Can I play Bioshock on my system?

September 6, 2007 9:36 PM

I'm thinking of buying Bioshock for the PC. Is my system up to the task of playing this game with all (or close to all) its graphical bells and whistles? System specs inside.

My system specs are as follows;

The System.

* AMD Athlon64 x2 4600 operating at 2.6Ghz with a 512k Cache.

* Motherboard: ASUS M2N32-SLi Deluxe.

* Western Digital 320GB 7200rpm SATAII KS 16meg Cache.

* 2GB RAM

* Video Card: NVIDIA 7950-GT

* Running WinXP with SP2.

So mine is a very simple question. Will my system run Bioshock 2 in all its graphical glory without becoming a jerky mess, or will I need to make the game look ass to play it at a decent frame rate?

Thanks in advance!

posted by Effigy2000 to computers & internet (17 answers total)

You'll find that Bioshock is very well optimized, and 7-series cards will run it at high settings. I'm not an expert on hardware though, so someone else will have to address your Mobo and processor. Though I think min/rec specs on processor speed was 3 Ghz. YMMV
posted by cmgonzalez at 9:44 PM on September 6, 2007

I'd say download the demo and test it out.
posted by sanko at 9:58 PM on September 6, 2007

Check out the Systems Requirement Lab. It will analyze your system through your browser (don't worry, it seems to be on the level). If your system can't run a game, it will give detailed info on why. Very useful.
posted by zardoz at 10:03 PM on September 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

I have a very similar setup - Core 2 Duo @1.86GHz instead of the AMD (and a few other minor things). Runs fine, not jerky at all.
posted by easyasy3k at 10:48 PM on September 6, 2007

I've got a pretty similar setup—Core 2 Duo E4300 (1.86 Ghz), which I think is slower than the 4600+, and a Radeon x1950 Pro 256MB, which is about equivalent to the 7950GT. I, too, was worried about system performance, but am happy to report no problems running the game at 1280x1024 with the standard graphics settings (aka astoundingly pretty).
posted by chrominance at 12:55 AM on September 7, 2007

Yea, no problems for me, and I run a single core 4000+ and a 7600.
posted by opsin at 4:47 AM on September 7, 2007

Download the free demo and see how it plays before buying.
posted by softlord at 5:24 AM on September 7, 2007

Single core 3700+, 2gb ram, 7900 GT and no problems running it. You should be fine.
posted by utsutsu at 7:07 AM on September 7, 2007

I have a (brand new) Core2Duo e6800 and a (older) 7850 GT At the highest settings, the graphics were smooth, but my mouse control is unbearably laggy.

I notched the graphics down a bit, and control was fine and the game still look good.

(Then I got fed up and bought a 8800 GTS.)
posted by roofone at 7:52 AM on September 7, 2007

I have a similar system (you have a nicer video card) and at load times (new mobs load, levels load) I get lag. Not sure if this is IO, CPU, or video, but its bearable. This is at high settings using the demo. Best thing for you to do is get the demo and run it.

I also feel the graphics for this game are not that great even at high. Playing at medium doesnt look too different to my eyes. Nothing magical happens at high. I think when people mention graphics they are talking more about the composition and direction of the design for an art-deco underwater world, not so much the textures and geometries.

Dunno what all the hoopla is about. The difference between medium and high on other games seems to be more dramatic, especially on BF2.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:06 AM on September 7, 2007

I'm using the same Gfx card with 3 gigs memory and a duo core 2.3 MHz intel chip and running full bore on a widescreen monitor. I don't know the AMD equivalency, but I think you're good to go if your chip was new less than 2 years ago.

chatfilter: did anyone else find that they never used the crossbow? Baldur's Gate Potion Syndrome all over again.
posted by cowbellemoo at 8:41 AM on September 7, 2007

Try the demo first. I'm finding lots of people are really having trouble with their PC running the game even when the specs are there.

chatfilter: Not with the PC, but on XBox 360, used the crossbow with the incendiary bolts all the time.
posted by misha at 8:52 AM on September 7, 2007

I have a 7950GT, 2GB, but am using a Core 2 Duo, and it runs greats.

You should have no trouble with with this great game.
posted by Argyle at 10:19 AM on September 7, 2007

Hi all. Original poster here with a follow up.

I didn't know there was a demo, so I got to downloading it (all 1.8GB) and while it did I tried the Systems Requirements Link posted by zardoz which said I would pass with flying colors. To be safe, I downloaded the latest drivers for my sound card (Audigy2 ZS) and waited to see if the analysis was correct.

I am proud to say my system did indeed pass with flying colors. I just played through the demo and all I can say is that it was awesome, both in terms of performance and atmosphere. So I'm about to head out and buy the damn thing and hopefully experience the best PC gaming experience I've had since Half Life 2, although, I am a bit worried about this allegation that the full game installs a rootkit to your system and stops you from deleting certain files. Apparently there's nothing to worry about but I always get a bit twitchy whenever a program I legally bought starts dictating how I do things on my computer.

Anyway, thank you one and all for all your help. sanko gets a best answer for being the first to alert me to the existence of a demo and zardoz gets a best answer too for his link to what appears to be a pretty handy resource.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:41 PM on September 7, 2007

Hey, update your Forceware drivers to the latest beta (163.44) before you start. There are some compatibility fixes specifically for Bioshock in the newest release.
posted by tracert at 2:54 PM on September 7, 2007

To be fair, securom is not a rootkit and Steam (which powers HL2) limits your rights just as much as any other copy protection app. Heck, Idont think you can even install HL2 without an internet connection so that Steam can validate your copy.
posted by damn dirty ape at 3:02 PM on September 7, 2007

tracert: "Hey, update your Forceware drivers to the latest beta (163.44) before you start. There are some compatibility fixes specifically for Bioshock in the newest release."

Yes, I meant to say in my follow up that I had updated my video card drivers before trying the demo too.

For anyone currently reading this thread about to do the same, stay well clear of the 162.18 driver release. I installed them first and they stretched the desktop beyond the length of my monitor and made the whole screen look blurry, and according to the nvidia forums I'm not the only one. Only once I went up to the 163.44 beta release did the problem become solved.
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:23 PM on September 7, 2007