an RX 480 at this price, but the whole point is that manufacturers are striving to make PC gaming accessible to consumers. They want enthusiasts to buy GPUs. And competition is causing PCs to become cheaper than before.

But a $200 graphics card is much more powerful than what’s inside the recently announced PlayStation 4 Pro console. Let's compare at least the pure performance in teraflops:

Xbox Scorpio (unknown graphics) AMD processor, presumably with Vega): 6

We might be going a bit wrong by doing this, though, because consoles and PCs use the available hardware differently, but it's good enough for a rough comparison. For $200 you get a graphics card that (at least on paper) looks better than the PS4 Pro. Add the missing components and you'll have a great computer for very little, especially if you (like many others) already have a keyboard, mouse, and a suitable monitor.

And if you focus on the performance of PS4 and Xbox One, everything will come out even cheaper. A $110 graphics card like the GeForce GTX 950 or Radeon RX 460, paired with an affordable FX-6350 processor, and you've already surpassed that low bar.

However, this is still not enough

“Okay, we’ve convinced you: games on PC today have become more accessible than ever before. But they are still quite expensive compared to consoles. And I don't understand why PC is so much more valuable to most players." Just a moment of patience, we'll get to this now.

Easy to upgrade

There have been big changes in the world, which inspired this article.

Many people are now looking forward to November with frustration. After all, a few years ago they bought the PlayStation 4 - the most powerful console in the world at that time. And these people expected that it would serve them for a long time. For many, many years.

Isn't it strange why users are willing to shell out more than $600 for a phone every two years, but at the same time believe that a $400 console should serve them for at least ten years? However, we are talking about something else now. In general, I don’t care much about this - after all, I write for PC World. And the argument presented takes us away from the main topic.

The main thing is that console manufacturers decided to adopt the modernization strategy characteristic of PCs. And based on the current PlayStation announcement, we can expect the transformation of consoles into “platforms” - dividing equipment into tiers with the advent of more powerful devices every three to four years. And it's not just Sony that does this. Microsoft has its own Project Scorpio, according to which the Xbox One update is planned for the fourth quarter of 2017.

However, the consoles are not suitable for modernization. In practice, it is completely impossible to modernize them. And here we generally need different terminology. You can't open up the PlayStation 4 case, put a new GPU in there and continue to enjoy games as if nothing happened. You'll have to take your old PS4 to a flea market and buy yourself a new one.

I’m ready to admit that when you buy a PC it will cost more, but upgrading it later will be much easier. If you approach this purchase sparingly, the processor will successfully serve you for up to six years, and the graphics card - four to five years. Frame? Memory? Power unit? Fans? Hard disks? All this is relatively inexpensive, and you can upgrade it ad infinitum, from assembly to assembly, replacing only what is really necessary.

You can easily fit into your budget by spending necessary updates for a very long time, especially if your goal is just to stay ahead of the consoles. Plan ahead and you'll spend at least no more than buying a new console every three to four years.

True, I’m not sure that in a few years we will see the next iteration of the PS4/Xbox One. Perhaps this is all a one-time event. Still, I think regular console updates will become the new norm.

The era of exclusive console games is over

Tonight I can open Steam and launch Street Fighter V. Or play Dead Rising 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Axiom Verge, Talos Principle, Killing Floor 2, Darkest Dungeon, No Man's Sky, Downwell, SOMA, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Transistor, Grow Home, Hotline Miami 2, N++, Volume and much more. In the video presented here you can see what Tekken 7 looks like on PC at 4K resolution.

All of these games were developed exclusively for the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. More precisely, they were positioned on the market for a specific console marked Console Exclusive, although along with the console version, a PC version was usually released. Both Sony and Microsoft considered the PC to be neutral territory.

However, Sony acted more cautiously, keeping first-person games to itself. You still won't be able to find a PC version of Uncharted 4. But there are already signs that things may be changing. Sony recently launched PlayStation Now, a subscription-based game streaming service for PC.

Microsoft went even further - it immediately announced its support for Xbox and Windows 10 by launching the Xbox Play Anywhere program. Today for almost everyone Xbox games An Exclusive version for Windows 10 is released on the same day. Examples include Gears of War 4, ReCore, Quantum Break, Forza Horizon 3 and much more. The only Xbox series not yet included in this program is Halo.

