[Joe Blowe]

Next week, I'm taking delivery of a Dell Zino (AMD Dual Core Athlon Neo X2 6850e, ATI Radeon HD 4330 512 MB, 4GB DDR2).


I realize this is nowhere close to being a gaming rig, but I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts on lo-fi, lo-intensity (processor-wise) games that would look good-to-great on a 46" Vizio LCD.


Any current or older recs would be great, as the last PC game I purchased/played was Activision's Battlezone in 1998!!

 

[LexInVA]

Might as well break it in with Battlezone 2. It supports 1920 x 1080 resolution out of the box amazingly enough. You could certainly play it with that hardware. If you want the game, you'll have to look online to download it though I believe there is at least one game service that has it available.

 

[jpokes85]

Company of heroes would run pretty well on that comp I expect and looks great on my hdtv. Also if you like retro System Shock 2 was redone in 2007 (its a mod) with hi-def resolutions and new textures etc.

 

[cplcarlman]

Braid and Trine both have beautiful visuals and would great on your TV. I would definitely check on Steam for some of the older front line titles as well as the newer independent titles that are out there. Most of the time the independent titles need to run on as many systems as possible because no one is going to upgrade their rig to run a game like people will for a game like Modern Warfare 2.

 

[Joe Blowe]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll look into those, and will be sure to report back...

 

[Joe Blowe]

Sorry... more questions!


Since I'm pretty new to this, where can I find an FAQ or a cross-reference of old games and modern system requirements?


For example, I'm browsing games over at videogamer dot com, and I see Race Driver: Grid. According to the Wikipedia entry for that game, it appears that I meet the CPU and RAM requirement, but I'm unsure if the GPU can handle that game.


Or, is it safe to say that any game that is more than two years old at this point will probably play just fine on a Zino?

 

[cplcarlman]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Blowe /forum/post/18178471


Sorry... more questions!


Since I'm pretty new to this, where can I find an FAQ or a cross-reference of old games and modern system requirements?


For example, I'm browsing games over at videogamer dot com, and I see Race Driver: Grid. According to the Wikipedia entry for that game, it appears that I meet the CPU and RAM requirement, but I'm unsure if the GPU can handle that game.


Or, is it safe to say that any game that is more than two years old at this point will probably play just fine on a Zino?

You don't want to go there with GRID. I have that game and it stutters on my gaming system. If there is one game that is unplayable due to stuttering, it's a racing game.


As far as the general system requirements go, you should be able to find those online with a google search. I would imagine that most games that are a few years old would play, as well as many independent games that are available out there.


I would imagine the games you would have the hardest time running would be current first-person-shooters, current real-time-strategy games, and current racing games.


If you are interested in FPS games to play, I'm sure Day of Defeat: Source (WWII shooter) would run okay as would Quake Live (it's free and runs within your web browser). Many of the other Source-engine games are much more CPU dependent than GPU dependent, so they would probably work OK too. (Half Life2, Portal, etc...)

 

[Joe Blowe]

Thanks for your input, cplcarlman. Driving games are my real weakness, puzzles after that, but I enjoy almost everything else (including FPSs). I'm not a hardcore gamer, just looking to pass the time with some entertaining titles.


I'll follow your advice of sticking to older, CPU-dependent games -- that ought to keep me busy for a while...

 

[257Tony]

Keep in mind you can always lower the res to 1280*720 and let your TV upscale. That will require a few less ponies and will get you some more frames per second, whilst still looking pretty good.

 

[Tinker]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Blowe /forum/post/18189623


Thanks for your input, cplcarlman. Driving games are my real weakness, puzzles after that, but I enjoy almost everything else (including FPSs). I'm not a hardcore gamer, just looking to pass the time with some entertaining titles.


I'll follow your advice of sticking to older, CPU-dependent games -- that ought to keep me busy for a while...

If you like driving sims check this site

http://insidesimracing.tv/forums/

 

[getme]

Try some of the Source games Half Life 2, Portal etc.


EDIT: just noticed someone else mentioned these, oh well great minds...