Deus Ex (4): Mankind Divided

[froghawk]

A GTX 660 is better than a GTX 750? Dammit why don't they make the names easier to follow? I guess I don't meet the minimum at all.

[heywood]

Yes, a GTX 660 is better than a GTX 750. I looked for comparisons, and the differences in various game benchmarks varied from minimal to up to 50% in favor of the 660. The GTX 660 is no longer on the market, but performance-wise I think it would still be considered a midrange card. NVidia's naming convention has never made any sense to me.

If I want to stick with NVidia, it looks like I'll need to spend ~$250 on a GTX 960 just to safely meet the minimum requirements. Even a GTX 950 is not clearly better than the GTX 660, faster in some benchmarks and slower in others.

Now I'm really torn. My left brain says wait until the game is released and see how bad things are. My right brain says go buy a new card now so I can fully enjoy it from day one.

[Vae]

The GTX 660 is no longer on the market, but performance-wise I think it would still be considered a midrange card.

The GTX 660 would now be considered a low-end budget card.

If I were in your position, I would get a RX 470 (almost as fast as a GTX 970, for less than $200)...a RX 480 (a little faster than a GTX 970, for around $250)...or ideally a GTX 1060 (as fast as a GTX 980, for less than $300).

These cards represent the sweet-spot for best value and performance in the current midrange market.

If I want to stick with NVidia, it looks like I'll need to spend ~$250 on a GTX 960 just to safely meet the minimum requirements.

If you want to stick with Nvidia, I highly recommend spending just a little bit more for a GTX 1060...The 1060 is as fast as a GTX 980, which is way faster than a GTX 960...it is a true midrange card (the 960 is not), is much more efficient, and supports the newest features (e.g. DX12 capability).

[gkkiller]

Nixxes is doing the PC port, IIRC, so it should be pretty well optimised. It's running on a modified Glacier 2 Engine, which is being used in Hitman. So I'm expecting less choppy performance for DXMD than Hitman.

[Matthew]

Maaaan, I have finally fallen below the 'minimum' threshold with my piddly little 7850.

[heywood]

Thanks Vae, I'll have a look at AMD again before deciding. I didn't realize the 1060 was so close in price to the 960, and generally cheaper than the 970. One of the reasons why I got the 750 Ti was that it was super quiet. I'll have to look into that as well.

[froghawk]

Too bad I have a laptop with a gpu that's soldered to the motherboard so my only choices are an egpu or a new computer, neither of which I can afford. Guess I won't be playing this for a while...

[heywood]

Among mobile GPUs, it looks like you need a GTX 970M to roughly match a desktop GTX 660 in gaming benchmarks. Considering the game is being developed for consoles that launched in 2013, the minimum requirements for the PC port seem a bit steep.

I've decided on a MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X. It's a bit more than I wanted to spend ($289 from Newegg), but it's the quietest midrange card I could find. Hoping it will be good enough to run at 1920x1200 on High settings.

[Vae]

I've decided on a MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X. It's a bit more than I wanted to spend ($289 from Newegg), but it's the quietest midrange card I could find. Hoping it will be good enough to run at 1920x1200 on High settings.

Good choice...Assuming you have at least 8GB of ram and a descent processor, you will be able to run the game at the highest settings with buttery-smooth frame rates at 1200p (probably 60+ fps average).

Keep in mind, this is a very powerful card for 1920x1200...and you should be able to play any game without compromise, at that resolution, for the next few years...

[froghawk]

hm... how about 1800p? Can any card out there do ultra settings on new games at such high resolutions, with future proofing?

[EvaUnit02]

hm... how about 1800p? Can any card out there do ultra settings on new games at such high resolutions, with future proofing?

For running DX11 @ 1080p/60fps high to ultra settings, you'd be set for the next 2-3 years. DX12? Not really, you'd need to go up to 1070 for that really.

DX12 seems to still be a work in progress. In theory DX12 mode should be beasting DX11 in games due to low level access to the GPU. We might not see the full potential of DX12 until developers make games for it from the ground-up rather retrofitting it into DX11 games.

