Will your rig run Crysis 3 when it launches in February? If it's packed with a dual-core CPU and 2 GB of memory, then just barely. For gamers who want high performance out of the upcoming shooter, they'll need the latest quad-core CPU, 8 GB of RAM and somewhere around a Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 GPU or an AMD Radeon HD 7970 GPU in SLI or CrossFire layouts.
The official Crysis 3 website now packs the system requirements needed to run Crysis 3, offering minimum, recommended and high-performance PC specifications. You'll see that the game requires a DirectX 11 card to run, which cuts off PC gamers who still thrive on DirectX 10-based GPUs (embedded or discreet). You'll need at least 2 GB of RAM on Windows 7 and Windows 8, and 3 GB if using the decrepit Windows Vista (Windows XP isn't even mentioned).
In addition to the system requirements, PC Gamer has confirmed a list of Advanced Graphics Options that will be offered in Crysis 3. These include Game Effects, Object, Particles, Post Processing, Shading, Shadows, Water, Anisotropic Filtering, Texture Resolution, Motion Blur Amount and Lens Flares. There's also a short Q&A with Marco Corbetta, Technical Director on Crysis 3, that reveals the PC version will ship with high-res textures.
"Crysis 3 will already ship with hi-res textures, advanced graphics settings, tessellation and DX11 support," Corbetta said. "Additional tech areas that have been enhanced since Crysis 2 are: AI navigation system, animation system, water, fog volumes, cloud shadows, POM, AA, cloths, vegetation, particles, lens flares and grass."
"For Crysis 3, the past year has involved a lot of performance and memory optimization work on many areas and for all platforms, as well as work on the rendering side," Corbetta added. "One of our big goals was to improve image quality, and a lot of work went into developing several DX11 based anti-aliasing techniques for PC, which means gamers will now be able to pick their favorite."
The entire Q&A can be read here. In the meantime, here's the full load of system requirements, some of which is broken down into Intel and AMD-based platforms:
Minimum System Operating Requirements for PC
* Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
* DirectX 11 graphics card with 1 GB Video RAM
* Dual core CPU
* 2 GB Memory (3 GB on Vista)
* Example 1 (Nvidia/Intel):
* Nvidia GTS 450
* Intel Core2 Duo 2.4 Ghz (E6600)
* Example 2 (AMD):
* AMD Radeon HD 5770
* AMD Athlon64 X2 2.7 Ghz (5200+)
Recommended System Operating Requirements for PC
* Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
* DirectX 11 graphics card with 1 GB Video RAM
* Quad core GPU
* 4 GB Memory
* Example 1 (Nvidia/Intel):
* Nvidia GTX 560
* Intel Core i5-750
* Example 2 (AMD):
* AMD Radeon HD 5870
* AMD Phenom II X4 805
Hi-Performance PC Specifications
* Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
* Latest DirectX 11 graphics card
* Latest quad core CPU
* SLI / Crossfire configurations will run even better
* 8 GB Memory
* Example 1 (Nvidia/Intel):
* Nvidia GTX 680
* Intel Core i7-2600k
* Example 2 (AMD):
* AMD Radeon HD 7970
* AMD Bulldozer FX4150
