Recommended:
3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, 256 MB, or more, video card
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP (Windows 2000 added by Obsidian. Atari doesn't "know that", through now)
512MB System RAM
2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
Hard Disk Space: 4.9 GB free hard disk space (twice that for unpacking space)
128MB Direct3D, Dx9 (hardware-compatible) video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
Minimum: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro or NVidia Geforce 6600
DirectX 9.0c software (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
DVD-ROM Drive speed: 6X speed or faster
Keyboard, Mouse
Supported Video Card Chipsets:
ATI X1950 series
ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
ATI X1650 series
ATI X1600 series
ATI X850 series
ATI x800 series
ATI x700 series
ATI x600 series (Ouch - the Vanilla card is very slow)
ATI Radeon 9800 series (Amended) 9800 Pro, 9800 XT only
ATI Radeon 9700 series (Amended) 9700 Pro only
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series (Ouch - the Vanilla card is very slow)
If you're unsure whether your system will be able to handle NWN2 or not, test your hardware at the System Requirements Lab and see if you meet the requirements they test for. Be aware that the results are often anomalous, and the Requirements Lists that they refer to, same as at D2D, have often been out of date -- as of my editing date, D2D continues along in its oblivious state, months behind the current list, and SR Labs as well.
The tests are at http://www.srtest.com
Note: nVidia's 8800 cards are far too new to have been included in the lists.
Some relatively recently removed listings included these:
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, 9600 XT only (Those are unsupported now)
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro and better (That's unsupported now)
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or above (Those are unsupported now)
There have never been any supported Laptop video devices for NWN2, nor any supported 64 MB video cards, nor any supported Intel graphics of any kind. If you receive the error message "Cannot find compatible Direct3D Device" when attempting to start the game, you've ignored the video requirements above, and must upgrade, at least the video device ( Click Here ).
For any members here whose hardware seems generally well above the Recommended Level without reaching any particularly enjoyable compromise setting between animation speeds and image quality, the very first thing to do in troubleshooting is what is called a "Clean Boot". Turn off the modem, or unplug it (my own cable modem has no on- off switch), go to Start / Run, type in MSCONFIG, and choose to shut everything off other than Windows' own critical services. Then reboot and test the game. There is a new Stickied Fixes Thread including discussion about this procedure (Click Here ).
Another similar message thread to compare that one to is Click Here
If the game now runs more smoothly, you need to eliminate whatever you've had running, such as Xfire, Antiviruses, etc. that conflict (and keep the modem off, if the antivirus was slowing the game down excessively).
This FAQ isn't intended to cover the terminology used when various PC enthusiasts discuss gane requirements. There are many sources on the 'Net to provide that. Among the better places you can use is "Jargon Buster":
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/jargon/jargonmenu.htm
But just entering a term in Google works almost as well!
If you just want to inventory your own PC's components, there are followups to this basic message, one of which covers that subject, but along those lines, here's Personal Computer Literacy RE 001 ("Remedial Education")
The four main parts of the PC you can actually look at and handle are the Display ("monitor"), keyboard, Main System Unit, and mouse. Inside of the Main System Unit are the primary components that are named on game marketing boxes as the "System Requirements" (per the list above). The CPU, or Processor, is the brain, and is a large integrated circuit device with a cooling radiator and a fan sitting on top of it (keep that radiator clean, and don't let that fan fail). Close to the CPU are the System Memory DIMMs (relatively long, skinny circuit boards with RAM chips on them, they fit into special edge connector slots). When the game names a minimum RAM amount, it usually refers to the total on the DIMMs.
Those two are important to running games, but for most recently developed games, this next item is the very most important of them all. Below the CPU on the Main System Board (that's the large circuit board that fills much of the side or bottom of the Main System Unit's case) is the video adapter slot. Only AGP and PCI-e16 slots can be counted on for games, and the inexpensive PCs without a dedicated video slot are well known for not running most games. A proper 3D video card must occupy that edge connector slot. More about the rankings of video card performance is found in a separate Video Rankings thread, linked in below.
You should plan on using a card that at least meets a game's "Recommended" Requirement. Minimums aren't at all good enough. Also note that while most modern game requirements do list a certain amount of onboard VRAM on the video card as a minimum amount, for the most part you don't need, and cannot typically USE, any more than double the minimum 128 MBs amount named for NWN2 (in other words, a "slow" card with 512 MBs on it is a waste of RAM).
The final component referenced is storage, and two different aspects come up. The game will load itself on your hard drive, and run from there. You will need to have twice as much available storage (the game needs 5 GB for itself, and another 6 GB for working room, such as when install files are being expanded as part of the install process, and for some special procedures, such as NWN2's Upgrade Patching process. Your optical drive typically needs to run at some minimum speed, such as 6X for a DVD. This completes my quickie "components summary".
You will never see a game's System Requirements List with the Power Supply Unit ("PSU") that converts AC current to the various 3, 5, and 12 volt DC segments that the Main System Unit's components require included, but it is a fact that very often an upgrade (particularly a video card) requires more juice than the original equipment PSU can supply. Replacing this device calls for some caution. You are powering the entire system from the PSU, and a cheap one not only may not actually supply the current it promises, it can actually fail in a totally catastrophic manner and take CPU, RAM, MB, and/or video processor out at the same time. Shop for quality brands from the list of names: Antec, Enermax, Fortron, PC Power & Cooling, OCZ, Seasonic, Sparkle, and in Europe, a new one, Hiper.