Essentially, when you buy a PC, you now get access to most console games. True, a number of first-person games remain unavailable for Sony consoles, but everything else is already on the market, and often (with the exception of rare cases like Arkham Knight) in more high quality compared to the console versions.

Nothing exclusive to PC

You probably have a friend who will sarcastically chuckle: “But there’s nothing exclusive at all for PCs.” Everyone must have met such people at some point, and if not in personal communication, then certainly on forums.

The argument is quite strange, and it only shows ignorance of the PC platform. Perhaps your interlocutor simply does not finish: “There is nothing exclusive for PC that I would like to play.” Meanwhile, exclusively for PC today there are many more games than for consoles.

Take the strategy genre, for example. With the exception of Halo Wars and a few less successful games, all strategy games, both turn-based and real-time, are released primarily on PC - and there are a lot of them there.

Moreover, the matter is not limited to just strategies for the assiduous. There are hundreds of games released every year that make a name for themselves on PC and never make it to consoles. They belong to a variety of genres, ranging from shooters (Unreal Tournament, Quake Champions) to role-playing games(Tyranny, Mount & Blade II) and... I don’t even know what (Duskers, Factorio).

backward compatibility

It should be noted that once you get the game for PC, you become its owner forever. (True, some are terrified that the Valve Steam service will close, which will cause their games to stop working. But, in any case, there is also an alternative in the form of GOG.)

The PC gaming legacy stretches back forty years. Thanks to the passion of the PC community, most games released over the past 40 years are still available today. Text adventures? The Interactive Fiction database is at your service. DOS? Thanks DOSBox. More complex environments 15 or 20 years ago? Again, GOG.com plus (if the game is popular enough) dozens of modern options that improve the experience.

But I have not yet mentioned console emulators for PCs that are not entirely clean, from a legal point of view. However, we will not dwell on them in our article.

Buy a PC and the whole story will appear before you. Just last week, a whole series of classic Sierra games appeared on Steam, ranging from Gabriel Knight to Phantasmagoria and Caesar III. The best of what was offered in the 90s is still available to today's players.

Of course, this approach also has its drawbacks. Installation can be a daunting task, especially if you have no idea what you're doing. But if I have the opportunity to play Planescape: Torment on the hardware I have (without having to go looking for a 1999 PC or relying on a publisher to maybe fund a modern version), I'll definitely take it. Meanwhile, PlayStation 4 owners can only play PlayStation 3 games, and then only if they pay $20 a month for a PlayStation Now subscription.

Sales and free games

“Okay, but I don’t like classic games and/or I’ve already played all these games before,” you might think. Great news! If we are talking only about new products, playing on PC becomes even cheaper. Prices fall quickly, they become lower and tend to remain at this level.

The first thing that comes to mind is Steam Sales, but it doesn't stop there. GOG.com, Amazon - they all regularly have sales. You can easily get a huge library of games on the cheap and completely offset the cost of your hardware.

It's not uncommon to see pre-orders for popular games on Steam with a 10 or even 20% discount, and six months after release, many publishers sell their products for $15–20, or even less. Great indie games can often be found on sale for under $10 or even $5. You just have to be patient. What about consoles? Even on sale, most AAA games haven't gone below $30 in years.

And there are also free products. Oddly enough, even the most famous (and beloved) games are sometimes distributed for free. You must have heard about Dota 2 and League of Legends? About Team Fortress 2? About Path of Exile? About Evolve? For some of these best games for PC, you can spend hundreds or even thousands of hours without paying a cent.

What else

Are you annoyed by flickering on the screen? Adjusting the angle of the field of view will mitigate the negative effect. Personally, I prefer to have a field of view of around 100 degrees when gaming on PC. When playing on a console, the screen is further away and the field of view is usually limited to 60 degrees. But this is not the main thing. The most annoying thing is that console games usually have a fixed field of view, which means you can't change it even if you get tired. (This also includes motion blur.)