[Slasher]

Just nine days left. What a shame.

[Sulphur]

Wait. MD is running on Glacier 2? Even with Nixxes in tow, that means possibly uneven performance because DX12. Sigh. Well, I'm not replacing this 970 until the next generation of DX12 GPUs is out, I hate upgrading at the beginning of an API upgrade because who the fuck wants to deal with the teething issues.

[heywood]

It turns out this is a really bad time to be buying a mainstream card. The MSI card I chose was already on back order despite showing In Stock, so I cancelled the order. I spent too much time over the weekend looking for another quality GTX 1060 card and the few sellers who claim to have them are asking $350-400 and many have shady reps. The Radeon RX cards are similarly in short supply. All the decent RX 480 cards are sold out everywhere. A couple of RX 470 cards are still available, ASUS 4Gb for ~$200 and MSI 8Gb for ~240. I'm not sure I want to buy a new card that doesn't meet the recommended specs though.

Why the hell couldn't they have released the system requirements a bit earlier, to avoid this last minute scramble? I feel bad for anyone that pre-ordered the game and then found themselves below the minimum specs.

[ZylonBane]

I feel bad for anyone who feels compelled to play games the absolute moment they're released. Relax people, it's not going anywhere. At least wait for the first patch. Even better, the inevitable GOTY/Director's Cut release with all the DLC built in.

I just finished DX:HR last month. My enjoyment of it was in no way diminished by having waited several years to do so.

[Vivian]

Get a second hand GTX980? Now that the 1080 is out all of the ubermensh are getting rid of their 980s, you can get em cheap. I did about a month ago, and holy shit. I've never had a top-end gpu before. It runs all the things.

[heywood]

Good suggestion, but I didn't end up taking it. I used the site https://www.nowinstock.net to monitor stock status and notify me when something came in stock. It's not always perfectly accurate, but it was useful. A batch of 2 dozen or so Asus Dual GTX 1060 06G cards showed up on Amazon. They were gone within an hour but I got one. Expected delivery Monday.

I know I don't have to play it immediately, but I want to. I've been looking forward to this more than any other game in at least 5 years. Also, because of the fast rate that people chew through games these days, the game threads die out quickly. If I wait even a month, I'd probably stay away from the discussion threads to avoid spoilers, and then when I am ready to talk everyone else will have moved on.

[Jason Moyer]

Pre-ordered the version with the season pass/bonus mission/whatever from GMG since their discount dropped it to about the same price as the regular retail version on Steam. Now to sit back and wait for the damn codes to roll in.

(I hate preordering as much as the next guy, but there are certain games that you know you're going to want to play on day 1).

[heywood]

Have you seen any additional info about what's in the season pass? The description on Steam is still vague, unspecified in-game items and future narrative DLCs.

[Jason Moyer]

No idea, but there's a bonus mission in the deluxe edition that comes with the season pass. Will probably be 10 minutes long like the Tong thing from DXHR.

[froghawk]

Greenmangaming lists that as included with the standard version as well...

[heywood]

Right, it looks like the game content available on release day is the same for all editions. I think I'm going to skip the season pass for now. If it turns out to be worth it, I'm assuming it can be purchased later like every other DLC, albeit for a few bucks more.

[Vae]

Just a quick note to those wanting to experience the game with DirectX 12...

DirectX 12 Support in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

AUGUST 17 - POTICHA

The Deus Ex franchise originated on PC, and we’re passionate about continuing to provide the best experience possible to our long-time fans and players on the PC.

Contrary to our previous announcement, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which is shipping on August 23rd, will unfortunately not support DirectX 12 at launch. We have some extra work and optimizations to do for DX12, and we need more time to ensure we deliver a compelling experience. Our teams are working hard to complete the final push required here though, and we expect to release DX12 support on the week of September 5th!

We thank you for your patience, passion, and support.

- The Deus Ex team

DirectX 12 Support in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

[froghawk]

naturally. this happens every time a new DX comes out

[Matthew]

Well played, froghawk