3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, 256 MB, or more, video card
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP (Windows 2000 added by Obsidian. Atari doesn't "know that", through now)
512MB System RAM
2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
Hard Disk Space: 4.9 GB free hard disk space (twice that for unpacking space)
128MB Direct3D, Dx9 (hardware-compatible) video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
Minimum: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro or NVidia Geforce 6600
DirectX 9.0c software (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
DVD-ROM Drive speed: 6X speed or faster
Keyboard, Mouse
Supported Video Card Chipsets:
ATI X1950 series
ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
ATI X1650 series
ATI X1600 series
ATI X850 series
ATI x800 series
ATI x700 series
ATI x600 series (Ouch - the Vanilla card is very slow)
ATI Radeon 9800 series (Amended) 9800 Pro, 9800 XT only
ATI Radeon 9700 series (Amended) 9700 Pro only
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series (Ouch - the Vanilla card is very slow)
If you're unsure whether your system will be able to handle NWN2 or not, test your hardware at the System Requirements Lab and see if you meet the requirements they test for. Be aware that the results are often anomalous, and the Requirements Lists that they refer to, same as at D2D, have often been out of date -- as of my editing date, D2D continues along in its oblivious state, months behind the current list, and SR Labs as well.
The tests are at http://www.srtest.com
Note: nVidia's 8800 cards are far too new to have been included in the lists.
Some relatively recently removed listings included these:
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, 9600 XT only (Those are unsupported now)
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro and better (That's unsupported now)
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or above (Those are unsupported now)
There have never been any supported Laptop video devices for NWN2, nor any supported 64 MB video cards, nor any supported Intel graphics of any kind. If you receive the error message "Cannot find compatible Direct3D Device" when attempting to start the game, you've ignored the video requirements above, and must upgrade, at least the video device ( Click Here ).
For any members here whose hardware seems generally well above the Recommended Level without reaching any particularly enjoyable compromise setting between animation speeds and image quality, the very first thing to do in troubleshooting is what is called a "Clean Boot". Turn off the modem, or unplug it (my own cable modem has no on- off switch), go to Start / Run, type in MSCONFIG, and choose to shut everything off other than Windows' own critical services. Then reboot and test the game. There is a new Stickied Fixes Thread including discussion about this procedure (Click Here ).
Another similar message thread to compare that one to is Click Here
If the game now runs more smoothly, you need to eliminate whatever you've had running, such as Xfire, Antiviruses, etc. that conflict (and keep the modem off, if the antivirus was slowing the game down excessively).
This FAQ isn't intended to cover the terminology used when various PC enthusiasts discuss gane requirements. There are many sources on the 'Net to provide that. Among the better places you can use is "Jargon Buster":
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/jargon/jargonmenu.htm
But just entering a term in Google works almost as well!
If you just want to inventory your own PC's components, there are followups to this basic message, one of which covers that subject, but along those lines, here's Personal Computer Literacy RE 001 ("Remedial Education")
The four main parts of the PC you can actually look at and handle are the Display ("monitor"), keyboard, Main System Unit, and mouse. Inside of the Main System Unit are the primary components that are named on game marketing boxes as the "System Requirements" (per the list above). The CPU, or Processor, is the brain, and is a large integrated circuit device with a cooling radiator and a fan sitting on top of it (keep that radiator clean, and don't let that fan fail). Close to the CPU are the System Memory DIMMs (relatively long, skinny circuit boards with RAM chips on them, they fit into special edge connector slots). When the game names a minimum RAM amount, it usually refers to the total on the DIMMs.
Those two are important to running games, but for most recently developed games, this next item is the very most important of them all. Below the CPU on the Main System Board (that's the large circuit board that fills much of the side or bottom of the Main System Unit's case) is the video adapter slot. Only AGP and PCI-e16 slots can be counted on for games, and the inexpensive PCs without a dedicated video slot are well known for not running most games. A proper 3D video card must occupy that edge connector slot. More about the rankings of video card performance is found in a separate Video Rankings thread, linked in below.
You should plan on using a card that at least meets a game's "Recommended" Requirement. Minimums aren't at all good enough. Also note that while most modern game requirements do list a certain amount of onboard VRAM on the video card as a minimum amount, for the most part you don't need, and cannot typically USE, any more than double the minimum 128 MBs amount named for NWN2 (in other words, a "slow" card with 512 MBs on it is a waste of RAM).
The final component referenced is storage, and two different aspects come up. The game will load itself on your hard drive, and run from there. You will need to have twice as much available storage (the game needs 5 GB for itself, and another 6 GB for working room, such as when install files are being expanded as part of the install process, and for some special procedures, such as NWN2's Upgrade Patching process. Your optical drive typically needs to run at some minimum speed, such as 6X for a DVD. This completes my quickie "components summary".
You will never see a game's System Requirements List with the Power Supply Unit ("PSU") that converts AC current to the various 3, 5, and 12 volt DC segments that the Main System Unit's components require included, but it is a fact that very often an upgrade (particularly a video card) requires more juice than the original equipment PSU can supply. Replacing this device calls for some caution. You are powering the entire system from the PSU, and a cheap one not only may not actually supply the current it promises, it can actually fail in a totally catastrophic manner and take CPU, RAM, MB, and/or video processor out at the same time. Shop for quality brands from the list of names: Antec, Enermax, Fortron, PC Power & Cooling, OCZ, Seasonic, Sparkle, and in Europe, a new one, Hiper.