Playing a game you don't like? Steam, Origin, GOG.com and many other sellers are willing to refund money for the game if certain requirements are met. This allows you not only to get money back if the developer does not release the game on time, but also to check whether it will run on your machine. Many doubts can be dispelled in this way.

As for paid online tournaments, we probably won’t touch on them. No, no, not now.

Management flexibility

You can talk for a very long time about the merits of a mouse and keyboard, but I would prefer to refrain from doing so. Just notice that they are much more accurate, more familiar (for new players) and more responsive than a controller.

However, today so many console games have already been transferred to PC that it would be quite natural to use at least some original circuit management. They immediately come to mind Dark Souls and Assassin's Creed. These games are best played with a gamepad. Luckily, connecting an Xbox One or DualShock 4 controller to your PC is easier than ever. It doesn't matter whether it's via cable or (as in the case of the Xbox One S and DS4) via Bluetooth. Most games now support PC controllers, especially when it comes to popular multi-platform products.

PC anyway

And finally, the most important thing.

It’s probably not right to discuss the price of a gaming PC in isolation from everything else. However, there are reasons for this. Perhaps in your daily life you prefer laptop computers. And some people are used to doing all their work on a tablet.

But for many, a desktop computer is still a must (or at least a preferred option). People who process photos, sound and video, who spend long hours typing on the keyboard and are used to gaming for fun, need a powerful PC. And some people just like to sit at a table in front of a large screen and a comfortable keyboard.

In other words, there will almost always be a reason to subsidize the purchase of a gaming PC. “I still want a desktop that can run Ableton, Word, and Premiere, so why not splash the extra $200 on the Radeon RX 480 and turn it into a gaming machine as well? »

What about the console? Unfortunately, it only has one purpose, and this is especially noticeable in the era of $35 Chromecast. There are so many ways to display Netflix, Amediateka, etc. on the TV screen that purchasing a console is no longer necessary for this.

Conclusion

Of course, playing games on a PC comes with certain difficulties. Streaming Twitch seems too confusing for the uninitiated. If the game crashes, be prepared to spend some time on the Google or Steam forums. Need to update your graphics drivers? Another obstacle. Even the process of assembling a PC can be stressful at first.

After all, this activity is not for everyone. Not yet.

But PC gaming has become much more accessible than it was in the past. The Internet can answer almost any question you might have, as well as explain all the error codes that the game throws. Driver updates are now done with the click of a button and take significantly less time than updating firmware on any existing console.

PCs are in good shape - perhaps the best in the history of their existence. At the same time, they are constantly improving. And if the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro announcement left you disappointed or left you wondering, perhaps now is the time to make the switch to a more open platform.

And we will be glad to see you in our ranks.

Many PC users have experienced computer freezing. If your PC has long been outdated, you will have to come to terms with the idea that you won’t be able to play new games. If your computer meets the minimum requirements of the game, then after completing a number of actions, you will be able to enjoy the selected new product. It is impossible to reduce system requirements in games. Or rather, this is real if you are a programmer who is ready to practically rewrite the game. Of course, this does not apply to most users.

You will need

Computer, Phillips screwdriver, Internet access, driver for video card.

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Instructions

To speed up your computer, you first need to scan your computer for viruses. You can use not only the antivirus installed on your computer, but also free healing utilities, for example, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool or Dr.Web CureIt. Perhaps the problem of a slow computer is due to viruses.

Before starting the game, you need to close all programs and applications.

Go to Start-All Programs-Startup and see if there is unnecessary programs. If you do not need any programs when you start your computer, you need to remove them from there.

Go to Start-Run and type msconfig in the window that opens. When another window opens, select the “Startup” tab at the top and uncheck programs that are not needed when starting the computer.

To restart a computer.

Reinstall drivers for the video card.

Go into the game, select Settings. Set graphics to minimum, remove additional options, for example, smoothing. Set the resolution to minimum.

Open the lid system unit and carefully remove dust from computer parts.

Check to see if drive C is full. If there is not enough free space, delete unnecessary files and folders, or move them to another drive.

If the previous tips did not help, add your computer random access memory and change the video card. This is the most inexpensive computer upgrade that will help speed up its operation.

How simple