Valve's Gabe Newell has posted on the HL2 Fallout forums and has revealed what the full hardware requirements will be for H-L 2. Information which comes right on time, if we are to believe the much talked about end-of-summer 2004 release date.

According to Mr. Newell then, the minimum machine specs for decent performance on H-L 2 will be a 1.2GHz CPU with 256MB RAM, Win 98/ME/2000/XP and a DirectX 7 capable graphics card. As you well realise such a box would not do justice to the various graphical wonders of the game so Mr. Newell was quick to add the recommended system specs which are as follows: a 2.4 GHz CPU with 512MB RAM, Windows 2000/XP and a DirectX 9 graphics card.

What Mr. Newell does not clarify is how the XBox version will differ since Microsoft's box does not reach the optimal hardware requirement and in some instances even fails to meet the minimum requirements. How will the limited, 64 MB DDR 200MHz, memory impact the game and how will Valve respond in order to make H-L 2 playable on XBox? Or how will the 733 MHz CPU affect gameplay. All perfectly logical questions which will need a great dose of Valve magic and some eye-candy cutbacks, to be resolved.

The first thing to remember when buying a graphics card is the bottom line. Realistically speaking, you're not going to get a decent card for under ?100 inc. VAT ($120 USD). If it costs less than that then either it's either out-dated technology or you've scored yourself one sweet deal. Every time I have spent less than ?120 on a graphics card I've been severely disappointed.

Secondly, if it's in the GeForce FX 5xxx series, it's really not going to perform as well in HL2 as an “equivalent” ATI card. Valve have not specifically optimized HL2 for ATI cards, it's just a result of the way the cards work the DX9 and the Source code paths. If you look at the early performance of any FX card in Far Cry (or any shader benchmark) and at the image quality you will see Valve's concerns with this particular line of NVIDIA cards. Valve have repeatedly said that these FX cards will really not do the job well. This has nothing to do with “fanboyisms”, it's just down to the simple fact that FX 5xxx cards have issues with SM2.0. NVIDIA have done their best to increase performance on these cards, but this has often led to decreases in image quality.

If you're short on cash then you may want to consider a Radeon 9600XT or a 9800pro (not SE), the 9800Pro costs a bit more but is significantly faster. The 9800XT is a bit faster than a 9800Pro but not really worth the extra cash. Anything slower/cheaper than that is going to be dodgy -- it's not going to last very long and soon you will be upgrading again, it won't run HL2 at or close to the highest settings either.

If you have wads of cash and are looking for a long term upgrade then you have a hard choice ahead of you. NVIDIA have come back on form with the 6800 series and ATI have kept up with the x800s. Although ATI's new cards will be faster in HL2 (unless Gabe Newell is a filthy liar) they may not beat NV in other games, especially Doom III and possibly S.T.A.L.K.E.R which will apparently take advantage of SM3.0 (shader model 3.0). Another point to consider is the API support. The 6800's seem to outperform ATI's new cards quite markedly in OpenGL games (e.g. Doom III). HL2 is DirectX only, so it's a moot point in that regard.

The x800s do not have support for the full SM3.0 feature set which won't cause them to lose any image quality in SM3.0 games, but may give NVIDIA a speed advantage. This has yet to be proven*. The x800s have something called 3Dc which will help boost performance in games that support it. One of which should be Half-Life 2.

The new NVIDIA cards eat up more power and twice the space of the x800 (thanks FS).
If you can't decide which one to get then take into consideration heat, power requirements and size. The x800 seems to come out on top in all these areas. On the other hand, if money is no object and you've got a beefy power supply and case, it might be best to wait for actual benchmarks of HL2 (not from the HL2 leak) and Doom III. Even if you're not going to buy D3, you will likely end up playing a game based on the D3 engine.

*It has been tested in FarCry and there was some improvement, however it's early days yet.

...the minimum machine specs for decent performance on H-L 2 will be a 1.2GHz CPU with 256MB RAM, Win 98/ME/2000/XP and a DirectX 7 capable graphics card.

Can't believe someone went to that length to fake it as cool as it looks, wonder whats on the cds? I take it is to back up "Well my uncle has Half Life 2 retail" argument a kiddie got himself into?

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Last Updated: 07/14/2004 12:36:49 (Central Standard Time)
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7-14-2004 11:52 AM CDT

IT'S DONE!!!!!!!

Yes, this is the official word that DOOM 3 has been code released and has been approved for manufacturing! It won't be long now until the anticipation ends and the PH34R begins

We literally just hung up with Activision and have confirmed that our latest release candidate has been mutually approved and is finally GOLD. Thanks to everyone for their patience (yeah right! =) and for everyone at id, Activision and our numerous partners for helping us create what I believe is absolutely the best game we have ever made.

So, the next question is release dates. Retailers in the States will be allowed to pick up games starting at 12:01 AM on August 3rd. The official street date is actually August 5th in the U.S.A., but some of your favorite stores will probably have it early for those of you who have to have it first. Check with your local retailer for that information.

Internationally, the game will take a few more days to make it to the store shelves. The UK will probably get it first, on or about August 6th. Everywhere else will probably be Friday, August 13th (que Twilight Zone Theme) or close to that date, with just a few exceptions (e.g. Russia and Poland). This isn't because we don't have love for you folks outside the U.S., but the localization and manufacturing process takes a bit longer outside the U.S. where we will have JVC run 24/7 to get the units built. I guess the European manufacturers prefer to give their employees nights and weekends off. Go figure!

The champagne is flowing here at id and smiles abound!

I'll update again with some DOOM 3 preparation tips (not what hardware to buy - you'll have to wait for a programmer for that sort of thing). In the meantime, I want to see those "DOOM 3 GOLD!!!" threads set new records for swamping message board servers, destroying productivity, and post counts

Recapping today's headlines....DOOM 3 GOLD!!!